Simon, Dave, Becky, Kate.
Members of Hereford's Combat Academy travelled to Worcester to compete in the British Open Ju-Jutsu Kumite championships. With Academy instructors Simon Small unable to compete as he was taking part in a National Karate championships and Dave Coles out due to injury, it was down to the junior members to represent the Academy, and they did not disappoint. Competing in their first National event Kate Bishop and Becky Hayes fought in the under 35kg category. Kate defeated her first two opponents in style scoring with punches, throws and some very good ground-fighting skills. On the other side of the draw Becky Hayes also defeated her first two opponents scoring predominantly with kicking and throwing techniques.
In the semi-final fight Kate faced a blue belt and opened the scoring with her favourite reverse-punch technique, following her coaches instructions Kate then took the fight to the ground, working a very tight defensive game whilst running the clock down. This proved successful and Kate progressed to the final.
Becky lost the semi-final to a blue belt and so faced a fight for the bronze medal against a very strong purple belt. Becky immediately opened the scoring with a front kick but was then caught in a hold-down which gave her opponent a 3-1 lead. Becky levelled the score with a punch and another front kick and with seconds to go Becky threw her opponent for three points to secure the bronze medal.
In the final Kate immediately attacked with a solid punch that winded her opponent. On the restart Kate again attempted to take the fight to the ground, as her opponent resisted Kate threw her clean over her head to score an additional 3 points. Kate again worked the tactic of taking the fight to the floor putting her opponent under constant pressure. To the delight of coach Dave Coles, time was called and The Combat Academy had produced its first junior National champion, a remarkable achievement for a club that has only been running for 18 months.
Despite not being able to fight in the British Championships, coaches Dave Coles (under 95kg) and Simon Small (over 95 kg) did not come away empty handed. The National Ju-Jutsu Kumite Council runs a league championships based on the results of 4 area events plus the British Open. Having remained undefeated throughout the year and taking a total of eight gold medals between them, both were crowned National league champions. A third league title also went to the Academy as Kate Bishop was crowned league champion in the girls u35 kg category.
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