Luton Higashi

HKK Championships 2006 Rivermead, Reading - October 7th

A table of trophies!
The Luton team with instructors Alex , Ayushi, James and John

This is the main HKK competition of the year and, as the reigning champions, the Luton Lunatics went in with the aim of winning more medals than ever before. And they did. Luton won 23 medals in all and finished second out of all the Higashi clubs (congratulations Ealing on coming first!)

The day started strong as Luton took medals in almost all the kata categories they entered. Their new strength was in the team categories where they won medals in the junior and senior team katas as well as team kumite for the first time.

Luton's medals are as follows

Kata

Event	Name	Placing
Team Kata Junior	Ayushi, Zahra, Kayleigh	Gold
Over 35yrs Kata	John	Gold
Girls 3-1st Kyu Kata	Zahra	Gold
Girls 5-4th Kyu Kata	Alena	Gold
Open Kata Event	Ayushi	Silver
Female Black Belt Kata	Ayushi	Silver
Team Kata Senior	John, Alex, James	Bronze
Girls 3-1st Kyu Kata	Kayleigh	Bronze
Senior 8-5th Kyu Kata	Louise	Bronze

Kumite (free sparring)

Event	Name	Placing
Over 35yrs Kumite	John	Silver
Girls 130-145cm Open Kumite	Kayleigh	Silver
Female 7-4th Kyu Kumite	Louise	Silver
Male Yellow-Green Kumite	Dr. Alan	Silver
Male Team Kumite	John, Jeff, Enrico	Bronze
Boys 160-175cm BBP Kumite	James	Bronze
Girls 130-145cm Open Kumite	Zahra	Bronze
Female 7-4th Kyu Kumite	Ingrid	Bronze

And here are the photos:

Above - Alena winning gold for kata

Everyone in the Luton team performed admirably. With 23 medals won by 13 hopefuls almost everyone went home with at least one trophy. Performance of note were as follows:

Zahra - a former member of the HKK team, she is no stranger to gold medals. This is the third competition in a row she has come back from with a gold medal. This time she won three medals - gold in individual kata, gold in team kata and bronze in kumite.

Alena - she won gold in her category last year and has came back to win her second gold in her second competition.

Ayushi - a member of the HKK National Squad, we always expect a lot from Ayushi. This time she won silver in the ladies kata, silver in the special kata and gold in the team kata.

Kayleigh - this is her second competition and she also won a clutch of medals. In the same categories as Zahra, she too got gold in the team kata. She also won silver in the kumite and bronze in the individual kata.

John - and last but not least, our esteemed chief instructor. John won the Luton record by bringing home four trophies. These were: gold in kata, bronze in team kata, silver in kumite and bronze in team kumite.

Well done to everyone who competed!

Below - Ayushi winning one of her silver medals

Above - James kicking his way to a bronze

Below - John foot-massaging his way to a silver

Above - Zahra (right) and Kayleigh (middle) win gold and bronze for individual kata

Below - Luton's junior team (Kayleigh, Ayushi and Zahra) winning gold in team kata

Above - Kayleigh (2nd from right) and Zahra (far left) win silver and bronze in the individual kumite

Below - Nadia (left) punching anyone put in front of her!

Below - Squad members. Ayushi (2nd from left) trying not to drop any of her trophies!