The Open Junior British Light Continuous Kickboxing Championships
Melton Mowbray
Sunday 1st April 2007

The open Golden Belt Junior British Light Continuous Kickboxing Championships on the 1st April looked like it was going to be a good one with many clubs, gyms and associations pledging fighters to compete in advance.
It was a two day event with Thai Boxing on the saturday and Kickboxing on the Sunday and was to serve a good warm up for all the USKA fighters planning to travel to Hungary for the European Championship is Hungary two days later.
The Thai Boxing from all accounts was well attended, of a really high standard and went without any problems at all with everybody enjoying the day.
The Kickboxing days problems however made up the next day with what seemed like one problem after another.
First problem for the promoters was when the Sanctioning from the Golden Belt was withdrew leaving the Championship in effect unsanctioned. Golden Belt were unhappy with changes of rules to be used on the day and also what they said was an unacceptable quality of certificate, belt and medals that competitors would receive.
From my own personal point of view the trophies, medals and certificates were fine but the rules in place on the day were not ideal and caused many problems due to the contact level that referee's were allowing to be used.
In the pre event coach and instructor meeting in the changing rooms chief referees Bob Taggart and Mick Fowles explained that they would allow full contact to the body but only allow light contact to the head.
Anyone who has had experience with children know that for them to differentiate between the two power levels at a split seconds negotiation is a very difficult task indeed. It also by definition becomes something other than light continuous and something that the majority of competitors had not signed up for.

This said, we had brought a more experienced USKA squad without novice competitors and I felt that they would all be fine competing under these guidelines. I would have however had major concern's if that not had been the case and I had novice to intermediate fighters in attendance. It takes only one bad experience to put a young fighter off competitions for life and because they are in an open class competition they could be up against the strongest competitor in their first fight. This would be ok under normal light continuous rules and although being dissected and taken apart on points they would be less likely to get hurt. With these new full contact to the body rules in place this could paint an entirely different picture to the outcome of a bout.

Ok, there is my views on the rules, now on to the fighting itself.

First up from the USKA crew the ever improving Zakir Rahman climbs through the ropes for his semi final fight now and looking across the ring looked to have a good height and reach advantage over his U.K.C.B.A opponent. The bout started and Zakir was scoring consistently with his hands and his legs against the very basic and limited offence of his opponent. Zakir also has the knack for just stepping out after he has finished his combination affording his opponent to miss and then moving back into range with yet another combination counter attack. This is a skill that you do not see in many fighter of Zakir's age. The action is stopped after Zakir lands a perfect round kick to the head and momentarily leaves his opponent not knowing where he is. After being checked by the medic on standby he is deemed ok to continue and the fight resumes. Shortly after the round ends and it is a clear win for the USKA boy. Round 2 starts and the U.K.C.B.A lad starts strong trying to impose himself on Zakir with hard punches. Zakir is having none of it though and after he feels a hard right hand hit the side of his head he opens up with a series of round kicks to the head that once again sees his opponent in distress and doubled over looking for a respite. The referee ushers him back to his corner and his coach after one look knows his mans day of fighting is at an end and pulls him from the contest. Cracking start to the day as Zakir Rahman is awarded the win by second round stoppage.

Zakir Rahman stepped into his final fight against a Welsh fighter and straight away got down to business mixing his usual fast punch kick combinations together and forcing his man back against the ropes. Zakir from the offset has the reach and technique over his opponent and it is not long before the Welsh lad falls victim to a round kick to the head much the same as Zakir's fIrst opponent did. The fight is stopped and the distressed Welsh fighter is seen to by the medic back in the Welsh corner. The fight is waved back on and the boys get back down to business. The low guard from the Welsh fighter is making it easy for Zakir to find his round kick to the head and every time it does it is disorganising the Welsh fighter even more.
The round ends and the Welsh fighter stumbles back to his corner clearly out of his depth.
Round 2 starts and the Welsh lads goes on a suicide mission to put some hurt on Zakir. Zakir manoeuvres his man well and although under pressure is still landing much more shots than his steam train like efforts opponent. Every time Zakir lands the round kick to the head his opponent is turning away and looking for a time out and the referee should really at this point be looking at calling an end to the contest enforcing the outclassed rule. Running forward throwing punches from your waist and holding your head up in the air is never really a good idea and this is highlight perfectly by Zakir as he lands a beautiful right leg round kick to the side of the head that drops his man heavily to the canvas and effectively ends the contest as the ref and the medic jump in. Thankfully for Zakir and the USKA team the referee and judges recognised that the knockout was brought on more by the Welsh fighters lack of guard and fighting with his face than any excess power from Zakir so yet again Zakir was awarded his second win of the day by second round stoppage. The winner and new British junior Champion.....Zakir Rahman and the first belt for his collection.

Haris Khan next against a Welsh fighter he was giving alot of height to. Haris probably fighting way above his ideal weight category has got all the heart in the World but frankly does not train in a fashion that gives him any kind of advantage when it comes to competition day. Haris from the first bell to the last was basically in too deep. With limited fitness and even more limited an idea of how to deal with his opponent Haris crashed and burned and was on the receiving end of a beating for the three round contest. The old saying of 'If you fail to prepare you are preparing to fail' comes to mind here and hopefully it will not be too long before Haris realises this and bucks his ideas up in the gym. Otherwise he can guarantee that this will not be the last time he is brought into deep waters and drowned in the ring.

Next we saw U.S.K.A's Noor Muhammed matched against the talented Sammy Pollard from the D.E.M.A.A. These two have been touted to meet at many competitions before this one but for one reason or another they have always missed each other. This was going to be a semi final fight for a place in the final so it was an important one for both lads to win. The fight started with Noor applying the centre line pressure with Sammy opting to use his lateral movement and work off the counter attack. Both were having their successes and it looked from the early stages that it was going to be an interesting one to score. Sammy seemed reluctant going forward but on the occasions he did do he looked good. First round over and one in the bank for Noor. Round 2 played out much the same as the first, Noor or the attack and Sammy trying to move and counter. It is so much harder to create and impression on the judges going backwards and aesthetically it definitely looked like Noor was getting the upper hand. No one could be sure though so Round 3 would be fought with the same intensity as the first two. Sammy started the third coming forward and looked so much better doing so but it was not long before Noor took his play away and started to back him up again. It was back and forth action throughout the last round and in fairness to Sammy a much better one. It is a wonder why he never fought like this over the first two rounds. The decision however went to the aggressor Noor Muhammed as he earned his place in the final.

Noor Muhammed stepped into the ring for the final against a real tough cookie from Force 1 gym in the form of Dillon Moss. Dillon looked good in his semi final and it looked on paper like an even money match.
Noor started well keeping Dillon at bay with straight line kicks that Dillon seemingly was struggling to deal with. Dillon however was relentless and kept plodding forward with his hands. It seemed a pattern of kicker against a boxer up until the last quarter of the round when Noor decided to back off and allowed Dillon to close him down to the rope. Dillon also landed two excellent spin kicks n the last quarter that no doubt would have won him the round. Dillon the more balanced of the two fighters went on the attack again in the second round and Noor giving up ground was conceding points. When Noor was going forward he was scoring well so why he was not applying these tactics is anybody's guess. Maybe his fitness was letting him down and he had no choice but to back up. The last quarter of the round again proved to be a good one for Dillon scoring well, keeping the pressure on and it very much looked like Noor was spent and starting to come apart. The third round now and it is Dillon's best, not giving Noor time to breath and it now definitely looks like his fitness is letting him down in the worst way. Dillon maintains the pressure throughout to make an already good performance a great on and leave the decision beyond any kind of doubt.
The winner and new Junior British Champion Dillon Moss.

Next up it was time for Haroon Khan to take on a fighter he had faced twice before in competition and had won one and lost one against. Curtis Jones from Tamworth kickboxing was the fighter and if the first two meetings between the two were anything to go by we were going to be in for a good fight.
The round starts with Curtis kicking and Haroon waiting. Haroon is waiting seemingly for the counter but when opportunities are presenting themselves he looks very reluctant indeed to commit to anything and very much looks to be shadow boxing out of range. He will not win a fight by these kind of tactics and it is clearly Curtis who has the upper hand on the cards going into round 2 of the fight. Haroon tries to apply more pressure in this round but he is making the mistake of trying to trade kicks with the better kicker. What Haroon needs to do is close down the kick of Curtis and make him box as he is clearly not as good with his hands as he is with his legs. When Haroon did let go with his punches he looked good doing so and in control but quite simply he was not doing enough to put himself in front in the round. Another one to Curtis and what looked like too big a hill to climb for Haroon leaving to much of a points lead to catch up on.
Round 3 and at last Haroon gets into gear with forward momentum. He looks like a completely different fighter and it's a wonder why he did not try to do this earlier. Mid way through the round however Haroon loses focus again and goes back to the waiting and turning his body out of position in a very negative style to let Curtis back into the round. The round ends and it doesn't look good for the USKA fighter.
Suspicions confirmed at decision time and the winner declared as Curtis Jones.

 

Stacey Richards due to no one being in her category had to step up to the next age division to face what looked like on paper to be a tough ask against WKA World mat light continuous champion Kirsty Flynn from Scorpio freestyle. Kirsty starts fast moving around the outside and letting shots go in flurries. Most of the punches and kicks are bouncing off Stacey's tight guard but every now and again Kirsty fires down a barrage to the body under Stacey's elbows. It is however Stacey that looks the stronger and when both girls are exchanging close quarter it looks to like she is getting the better of it. Backing Kirsty up into the USKA corner Stacey lets go with an excellent combination of punches and kicks finishing the volley with a turning side kick that finds it's mark of Kirsty's body. Kirsty doubles over under the assault and the referee steps in. The inexperienced referee at this point should have been administering a count given the rules of full contact to the body but instead gave Kirsty all the time she wanted to recover which on the clock was way over 30 seconds, seemingly the referee did not know the rules of the competition. The bout however after Kirsty's prolonged rest was allowed to continue and Stacey went back onto the attack knowing that Kirsty was fragile. The Scorpio corner recognised that Kirsty was struggling and felt it best they pulled her out to prevent the inevitable from happening. Winner by stoppage at the end of round 1 and new Junior open British champion Stacey Richards.

Mark Sedgwick steps into the ring for his semi final now against an opponent from Cardiff Kickboxing club under the instruction of James Russell. The game but outgunned Welsh fighter tries to rush Mark and put him under pressure. What he doesn't bank on is Mark fighting fire with fire which he does and comes of worst for his efforts. Mark has too much for him and if he can't find another tactic to adopt he is in for a serious beating. The referee steps in to give the Welsh fighter a breather and contrary to the rules stated at the pre fight meeting Mark is asked to lighten up with his kicks to the body.
Yet another inconsistency in the rules!
Amazingly when the referee calls fight the Welsh lad rushes Mark and it is him who tries to put the hurt on Mark. Again digging in his heels Mark responds in kind and the Welsh lad wilts under the pressure yet again. A compassionate corner knows it is all over for their man and pull him out rather than let him go out and face more of the same. The winner by 1st round stoppage and on to the final Mark Sedgwick.

Mark Sedgwick takes to the ring for his final against Jamie Whiteman from BBA in Manchester. Mark facing a shorter opponent now who from the outside did not look like he was going to pose too many problems for the Killer Kicker. Round 1 starts and Mark sensing early that his opponent was not a threat and not really in his league showed compassion and just picked away and practised some new things from the gym that he had been working on. With clean concise technique over three rounds Mark cut of the ring well and hit Jamie with just about every technique in the book looking very impressive and really showing the gulf in standard between the two without stepping up the power. No doubt if Mark had wanted to turn up the heat he could have and this bout would not have seen the final bell. Mark not killing his mans confidence basically carried him through and earned himself the win and a new British title belt to add to his already impressive collection. The winner, Mark Sedgwick.

Jake Richards steps in the ring now to face an opponent from U.K.C.B.A kickboxing. Jake is asked before the fight from the ref to go light and take it easy on his opponent as he is more experienced. Now on any other light continuous day show I would have said fair enough but the fact that you could win by stopping your opponent with a body kick fair and square in the rules and also the fact that it is an open class British Championships it seemed to make a mockery of the whole thing. Did not the U.K.C.B.A. coach know that his fighter could and would be facing the best fighters in Britain for the title belt? Was Jake now not just in a demonstration bout by taking it easy with his opponent?
Anyway, Jake being Mr nice guy obliged the referee's request and tip tapped his way through the three rounds to easily win the decision. A slightly pointless exercise and i'm sure that if Jake would have turned up the heat from the first bell he could have got his man out of there and continued the winning streak of first round stoppages. The decision however and new British Junior open Champion Jake Richards.
This is the forth British title Jake has won along side his ISKA, BLCC and WAKO ones this year so you would have to say beyond any doubt that he is the undisputed British Champion for his age and weight class.

Azad Khan in a straight final against a World class operator Josh O'Connor from Alf Love's BBA team in Manchester. Round 1 and it very much looks like exceptional boxer in Josh O'Connor against exceptional kicker in Azad Khan. Josh has excellent head movement and his defence looks sound. Azad hard body round kicks are keeping Josh occupied somewhat but Azad knows if he misses he will get punished by Josh's sharp boxing counters. Josh's head movement is making it difficult for Azad to land his trade mark head kicks but the body kicks continue to score well for the rest of the round. Tough one to call in terms of scoring and all depended on how much focus the judges were giving to Azad's impressive body kicks.
The second round saw much the same battle play out. Josh done his best work at the start of the round and Azad finishing strong with his kicks again as Josh seemed to tire. One thing was for sure though, this was a very close fight and both round could be scored either way. It was all up for grabs going into the third.
Azad in the third round looked tired and stuck to basics relying on predominately straight punches and round kicks. Josh landed with more punches in this segment and on more than a few occasions snapped Azad's head right back in a way that we don't often see happen. Azad keeps winging in the body kicks but is being answered with punch flurries after every one. The round ends and although not landing hardly any kicks just on the boxing work the round looks to be Josh's. It was a closer than close fight and would all be down to what the judges liked better and how they scored the first two rounds. Both lads went to the ring centre to hear the decision neither knowing which way it was going to go. The winner of the final and new British junior champion......... Azad Khan. Relief from the USKA corner but another close call from Azad surely giving him the incentive to get back to the true fight fitness we know he is capable of.


The final fight of the day saw Ridwan Khan step up a weight and age category and potentially fight kids up to 15 years old and 10kg heavier. His first fight however was not as extreme but extrema enough all the same. 12 year old Ridwan would face Marcus from Scorpio gym 1 year older but a whopping 8kg heavier.
Round 1 started with an aggressive rush from the heavier lad but what became apparent straight away was that although heavier he had very little technique and was making a million mistakes in his first 10 seconds of fighting. The instructions from the corner to Ridwan was clear, high guard, stay close and force him back.
Marcus with his physical advantage was moving Ridwan but was not landing anything that would score instead leaning on and smothering his own work. It wasn't long before the wrestling tactics of the heavier lad was tiring himself out and slowing him down and when he stopped pressing forward as much it was Ridwan's take over time putting his combinations together and scoring well. A few clean head kicks from Ridwan later and the round was over and his frustrated and his very tired opponent slumbered his way back to his corner.
Round 2 starts and after an initial 20 second rush from Marcus that only served to tire himself out it was Ridwan back in the driving seat again. Marcus was also picking up warning after warning from the ref for infringing the rules and it looked like the writing was on the wall for him now showing major signs of frustration. While taking a prolonged warning from the ref the bell rang to end the round which left us asking the question of why the time had not been stopped by the referee. Nevertheless it was a round to Ridwan and he was in a good position with his opponent almost out on his feet by his own doing going into the last round. Mid way through the third and after Ridwan doing the better in every exchange Marcus had a Roberto Duran moment and called 'NO MAS' 'No More' and turned and walked back to his corner throwing his own towel in to his corners disgust. Not only did he embarrass himself in the ring but then out the ring aswell when he refused to shake Ridwan's hand or get back in to accept his losers medal. Well you know what kid, a bit of advice, before you step back in the ring learn some etiquette and oh yeah, while your at it learn how to fight. Glad to say that no USKA fighter has ever behaved like that and furthermore will never do in the future. Well done to the winner Mr Ridwan Khan.

Due to the final being against a 15 year old with a 10kg weight advantage it was deemed by USKA coach Neil Kelly too dangerous a fight for Ridwan who had already more than done what he came there to do.
He graciously quit while he was ahead with a silver medal and saved himself from injury for the European Championships in Hungary that where being held the a few days later.

So four new British Champions for the USKA gym. The rules the biggest down side to the day and one that surely must be looked at if this event is to happen every year. Too many bouts ending in stoppage and too many juniors probably walking away thinking that they will not want to compete again due to the bad experience. Light continuous should be light contact and referee's should be experienced enough to know the difference.