With a
couple of days to settle in and prepare before the big event the England
Contingent spent time socialising and training together. This involved enjoying
the local cuisine (which GeTur catering would have you believe consisted almost
exclusively of bread rolls and pasta), exploring the local area (closed for the
season), training on the luxuriously springy judo mats in the dojo and getting
to know one another better in the bar over a coca-cola or two.
After the
training was over, Friday evening was given over to each individual’s personal
pre-competition ritual. Some sat together chatting and relaxing, others took
themselves to their room to read or listen to music before hitting the hay,
still others could be found exploring the empty venue or practicing alone in
the dojo.
On the
morning of Saturday 3rd November 2012, 32 representatives of England
Wadokai filtered into the main arena at GeTur Sports
Village for the European
Championships. The junior
and cadet kata events began just after 10am. The venue held 5 full size tatami
with raked arena seating on 3 sides, the fourth sporting the coveted 1st,
2nd and 3rd place podiums. It could have been a daunting
environment for the younger members of the squad but each individual performed
with precision and aplomb and the results speak for themselves. Soon our young Karateka aged between
10 and 13 years had secured four silver medals and one bronze in the space of
just over an hour, losing out by just one flag in many instances to the
eventual champions. Their professionalism set a high bar for the older
competitors that were to come.
In the team
kata England can only be described as relentless taking a gold medal in every
junior and cadet category in which we competed bringing the total medal haul to
seventeen by 2pm.
The break
for lunch was slightly late and children and adults alike tried to keep the
hunger pangs at bay with more bread rolls as we moved into the junior and cadet
Kumite section of the tournament.
In my category Brit Katrina Wilson was narrowly pipped to the post and took
silver whilst our team mate Mairi Kerin won bronze, I was knoeked out in the third round but was delighted to have got that far against a formidable bunch. Mairi and Katrina joined me in the team event to take a clean sweep of flags in each of our kata.
That's me in the middle as we complete the jumping turn in Wanshu to win the gold!
The work that our coaches and assistant coaches have put in to the kata and kumite squads, not only
in the run up to the tournament but throughout the year can’t be
underestimated. It’s a testament to their skill, support and dedication that 32
competitors brought home 35 medals between them, 13 gold, 12 silver and 6
bronze. England
came second overall in the medal table, only just missing out on first place to
the host nation.