Double gold for karate's golden girls @the Tokon Kai Invitational May 2010

Kaizen Ryu Karate's golden girls Gina Boot and Vicky Phillips fought their way to a thrilling double gold victory after both winning their divisional final; girls black belt division, at the Tokon Kai Championships on Saturday 8th May in Essex.
 
Gina Boot who trains in Romford and competes in the national squad, secured her Kumite win with an amazing head level round kick, ending the fight in less than a minute. Her squad team mate Vicky Phillips (who trains in Dagenham), who also won a gold in Kumite at the weekend's competition also competed in Kata (forms) and secured a silver with her Kata Unsu. Both girls have been training regularly at the weekends on top of their weekday karate lessons, and are hoping for a similiar victory in Poland later in the year, when they travel there for the FSKA World Championships, along with the rest of the squad.
 
Coach Indran Tanabalan, who also competed at the weekend, winning a double gold victory in both Kata and Kumite (in the men's open black belt division), said "it was an enjoyable day, with plenty of high level competitors competing for the top spot. These girls have been putting in the time and training required to get them ready for high level competition, and it's great to see the hard work paying off with the kind of results they are achieving".
 
Team member, Tyrone Briscoe (14yrs & trains in Bow) dug deep to win a bronze in Kumite against other black belt boys. He too will be competing at the Worlds at the end of the year. He said "I'm really looking forward to Poland, I think preparation is a key factor and I've got my eyes set on Gold!".