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The Irish Karate
Kyokushinkai (IKK)
entered a team of fighters in the
British Karate Kyokushinkai (BKK) 29th Open Knockdown
tournament Saturday 9th October 2004 in Crystal Palace National Sports
Centre, London. The team consisted of Fighters from several IKK dojos
including Mullingar, Galway,
Finglas
and Killester.
Olivia Duffy from
Mullingar fought
in the womens novice heavyweight category. This was Olivias first taste of
knockdown and to her credit she managed to overcome some recurring injuries
and take third place.
Michael Waldron and Ciran Stapleton also from Mullingar fought
for the first time in the mens Novice Middleweight category. Unfortunately
both fighters lost on a decision in the first round.
Patrick English from Finglas
dojo fought in the mens national Heavyweight Category. Patrick did not have
to fight in the preliminary rounds and was matched up against Tom Silver of
the BKK. He started the fight well and they seemed evenly matched with both
narrowly missing with Jodan Mawashi at the same time. However Tom caught
Patrick with a shita tsuki which did not stop him but he registered the
fact to his opponent and the referee picked up on this and awarded a
waza-ari. There was not enough time to redress the balance and so Tom
Silver was the winner.
Dave King from Galway
dojo fought in the mens open heavyweight category. This was Daves first
time fighting in a National level tournament. Dave had competed in the 2002
BKK Novice, 2003 BKK Regional Novice and 2003 BKK Novice where he
came third, second and second respectively. Dave was one of a few
heavyweight fighters to have to fight in a preliminary round and was
matched up against a very experienced Polish fighter who just appeared to
have the edge. Dave narrolwly lost this on a decision after four minutes.
Maria Moran from Killester dojo was
fighting in the womens novice lightweight Category. This was Marias first
Novice tournament. Using a variety of techniques she worked her way through
the rounds before winning the final by decision in only two minutes.
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. Most pleasing was the fact that our ladies are getting out on the
mat and matching the men in their ability to win trophies.
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