Ilford Students Fly at the Nationals!

Members of the Kaizen Ryu club in Ilford competed at the TKF National Championships on Sunday at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre. The team picked up an unprecedented 24 medals, including 10 gold, 6 silver and 8 bronze. The most impressive part of the result is that the team scored wins in a quarter of all the divisions available; something that has never happened in the competitions history!

In kata, the prearranged forms section of the competition, Abiraami Govindan (6) demonstrated great skill to get 2^nd. Winning a podium at such a high level at such a young age is particularly note worthy; are we looking at a star for the future? Fellow students who train at Ilford club, husband and wife Marie and Indran Tanabalan, became National Champions by winning the both the women’s and the men’s divisions. The pair met through karate and, with some 30 plus years of training between them; including visiting Japan annually for training, dominated the rounds beating the best contenders from around the country. Marie also won the women’s team kata competition with her training partners Vicky Phillips and Emmie Brown (both 23). The trio have been training together for over 2 years for this competition and their preparation paid off in the most spectacular way as they emerged victorious with their display of superior technique.

Kumite, point fighting, followed and the team found another level as they went on to gain more podiums. Abiraami performed brilliantly to earn her second silver in her division; giving her a nice little collection to take home with her. Natalia Sousa Gallego (9) held her tears back as she had to face an aggressive opponent who caught her with a punch. Brave Natalia carried on and finished with a well deserved bronze. Her smile on the podium made all the drama worthwhile for her supporters. Jacob Wilmore (12), who has only been training at the Ilford dojo for around a year having joined from a local freestyle club, took on junior brown and black belts and got though many rounds to finish an amazing 3^rd. his gutsy performance got noticed by the GB Team selectors and with a few more year’s under his belt he may well prove to be an asset to the squad. Sunit Jogia (12) topped the same division as Jacob and proved simply too quick with his punches and sweeps for the other lads in his class. Sunit has already seen action around Europe at world championship level and got a bronze and silver last weekend in Turin, Italy. Marie got through the opening rounds and into the final in the women’s lightweight division only to lose out by only a single point in overtime. The feeling is that she could have beaten her opponent if she wasn’t still feeling the fatigue of getting gold in the World Championships only last weekend. She, however, was absolutely overjoyed to get silver as it secured her place in the Great Britain Team for next year’s World’s in Tokyo, Japan. Indran picked up his second gold of the day in the men’s middleweight division. The final was also decided in overtime and both fighters went for the same move after the restart, a thrusting jab to the head. The East Londoner’s got through first and the top step of the podium was decided in a fraction of a second! He then followed his captain, Tony Knight (who fought in the KUGB England squad) to victory in the men’s team event.

Gold and silver medal winners from the Nationals, which saw around 400 competitors attend from all regions around the country, earn a spot on the Great Britain Team that will now train together toward the World Championships in Japan next year. We should all be proud that students who train in these humble clubs in the East End have made the grade to represent their country at the highest level on the sport. If you would to follow the team you can check the club’s website www.kaizenryu.com or follow the GB Team through www.tkfnationals.wordpress.com