Shin Gi Tai Martial Arts Academy entered a team of competitors into the Seitou Ryu Essex Open Karate Championships in Tilbury Essex. The competition attracts participants from across London and the Home Counties. We had a successful event with 2 Gold medals, 7 Silver medals and 4 Bronze medals.
The event is an ideal one for both newcomers and national competitors, with categories to suit them all. One of the highlights for the club was Josh Nicholls (7 yrs old) one of the youngest member of the team. He fought three tough fights which dominated and narrowly missed out on a place in the final due to a controversial referees decision, he’s one to watch for in the future.
Mark Nevola (48) a member of the coaching team gained two Gold medals for fighting (in the Veterans over 35 yrs event and Seniors 18+ years event, despite battling it out with opponents over 20 years younger than him. He proved once again that experience and skill pays off)
Samantha Butcher (9) won a silver medal in the Children’s Kata (see note *) after battling through several rounds.
Harry Cronk (12), Jess Muller (15) and Edward van Meerkerk (13) won a silver medal in the team Kata event, narrowly losing to a more experienced side in the final.
Brothers Harry (9) and Edward (13) van Meerkerk had a good day with Harry winning a silver medal for fighting and also a bronze medal for kata. Whilst big brother Edward won two silver medals, one for fighting and one for kata. Edward’s fighting was particularly impressive being the smallest in his division, he came upto the shoulder height of his opponents, but that didn’t stop him winning matches with fast accurate head height kicks.
The full squad included Bryan Andrews, Edward van Meerkerk, Flynn Robertson, Georgina Butcher, Harry Cronk, Isabel Bailey, Jess Muller, Josh Nicholls, Mark Nevola, Samantha Butcher and Harry van Meerkerk
* Note: (Kata is a choreographed sequence of movements where attacking and defensive movements are practiced in sequence)