On Saturday 7th September a squad of 10 players from the Western Area headed to Kidderminster for the British Kata Championships which this year had attracted a record number of entries.
The event started with the Ju-No-Kata section, in which Alice Merrismith & Lani Smith-Robinson from Patchway JC took Silver and Pete Whitfield & Bruce Baker from South Brent JC took Bronze, from a field of 7 pairs.
The Katame-No-Kata category had a record 12 pairs entered, in which Pete Whitfield & Bruce Baker from South Brent JC finished just out of the medals in 4th place, Alice Merrismith & Lani Smith-Robinson finished 5th and Eva Minarikova & Sue Bennett from Kazoku JC finished a very commendable 8th place on their competitive kata debut.
The third category of the day was Itsutsu-No-Kata, in which Pete Whitfield & Bruce Baker from South Brent JC took the Silver from a field of 4 pairs.
Kodokan Goshin jitsu was the only category without a West pair entry.
The Junior Katame-No-Kata category was won by Daisy Fergus & Rachell Bennett from Kazoku JC, also making their debut & becoming 2024 British Champions.
Next was the Kime No Kata category, in which Pete Whitfield & Bruce Baker from South Brent JC took the Silver from a field of 6 pairs.
The final category was Nage-No-Kata which had attracted the second largest entry with 8 pairs. Ming Tak Leung & Chris Greenway from Japan Arts Centre JC took Silver and Alice Merrismith & Lani Smith-Robinson from Patchway JC finished just out of the medals in 4th place.
There was a big increase in the number of entries this year, with it going from 31 in 2023 up to 45 this year. In addition to the number of entries being up, the standard of the Kata demonstrated was also markedly up, making the medals harder to come by.
The Western Area Kata Squad as a whole picked up 1 Gold, 4 Silver, 1 Bronze & two 4th places, which placed the area third behind the NHC & Scotland.
A big thank you to Samurai JC for hosting the event & to the Judges (including the Western Area’s Kata Rep. – Jeremy Robinson) for enabling the event to go ahead & for their generous feedback on our performances.
For anyone interested in getting involved in Kata contact Jeremy Robinson email: judojerm@hotmail.co.uk mob: 07789276651.
