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MARTIAL ARTS
All the up-to-date news from the Boston judo, karate, taekwondo scene
2006 martial arts news |
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November 12 JUDO Several members of Boston Judo Club travelled to the
Breckland Sports Centre in Thetford for a coloured belts grading competition.
Senior player Elvis Isachi enjoyed three impressive wins using throwing,
strangulation and arm-lock techniques. He came to Boston from Romania where
he was already a black belt judo expert. With the club’s help, he has now become
a British Judo Association member and is converting his Romanian black belt
to a British one. |
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September 8 KARATE Karate ace Craig Butterfield travelled to Yarborough
Sports Centre in Lincoln to compete for the Lincolnshire title. He competed at under 70kg, well above his normal weight
of 55kg. This meant fighting people much bigger than he is used to falling.
He had three fights and won each one to take the title. It was a great warm-up for the forthcoming World United
Martial Arts Championships in Malta. Where he hoped to take gold after a
silver in Denmark 2002 and also a silver in Germany 2004. The Boston ace is now training and preparing ready for
November 11, 12 and 13 when he represents Great Britain at both under 55kg
and under 60kg. He expressed thanks to his sponsors Finnforest Timber and
Creations Gym. |
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August 25 KICK BOXING Boston’s Zak Ward is aiming to achieve world kick-boxing
success. The 14-year-old jets off to Croatia in September in his quest for
prestigious honours. Zak, who attends Giles School, Old Leake, has been
selected as part of the Great Britain team to contest the WAKO world
championships. And his eyes will be focused on trying to beat off competition
from all his international rivals in the light continuous under-47kg
category. September 26 is the date when his mission will begin. Zak has been involved in the sport for seven years. He
has gained black belt status, in the reigning British champion in the 12 to
15 years age range and trains regularly at the Impact Martial Arts Gym at
Sleaford under the guidance of instructor Greg Darmon. To help offset the
cost of his trip to Croatia, he has gained sponsorship backing from Bennshorr
Property Services of Boston. |
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June 16 JUDO Boston Judo Club tok seven of their members to Norwich, all looking to move further up
the coloured grades ladder. Natalie Fixter led the way in gaining her senior green
belt (6 kyu) making her one of the club’s highest grades on the mat at this
time. Aged 17, she is proving to be a promising young lady for the future,
says club coach Dave Jacklin. Her next belt is blue. Hot on her heels is junior member Alex Topley who showed
good form in gaining his top green belt (12mon). Again, his next belt is
blue. Also on the day Georges Cornah and Jared Ross both fought well and are
improving all the time. Both gained promotion to orange belt (8 mon). Lily
Kemp and Jack Bain showed good fighting spirit at their first grading outside
the Boston club and both earned promotion to orange belt (7 mon). Senior Adam Waterfall also fought outside the club for the
first time showed much promise, handling heavier players well and earning
promotion to (8th kyu) orange belt. Dave Jacklin said: “Players have been
worked hard by Andy Ross and me. It’s out job to prepared fighters for
promotion. “Thankfully all our members received promotion at Norwich, a
reflection of the high standard achievable at the Boston Judo Club and the
hard work each member has put in to improve their levels of skill.” For more information on Boston Judo Club contact Dave
Jacklin on (01205) 360455 or call on practice evenings (Mondays and
Thursdays), the club operates from the Conservative Club, Main Ridge, Boston.
Times are: Juniors, 7pm to 8pm (7 years to 14 boys and girls); seniors, 8pm
to 9pm (14 years to adult, men and women). Spectators are welcome. First
lesson is free. Cost per lesson for juniors is £1.80; cost per lesson for
seniors is £2.30. Junior membership is £10 (March to March), senior
membership is £15 (March to March). |
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June 2 JUDO Boston Judo Club’s prestigious honorary member award has
been presented to Ted Cook who has been connected with the town sports
organisation since the age of 32—back in 1968. He was promoted to senior brown belt in 1972. |
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April 10 JUDO There is plenty of cause for celebration among members
and officials at Boston Judo Club with the news that the sporting
organisation has been successful in its application to the National Lottery
with the award of a £5,000 grant. The money is being used to replace the
club’s existing mats. Dave Jacklin, who put together the bid, said:
“Thankfully the Lottery recognised and supported our bid. Judo mats are our
largest outlay after rents. Our members deserve top quality mats to practice
on. It has always been an uphill
battle trying to maintain a safe fighting area, a priority in Boston Judo
Clubs eyes. We had planned to replace out judo mats over the next five years.
The lottery money brings forward that part of our five-year plan.” The club is now planning to press on with its most
ambitious plan — that of securing a
purpose-built judo hall with permanently laid mats to help ensure the
long-term development of Olympic judo in Boston. The club is celebrating half-a-century of continuous
service to Boston and district. It has strong links with Boston’s twin Laval
and enjoys an active role in the community, linking up with Lincolnshire
County Council, Boston Borough Council, Boston College, Lincolnshire Police,
Boston Youth Service, local schools and clubs and several businesses. Practice nights as follows: Mondays and Thursday 7pm to
8pm for juniors (seven to 14 years) and 8pm to 9pm for seniors (14 years to
adults). |
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January 30 KARATE European karate champion Craig Butterfield has added
more titles to his ever-expanding list by winning three major competitions in
three weeks. The 23-year-old karate star from Boston began his latest trail
of glory by competing in the European Martial Arts Grand Championships.
Although Craig had not fought since his European title victory in November he
showed no signs of ring rust and cruised through to the final and took the
title by a decisive points margin of 5-1. January 21 saw Craig travel to Gloucester to fight in the World United Martial Arts
English open. Confident from the win the previous weekend and tipped as the
obvious favourite he showed exactly why he is so succesful, he showed perfect
technique and lightning fast speed to easily clinch the WUMA English title at
under 55kg. January 29 brought a much tougher challenge. The road to
more titles this time led him to Ilkeston and the European Martial Arts
English open. Unlike the week before when Craig fought at his recognised
weight of under-55kg this time Craig was fighting for the title at under-65kg
weight. The Boston youngster once again showed why he strikes
fear into the lightweight divisions. Even with the extra reach, the higher
weight category brings, nobody could match his speed, as once again he won
with ease and returned to Boston with yet another title. On February 4-5 Craig will travel to Windsor to compete
in the first round of the national superleague. Then February 12 sees him
fighting for the Lincolnshire title before the biggest domestic competion of
the year — the WAKO British Championships on February 19 — in Nottingham. With so many competions all over the country it proves expensive and Craig has expessed his gratitude to sponsors Finnforest Timber whose backing has been invaluable to enabling him to compete on such a regular basis. |
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January 6 TAEKWONDO The
year of 2005 ended with Boston Taekwondo Club celebrating success with 25
members passing club grading examinations in December. In addition, four other
members achieved further success at black belt national gradings in
Darlington. Highlight
was the achievement of Master Alan Steeper, chief instructor of the club. He
has now attained sixth dan status. With only a couple of World Taekwondo
Federation seventh dans in the country, this is a prestigious feat for the
Boston club. To add to this, Master Kieron Cox, also from the Boston area,
was the only person to achieve seventh dan on the day. The
club’s reputation of turning out high quality black belt students was
enhanced further by Mark Gosling becoming a fourth dan, Kimberley Stancer
reaching second dan and Ian Lee achieving first dan status. On the
local front, numerous club members moved closer to black belt status
themselves. The results were as follows (with ninth kup as the first beginner
achievement and first kup as the level just below black belt): 9th
kup, Lauren Issitt and Rubab Haider; 8th kup, Euan Ross, Abdullah Jalil,
Alexander Baxter, Oliver Westland, Dominic Digan, Rosie Dunn and Sam Danby;
7th kup, Zahra Haider, Sinead Digan,
Martyn Connor, Timothy McDonnell-Woods, Terry Connor and Byron Jones; 6th
kup, Ali Jafary, Hanna Zafar and
Walead Zafar; 4th kup, Chloe Pitts,
Nigel Smith, Rachelle Harris and Ross Chambers; 2nd kup, Alan Whyte; 1st kup, Mark Raybould and Peter Steele. |
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January 5 JUDO Boston
Judo Club officials are poised to host a 10-week taster course for anyone
interested in learning about or taking up the sport. Boston Conservative Club,
Main Ridge, will be the venue for the regular sessions, starting on February
2 to run from 8pm to 9pm each Thursday. An
enrolment cost of £50 includes the loan of a judo suit and a £20 refund is
available for anyone subsequently deciding not to carry on with any
involvement in judo. Boston
Judo Club is also hosting family fun fitness circuit training sessions (also
spanning 10 weeks). This will begin on January 31 (6.30pm to 7.30pm) at the
same venue — the only requirement being children in the 7 to 12 age bracket
need to be accompanied by a parent or guardian (£1.50 per evening or discount
rates available). Similar sessions specifically for youths and adults will be
in the 8pm to 9pm time slot. Full details on all sessions and Boston Judo
Club in general can be obtained from Dave Jacklin, contactable via the
Conservative Club. |