The highlight of the weekend was when local chief instructor Doug Joseph was awarded his 6th Dan in recognition of all the time and effort he devotes to training his students and promoting the sport of karate.
Ken Yu Kai’s chief instructor, 7th Dan, Terry Pottage was understood to be delighted to hand over this award.A squad of eight adults and seven juniors travelled to the competition, along with several supporters.The squad managed a total of 15 trophies and caused several upsets along the way, by beating some of the more experienced UK competitors.In the senior adult event there was a big upset in the individual Kata, when local favourite and recent Commonwealth karate competition entrant Dave Clark was unexpectedly beaten in the semi-finals and had to share third place with Doug Joseph, which opened the way for Ashley Priestly to put in an outstanding performance to take second place behind David Woo, an experienced international competitor.However, revenge was gained when senior black belts Clark, Priestly and Angelo Palomba took the team kata event, ensuring that Jersey have now won the event every year for the last five years.In the junior adult section Rob Kilpatrick took top honours in both kata and fighting.
In the female section, first timer Lorna Green took first place in fighting.In the cadet section (under 16 years old), Jersey surpassed all expectations.
In the individual kata, Callum Black, a very experienced cadet, took first place for Jersey with his fellow team members, Anthony Fitzmaurice and Jonathon Riou, taking second and third respectively.
In the individual fighting Mathew Gilbertson fought well in the Black Belt section and was unfortunate to only take third, while Blake O’Callaghan fought hard to take second place in the Blue to Brown Belt section.The squad was as follows:Seniors: Doug Joseph (Chief Instructor) 6th Dan, Dave Clark (Instructor) 3rd Dan, Angelo Palomba 2nd Dan, Ashley Priestly 1st Dan, Robert Kilpatrick Blue Belt, Lorna Green Blue Belt.Manni Pita Yellow Belt and Jackie O’Callaghan White Belt.Cadets: Callum Black 1st Dan, Matthew Gilbertson 1st Dan, Anthony Fitzmaurice Brown Belt.Jonathon Riou Brown Belt, Zico Da Costa Brown Belt, Zara Da Costa Purple Belt and Blake O’Callaghan Blue Belt.
