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Last Sunday the 11th November 2007 our members travelled in opposite directions to participate in two separate events. While one group went to Fermoy for the final squad preparations for the European Championships to be held in Sardinia in one week’s time a second group competed in the ONAKAI Inter Club League All Ireland Finals further north in Co. Meath.

 Munster Champions

Kevin Aylward, Kaysey English, Jeffrey Madigan and new brown belt Aisling Fiuza all of whom qualified for the finals by becoming Munster Champions in their respective groups joined provincial champions from sixteen other clubs to battle it out for the overall club league trophy. This year with only four finalists we had no chance of achieving the coveted title of best overall club but regardless our four brave competitors held their own in their respective events. Overall club league winners were Carracastle with the Academy of Shotokan Karate (Co. Clare) in the runner up position. 

Our only Kata finalist Kevin Aylward  in the boys brown and black belt for age 13 years to 17 years was first out on the mats and set the pace for the others to follow after being placed second overall only being denied first position by one vote. After a long wait our first fighter. Aisling Fiuza defeated all opposition to claim the girls (11 years) Kumite title. In the boys 13 years freestyle event Jeffrey Madigan after a tough fight defeated his first opponent 2-0 in the closing seconds with a sharp roundhouse kick to the body. Unfortunately in the next fight Jeffrey was unable to get the measure of his Carracastle opponent and had to be content with second overall. He celebrated later with a large ice cream in the local restaurant! Our last fighter Kaysey English took a couple of hard knocks in the girls 15 years freestyle and found life very difficult for a while. She did land a couple of strong head and body kicks but was penalized for excessive contact. At the final tally Kaysey had to be content with third place.  

     Club League Finals Results

Aisling Fiuza 1^st Girls 11 years KumiteKevin Aylward 2^nd Boys 13 – 17 yrs Brown / Black Belt Kata, Jeffrey Madigan 2^nd Boys 13 yrs Kumite, Kaysey English 3^rd Girls 15 years Kumite  

To facilitate our participation in Shotokan Karate International European Federation Championships in Sardinia there will not be any club training from Monday 19^th November until Wednesday 28^th November when all normal training will resume. 

National Junior Championships.

On Saturday 1^st December we will be traveling to the ALSAA Sports Complex in Dublin Airport for the ONAKAI National Junior Championships. A bus has been organized for the day and supporters are welcome. Obviously competitors will get first preference. All entries have had to be pre registered and no new entries will be entertained on the day. Competition will start at 9.00 am so we will be leaving very early from Bridgewater House. When full training resumes on Wednesday the 30^th please check with your instructor. 

Entries.

The following students have been registered to compete in the ONAKAI National Junior Championships …… Michael Sheehan (Kata), Isaac Hogan (Kata), Kevin Condon (Kata), Luke O Neill (Kumite), Lee Conroy (Kata and Kumite), Shane Fraughen (Kata and Kumite), Kevin Aylward (Kata), Aisling Fiuza (Kata and Kumite), Sinead Lyons (Kata and Kumite), Dineka Fletcher (Kata and Kumite), Turlough Heffernan (Kata), Eoghan Kennedy (Kata), Steven Lafford (Kumite), Barry Mulcahy (Kata), Christopher Corboy (Kata) and Steven Allen (Kata and Kumite). 

Six in European Championships 

Six members of Shotokan Karate Clonmel participated in the Shotokan Karate International Federation European Championships in Cagliari Sardinia recently. The local club instructor John Aylward competed in the Veterans Masters Kata group, while his son Kevin Aylward together with Shane Fraughen, Kaysey English and brothers in arms Jamie and Lee Conroy all competed in the 13 to 17 years Kata section. 

A Long Week.

This three day tournament came at the end of a long week of indoor and outdoor training sessions in Sardinia not only with our own national coach Sensei Neil Sargent but also with many senior Japanese instructors such as Sensei Miura, Sensei Koga and Master Kanazawa himself. Our group gave one hundred percent in training and bonded well with the rest of the Irish squad which included competitors from Cork, Dublin and Kilkenny. The national coach praised all for their efforts and remarked that some had shown a distinct improvement during the weeks training. 

Demanding

With the participation of eighteen countries the tournament was destined to be very demanding on all the Irish squad. All the contingent from Clonmel were competing for the first time in such a  prestigious event and the fear was that the gravity of the event would drain self confidence thereby interfering with each contestants performance on the day. In the individual Kata event for ages 13 to 17 our younger members got their first taste of international competition contending with some very strong adversaries from the Danish, German, British, Polish, Italian and Slovenian teams. All gave one hundred percent and had varying degrees of success. Lee and Jamie Conroy performed well but on this occasion they and Kaysey English were not to break out of the elimination rounds. Shane Fraughen was very unlucky in the second round having put in a stronger performance than his opponent only to be eliminated for moving the wrong foot at the beginning of the Kata “Jion”. The movements have to be exact. There is no margin for error at this level of competition. 

Semi Finals.

Brown belt Kevin Aylward after breaking out of the elimination rounds with performances of the Kata Heian Nidan, Jion and Kanku Dai was narrowly defeated in the semi finals by a Danish opponent the eventual winner of the section. Out of a group of sixty four initial competitors Kevin made it to the last sixteen in Europe.  

Veteran’s Events

Club instructor John Aylward competing against an Italian opponent in the Master’s Kata section was defeated by only one vote in the second round.  Italy eventually won the overall team freestyle event, while Denmark took the main team Kata title. The Irish veterans Kata team (Ray Payne, Eddie O Donnell and Philip McCarthy) took gold while Ray Payne laid claim to the veteran’s individual Kata title. The veteran’s freestyle team (John Aylward, Philip McCarthy and Ray Payne) had to withdraw due to Ray receiving a knee injury.  

Thank You

All the competitors learned a lot from their first international experience and received a huge welcome home from the main club on their return. We wish to extend our thanks to all our sponsors who made this trip possible. Special thanks should be extended to those who took time out to travel and support us. The next World Championship tournament is scheduled for Greece in 2009. Now is the time to start the preparations.