GTI English Championships 2004
Swindon was this years choice for Global Taekwondo International’s
English championships. The tournament was hosted by Miss Sarah Nash of
Swindon & Mr Jason Burgess of Wells. Various clubs & associations
supported the event including fighters from; Evolution TKD, Bromyard
TKD & WMST. The tournament organisers would also like to thank the
Irish select team (IUTF), captained by Patricia Dalton, that travelled
from Southern Ireland to participate in the competition.
The tournament started promptly with the patterns kicking off the
event. There was some strong performances in the blue belt girls
patterns, with the top competitors showing great skill. Well-defined
stances & some good “snap” in the punches & kicks were the order of
the day. E Clutterbuck (GTI Hucclecote) took the lead with her
performance of Yul-gok. The red belt girls division built on
the high standard already set with R Cross (GTI Wells) winning with
Hwa-rang, with a nice, fluid pattern containing some good
execution of kicking techniques –making sure both the chamber position
& extension were correctly performed. The junior black belt divisions,
were of a high standard & the spectators witnessed some very talented
youngsters in action. In the girls section, L Fendt (GTI Gloucester)
treated the crowd to a very strong performance of Ge-baek,
making sure that each technique was performed with good acceleration &
power. Well-defined stances, good balance in the kicking techniques &
strong basics ensured that a 1st place was secured. The
boys, however, were not to be outdone. A wide range of different Dan
grade patterns were on display here with some very good performances
by all the top competitors. To the dismay of the other competitors, M
Bradfield (GTI Tewksbury) performed a near flawless execution of
Ge-baek, with some great height on the flying side kick taking him
to the top spot.
There was some brilliant sparring in the blue belt boys divisions,
with a fantastic semi-final bout in the middleweights between J
Cockburn (GTI Telford) & A Hendry (GTI Wells). In a very close bout,
both fighters pushed forwards giving it their all, resulting in a
draw. The bout went to a further 2 extensions & it was in the closing
seconds of the last time extension that Cockburn scored with an
accurate turning kick to the head. In the final, Cockburn was put
under pressure by his opponent, L Williams (Bromyard), but a superbly
placed defensive side kick & reverse turning hook kick to the head was
enough to increase his points advantage to take 1st place.
In the girls red belt divisions, some real spirit & determination was
shown by the fighters as well as putting on a good show of sparring.
In the final of the heavyweights, J Williams (GTI Helston) was
resolute in her pursuit of the winners trophy, constantly pressing
forwards. Some hard contact made during a “blitz” attack cost her a
penalty & she was awarded a further officials warning for a couple of
hard turning kicks to the head & body. Now on very shaky ground, as
the referee was watching her very closely, she had to calm down & keep
her techniques controlled. This she did & building up enough of a
points lead, she crept into the lead & secured her victory.
More action in the junior coloured belts, continued with the red belt
boys middleweights with a fine performance put in by J England (GTI
Tewks) who fought his heart out using some good hook kicks, side kicks
& reverse-turning kicks. However, it wasn’t to be his day & he settled
for 3rd place. The final between the winner, L Carthew (GTI
Truro) & J Hudson (GTI Tewks) was a very close fight with some very
exciting sparring, both fighters were using some clever footwork &
were extremely fast. All in all this was a very closely matched
category. The heavyweight finalists of same category, also put in an
exceptional effort & once again, was a very close bout. S Williams
(GTI Helston) faced off against T Huffadine (GTI Wells), for what
started as a real quality clash between two very talented young lads.
Williams used his long legs & blitzing hands to rack up the points,
which were countered by Huffadine’s very efficient hook kicks &
driving side kicks. Unfortunately, due to an injury picked up during
the early rounds, Huffadine had to retire prematurely, leaving
Williams to take home the gold.
The adult black belt patterns were of a high standard with strong
performances in both male & female categories. Irish team captain, P
Dalton (IUTF), took the ladies top spot with a fine rendition of
Choi Young, performed with both power & precision. In the male
division, A Jackson (GTI Northampton) took 1st place after
he put in one of his best performances for a long time & performed
Moon-Moo with great skill, executing slow, balanced techniques
with some strong, fast movements.
In the black belt sparring, some exceptional fighters were in action.
J Chow (GTI Cheltenham) fought particularly well in the heavyweight
boys division. In the final against M Bradfield (GTI Tewks), Chow
pressed forwards making good use of his long legs & arms, but
Bradfield fought back valiantly using some precise reverse-turning
hook kicks & side-kicks. Chow fought hard & picked off valuable points
with his hand blitzes to creep into the lead & win the division.
The visiting Irish fighters performed with exemplary conduct & were
cool, confident & well self-disciplined. P Dalton (IUTF) took the
team’s 1st gold in the ladies open weight category. Using
consecutive side-kicks, jumping back kicks & reaching in to strike
with her hands she eased herself into the lead throughout her bouts.
Using a clever strategy, Dalton paced herself during her fights & then
suddenly upping the pace to keep her opponents on their toes. The
final of the heavyweight males was between two of the Irish fighters,
P O’Connor & P O’Riordan. At first the bout started a bit scrappy with
a lot of close-in fighting, but soon progressed to a tough battle with
both fighters driving in powerful rear leg turning kicks finished with
strong jab-cross combinations. Both fighters showed excellent levels
of stamina as the work-rate from both was very high. It seemed a very
equally matched bout, but O’Connor clinched the fight in the closing
seconds by a nice turning kick to the head & a well-placed jump
back-kick. The middleweight division was dominated by talented
fighter, F Miller (Evolution). Fast on his feet, Miller worked hard to
evade his opponents & counter very accurately, driving in two
defensive jump back kicks in quick succession during one fight. At one
point one of his opponents threw a lovely reverse-turning kick &
Miller reacted very fast & threw one of his own, both landing at the
same time. In the final versus V Philpott (IUTF) both fighters started
off very quick & were scoring with excellent shots, but Miller gained
the upper hand & eased into the lead with some accurate head kicks &
some fluid spinning kicks.
The competition finished with the destruction tests where F Miller (Evo)
powered through the boards with a splendid jumping back kick to take a
second gold. Prior to that D Rogers (GTI Helston) & A Holdsworth (Evo)
won a full complement of 1st place trophies after
dominating both hand & foot destruction events.
The
competition organisers & the GTI committee would like to extend their
appreciation to the Irish contingent who travelled a long way to
attend the event. They all conducted their selves with great courtesy
& exemplary behaviour. For further information on the GTI & its Open
tournaments, which are held throughout the year, please contact the
Chairman, Mr Clive Harrison on 01531 640187 or by e-mail at chairman@gti-taekwondo.com
.More information can be found at the official website at
www.gti-taekwondo.com
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