Kazoku-Kan Judo Academy took a group of 4 Judoka to the World Games based in Beverwijk, Holland. The contest consisted of 2 days of competition across 8 Tatami with over 400 competitors from all over the world, including Great Britain, Romania, Italy, Brazil, the USA and more!
Day 1 results
Day one would see Molly and Felicity fighting in the first part of the morning, followed by Liam in the latter part of the morning.
Felicity was first up and demonstrated a lovely technique to get the first Ippon (10 points) of the day against a fellow UK competitor. In her second fight, it was a battle of the wills with a larger opponent and the contest went full time and to a referee decision which went into Felicity's favour for putting in more techniques and attacking much more than her opponent. In her 3rd contest, Felicity was against a VI fighter who was not to be underestimated, with a fantastic Tai O'Toshi scored a Waza-ari (7 Points) and held her down for the Ippon, marking Felicity's 3rd win of the day. In her fourth and final contest of the day, Felicity managed to score a lovely Waza-ari on her opponent, but due to an injury sustained on the landing, her opponent had to withdraw, awarding the full 10 points to Felicity. This round of contests was enough to secure the World Title and Gold medal for Felicity.
Next up was Molly who had a tough first round with a competitor from Romania, but in the final few minutes, Molly turned her over and held her down for the Ippon win. In her second contest, Molly was facing Bonnie Hendrix who had recently earned her 1st Dan promotion, despite a touch contest, Molly put up a strong offense and defence. The contest went to time with 2 of the 3 judges awarding the bout to Bonnie (It really could have gone either way, as the fight was very evenly matched). In her 3rd fight, Molly was against another Romanian girl, who was fast on her feet and made for an intense competition, despite Molly putting in more attacks than her competitor, the referees (controversial) decision was awarded to Romania. In her final contest against a 1st Dan, due to a shoulder injury, Molly was forced to tap out and retire from the contest, but she didn't go down without a fight! Molly came away with a well deserved Bronze medal from Day 1.
Last up for the contest was Liam, who had dropped several weight categories from last year so was in some very new territory with his opponents this year. In his first fight, Liam was up against a faster competitor and was caught off guard by a reverse foot sweep, as always though, Liam fought hard and showed what grit and determination looks like. His second contest against a 1st Kyu was his best performance so far with some nice techniques, in the last few seconds with an attempted rear throw, Liam's opponent countered at the last second in mid air to get the points. In his 3rd round against a very tall Dane, 1st Kyu, Liam put up one heck of a contest almost taking the victory but due to referee decision went in favour of his Danish opponent. Liam was awarded the Bronze Medal for day 1.
Kata Results
This Year, we had 2 new Nage-No-Kata competitors taking part in the world championships for Kata. Demonstrating the first set of 3 Kata were Molly and Felicity, both first timers when it comes to competitive Kata. They demonstrated some fantastic control over movement and proving that a Kata pairing works best when you don't change partners or roles. Each technique is to be demonstrated with complete control, with both Tori (Thrower) and Uke (Partner being thrown) working together in complete cooperation of each other.
Molly and Felicity are now World Kata Champions, grabbing the gold for their demonstration.
Liam in his 3rd year of Kata demonstration also had Felicity as his Uke and they put on a smooth experience for everyone to witness. It all boiled down to who had done their Kata slightly smoother, but in the end, Liam and Felicity gained Silver position for their Kata.
Day 2 Results
Day 2 of the Championships are held in memoriam of Ben Vander Eng. Molly and Felicity were fighting on the same Tatami in today's contests along with Tyler who was in Ne-Waza (Ground based competition) for his contests. Liam was fighting in the afternoon's contests.
Molly went face to face with the Dan grade that she had to submit to on the previous day, a fantastic contest and a great result as Molly took control of the fight from start to finish, earning herself the first win of the morning. In the second contest, we saw Molly square off against fellow Kazkou-Kan competitor, Felicity. Despite being best of friends off the mat, this was competition for them both and in a great contest, Molly scored the win with a lovely Wazar-ari. Molly once again had to face off against a 1st Dan which was won in her favour due to her opponent gaining several Shido penalties. Molly was awarded a well deserved Gold and World Champion title holder.
Tyler, a newcomer to the World games this year who fights in Ne-Waza had some excellent competition from several competitors from other countries. Tyler "The Beast" soundly held his first opponent down for the Ippon score and proceeded to give the referee a high five, which raised everyone to a smile and applause from the spectators. In his second contest of the day, "the Beast" ate his opponent, well OK not really but he did beat him with a dominating hold down to score the victory. In his 3rd Fight, "The Beast" was in the zone, with some fantastic control over his opponent, showing the world what he could do and getting his 3rd win of the day. In the final contest of the day for "The Beast", Tyler overcame his fatigue to yet again pin down his opponent and earn himself the World Champion title and the gold medal!
Felicity was next with her facing off against a 1st Dan Grade competitor, in a tough fight managed to defeat her opponent with a Waza-ari awasete Ippon (2x Waza-ari scores) which was awarded after 2 very nice Tai-O-Toshi techniques. Her second fight was against Molly which you can read about in the section above. Her third and final bout was against a 1st Dan and was a fantastic fight, with Felicity coming out on top for the win, which earned her the Silver position medal.
And finally, Liam was fighting in the afternoon contests with only one opponent from the previous day's fights, Liam had a fresh line up. In his first contest, Liam was against Mark Kelley from Bearpark Judo Club, a fellow GBR competitor that also fights in the Ne-Waza position, Liam put up one hell of a try against the fellow Brit but in the end the decision went to Mark but the fight was very well executed by both competitors. In his second contest, Liam was up against another GBR competitor and soundly beat him in 8 seconds from the opening Ha-Jime (Start). Liams next contest went the full 4 minutes against an opponent from the first day, who towered over Liam by a good 3 inches in height. After a tremendous effort, the judges decision was in favour of the Danish competitor (Was a theme of the day!) but this was a very close cut contest and could have gone either way. In Liam's final contest of the day, he fought well against his opponent and scored a lovely Waza-ari to claim the final victory for his category. Liam was awarded Bronze for his category.
This was an absolutely fantastic tournament for our players, one which we attend every year and each year it gets bigger and better and the competition gets better each year.
Head Coach Rich Morrish commented:- "These guys are superstars, they show up each week to train, ask loads of questions, take part in every aspect of Judo including the Kata, which this year was simply amazing. To be a part of this journey with them is an experience, I simply cannot put into words, the pride I have for these guys is second to none."
