Home News School Contact Tournaments Events Training Gallery Links Press                                               Click on button above to go straight to article you wish to read. 2006 News                    Archives       2004      2005   End of Year Awards Presentation - Thursday 30th November Congratulations to the Ely school members who picked up awards on the night. In the Grand Prix 13-17 division Conah Prosser, Ben Hull and Gareth Francis made it a clean sweep for Ely as 1st, 2nd and 3rd respectively. In the +18 division Daniel Neale picked up 3rd place. Gareth Francis was awarded this years Junior Student of the Year and Cassie Lund picked up Senior Student of the Year. A presentation was made to Master Taylor as a thank from the school for everything he has done for everyone and this was followed up by one for Miss Phillips for all her work throughout the year.                                                         Return to Top of Page UK Open - Saturday 18th November, Ponds Forge Sheffield The  events kicked off in the black belt category and first up for Ely was Miss Victoria Phillips in the 18+ I dan female patterns, putting aside the disappointment of only a small group to compete in Victoria seemed to us viewing to be do a good strong pattern in the final  but the decision went against her and Victoria had to settle for a silver medal. Next up was Miss Cassie Lund I in the 13-17 I dan female patterns with a large group Cassie had to put in a number of strong performances to move here way through the early rounds to the final and she was more than up to the task competing in what was to be her last junior competition. In the final Cassie kept her composure and put in yet another good strong pattern and deservedly picked up a gold. With Wayne Brooks I not competing in patterns we than had to wait for the juniors to be called up. In the 13-17 red belt category we saw Ryan Davis, Lanny James, Conah Prosser and Gareth Francis all together, with a bit of luck going our way they didn't draw each other and all made it through to the semi final (this coupled with 2 other welsh competitors being in the 1/4 final showed what a strong group of red belts we currently have. Gareth and Lanny were semi one and she put in a sharper performance to take the round, next up were Conah and Ryan and here Conah eased through wither his stronger pattern. The final of Lanny and Conah was a good well performed one and Conah deservedly took the result 3-2 but all four were more than happy to see Ely picking up gold, silver and both bronzes in the group. In the blue belt group we saw Ben Hull perform solidly through to the semi final but unfortunately unable to lift it one more notch to make the final he had to settle for bronze. Our last teen to compete was Sarah Jones sin the yellow belt group and she also put in solid displays to make it to the semi final unfortunately for her she came across a stronger competitor and had to settle for a bronze medal. Finally in the under 13 division we saw Lewis Brooks and Sam Walsh in the yellow belt group, a very large group for them with over 40 competitors,  Sam overcome his nerves of his first British Championships to perform his pattern but was unable to pass the first round this time, Lewis though made it through to the semi final and lost a close bout but was happy to pick up his bronze. In the green belt group Jade Cronick moved through to the 1/4 final with good pattern work but was unable to advance any further. In the blue belt group we saw Ethan Davis perform very well in the early rounds but also have to bow out in the 1/4 final. Moving into sparring later on first up we saw Wayne Brooks I put in powerful displays to work his way through to the final where he was able to up the pace once more to lift a well deserved gold medal. Due to injury Victoria Phillips I was unable to spar. Cassie Lund I in the 13-17 females did well to move through to the semi final with some simple good point scoring sparring, in the semi final though both competitors got a little scrappy showed by the 6 warnings and 3 yellow cards between them and a very close call went the other way to leave Cassie with a bronze in her last junior sparring event. In the 13-17 division first up we saw Lanny James take a deserved gold in her final against a nervous opponent. Ryan Davis, Conah Prosser and Gareth Francis all faced up to each other in their blue/red belt group all making the semi's we saw Gareth and Conah spar well but Gareth have the edge to make it through to the final with some more accurate shots. In the other semi Ryan won his bout to put Gareth Ryan in the final where once again Gareth used his reach and accuracy well to take gold leaving Ryan with silver and Conah with bronze. In the next weight group up blue/red was had Ben Hull competing and he fought well enough to make it to the semi final but went off the boil at just the wrong time and had to settle for a bronze medal on the day. The last teen up was Sarah Jones who took automatic gold as no other teen female yellow belts of her weight had entered. Moving into the under 13 division we saw Ethan Davis in the -135 blue/red belts suffer from the excessive clamping down on contact as despite making the semi final was narrowly beaten due to minus points being given. Next up was Jade Cronick who moved well and kept attacking throughout her rounds and didn't drop her performance for the final and easily picked up a  gold in a good display of sparring. The final group up was the u13 yellow belts which saw Lewis Brooks and Sam Walsh both in there and they fought well through to the 1/4 final but here neither was able to lift their level up enough to advance any further. The big event of the day was the UKTA vs RITA team event and everyone was impressed with the two team patterns put on by both teams and there were roars of celebration as UKTA were announced winners. Next up was the sparring, first up we saw Ricky DeWinton win his bout effectively, followed by Carl Davies dominating his round to take a 2-0 lead. Next up was Richard Taylor who had a hard fight against his Irish opponent and had to settle for a draw in the end and then finally Ely's own Wayne Brooks went up and took the fight to his opposite number with gusto and ended the round clear winner to give UKTA a 3-0 win in the sparring. In the power both teams fared well but it was too little to bring the match back for Ireland already being two events down. The teams left the floor to rapturous applauds as everyone showed their appreciation for their displays.                                                           Return to Top of Page Irish National Open - Saturday 11th November, UCD Belfield Dublin The tournament started off for the Ely students with the 13-17 red belts patterns which saw Lanny James and Conah Prosser in the same group. The format for patterns in the Irish involves all competitors being marked on their performance and the highest scoring individuals placing for medals. so the competitors were called up in groups of 3-4 to perform their patterns and everyone was given Hwa Rang to do as there were red belts and black tags. Lanny performed well and was clearly more powerful than her group, Conah put in a very strong performance and seemed to be ahead on power and breathing and the third group didn't have any individual stand out, when the totals were tallied though Lan and Conah had to both settle for bronze positions as two of the Irish competitors were adjudge to have performed more solidly. Next up was Sarah Jones in the 3-17 yellow belt group and she performed well here , starting strong and over coming nerves to pick up a silver medal on the day. Last up was Tom Harris I competing in the male adult I and II dan patterns. Starting out well and performing more sharply than his opponent he then fell victim to a momentary lapse of concentration and switching patterns mid flow realised his mistake and stopped having to bow out in the first round. Lanny and Conah entered special technique which for the teens was  scissors kick competition, with more than 20 entering no one made what was a very difficult task, competitors standings upright arms raised plus an umpire flag distance atop of that, no one made the distance but a winning medal was given to the nearest place. In sparring Sarah was unable to compete as Irish rules only permit green belts and above to spar. so our first sparring event was Tom Harris I in the adult male -80kg group. His quarter final bout against an Irish opponent was well controlled by Tom with him working his way in and scoring points and keeping his movement going to avoid counter attacks. In the semi final he faced an experienced III dan with a  height and weight advantage but fought well, using his faster pace he worked well despite taking a big hit on the nose which drew blood, unfortunately his opponents experience came through in the second round and he did enough to take the bout and leave Tom with a well deserved bronze medal. Next up was Conah "Gorgeous" Prosser in the 12-14 red belt group. Fighting a very good quarter final he easily moved into the semi final, here he faced Delme Pezzack from Fairwater and both boys fought well with a cagey start but good sparring so it was a surprise to everyone including both competitors to see a yellow card issued to Conah for excessive contact half way through the round. Unfortunately for Conah Delme was able to find a few more points and got the decision to move through to the final leaving him with a bronze medal. Our final fighter for the day was Lanny James in the 12-14 green-red female group, in her quarter final she faced a taller heavier red belt but used her speed to work in and out scoring punches and kicks as they opened up, with low kicks and flurries of scrappy punches not drawing any warnings a clean punch landed on her opponents head and instantly a yellow card was given against Lan, keeping the pressure up LAN built up enough points to negate the warnings that were being given one way for the supposed excessive contact and took the round to move into the semi final. Her clue belt opponent in the semi final came out all pistons firing and the bout was very active with both girls getting a little scrappy with flurries of hands and being told to calm it down. Throwing the side kick up her opponent ran onto it and continued to run into a punch and two more side kick as she turned herself square on, this though was deemed by the umpire to be excessive contact and a yellow card issued. As Lan started to take the upper hand in the handwork between the girls her opponent turned under pressure and for the second time in the bout threw a back fist wildly, but strangely enough not even a warning was given let alone a yellow card. The final point came in with both girls stopping suddenly, thinking the whistle for the next ring was there, on being told to continue Lan was quicker and caught her opponent with a clean side kick sending her to the floor, yet again this was deemed excessive with yet another yellow card. Despite the warnings and yellow cards, Lan was declared winner and went over to congratulate here opponent on a good fight. Moving into the final Lan now faced a taller heavier blue tags opponent who used her long legs well to keep Lan off for the first half of the fight, working in and using jumping punches to try and bring her points up Lan upped her level and took control of the fight forcing her opponent back quite often, at the end of the bout the decision was surprisingly given as a draw so the girls had to re-fight, Lan went straight on the offensive scoring some good points and almost on the final bell a good jumping out head shot, which normally would have been a good score, was yet again deemed excessive and a fourth yellow issued, but once again despite all this enough points had been scored to give the win to Lan and pick up another gold for Wales.                                                             Return to Top of Page Grand Prix III - Sunday 5th November, Eastern Leisure Centre With 19 competitors in the three divisions of stage III this will be a big report and apologies in advance for an mistakes I may make. The day started off with the under 13 white belts and here we saw two new competitors in competition, With Lauren Jones and Caleb Davis both seeming totally unfazed by anything and doing their patterns well, Caleb losing in the semi final and Lauren not only making the final but winning it very well. Next up saw the yellow green group with Thomas Jenkins, Danial Jenkins, Sam Walsh, Lewis Brooks, Ella Hatherill, Jamie Dare and Jade Cronick all in the same group, all performed well to make it through the first round then in the second round we lost Sam and in the quarter final we lost Lewis, Ella, Jamie and Jade as they all started to come up against each other which was inevitable given the large number in one group. Thomas and Danial both made it to the semi final but despite good patens were unable to advance to the finals and had to settle for bronze medals. Finally in the u13 was Ethan Davis in the blue/red group, he went into the quarter final and performed well but was narrowly beaten and had to bow out of patterns there. In the 13-17 division we saw Robyn Harris and Rhys Thomas face each other in the yellow/green group, both making it to the final Robyn was the sharper on the day and picked up gold leaving Rhys with a silver for his efforts. in the blue/red group we saw five Ely students in the nine competing With Ben Hull going out in the first round, Lanny James losing in the quarter final this left Conah Prosser, Gareth Francis and Ryan Davis in the semi finals. Conah and Gareth were well on form and eased into the final yet again to face each other - with both boys performing strongly it was a good final to watch but the decision went Conah's way unanimously giving him a gold and Gareth silver with Ryan a bronze from his semi final. Finally in the 18+ division we saw another new comer in the white group Natalie Hopkins performed saju Jirugi very well in her final to take the gold in her first ever event and in the yellow/green group Daniel Neale put in three strong performances to pick up the gold in his group. The divisions then moved into the sparring events in the u13 this time Lauren and Caleb both made it to the final but  Caleb struggled to handle wild woman Lauren who was very attack minded and took a well deserved gold, Caleb happy to pick up silver. In the yellow/green we saw out 7 competitors split with Lewis Brooks, Sam Walsh, Jamie Dare, Jade Cronick and Danial Jenkins entering the -135 group and Ella Hatherill and Thomas Jenkins in the -146 group. All of them fought well through the early rounds but then started to come up against each other in the quarter finals and it was here unfortunately that Jade and Jamie had to bow out despite good performances and taking their bouts to draws losing narrowly on points. With three competitors in the semi final we saw Lewis brooks come to the fore and lift it up an extra notch, Sam lost his semi final leaving him with a bronze and the final saw Lewis face school colleague Danial Thomas and after a good display the decision was close but went Lewis' way giving him another sparring gold and Danial picked up silver. In the -146 Thomas and Ella made it through to the quarter finals but Thomas was unable to advance further whereas Ella used her long reach and power to push through the semi final into the final and here fought very well against a green belt more than holding her own, but not able to find enough shots to win she was happy with the silver she collected. In the blue/red group -135 Ethan Davis made it to yet another semi final again Fairwater's Kane Collins and after a good display of light fast sparring had to settle for a bronze as Kane pipped him on points. In the 13-17 division first up we saw Rhys Thomas fight his best yet in his final of the yellow/green group but fail to maintain the momentum all bout and lost on points picking up a well deserved silver though. Robyn Harris in the female yellow/green sparring was very determined and focused as she harried her opponent and scored point after point to ensure she picked up her second gold of the day.  In the blue/red sparring section we saw yet another glut of competitors as Ben Hull, Ryan Davies, Gareth Francis and Conah Prosser face off yet again - with a lot of really good fast sparring going on it was hard to keep up, all sparred well and were rewarded with an all Ely semi final, with Gareth facing Ben and Conah facing Ryan the boys focused yet again putting school friendships aside and did their best to win, both fights were entertaining but in the end the experience of Gareth and Conah won out as they both moved to the final leaving Ryan and Ben with hard earned and well deserved bronzes. In the final both Gareth and Conah fought well but this time it was Gareth who upped it just that bit more to pick up the gold leaving Conah with silver this time. In the female blue/red we saw Lanny James face West Readings Davina Charles for the fourth time this year in the final and she narrowly came through to win a difficult fight for her due to illness. Last but least we saw the 18+ division in the female white group our other new girl of the moment Natalie Hopkins came out all cylinders firing and completely dominated her final and won a very well deserved gold here to add to her patterns one. In the yellow/green sparring Daniel Neale had to work hard to make his way through the rounds into the final and here he fought well keeping the techniques simple but effective and beat his opponent to pick up his second gold of the day and help his overall rankings. A good day had by all with special note going to the three new comers, Caleb, Lauren and Natalie you all did very well and the school is proud of you. Everyone performed great and showed what a fantastic standard there is throughout Ely school winning 12 gold, 7 silver and 8 bronze with lost of others making the quarter finals only to lose to other Ely students. You all did yourselves and your School proud and we look forward to seeing who has made the final rankings for the overalls later in the year.               Return to Top of Page Grading Saturday 7th October Lauren Joness and Caleb Davies promoted to 9th Kup Robyn Harris promoted to 8th Kup Amy Jones, Megan Jones, Sarah Jones, Ella Hatherill, Daniel Jenkins, Thomas Jenkins, Joseph Powell and Sam Walsh  promoted to 7th Kup Leighton Prosser, Daniel Neale, Jade Cronick and Jamie Dare promoted to 6th Kup Kieron Barry and Rhys Thomas promoted to 5th Kup Ben Hull promoted to 3rd Kup Ryan Davis promoted to 2nd Kup Lanny James promoted to 1st Kup                                     Return to Top of Page English Open 2006 23rd September - K2 Crawley Starting the day at 5am 11 competitors made their way to this years English Open. Starting as ever with the patterns event we saw the under 13 yellow belts Ella Hatherill and Megan Jones start well but unfortunately not progress pass the second round. In the blue belts Ethan Davis was unable to go past the quarter final. In the 13-17 division yellow belts Amy Jones and Sarah Jones eventually got to compete after some admin mix up with late entries and wrong belts on some competitors and the draw being re-jigged, after a first good pattern Sarah lost what turned out to be the quarter not semi final due to the re-jigging so she narrowly lost out on a medal. To make up for this her cousin Amy took a bronze in the semi final. In the blue belt section yet more cousins with Ryan Davis and Ben Hull competing against each other, Ryan taking a bronze and Ben a silver. In the red belt section no cousins this time but three Ely students up against each other with Conah Prosser  putting Lanny James out in the semi final and then dismissing Gareth Francis in the final to leave Ely with Gold, Silver and Bronze. Finally in the adult section Tom Harris I made his debut in the +18 division, performing well but not able to get past the quarter final stage. There was then a  break for the English team to put on a very impressive display of team patterns, 1,2 and 3 step sparring, self defence and breaking with everyone enjoying the show. Afterwards the competition re-commenced with the sparring. In the under 13 yellow belts Ella Hatherill put in some good strong sparring and got the the quarter final before losing a fight she had dominated throughout. Next up Megan Jones again took the fight to her opponents in consecutive rounds but lost in a very close semi final having to settle for bronze on the day. In the blue belt section Ethan Davis fought well going forward but let his opponent slip too many shots in without blocking and was beaten on points settling for silver. In the 13-17 division first up we saw the yellow/green belt females with Sarah Jones facing a very fast polish green belt in her final who impressed everyone and was unfortunately too much for Sarah to cope with (yet!) but she was happy to pick up a silver for her efforts. Next up was Amy Jones and in her final she faced a taller faster opponent, despite trying to match her power the other girls experience showed through and Amy also had to settle for silver on the day. In the blue/red section Lanny James got to the final and faced Davina Charles of West Reading for the third competition in a row - both girls fighting well and with less contact than normal Lanny took the laurels this time and picked up another gold.  In the male blue/red sparring due to a weight category change we found Gareth Francis, Conah Prosser, Ryan Davis and Ben Hull all in the same sparring group, All of them fought well through the semi finals, unfortunately despite having dominated the first half and being well ahead in his quarter final Ryan clashed his knee with  his opponents foot and had to withdraw due to the injury. In the first semi final Gareth won well to go into the final. In the other semi a close fought match saw Ben narrowly beat Conah for him to advance. In the final Gareth dominated well and took a deserved gold against Ben who picked up silver for his efforts - this left Ely with a gold, silver and bronze medal in the group. The final sparring event saw Tom Harris I in the adult section totally dominate a final where he won a deserved gold. At the end of a long day as we waited to hear the final results the "guess the Masters age" competition result was announced and young Ella came second getting a silver medal for her guesswork and then  everyone was elated to hear that Ely school had come second overall in the  English Open championship.                                                 Return to Top of Page World VII Junior and II Veteran Championships 26th-30th July - Bulgaria Day 1 - patterns:                                                                                                        Cassie Lund I dan junior female patterns put in a stronger pattern with good legs in her first round to ease past her Greek opponent in round 1. In her next round she faced an Argentinean of very similar style and power which actually led to the first decision being 3 draws and one vote either way, the second pattern ended 3 draws and 2 votes to Argentina which still wasn't enough for a clear win leaving the girls to compete in a third designated pattern where the Argentinean managed to raise her level to take the round five votes in her favour. Tom Harris I dan junior male patterns comfortably moved past his Chilean opposite in the first round but was beaten in the second round by a stronger Belarusian opponent. Dave Lund I dan veteran male patterns Easily beat his first round opponent who for some reason chose to do a colour belt pattern as his option! Keeping up his good performance he then beat his second round opponent to move into the semi-final. In the semi-final he lost to a stronger performing Uzbekistani who went on to take silver but it was a good event for Dave who adds this bronze for patterns to the one he won in the Veteran world Championships in Malaysia. Last up in the patterns was Neville Thompson I dan veteran male patterns, who drew one of three Canadians in his group - due to a back injury he had to opt for Kwang-Gae as his pattern and put in a good effort but was unfortunately beaten by his opponent.        Day 2 - veteran sparring :                                                                                            Dave Lund I male -64kg sparring was drawn against the Dominican Republic VI dan  and did well for the first round working his opponent out, but in the second round the Dominican proved to be too fast with good legs and movement an despite a close fight Dave went out on a  points decision. Neville Thompson I -90kg sparring drew a home opponent from Bulgaria in round 1, with better legs Neville tried to keep him off with strong side kicks however the Bulgarian had strong hands and kept Neville under pressure, The Bulgarian's powerful punching eventually winning the necessary points for him to advance to the next round.        Day 3 - junior sparring:                                                                                            Cassie Lund I female -58kgsparring faced  a Paraguayan first round and the strong side kicks took their toll on her with Cassie winning this round easily. In the next round she face dan Australian and Cassie started the match the stronger and then began using her back leg turning kick to great advantage, she kept working hard despite a weakened arm and dispatched her opponent quite easily. Her third round saw her face a strong Serbian opponent, both girl were evenly matched for their work with Cassie using her better legs and the Serbian trying to pick her off with good hands. After the two 2 minute rounds the decision was a draw, in extra time Cassie's stamina showed through as she kept  working the left leg kick followed by back leg turning kick. Her Serbian opponent couldn't figure out the side kick repeatedly trying to attack with the same leg which worked to Cassie's advantage and she won the match in extra time. Moving into the semi final Cassie faced a Tajikistani girl, who despite being smaller had great timing and was able to move around picking shot off of Cassie, despite her strength working to her advantage the previous round draw and extra time started to take its toll as tiredness showed but the Tajikistani kept moving and picked up the points to win and went went on to take gold. Tom Harris I male -57kg drew a much taller and stronger Bulgarian as his opponent in the first round who with home advantage left Tom in no doubt he was in for a hard fight. Working well in the first round he kept his side kick long and aimed to come off the back leg. Towards the end of the round the Bulgarians stronger hands started to show through as tom came under pressure. In the second round the Bulgarian stepped the pace up and tom did well to pick off shots with the back leg turning kick. Unfortunately the match then came to a hasty end when a luck reverse turning kick to the head  coupled with a very hasty decision by the Bulgarian doctor to not allow tom to continue meant the bout was over with tom being declared unable to continue.                                                                A special mention must also go to Victoria Phillips I who stepped in at the last minute to take over the coaching position and did a great job out in Bulgaria and who also provided this detailed report of the tournament, thank you very much.    full results                         Return to Top of Page London Open 2006 - Sunday 16th July - Loddon Valley Leisure Reading This year saw ten students travel from Ely school to the London Open. The competition started as usual with the u13 patterns events saw we saw Rhys Thomas go up in the green belt section but this being the biggest group he found that 3 successful rounds wasn't enough to get through to the medals. In the blue bet group Ethan Davies finished a good pattern but wasn't that little bit extra to beat his opponent and move through to the next round. Up in the 13-17 division Sarah Jones started well and finished great working her way through to the final of the yellow belt group and being unlucky to be edged out but happy to pick up a well deserved silver. In the blue belt group Both Ryan Davies and Ben Hull put in strong patterns but were unable to advance beyond the 1/4 finals. In the red belts Gareth Francis was unlucky to go out in the 1/4 final and Conah Prosser and Lanny James met in the first semi final with Lanny shading it on the day leaving Conah with bronze as she moved into the final and picked up gold - she was heard to say she was more impressed with eventually managing to beat Conah than actually winning the gold as she has tried for so long. In the black belts Tom Harris I went out in the first round of a large black belt group - not up to usual sharp self due to injuries carried. Last but not least was Daniel Neale in the +18 yellow belt group - putting in a good display Daniel was unfortunate not to advance beyond the first round.                                                         Next up was sparring and here we saw improvement in the success of the students, starting in the u13 Rhys Thomas fought in the yellow/green +!46 group and confidently won his first fight, in the second he was held to a draw twice before going out on point score at the end., plenty of valuable experience gained for him and we look forward to seeing him progress further next time. In blue belt group Ethan Davies fought soundly but was unable to raise his fight enough to progress past the semifinal so had to settle for a bronze on the day. Stepping up to the 13-17 division we saw four of the students in the male blue/red group in -55kg Ryan Davies took bronze, Conah Prosser Silver and Gareth Francis Gold, in -63kg Ben Hull fought well and picked up a silver for his efforts. In the female colour belts -55kg Sarah Jones had a hard 1/4 final against a red belt who although smaller was fast and experienced, her experience shone through as she edged Sarah out but she can be happy with performing well against a much higher grade opponent. Next up was Lanny James who who comfortably if slowly move through to the semi final, facing her opponent from the Welsh Open next after well fought first round a draw was called and she upped her fight enough to move into the final where she used her experience speed and size to do outclass her opponent and pick up gold. Last up was Daniel Neale in the +18 yellow/green -75kg group and we were all pleased to see him show how much he has improved and learnt fro his previous competitions as he worked hard to win each round and be rewarded with a gold for his efforts.                                             Return to Top of Page Welsh Open 2006 - Saturday 27th May - WIS Cardiff The day started off with the black belt patterns with Dave Lund I and Neville Thompson I in the I dan male patterns where both made it through to the semi finals, unfortunately neither progressed further but it meant they picked up 2 bronze medals to start the schools points rolling. In the adult female patterns Victoria Phillips I made it into the semi final and narrowly lost out settling for bronze.  In 13-17 male I dan Tom Harris moved through his rounds with relative ease and picked up a well deserved gold for his efforts and finally in 13-17 female I and II dan patterns Cassie Lund I made her way into the semi final but was unable to raise the level enough to make it through to the final and also picked up bronze. Moving into the colour belts at under 13 yellow belt we had 7 entries Jade Cronick, Jamie Dare, Rhys Thomas, Lewis Brooks, Joe Powell, Megan Jones and Amy Jones most of whom were in their first big tournament, all did well to progress through to their second rounds but were unable to go any further on the day. In u13 blue belt Ethan Davies made it through to the quarter final but stopped there. Stepping up to the 13-17 category we saw Sally Powell and Sarah Jones enter the yellow belt group and win a bronze and silver respectively. then In Green Ben Hull took gold with a good display. In blue Lanny James and Ryan Davies worked their way through the rounds to face each other in the final where Lanny narrowly snatched it to take gold and leave Ryan with a silver. Finally in this division Conah Prosser and Gareth Francis both uncharacteristically went out in the first round of patterns the last patterns events for Ely school were +18 yellow belts where Daniel Neale made it through to the second round but no further and last but not least in the red group Adam Gromaszek won a bronze for his good pattern work.                                                                                                       Next up was the sparring and starting off with the black belts again we saw Dave Lund I fight well in his semi final but he couldn't overcome his opponent and had to settle for bronze. Neville Thompson I fought well right through to his final but was narrowly beaten and left with silver for his hard work.  In the female sparring Victoria Phillips I went up against an Irish Opponent in the semi  final who was able to just edge her out and leave her with the bronze medal. In the 13-17 division Tom Harris made it to the final again but was unable to break his opponent down and had to settle for silver at the end of a frantic couple of rounds. The black belt sparring ended with Cassie Lund I who fought a sound semi final but lost out on points so had to take home the bronze on the day. In the under 13 we saw a lot of action with seven students in the group. In the +146 Rhys Thomas and Amy Jones made their way into the final but it was Rhys who picked up gold leaving Amy with silver at the end of the bout. In the -145 Megan Jones and Joe Powell both  put on a good show of sparring at their first nationals but were unable to overcome a quicker opponents and advance beyond the 1/4s. in the -135 the Ely school was pleased to see Lewis Brooks, Jade Cronick and Jamie Dare all do well and pick up gold, bronze and bronze respectively. In the blue belt group Ethan Davies was beaten in the semi final ending his run for the day with a bronze medal. In the +146 category Tristan Notley was was more than a little amazed to see 6-7 point lead lost as he was disqualified in the quarter final due to some rather dubious umpiring but can take solace  in the fact that he sparred very well. In the 13-17 division first up we saw Sally Powell and Sarah Jones in the yellow belt female sparring which saw Sally take gold and Sarah make it to the quarter final. In the green belt division Ben Hull picked up his second gold as he performed strongly in the group. In blue/red females Lanny James had to settle for silver on the day. In the blue/red boys Conah Prosser went out on points in the quarter final, Gareth Francis lost to Ryan in the semi final in extra time leaving him with a bronze medal. Ryan progressed to the final but was unable to find that little bit more to finish his opposite number off but can be proud of a well deserved silver. Our last two sparrers were in +18 division where Daniel Neale showed how he is improving bowing out in the quarter final to a higher grade opponent and finally Adam Gromaszek fought a fast paced quarter final but lost out very narrowly on the decision.                                                                      That left the school with 7 gold, 7 silver and 9 bronze. A number of students participated in special technique and power but on the day there were very few winners in any of these categories but a lot of confidence raised and experienced gained. Well done to everyone who competed you did the school proud and showed what good standards we have here. We hope you al enjoyed yourselves and to see you all back next year to show everyone how much you have improved.                 Return to Top of Page Grading 20th May with Master John Taylor VII Robyn Harris, Jonathon, Kori and Joshua promoted to 9th Kup Amy Jones, Megan Jones, Sarah Jones, Sally Powell Ella Hatherill, Daniel Jenkins, Thomas Jenkins and Sam Walsh promoted to 8th Kup Lewis Brooks, Demi Brooks, Leighton Prosser, Daniel Neale and Jamie Dare promoted to 7th Kup Rhys Thomas and Kieron Barry promoted to 6th Kup Ben Hull promoted to 4th Kup Kalyd Owen, Ryan Davies and Ethan Davies promoted to 3rd Kup Lanny James and David Morgan promoted to 2nd Kup Conah Prosser and Jarmain Notley promoted to 1st Kup                                         Return to Top of Page Grand Prix 2006 stage II - Sunday 7th May - Eastern Leisure Centre The day started off with patterns in the u13 division with the white belts, this group featured 4 of our new comers and all performed their patterns well, Danial Jenkins was unfortunate to go out in the quarter final, Ella Hatherill faced Sam Walsh in the semi final with Sam shading the round leaving Ella with bronze whilst he moved on to face Thomas Jenkins in the final, Thomas put in a good pattern and picked up gold and Sam a well deserved silver. Next up was the u13 yellow/green patterns (the largest group with over 30 competitors on the day, our fifth new starter was Demi Brooks who along with Jamie Dare, Lewis Brooks and Jade Cronick all put on good displays but were unable to pass beyond the 2nd round, the final entry here was Rhys Thomas who made it through to the quarter final but was stopped from further progression by a strong opponent. The last u13 entry was Ethan Davies in the blue/red group who made it through to the quarter final but was unable to advance further this time.  In the 13-17 division first up saw Robyn Harris bow out in the quarter final of the white belt group. Next up was Ben Hull in the yellow/green group who easily moved though his rounds and picked up a gold for his efforts. This division finished with the blue/red division which saw Ely clean up with Conah Prosser taking gold, Gareth Francis silver, Lanny James and Ryan Davies both bronze. The last Ely competitor for patterns was Daniel Neale in the +18 yellow/green division making it through to the quarter final he was unable to overcome his opponent and had to bow out there. After a successful patterns round we then moved into the sparring, starting in the u13 division we saw our young white belts overcome nerves to enjoy their first ever competitive sparring. Danial Jenkins and Ella Hatherill fought well but both lost out in the quarter finals, Sam Walsh made it to the semi final but was out fought by his opponent leaving him with a bronze for his efforts. Thomas Jenkins made his way to the final and put on a good display of sparring but was beaten in extra time and had to settle for silver on the day. In the yellow/green -135 Jamie Dare fought well to get through to the quarter final but was unable to find a little more to beat his opponent there, Jade Cronick once again made it through to the quarter final but was unlucky to draw a more experienced green belt and was narrowly beaten to stop her advancing any further. Demi Brooks fought a very good quarter final to move through to the semi final but was overcome by a more experienced opponent but did pick up a bronze for her efforts. Finally in this group Lewis Brooks made it look easy and he worked through the rounds to pick up his second consecutive gold for sparring. In blue/red Ethan Davies sparred well but was narrowly beaten on points in the semi final and had to settle for bronze on the day.  in the 13-17 division the ties started off with Robyn Harris in the female white sparring, enjoying her sparring she easily picked up a gold for his efforts. In yellow/green Ben Hull sparred solidly and picked up a gold for his good work. in the blue/red females Lanny James won gold against her hard hitting opponent and Conah Prosser took his second gold of the day against Ryan Davies who settled for silver after a very good final. Gareth Francis received a bronze having lost in the semi final against one of his club mates. The last sparring event of the day saw Daniel Neale fight strongly against much more experienced opposition and lose a close match in the semifinal leaving him with a  bronze on the day. That was the end of the events, there was then a trophy awarding ceremony and then the obligatory school photo at the end. A great day for all our competitors with the 5 new comers not letting nerves get to them and performing well and everyone getting behind each other through out the events and helping each other out. Every can be proud of their efforts and having gained a little more experience maybe look forward to the next Grand Prix with eagerness to go and show  how much they have learnt. Well done to everyone.                                           Return to Top of Page Scottish Open - Saturday 18th March - Gorbals Sports Centre Glasgow The weekend started early with a Friday minibus drive up to Glasgow and although a long distance the time flew by getting there, after a little diversion due to poor map reading we got to our hotel at west Glasgow - only to drop off our stuff and dash back into central Glasgow to take up the kind offer from Miss Marion Sherlock III of Easterhouse TKD School to train with them. After just one more little error of going to the wrong sports centre we eventually got to the right venue thanks to Fairwaters very own Rob Miller. Once there the students were given a little time to get to know each other and meet their Scottish counterparts before Miss Sherlock took everyone through a light stretching and patterns class. Everyone enjoyed themselves even if they did struggle with the accents somewhat at times. The class ended with Brogan, one of Easterhouse's young yellow belts presenting the ITF Wales party with a Scottish bear which was gratefully accepted and brought us luck on the day and we hope that it will have a  name once everyone can agree. The competition itself started off with ourselves and the new Scottish friends supporting our Fairwater friends in the under 13 division as we had no-one competing in this division and they set some high standards with gold and silver flying in. First up for Ely was Ben Hull in the green belt patterns and he performed at his best to pick up gold in the group, in the blue belt group Lanny James did well moving into the final but had to settle for silver on the day as little mental blocks impaired her performance. In the red belt group we saw Gareth Francis and Conah Prosser shoot through their rounds going from strength to strength and eventually face each other in the final - Conah put in a strong final pattern and picked up gold leaving Gareth with silver. Our black belt competitors were Cassie Lund I who was unfortunate to go up against the eventual gold medallist in the 1/4 final and was very narrowly pipped - at one stage people thought her and her Scottish opponent were part of  a team they were that close. Tom Harris I put in a good performance in his 1/4 final but was unable to best his opponent and had to bow out before the medals. Not a bad patterns event with 2 gold and 2 silver to show for it we thought. Moving into sparring saw things improve as final after final saw Ely in it. Ben Hull made the green belt light weight final and he performed very well and easily won his gold medal. In blue belt female light weights Lanny James made easy work of her opponent despite a knee injury. In the red belt group we saw Gareth Francis and Conah Prosser once again face each other in the final of the light weight category. After a very hard fought and good sparring display bout a draw was called and the match went to extra bout. Gareth did enough in the extra bout to pick up a win and this time he took gold and left Conah with silver. Next we saw the black belts compete and here Cassie Lund I was first up and she put in a very solid performance, in her semi final facing the same opponent who pipped her to gold in the British Open 2005, she stayed focussed and controlled the fight well to move into the final where she dominated despite picking up a dead arm during the bout and was very pleased to pick up gold for her efforts. The final competitor of the day was Tom Harris I and true to form he kept up the high standards by dominating his opponent in the final and taking a well deserved gold medal taking our tally to 5 gold and 1 silver for the sparring. A very good weekend for the Ely school competitors with them taking 7 gold and 3 silver between them and an overall to finish off with for Ben Hull 13-17, along with the 8 medals picked up by fairwater meant a heavier bus coming home. With 33 schools competing Ely School did very well to finish 4th overall.  Once again we would like to thank Miss Sherlock III and the Easterhouse School for their kindness and hospitality, it all helped make for a great weekend and we look forward to having you down in May for the Welsh Open and making it a great weekend for you too                               Return to Top of Page Grand Prix 2006 stage I - Sunday 12th February - Eastern Leisure Centre First up in the under 13 division white belts was Megan Jones in her first competition and she putting a good performance but was unable to advance to the medal positions. In the yellow/green category we saw Jade Cronick, Joseph Powell, Rhys Thomas, Lewis Brooks and Jamie Dare all in the same group and all do well in their patterns but only advance as the far as the 1/4 finals. Finally Ethan Davies in the blue/red category made it through to the 1/4 final before bowing out. in the 13-17 division we saw three more new competitors in the white division with Robyn Harris, Sally Powell and Sarah Jones all competing nerves got the better of Robyn on her first outing and she bowed out in the 1/4 finals, Sally moved through to a bronze and Sarah put in a very good performance to take gold in this group. In the yellow/green category Ben Hull performed solidly and gathered a silver medal for his efforts. In the blue/red category we saw Gareth Francis make it  through to the 1/4 final but unfortunately this early in he drew another school member which meant we would lose one competitor, going up against Lanny James Gareth lost out on the the day and Lanny moved through to join our very own Conah Prosser in the final where Conah edged a very good final to take gold and leave Lanny with silver. Our final patterns event was the first Ely adult representative in the Grand Prix Daniel Neale in the +18 yellow/green division, putting in a nervous performance he did well and now vows to come back next time stronger and not nervous. Under 13 sparring -135 white belts saw new girl Megan Jones dominate her group and pick up a well deserved gold medal, in yellow/green -135 Jamie Dare started strongly but had to withdraw after a hard shin clash, Jade Cronick put in a very good performance but somehow the decision went against her and had to bow out in the 1/4 final, this left our last competitor here another new boy Lewis Brooks who totally dominated his group and won a very comfortable gold medal. In -146 Joe Powell did well in his 1/4 final but was unable to beat his opponent, Rhys Thomas finished off this category in +146 with some good sparring but was not able to overcome his opponent in the 1/4 final. The u13 division ended with Ethan Davies in the blue/red category sparring really well into the semi final but here he couldn't find a little more edge to move through to the final so had to settle for a bronze. In the 13-17 division first were our new trio of girls Robyn Harris fought well in the semi final against Sally Powell but Sally managed to shade the result to go through to the final, in the over semi final Sarah Jones had to settle for a bronze medal, in the final Sally performed very well and picked up a gold medal - this being the third sparring gold for our newcomers. In yellow/green Ben Hull put on a good show of sparring and powered through to the final and picked up gold. The blue/red category saw Conah Prosser and Gareth Francis both work through the rounds to the final and put on a strong display with Gareth winning gold and Conah silver. The female blue/red category saw Lanny James fight a tough semi final and then a tiring final to pick up gold. The final sparring medal was a bronze picked  up by Daniel Neale in the +18 yellow/green category. A very good first tournament of the year for the school and a very well done to all who partook. Everyone performed well and did their best so they can be very proud of themselves. A special mention to all the youngsters and six newcomers to competition, you all did very well to overcome your nerves and compete. Congratulations to all.       Return to Top of Page Welcome to 2006                                                                         In the last year the school had representatives at all levels in competition with the high point being Mr Wayne Brooks I winning a bronze medal for sparring at the XIV World Senior championships, six school members were selected to represent Wales at the European Championships which saw the Welsh team pick up a bronze in the power event. The year also saw over 20 students between them compete in the Welsh, Scottish, Irish, English, Slovenian, British, London Opens as well as the Grand Prix series and represent the school very well showing what high standards of training and competitiveness there is within the Ely school.  We hope to see these standards improve in the coming year as our existing students gain more experience and new members gradually move up to join their fellow students and maybe start competing themselves. Best of luck for the year ahead and if you check out the vents page you can see what is in store for everyone this year in a very busy but exciting schedule.