WKA British Championships 2009

The World Kickboxing & Karate Association (WKA) held their British Open Kung Fu Championships on Sunday 21st June at the Haden Hill Leisure Centre in Cradley Heath, Birmingham.

The Sil Lum Kune club took 53 squad members to compete in the various disciplines on offer including Qingda (light contact sparring with throws and push outs), Points Sparring, Light Continuous Sparring, Traditional Chinese Open-hand forms and Chinese weapons forms. On top of this other members of the club were in attendance as officials and judges to help the day run smoothly.

There were clubs in attendance from all parts of the UK and because it was an open championship there were many different martial arts on show including Kickboxing, Karate and Kung Fu. This gave the competitors the chance to go up against a style different to their own.

The hall was laid out in to four sections with one area each for Forms, Qingda, Points & Semi Contact Sparring. The children’s competition got underway first, which meant a good deal of waiting around for the adults, but relief for the watching parents.

Each club seemed to have a particular focus; the kickboxing clubs seemed to favour Points Sparring, whilst we mainly concentrated on Forms and Qingda.

The use of electronic timers and scoreboards in each area was a welcome addition for both competitors and spectators alike giving a clear idea of how near or far victory or defeat was.

It was early afternoon before the adults competition got underway, but for most people all frustrations at having to sit around were soon forgotten once the buzzer sounded to start their bout. The final fight finished at about 4pm signalling the end of a long, but ultimately satisfying day for the Sil Lum Kune club, with all squad members competing well, especially the youngsters in what for many of them was their first taste of competitive action.

Highlights of the day included Charlotte Burkinshaw entering seven events and achieving 5 gold’s, 1 silver and 1 bronze. This was possible because Charlotte had entered the 4 categories for her age group of under 16 years and then 3 further ones in the adult women’s age group. 

Overall the squad returned home with 41 individual medal winners and 83 medals in all (28 gold, 32 silver, 23 bronze).

  

Written by Sean Krauth.