JKS Novice Competition 2016

Aiden performing Heian Shodan

The JKS Novice competition organised by Sensei Paul from Selby is always one of the highlights of the karate year, and this year was no exception. It was held at York College and was a very well attended and supported event with competitors from many of the JKS clubs nationally. It was also a chance to catch up with friends from other clubs, and to meet new karate friends. As always Sensei Paul did an excellent job of organising the day and the officials and judges (including Sensei Mike, Sensei Ian and Jim from Haxby) were kept very busy on the mats and behind the tables- so much so that they did not get enough time to get any cake.

Haxby had a small but perfectly formed squad competing and everyone from HSKC who took part can be very proud of their achievements. Jack, Carl, Aiden and Olivia were all taking part in their first competition and it isn’t easy stepping out onto the mats, especially in a busy hall when there can be a lot of waiting around for your event to start. Our Haxby guys didn’t let the nerves show though and all four of them produced confident performances on the mats that did not go unnoticed by other spectators. I was asked more than once who I was supporting and I was proud to tell them - the people I spoke to were impressed with our competitors, particularly with Olivia’s assured kata performance.

Olivia peforming Heian Sandan

Aiden was the first Haxby karateka to compete and his confident Heian Shodan got him through to the second round of kata, which was not easy in a large category with a lot of higher grades taking part. Well done to Aiden on your first competition.

Next up was Olivia in kata, again she was amongst a lot of high grades and produced an assured Heian Nidan to win the first round against a 3^rd kyu. All that practice must have paid off because she went on to win against the same competitor in the next the next round due to an amusing confusion with the officials (Sensei Jim must have thought Olivia’s kata was so good he wanted to see it twice!) To reach the fourth round in her first competition was a great achievement- well done Olivia.

I was watching Carl’s kata category at the same time as other events but did manage to see Carl’s Heian Shodan- again a very assured performance, sadly not enough to reach the next round but he can still be very proud of how well he represented the club and gained competition experience. 

Carl with his 'Kata face ' on!

The family kata category is always a great event to watch and it was nice to see Carl and Jack carrying on the Haxby tradition of competing in this event. Their first round opponents were not able to compete due to sickness so they got a bye into the second round where they were up against two brown belts. Carl and Jack’s Heian Shodan was well timed and sharp but they sadly lost out to the higher grades on this occasion. Well done though guys!

Aiden took part in a large and competitive kumite category which was fascinating to watch and he did score an early half point against a 6^th kyu from Bradford- well done Aiden. We could see that you were ready and determined on the day and have great potential in kumite.

Olivia had quite a long wait for her kumite category and she also did very well in her first kumite competition. She was up against a 5^th kyu, so again a higher grade, but even if she was nervous Olivia did not let that stop her from getting stuck in and I thought she showed real determination out on the mats.

While HSKC did not win any medals I would say that is not what was important. It was more important to gain experience of competition, to take part and gain confidence at the same time. With the JKS nationals coming up later in the year it was a great learning experience going forward and Haxby hope to take a bigger squad to Nottingham in November.

Carl and Jack put in a very good performance in the hotly contested Family Kata category

Ian looking more nervous than Olivia!

Ian did an excellent job of looking after our squad: warming them up, providing encouragement and making sure everyone was in the right place at the right time. Bethany and I were also supporting the club by taking photos and cheering our squad on. Bethany’s efficient list of categories came in very handy as we tried our best to be in two places at once when Haxby guys were competing on different mats at the same time. I (Helen) was also helping out some of the Selby ladies with the cake stall which proved very popular and I enjoyed talking to karate friends old and new while selling cakes. It was nice for me to see a competition from the other side instead of competing and take the opportunity to watch, support and see some very high quality karate. A big well done to everyone who competed and especially to Jack, Carl, Aiden and Olivia in their first competition.

And finally, our thoughts were never far from ‘Our Joe’ on what would have been his birthday. Joe was always keen to represent Haxby at competitions and our squad did a really good job on his birthday.

Report by Helen Baker, Photographs by Bethany Bamford.

visit www.haxbykarate.co.uk to find out more about our Club. For more information email info@haxbykarate.co.uk