KICK IT 2004 Report by Dev Patel, aged 13 |
REPORT |
On Sunday the 29th February 2004, a few of the Students' at Rayners Lane Taekwon-do
Academy, including myself went to compete at the annual "Kick It" tournament held in Gravesend. We came back with a huge array of medals and trophies. There were only seven of us including Sir (Mr Anslow, my instructor). We also had a small support team from Martin, Diana and my parents (Anita & Raj). We got there at 9 o'clock and the tournament started, after the introductions with Mr Bains (The host of the event), welcoming all of the competitors and spectators, and then explaining the rules of the competition. After a while my division was up as I was the only junior from the Academy who went to the event. The red belt pattern divisions were averagely populated, with many different aged competitors in it. I got good points for my first pattern, which was Hwa Rang. Then I called up again, because I tied for Bronze, however this time I was told I could only do Toi-Gye tul. The performance from this pattern got me the Bronze. Straight after the coloured belt patterns were the black belt patterns divisions. There were some excellent patterns in this division including Mr Anslow's, but the one that really caught my eye was a brilliant Tong-ll tul by Mr Slater (GTI). In the Adult patterns, Rayners Lane students did well with both Justin Goh and Bako Kadir winning Gold's in, (Blue/Red belt division and Green belt division) with good performances of Joong-Gun Tul & Won-Yol Tul. Silver medals were won by Colin Avis & Mr Anslow in their patterns divisions (Blue/Red belts & Black Belt Seniors), with Amittai Antoine & myself taking bronzes. After a break the tournament restarted with the sparring divisions. First up on the mats were the black belts Mr Anslow, my instructor was left to fight an opponent a massive 30Kg heavier than himself, as some of the competitors dropped out. If he hadn't had fought, there would have been no senior black belt bouts on the day. His opponent was a heavyweight over 90Kg. The fight went well, with Mr Anslow racing around the ring, firing out brilliant side piercing kicks and well placed back Kicks, to keep his massive opponent at bay. All seamed well until half way though the match, Mr Anslow got a hard accidental Knee in the nose, but Mr Anslow persevered, and went on to win the match, and take the gold. The sparring continued with the junior divisions. The peewee divisions were impressive. The youngsters from Southern Freestyle Taekwon-do gave an excellent account of themselves. Rayners Lane students Bako Kadir & Amittai Antoine fought their way through the 'white to Green belt' lightweight division & ended up meeting each other in the final. After an excellent bout Bako was pleased to take home the gold. In the Adult `blue & red belt` lightweight sparring division the same happened again as Rayners Lane students Justin Goh met fellow student Colin Avis in the finals. A highflying exchange of techniques took place, with Justin finally beating Colin for the gold, leaving Colin to settle for the silver medal this time. Also in the yellow belt divisions, Vijay Sood from Rayners Lane gained a lot of respect after a good patterns performance & also a close sparring bout in which he was unlucky. Vijay competed against his younger opponents at 38 years of age & gave them a tough time, showing age isn`t a major factor in martial arts & competition isn't just for the youngsters all the time. Following the individual sparring divisions was the Team Sparring, which was run as a 'tag team' type event. We had two teams in the adults section. Our first team Mr Anslow named 'Monkey, Pigsy & Sandy' after a TV program. It consisted of Vijay, Colin & Bako. They fought extremely well, scoring good points, but unfortunately they lost in the semi-finals to a good team. Our second team consisted of Justin, Amittai & Sir. They were called 'Wolverines Warriors' after Mr Anslow son, whose nickname is Little Wolverine. They fought well giving the other teams no mercy. In the finals they met the team that had knock out their club mates. They scored fantastic points on the other team, with Amittai landing a good 360-degree crescent Kick on his opponent, Justin scoring with a spinning hook Kick & Sir with a flying downward kick. At the end of the fight it was a draw, so they had to fight off in a 'sudden death' round. The other team selected their Black Belt, so Mr Anslow stepped up to face him. Mr Anslow won the round with three fast bullet kicks, two to the opponents chest and one to his head, leaving the other team to settle for second place. At the end of the event, Mr Bains presents all the coloured belts with their medals. After they were presented, the 'Overall Competitors' awards are given to junior & senior competitors. The adult 'Overall Competitors' award was won by Rayners Lane student Justin Goh, for winning three gold medals. Justin was also fortunate to receive the 'Best Technique' of the Tournament award for a 360- degree flying reverse punch that he did in the team sparring event, bringing his medal total to an amazing 5 gold medals! Finally, the Overall winners were announced. Rayners Lane Academy came second, which is excellent considering that the winners Southern Freestyle Taekwon-do schools had about 50 students and we had 7!!! Overall we had a good day. The competitors came from many associations including STF, BUTF, UKTA, GTI, KBSOMA, Zan Shin Kai Karate & other various Taekwon-do schools & associations. Mr Anslow said he was pleased to see some fellow IAOMAS instructors & students there. On behalf of myself, my instructor & the students of Rayners Lane Taekwon-do Academy, we would like to thank Mr & Mrs Bains for organising another great event. |
