Chesham to take part in a kickboxing competition last week  with  ‘Dangerous’ ‘Damien Hamilton, a current world champion title holder who stood in for the club founder Junior ‘Hurricane’ Alleyne on the day as head coach and prepared the fighters who were against more experienced kickboxers on the day.

 

Alex Hearn-Phillips, 13 years old proved that perseverance pays off, previously being a runner up, his first fight of the day was won with conviction, Alex sparred for the 2 x 1 min rounds with a series of punches and leg techniques, he refused to be over powered by his opponent, stayed calm and picked his techniques to score maximum points. With only 10 minutes to rest Alex was up again, stepping in to fight an opponent who’s match did not turn up.  Although less experienced this time around Alex started the fight with self control and did well to dodge the punches from his opponent who was fighting full contact and despite being told repeatly from the referee to calm down he refused to.  So with safety in mind the fight was stopped and Alex was awarded his second  win from the 3 judges.

 

The 12 year old was one of 8 West Reading ‘Hurricane Warriors’ competitors who travelled to Blackbird Leys, Oxford for the annual event.   

Each Team Hurricane member won at least 1 medal and they were noticed as a team of strong and talented contenders against clubs from London, Cardiff,  Birmingham,  Didcot, Swindon and Oxford.  Tamani won his first Gold of the day in Red Belt Patterns with a display of sharp, clean techniques executed with power and accuracy.  He went on to win his second Gold in the sparring.

 

For fellow team-mate Lucy Gorman, her first competition was a success as she went on to take a Bronze in Yellow Belt Sparring, just losing out to a more experienced boy competitor.  8 year old Lucy pushed forward for the 1.5 min round with hand and feet combinations and determination  the crowd was  behind Lucy and chanted her name as she showed her true Warrior spirit.  Girl power stayed with 8 year old Natalie Gault and Sophie Wan who went onto win Silver and Bronze respectively in the Sparring.

 

For 14 year old Black Belts Brandan Charles and Peter Gault, it was a close contest on the day as they met each other in the final of Patterns.  They both performed their patterns with such fluent and impressive techniques it was difficult for both the audience and judges to call a decision, which accumulated with Brandan Charles just pipping his team mate by 1 point to win the Gold.  The only adult Black belt on the day,  Joel Wilson carried on the winning streak to win a final Gold in sparring with his first opponent being unable to continue and the final allowing him to show his skill and flexibility.  For Dennis Medford, the competition was a fitting end to him competiting as a colour belt, Dennis who is going for Black Belt Promotion in March with the UKTA Founder and first Grand Master Rhee Ki Ha IX Dan won

Gold and Silver on the day.

 

 And finally on the other end of the scale, new comer white belt Leroy Brooker happily took home two silvers for his sparring and patterns division.  The medal ceremony presented by host Master Mitchell VII Dan, President of  Grenada ITF Taekwon-do Association and Eastern Caribbean Taekwon-do Association was followed by the traditional free food and buffet and a seasonal raffle.

 

The Hurricane Warriors have literally been taking the world by storm by winning national and international competitions across the globe.

Dangerous Damien Hamilton recently picked up another title in Bristol and added this to his ever growing collection of international and national belts.  Five rounds were fought for the Celtic title with the Reading/England kick-boxer and his team being outnumbered by the Welsh crowd who were in fine singing voice.  Damien controlled the fight from the start and did not let his opponent take the upper hand, he entertained the crowd with his jumping techniques and fast punching motion.

A couple of weeks ago, Joel Wilson and Sarah Prodywus representing West Reading Martial Arts –, accompanied  their coach Mr J Alleyne Jnr IV Dan to represent the UK.  The students from West Reading Taekwon-do took part in the Second International Taekwon-Do Federation Caribbean Championships that were held in Grenada, West Indies. The event was opened by renowed Taekwon-do figures - the Sports Minister for Grenada (Hon. Patrick Simmons), Grand Master Jong Soo Park who flew in from Canada, Doctor/Master Andy Mencia who flew in from the USA, Master Small (representative from Barbados) and Master Mitchell (based in Oxford)  who is the founder and organiser of this tournament and also President of both the Grenada Taekwon-Do Association and the Eastern Caribbean TKD Association.

The backdrop of the Grenada Grand Beach Hotel and Conference Centre played host to the worldwide competitors including the UK, Ireland, Carracou, Trinidad, Grendada and Barbados.

Joel was the first of the duo to gain a medal – Gold medal in the Black Belt patterns. He went through three tough rounds ending up against a student of a senior Grade in the final yet still managed to show substantially more skill and power in his movements to secure first place.  Joel followed this excellent success  up in the sparring category.  He fought through tough rounds to win his second Gold medal of the day, even with a shoulder injury he gained in his first bout. He had the crowd on edge when one of his bouts went into extra time due to a split decision but he rose to the challenge, spurred on by the encouragement and cheer of the spectators to ensure he gained his second win.

Sarah was first up out of the two in sparring and won a Silver medal in this category. This her first tournament as a Black Belt and again she was competing against students with many more years experience at their grade than herself and she had to adapt fast,  

At the end of the competition and training sessions - Mr Alleyne  (West Reading Martial Arts founder) was presented with a certificate of Appreciation in recognition of his ‘Meticulous training method, knowledge and experience’ as the overseas students were truly grateful to have the chance to share his knowledge and could see a noticeable improvement in their techniques.

"2 b the best u have 2 beat the rest"