The LKA had a squad of 45 competitors take part in this years event, once again held at the University of Sunderland. It was undoubtedly our most successful outing at this event, with 7 Gold medals taken amongst a total of 25 different medal positions.

There were a number of categories where we completely dominated. The Male Team Kumite produced some very exciting matches. In the semi-final, LKA ‘B’ met LKA ‘C’ in a very close match, which was decided on the strength of a disqualification in the final bout between Jordon Probst and Callam Payne. Jordon’s sensational sweep and head kick combination sadly landed too hard, knocking Callam out. After a precautionary trip to hospital, we are pleased to report that Callam is fine. In the final, James Brown, who has recently turned 16, stepped up into the team to replace Callam and the final between LKA ‘A’ and LKA ‘C’ was a very exciting affair. Despite the 3-0 scoreline, each match was very evenly contested and the ‘C’ Team should be very proud of themselves. Particular mention must go to Joe Bulmer who, whilst half a point up, was caught by an excellent counter punch which dropped him. He was immediately back on his feet and on his line standing in Yoi. His opponent, Joe Hart, was awarded Ippon but we were very pleased with Mr Bulmer as many a lesser man would have stayed down and made a fuss about the contact. Excellent Budo Spirit, Joe Bulmer, we’re very proud of you!

The LKA’s Female Team Kumite girls also took first place with a win over old rivals Halewood in the final.

In the Senior Male Kumite event, for the second year running all four finalists were LKA men. Ryan Tucker won for the second year on the trot, narrowly beating an ever improving Tom Little in the final. Joe Hart and David Wright were joint third. David also won the Male Kata event with his usual finesse, performing Unsu.

In the Junior Male Kumite 18-20 Years,w e had 3 of the four finalists too. Jordon Probst’s all round skill proving a little too much for the spirited Joe Bulmer in the final. Stephen Brown took Bronze here.

It was nice to see Mell Finlay, in her last domestic KUGB event as a Junior, take Gold over World Championships team-mate Megan Dent in the final. Mell has put a lot of hard work in lately and this showed in her performance, more relaxed and good timing punches winning the day.

Holly Dickinson had a very good performance in the Girls Kumite Over 5’3” event, beating a bigger and stronger girl in the final with some excellent movement and fast punching. Holly has had to spend this year taking 2nd or 3rd place behind LKA team-mate Emelye O’Brien so it was nice to see have her moment in the spotlight. Emelye and Kate Lister took joint 3rd in the same event.

The full list of results was as follows:

The full list of our 45 competitors was:

Ashley Scott, Zoe Price, David Wright, Jordon Probst, Ryan Tucker, Mell Finlay, Joe Finlay, Joe Hart, Stephen Brown, James Brown, Holly Dickinson, Tom Little, Hayden Steele, Oliver Deane, Dan Martin, Tom Mitchell, Jed Dickinson, Kate Lister, Jamie Horwell, Callam Payne, Emelye O’ Brien, Adam Banks, Connor Payne, Sam Mitchell, Nathan Wilson, Laura Mackintosh, Joe Bulmer, Amy Jones, Jude O’ Brien, David Lister, Caleb Booth, James Williams, Matthew Mellor, Owen Thomas, Joshua Mellor, Sam James, Page Evans, James Keelen-Edwards, Katelyn Entwistle, Max Davies, Sam Bulmer, Sarah Howarth, Joe Hird, Callum Slinger and Oliver Morris.