KUGB Student National Championships 2013

The KUGB National Student Championships (often just "the Student Nationals") is the first major competition of the academic year and falls in the middle of Michaelmas Term. The competition is open to all KUGB members in full-time education and is held in Chesterfield.

Photos

View photos of the competition.

Competition Report

On Saturday 16th November, the day began early for a group of Cambridge karateka. A select squad of ten including Cambridge University Karate Club's finest as well as new found talent made their way to Chesterfield to take on some tough opposition at the KUGB (Karate Union of Great Britain) Student Championships.


The day began with the individual kata competition. Kata is the performance of a predetermined sequence of moves of which there are twenty seven in the shotokan style of karate. The elimination rounds were a knock-out style competition with the judges choosing the kata from a selection of five. Daniel Malz in the male kyu grade (coloured belt) category sailed through the rounds in style to the finals. Likewise, experienced competitor Tegwen Ecclestone in the female dan grade (black belt) category made the finals with ease. Daniel performed an excellent rendition of Heian Godan in the final, but was edged into 4th place by very strong opposition. Tegwen’s powerful rendition of 'Jion' awarded her an impressive second place in a very high calibre competition. Special mention must go to Chris Yen and Josh Newland, both of whom made their debuts and competed with distinction in the male kyu grade kata event.


In the individual kumite (free style points based sparring), Cambridge added another bronze medal to the tally in a series of spirited fights by Daniel. Karol, despite breaking his toe three seconds into his first kumite bout, soldiered on and was only two matches from the final when his injury became the deciding factor in a match that went right down to the wire. Tegwen performed admirably in female dan grade kumite as she cruised through her opening fights to the final. Some hard blows and difficult to call clashes the final meant that Tegwen came away with a well-earned silver.


The qualifying rounds for the team kumite match (best of three fights from teams of three competitors) were held earlier that day and the women showcased their fighting ability with the team consisting of Tegwen, Natsumi Takizawa and Ella Sivan (making her first appearance for CUKC) very narrowly losing to a strong Manchester side and finishing with the bronze medal. The men’s team kumite (Quang, Prag and Daniel) fought bravely but lost out to their Mancunian counterparts, finishing also with the bronze.


In the team kata (teams of three performing kata in synchronisation), there was more medal success for Cambridge. The team consisting of Yannick Mayaud, Natsumi Takizawa and men’s captain Quang Ha performed a well-coordinated ‘Bassai Dai’ to qualify for the finals with the third highest point score. The kata 'Empi' which they performed in the finals looked set to win them the gold until the penultimate move where all three competitors stumbled on the landing from the jump. This mistake cost the team crucial points but the overall high quality of the kata was such that they came home with the silver medal.


Overall it was a highly successful day for Cambridge even with many experienced members of the team unfortunately missing due to injury. The impressive showing by our established members and the strong debuts made by many of our newcomers bodes well for future competitions. Oxford – bring it on!