Sergio Bacurins from Mullingar fought in the mens national middleweight category. Unfortunately in the first round he was caught with a Shita Tsuki, which dropped him briefly. At first it appeared that he had slipped as he rolled immediately to a standing position. One corner Judge indicated a waza-ari and the referee awarded this point. Sergio had little time to redress the balance and lost the fight after two minutes.

Dmitri Ivanov from Killester dojo fought in the mens national Lightweight Category. He started the fight well against an opponent from France. However many of his low kicks were deemed to be an attack on the knees and after several warnings he was disqualified with Hansoku. Dmitri has in the past fought many tournaments both weight category and Open weight and was quite disappointed with this result.

John Mullin from Galway dojo fought in the mens novice middleweight category. This was Johns first taste of knockdown. John fought well but unfortunately lost on decision

John Moynihan from Galway dojo also fought in the mens novice middleweight category. This was also Johns first taste of knockdown. John also lost on decision after a hard fought fight.

Declan Guven from Galway dojo fought in the mens novice heavyweight category. This was also Declans first taste of knockdown. Sadly Declan also lost on decision in the first round. All hopes of a trophy now lay with Dave King.

Dave King from Galway dojo also fought in the mens novice heavyweight category. This was Daves third and final novice tournament. Dave had competed in last years BKK open and the Regional in Milton Keynes in June of this year where he came third and second respectively. Dave was full of hope that this time he would take home the top prize. In his usual attacking fashion Dave drove his opponents back and dispatched most of his opponents with relative ease once again earning him a place in the final and on the podium for the third time in succession. His opponent in the final was Dzintzar Rose from Crystal Palace dojo, whom Dave had fought in the final at Milton Keynes. Sadly the result was to be the same with Dave losing on a decision.

Once again the IKK came home with some silverware to continue a streak that started in 1992. The coaches were pleased with how the day went but as in all things there is room for improvement and we need to translate the success we have had at Novice level to Regional, National and International level.