T-UK British Championships 2019

There are days when being a martial arts instructor is very taxing to say the least. There are also days when it is an absolute pleasure. Saturday 12th October was one of those days. A small team from T-UK Leeds travelled down to Stratford-Upon-Avon to compete in the T-UK British Championships.

This was a special day for me as Emma was competing in a tournament for the first time in about 14 years. Adam had also attended and was to coach the various competitors so it was a true family occasion.

The tournament was to be run slightly differently to the norm with Black Belt competitors up first. No sooner had we started than Emma was on the square. I am delighted to announce that after a slightly nervous start, Emma won Bronze in the “up to 3rd Degree Pattern” section. Proud dad.

Following quickly after Emma was Rebecca who was competing even though unwell. Marcus had had to stop the car three times on the way down to the tournament due to Rebecca’s illness (enough said). Even though she was looking as pale as a sheet, Rebecca won Gold in Junior Female Pattern. Well done Rebecca.

The day had got off to the perfect start. Next up was Oleks, who was competing in both Pattern and Sparring sections. This was a tough category as it was ranked from Green Belt to Black Tag. After a long session on the mats, Oleks came away with two Silver medals, which was an amazing performance.

This was all becoming a tough act to follow. Next on the square was Holly. In previous tournaments, Holly had had no luck what so ever, usually drawing the winner of the event in the first round. This day was to be a little different and Holly made it through to the final of Pattern. After a great performance, I was so happy for Holly when she won her first Gold. Well done Holly. They keep coming.

So…..no pressure at all for Cat, out last competitor going into senior Pattern and Sparring in the Red Belt/Black Tag category. The Pattern section was strong but I was so pleased that Cat came away with the Bronze after a good performance against strong competitors. Cat also won Gold in sparring. As this category was a little light, Cat offered to fight the males as a true Leeds girl would but surprisingly, they all declined. Shame really as two gold for sparring would have been nice.

I would like to thank Master John Archer for the invite to this extremely well run tournament. Thanks also to the officials for working hard all day to make this a great event. Thanks to Adam for coaching the guys and helping through the day. Thanks also to Marcus for combining doorman and team dad through the day. But most of all, thanks to the students of T-UK Leeds for working so hard and making me a very proud Master.

Hopefully this success will mean more of the team will compete in the next one. This day proved that our standards are as good as anyone and we will continue to train hard to keep things this way.