Shenley Jujitsu Club

On Saturday the 9th of May, Tom S and Tom P went to the Kokoro Kia course and competition in Southend. The venue was a large sports hall and it was packed with students of all ages and grades. I'd guess at a couple of hundred at least.

The course in the morning was made up of 6 half hour sessions taught by 7th, 8th and 9th Dan instructors. Among them were our own head of association Sensei Player (8th Dan), as well as the BJJA Chairman Sensei Dixon (8th Dan) and Sensei Terry Parker (9th Dan). I was on the black belt mat and learnt a lot of new moves that I hope to show off to the class before I forget them...

After a break for lunch the competition began. There were 8 mats running at once to get though all the different events for sparring, ground fighting, random attack, empty-hand kata and weapons kata - each had junior and senior sections. There were also lightweight, middleweight and heavy weight sections in sparring and ground fighting. A lot of events to get though - made even more complicated when people had entered several events that were running at the same time! At the very end was the pairs competition - pairs of people demonstrating a long sequence of fast moves, throws and acrobatics. A very high standard all round.

And now the bit you're waiting for...I'm very pleased to announce that both Toms won medals - Tom S got silver for junior random attack, and Tom P gained gold for junior sparring 30-40kg! This was their first major competition and they were a credit to the club. A bit more coaching and practise by next year and I'd sure they could win two or more medals each.

We only had two students compared to other clubs with 10 or 15 entering, but I'm sure none of them had 100% medal winners! Maybe next year we can go in force as 'Team Shenley'.

Many thanks to the senseis who coached them for the competition and for the support from the parents who spent the day travelling and cheering them on as well as doing their own coaching in the evenings.