Yorkshire Open
The second tournament of the year for Dokan but the first one the full squad could attend - and most did. With a massive entry of 39 students we arrived at Barnsley Metrodome to find there were 900 entries and the place was bursting at the seams.
With so many of our students attending and with Dokan winning so many medals it is nigh on impossible to mention everyone but we did have a great turn out from our very young boy students.
We entered nine boys under eight years of age. The club finished the day winning 19 gold, 25 silver and 18 bronze medals. In a tournament of this size, and more importantly of this quality, it is a marvellous achievement and Dokan have let the circuit know they are coming into 2016 ready for action.
Individual kumite winners were Lola Cassidy, Maddison Taylor, Emma Ali Hutchinson, Luke Chatterje and Marcus Henderson. Everyone was magnificent but all the individual winners fought brilliantly and this made the day for me. We also had silvers in three separate kumite events from Isabella Shields, Laila Hunnam and Eleisha Mitchinson with some great individual performances.
Kata was exceptionally tough with most bouts being very closely lost or won. Again, I was pleased with the squad and with the teams and pairs but of special note was Eve Palmer winning her 10 to 12 age group with a flawless performance of three different Shito-ryu kata.
Overall the day was huge success and very well organised by Paul Royston who did a top job keeping things flowing, being sensible and accommodating all day. If all tournament organisers were like this karate competitions would be a friendlier and more relaxed affair.
Despite our coach refusing to start for one hour and scaring the life out of the parents, the party atmosphere returning home was hilarious.
