Varia

If you would like to see where our fighters are in the WUMA 2005 British Championship standings, please go to the WUMA website at www.wuma.uk.com.

The new season has started and we are off to a good start, 5 of our students took part in the WUMA Midlands Open and did us proud.
First up was Chris Orme he took first place in the under 135cm advanced boys points and first in the under 135cm continuous.

Then one of our new fighters Tom Day had only his second fight in competition in the mens 70kg novice points and put up a good show but unfortunatly just missed out on a placing.

Anthony Laurence also did well in the 75kg intermediate mens points taking third place.

Lee Knight was up next in the 60kg mens points taking second and also taking second in continuous - great job!

Matthew Laurence put up a good fight in the under 65kg mens advanced points to take third place.

One thing I must mention is that all these students except Chris Orme who is only 9 years old are only 16 and this is their first competition that they have fought in the senior categories,
We think they all did exceptionally well.
Adam and Roy Laurence.


GLOUCESTERSHIRE OPEN
Three new students and Adam Laurence (Instructor ) went to the Gloucester open on Sunday March 27th and did the club proud by coming back with 4 trophies.

First up was Lewis Morris aged 11 in the under 145cm Novice boy's points, who has only had four lessons with us, he put up a very good fight in his very first competition and only just lost by one point - well done!

Next was his brother Conner Morris aged 13 he has only had two lessons, he fought in the over 155cm novis boys points and put up a great fight to come away with second place - again well done!

Well to follow that Tom Day fought in the men's novice under 70kg points, he had three very tough fights but come away with first place, then he moved up to the intermediate under 75kg mens points and took a very hard won third place - a great effort keep it up!

Then it was the turn of the boss Adam Laurence ( instructor )he fought in the mens advanced under 70kg points, after three hard fights he ended up in the final with Carl Swaby the World Champion and what a fight it was with the lead changing hands all the way to the bell, but he lost by one point to take a great second place.

We would like to thank those that fought and those that came and supported us.

ANNOUNCEMENT:
Just to add that in the recent BATTLE OF ENGLAND OPEN on Sunday May 15th, Adam Laurance our instructor, again reached the final to fight against the World Champion Carl Swaby. As before it was a nailbiting fight to the end but we are all very proud to announce that Adam finally took first place, which made that a very exciting day for all of us.

ENGLISH SUMMER OPEN
Well done to all who took part in the English Summer Open on 24th July 2005.

First to fight was Ashley Whitehouse aged 10 who unfortunatly was unable to fight in his catagory -155cm novis boys due to a lack of fighters so was asked if he would like to fight in the next catagory up +155cm novis boys, which he agreed and we are all very proud although he didn't win he did manage to score a point against a lad who was quite a lot bigger than himself so - well done.

Bradley was our next fighter who also put up a very good fight in +155cm novis boys - well done.

Lee Knight was the last on the mat and fought incredibly well in his first round in the 62kg advanced mens to go onto the final against a man he had fought often but had, not quite, taken first place until today. After breaking his toe in two places fighting this man, he still went on to win first place - Well done Lee for becoming the English Summer Champion

ENGLISH CUP OPEN
Adam Laurence was today very proud of two of his senior students Lee Knight and Matthew Laurence who were presented with their black belt 1st Dan after taking part in an intensive two day course at WUMA in July 2005. They were the first two of Adams students to take their black belt gradings (there is a picture in the Gallery).

Adam is also very proud of all the fighters who took part in the competition.
First to compete was Ashley Whitehouse who fought in the under 155cm boys novice section, after two strong fights he achieved 2nd place - Well done!

Next in the under 165cm boys novice section were Connor Morris and Christopher Whitehouse who both put up a good fight but unfortunately missed out on a placing - but well done for trying!

Following them was Natasha Ireton who was in the under 165cm girls novice section. This was Natashas first competition fight but after an exciting couple of rounds she went on to achieve 1st place - Well done!

Then fighting in the under 135cm boys advanced section was Christopher Orme who after a strong fight, unfortunately, also missed out on a placing - Good fight though!

Leanne Knight who had not fought in competiton for a little while entered next in the under 155cm girls advanced section and after an extremely impressive fight went on to take 3rd place - Well done!

Finally our instructor Adam Laurence fought in the mens under 70kg section and after an impressive round, using many of his own advanced techniques, went on to take a convincing 5 point lead and 1st place.

In all we walked away with 4 Trophies, 2 firsts, 1 second, and 1 third which meant another all round successful competition.

NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
What a day we had at the National Championships which were held at Worcester on the 16th October 2005. Adam Laurence who is the coach took 6 fighters along with himself, and in all we left with 8 trophies.

First up was 10yr old Ashley Whitehouse in the -155 Novice boys section. He fought hard and brave to get into the final in which his opponent was just a little bit stronger than himself but he still took 2nd place, well done Ashley keep up the good work!

Then came our best result of the day, Jason Day (13) was in the +155 Novice boys section along with Connor Morris who is also 13 yrs old. Connor fought hard and managed to take 3rd place but team mate Jason fought well through to the final to win and take 1st place. Well done lads!

Then it was the turn of the adult fighters, the first one to fight was Tom Day. He had two hard fights and couldn't quite make it into the finals of the -75kg mens intermediate section, but he still walked away with a good third place with this being only his 2nd intermediate fight. Well done Tom!

Next to fight was Lee Knight and boy what a fight he had in the -60kg Advance section he fought brave and hard against the lad who he always seems to meet, only to be pipped in the final 9 - 10 on the bell to take 2nd. Good fight Lee you will take first soon!

Then up to fight was Andy English who met the world champion in the semi-finals of the -70kg section. He fought well considering it was only his 2nd Advanced fight and came away with 3rd place. Well done Andy!

Finally to fight was the instructor Adam Laurence and wow what a couple of fights! He took his first opponent on a 5 point lead in 20 seconds to put him in the semi finals where again he got another 5 point lead, using again many of his own advanced techniques. This took him into the final whereby he then took 2nd place. Not content with 2nd place he decided to fight in the open-weight and boy did he push the world champion all the way to a final decision of first to score and with only a split second between the points Adam unfortunatly took 2nd place. But well done Adam!


Look out for more competition results in 2007.