Announcing the appointment of three-time British Open Champion and numerous international titles, Sensei Kenny Jarvis (3rd Dan), as new GB Knockdown Squad Head Coach with immediate effect.
We will now be looking for skills coaches for both England and Wales to backfill and support the current coaching team.
Congratulations to the BKK Wales Team, coached by Sensei Chris Davies, attending this year's Pilatus Cup in Switzerland which was kata and Kyokushin Rules tournament only.
Low Grade kata (girls)
Niamh Warner 3rd
High grade kata (girls)
Mia Morgan. 1st
Seren Harries. 2nd
Holly Harvey. 3rd
High grade kata (boys)
Luke Davies. 1st
William Lawrence. 4th
Kyokushin Rules 11-13yrs (girls)
Lili Bryan. 2nd
Kyokushin Rules 11-13yrs (boys)
Rhys Meredith. 1st
Kyokushin rules 14-15 (girls)
Holly Harvey. 1st
Mia Morgan 2nd
Kyokushin Rules 14-15 (boys)
Luke Davies. 1st
Cadet L/W girls
Sophie Hobbs 2nd
Cadet H/W girls
Alicia Bennett. 1st
The BKK had a busy weekend with competitors going to both the Diamond Cup in Belgium and the IKKU Scottish Open.
We had nine participants in Antwerp at the WKO event with Emma Markwell BKK securing her second diamond winning the -57kg title. In a strong field she worked her way to the final defeating Kimm Carriere from Canada in the semi.
Hayley Beth Rowlands also fought in the other semi final but lost out to the Bulgarian WKO European Champion. Its another successful step for Hayley as she works her way towards the top honours.
Also competing in the adults was Lisa Heath who made the Quarters but lost by decision to Swedish fighter Cecilia Wallin and Luke Baldwin who had a tough three rounder to the very durable Juan Carlos Auge of Spain.
The cadets had to fight with slightly different rules to what they are used to with helmets and light contact kicks to the head scoring waza ari so I don't think this suited their fighting style but it was still great experience for the three of them with Jaime May Rowlands and Jess Charsley taking joint 3rd and Luke Jones missing out to the head kick rule.
The BKK also competed in the Kata event with Janine Davies taking a credible 3rd place losing to the European Champion in the semi and Sunil Tailor missed out early on.
Meanwhile in Scotland the BKK had approximately twenty participants and they picked up lots of silverware.
We did really well in the Novice categories with gold Weronika Oleisejuk WHW , Harry Harden MLW and Dylan Baldwin MMW. Also Invictus got 2nd in MHW with Tristan Taylor and most spirited fighter Jon Joe Lawler in tough novice categories.
In the Open categories fight of the day saw MW final teammates Blake Collins and Dawid Ozga fight a tough three round battle with Collins sneaking a 3-2 decision .
Ben Watson of Westhill also deserves a mention for a very hard earned 3rd place in MHW to show he is improving all the time.
Overall the event was a tremendous success for the BKK with lots of valuable experience and we look forward to seeing them all compete at the BKK English Open in May!
Results
Diamond Cup
WLW Emma Markwell Westcroft 1st
WLW Hayley Beth Rowlands Cardiff 3rd
CGLW Jaime May Rowlands Cwmbran 3rd
CGLW Jess Charsley Verwood 3rd
Womens Kata Janine Davies Mountain Ash 3rd
Scottish Open
MMW Blake Collins Crawley 1st
MMW Dawid Ozga Crawley 2nd
MHW Ben Watson Westhill 3rd
WHW Lyndsey Moulden Ynysybwl 2nd
NWHW Weronika Olesiejuk Melton Mowbray 1st
NMLW Harry Harden Crawley 1st
NMMW Dylan Baldwin Mountain Ash 1st
NMHW Tristan Taylor Invictus 2nd
Veterans LW Sid Moulden Mountain Ash 2nd
Veterans LW Matthew Lawler Invictus 3rd
Veterans HW Dariousz Delecta West Yorkshire 3rd
Most Spirited Fighter Jon Joe Lawler Invictus
It's a busy weekend for BKK karateka with students participating in both the WKO Diamond Cup in Belgium and the IKKU Scottish Open in Glasgow.
Good luck to all competing.
Diamond Cup
Jess Charsley – Verwood Cadet GLW
Jaime May Rowlands – Cwmbran Cadet GLW
Luke Jones – Mountain Ash Cadet BLW
Emma Markwell – Westcroft LLW
Hayley Beth Rowlands – Cardiff LLW
Lisa Marie Heath – Mountain Ash LMW
Luke Baldwin – Mountain Ash MHW
Janine Davies – Mountain Ash W Kata
Sunil Tailor – Loughborough M Kata
Scottish Open
Weronika Olesiejuk – Melton Mowbray WNHW
Harry Harden - Crawley MNLW
Ryan Bullock - Derby - MNLW
Andis Didzus - Derby – MNLW
Adrian Bundoiu - Milton Keynes MNMW
Dylan Baldwin - Mountain Ash MNMW
John-Joe Lawlor - Invictus MNMW
Thomas Carrington-Roberts -Derby MNMW
Tomasz Czubacki - Derby MNMW
Normunds Pumpa - Derby - MNMW
Warner Morris - Oldham MNMW
Tristan Taylor - Invictus MNHW
Nigel Grant - Melton Mowbray MNHW
Zoeleigh Moulden - Mountain Ash WLW
Lyndsay Moulden - Ynysybwl WHW
Blake Collins - Crawley MMW
Dawid Ozga - Crawley MMW
Sami Mehio -Hastings & Bexhill MMW
Gabriel Barbu - Crawley MHW
Sidney Moulden - Mountain Ash Vets LW
Matthew Lawlor - Invictus Vets LW
Eddie Corcoran – Milton Keynes Vets HW
Dariousz Delecta - West Yorkshire vets HW
Team GB (L-R): Graham Warden (Head Coach), Gabriel Barbu, Haley-Beth Rowlands, Emma Markwell, Lisa-Marie Heath, Roger Styles (coach)
Team Great Britain attended the 3rd KWU World Tournament held in Ekaterinberg, Russia 9th-10th December 2017, in what was one of the most professional and spectacular Kyokushin tournaments ever seen setting the standard for all others.
In a hotly contested tournament of extremely high standards, Emma Markwell claimed her third World-level silver medal. Congratulations to her, and the rest of the team who represented us all proudly.
(L-R) Shihan Graham Warden, Gabriel Barbu, Emma Markwell, Lisa-Marie Heath, Sensei Roger Styles
The BKK wishes Team GB the best of luck at the 3rd KWU World Tournament held over two days this weekend (8th-9th December) in Ekaterinburg, Russia.
This year's national Clicker championships saw approximately 300 competitors with 60 teams across 22 categories, including a Junior and PeeWee Home Nations event in England vs. Wales vs. Ireland.
Thanks to all those in attendance, in what was a 25% increase in participation from last year, with one less fighting area to use, and a much longer than anticipated day of competition.
Special thanks also to our friends from IFK Ireland for travelling over and supporting the event.
Thanks too to the referees, officials and organisers who came together to make this tournament the success it was.
Teams England and Wales
BACK ROW (L to R)
Sensei Chris Davies (Wales coach), Maise Blackford (Eng), Luke Sabey (Eng), Luke Jones (Wales), Sophie Hobbs (Wales), Ame Sorge (Eng), Sensei Wai Cheung (Eng coach), Rob Salvi (Eng), Aaron Sheehan (Wales), Luke Davies (Wales), Max Williams (Wales), Sensei Tony White (Eng coach)
FRONT ROW (L to R)
Beth Salvi (Eng), Bart Proctor (Eng), Dennis Sorokins (Eng), Jessica Charsley (Eng), Rhys Meredith (Wales), Holly Harvey (Wales), Lili Bryan (Wales), Mia Morgan (Wales)
Results from the Sutani Belgium Youth and Beginners Tournament 2017:
Team England
Bart Procter 1st
Denis Sorokins 1st
Beth Salvi 2nd
Maesi Blackford 2nd
Ame Sorge 3rd
Team Wales
Max Williams 1st
Luke Jones 2nd
Rhys Meredith 2nd
Luke Davies 2nd
Mia Morgan 3rd
They did us proud!
It is with great sadness we annouce Sensei Al Jelly (4th Dan) formerly of Abbey Wood Dojo, passed away on the 30th September 2017 after a short illness.
He was a student of Hanshi Arneil's at Crystal Palace dojo, before runinng his own dojo in Abbey Wood. Hanshi and the entire BKK express their sincere condolences to his family. He will be missed.
More news as we have it.
RIP Sensei Al.
Osu!
A good turn out at the kata course today with Sensei Darren Stringer. Thanks to Shihan Alan and Shihan Janine for their help today. We hope everyone enjoyed the course and the bunkai application aspect.
Thanks to all those who made the journey. See you all soon.
Osu!
The 41st British Open was streamed live on Saturday 23rd September with fighting across 2 areas. Watch all the action below, and check out the results here
Live action form the K2 Centre in Crawley. Live streaming proudly sponsored by Educational Funding Company and MMA Mats. Filming and live streaming provided by MAaction.com https://www.efcmartialarts.co.uk/ https://www.mmamats.co.uk/
Cadets U18 Boys -68kg, +78kg (Rounds 1-4)
Cadet U18 Girls -58kg, +58kg (Round 1-4)
Open Mens-70kg (bottom draw), -80kg (Rounds 1,2, Qtr-Final, Semi-Final, Finals)
Open Womens -60kg (Rounds 1,2, Qtr-Final, Semi-Final, Finals)
Live action form the K2 Centre in Crawley. Live streaming proudly sponsored by Educational Funding Company and MMA Mats. Filming and live streaming provided by MAaction.com https://www.efcmartialarts.co.uk/ https://www.mmamats.co.uk/
Novice Mens -70kg, -80kg (Qtr, Semi, Final)
Novice Womens +60kg (Semi, Final)
Novice Men +80kg (Final)
Open Womens +60kg, (Rounds 1,2, Qtr-Final, Semi-Final, Finals)
Open Mens -70kg (top drawer), +80kg (Rounds 1,2, Qtr-Final, Semi-Final, Finals)
The popular BKK Magazine which showcases Kyokushinkai news and events from the past 12 months is now available as a free of charge download.
This year’s magazine is presented in a modern, downloadable format so you can read it on-the-go using your mobile phone or tablet device.
This beautiful Australian leather belt has been kindly donated by long time Kyokushin student Robert Macgregor. The belt is custom hand-made for our 2017 tournament and is embossed with “Spirited Fighter” in Japanese.
It will be awarded to a fighter at our tournament on 23rd September 2017 for determination and perseverance (not necessarily a winner).
See who can win the award at the list of British Open 2017 registered fighters at
http://www.bkk-britishopen.com/registered-fighters.html .
You can see Robert’s other hand-made leather belts by clicking here
Congratulations to Shihan David Pickthall who was promoted to 7th Dan by Hanshi Steve Arneil and the IFK Board at the recent World Tournament in Romania.
Shihan David in his role as Vice - President of the IFK has in the past ten years worked tirelessly with Hanshi to develop the IFK and has added a different dynamic to the membership of the IFK.
In addition, his charismatic and personable character has uniquely contributed to the support of the IFK from other organisations such as Shinkyokushin, Kyokushinkaikan and many more.