Welsh Bushi-Kai Karate Association

On Saturday 13^th April the Welsh Bushi Kai hosted a junior (U16) friendly competition at our Cwmavon club.  As well as the Bushi Kai clubs there were entries from WKC, St Pats Karate, Merthyr Wado Kai and Talbot Karate.  In total there were 159 entries with all clubs being well represented.

The day started at 10am and was finished by 2.30pm, testament to the hard work by the officials.  It was great to see everyone pulling together to ensure the smooth running of the event. The competition had a friendly and supportive atmosphere and saw some excellent displays of both kata and Kumite from some very young competitors.  Events like these give younger and less experienced competitors the chance to get on the mat and have a go, without having to worry about being pitted against a more experienced opponent, as we split the categories by age and grade.  Due to the huge number of entries in the boys U8’s we split this category into 5yr, 6yr and 7yrs old.

As well as developing our young competitors, it gave some of our Dan grades the opportunity to practice their refereeing and judging in a real life environment, but without the pressure our main competitions.

The kata events were first on, where the entries were dominated by our Shotokan guests, however, it was pleasing to see some young Bushi-Kai students getting among the medals.  The standard among the young competitors was really quite remarkable, I am sure there were a number of future national champions in attendance.  Next up were the girls Kumite events, numbers in most of these were very good (bigger than many competitions we travel to). It was pleasing to see that all of the clubs in attendance picked up some medals in these events.

There were many promising junior grades in attendance, as well as the novice competitors who had the opportunity  to watch a number of Welsh Champions in the senior grade events.  Finally we moved onto the boys Kumite, starting with the 5 yr old boys, which was one of the most supported categories of the day, with all of the competitors enjoying the experience.  As with the girls there was a good spread of medals among the clubs, and some very promising novices as well as many Welsh / British Champions on display in the higher grade categories.

The level of karate of display was of the highest standard, for which the coaches must take credit for the fantastic job they do with these youngsters.

We would like to thank Bo Shannon (WKC), Rob Green (St Pats), Ashley Evans (Merthyr Wado Kai), Michael Mainwaring  (Talbot Karate) and the Bushi Kai clubs for supporting this event and ensuring its success.  Also our thanks to all of the people who helped setting up  on the day, from those on the door, working on the tuck shop, score keepers, referees, judges and those getting the competitors ready to bring to the area.  None of this would have been possible without your help.

After the competition everyone was invited back to Cwmavon Welfare club, where food was laid on for everyone, and gave everyone the chance to mix and build friendships.