BATTLE OF THE DOJO 6 - REPORT.
The Battle of the Dojo is our own club competition which took place on 12th April 2008. Now that we have 2 professional studios we probably should have called it ‘The Battle of the Dojos’!
The first Battle of the Dojo took place in our very first full-time studio which was just a bit bigger than a garden shed! Our club competitions have always been organized to give members a chance to gain valuable competition experience. Many of our original participants have gone on to win National tournaments and even to become MAI instructors. For the first few Battle of the Dojo’s there were only ever 2 categories: over 18’s continuous and over 18’s points. Things have changed a lot since then as we had 10 categories this time and we will be adding even more for The Battle of the Dojo 7.
The standard on the day was very high. That sentence sounds like something that people just say to keep others happy. Anyone who knows me knows that’s not the way I work. I was very impressed with the overall standard and I thought all fights were fast paced from the start to the end. As I said on the day, it was amazing that every fight looked very evenly matched, especially considering that people train with different MAI instructors.
The kids did great as it was their very first competition. They are the future of our Dojo’s and we all hope they stick to it because it’s amazing how they don’t have any of the negative self thoughts that adults do. They simply went out onto the mat and did their best with an abundance of natural talent.
When watching the teenagers fight, it was hard to imagine them as kids (a couple of them are still only 12) because they all possessed fighting prowess beyond their years. Again, let’s encourage all of our talented teenagers to continue to channel all their energies into their Martial Arts training and away from the many negative influences out there.
Next up was the women’s category. Years ago there were very few women competing or even training in Martial Arts so we are delighted to see more women becoming interested in sparring. There are a lot of women training with us and we would love to see even more of you competing. The women’s points & continuous was a hard section to compete in because all levels competed together. There were some close and hard fights and everyone gave it their best.
The coloured belt men’s categories could have been a Blackbelt category at any other competition because the standard was right up there. Fighters started fast (probably too fast) and tried to keep the pace going throughout the rounds. It was very entertaining to watch but as a result, fighters ran out of steam and certain bouts were anyone’s for the taking – which made it even more exciting. There was so much talent in these sections, the instructors couldn’t predict who the winner would be.
The Black Belts really were a step above as they displayed the same fast pace but also excellent kicking & punching combinations. I have trained in many clubs and it is very rare to actually see instructors sparring. Despite the added pressure of their students watching, they all fought really great and you would be very hard pushed to find a better standard anywhere in the country.
Watching each category it was possible to see the big jumps in ability & experience which was great motivation for all our up and comers. Fair play to everyone who had ‘the bottle’ to compete as it is very easy to give into the nerves and not compete. There were a few people with good excuses not to compete and yet they still gave it their best shot and competed. We all hope that more of our members will give it a go at the next one.
As a parting shot, club competitions have never been a revenue earner for us. In fact, they always cost us money. The trophies alone for The Battle of the Dojo 6 & 7 cost 770 pounds sterling and we took in €660 (including spectators) for the event. We also cancelled classes to make sure that the studio space was available. We run these events for you and to help our club to grow. We would encourage you to compete with us at our next club competition:
The Battle of the Dojo 7 which will take place on Saturday 11th October 2008. With your continued support we will be adding more categories: An extra women’s section, an extra teenager’s section, a beginner men’s section and we also want to add a couple of grappling sections. Grand championship trophies will be awarded to competitors with the highest points from both club competitions this year. Anyone interested in sponsoring the event or any of our competitors, please contact us.
Thank you to everyone who helped set up the studio. Thank you to the instructors for motivating and training their students. Thank you to Declan Kidd and all the referees and officials who have a very thankless job. And finally, thank you to our photographers, Ed Kilty, Vioirca Matos & Rita-Marie Lawlor.
Keep your eyes on the Photos & Video Clips pages to see some of the action from The Battle of the Dojo 6.
Very Well Done To The Following:
Kids Continuous:
1st Glenn Lawlor
2nd James O’ Flynn
3rd Denis Dusmetov
Kids Points:
1st James O’ Flynn - 10 points
2nd Denis Dusmetov - 8 points
3rd Kevin Gociu & Glenn Lawlor - 6 points
Teenagers Points:
1st Geoffrey Kavanagh - 10 points
2nd Stuart Kirwan - 8 points
3rd Victor Perez - 6 points
Teenagers Continuous:
1st Geoffrey Kavanagh - 10 points
2nd Stuart Kirwan - 8 points
3rd Eddie Lawlor - 6 points
Men’s Continuous:
1st Marcel Kobes - 10 points
2nd Paul Kavanagh - 8 points
3rd James Cramer - 6 points
Men’s Points:
1st James Cramer - 10 points
2nd Jurijs Savcuks - 8 points
3rd Paul Kosmala - 6 points
Women’s Continuous:
1st Louise Quinn - 10 points
2nd Vioirca Matos - 8 points
3rd Sinead Courtney - 6 points
Women’s Points:
1st Louise Quinn - 10 points
2nd Caroline Clifford - 8 points
3rd Sinead Courtney - 6 points
Men’s Brown & Black Belt Continuous:
1st Kiefer Crosbie - 10 points
2nd Keith Quinn - 8 points
3rd Robert Mikulic - 6 points
Men’s Brown & Black Belt Points:
1st Keith Quinn - 10 points
2nd Colm O’ Griobhtha - 8 points
3rd Kiefer Crosbie - 6 points
All 1st places receive 10 points, 2nd receive 8 points & 3rd receive 6 points. Overall Champions will be those with the highest points from both The Battle of the Dojo 6 & 7.
Fighter of the day went to:
Kids: Kevin Gociu – he constantly had a smile on his face when fighting!
Teenagers: Alan Lee – he gave it socks up against bigger opponents!
Men’s coloured belts: Ed Kilty – despite being injured he was lashing out head kicks!
Women’s all belts: Caroline Clifford – it was only her second time sparring ever!
Men’s Brown & Black Belts: - Colm O’ Griobhtha – he had 2 very hard 3 minute rounds!
The next competition we will be entering is The Irish Cup – 21st June 2008 at the National Basketball Arena, Tallaght – plenty of time to get ready for it!
Robert Devane
 Good sport. |
 The Rules! |
 Pat hits the mark! |
 Well done Keith. |
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