TAO CENTRE WARRIORS TOURNAMENT
SATURDAY 11TH MARCH 2006
No rest for the wicked as they say, it was time again to once again pack the kit bag and the packed lunches (Rubina's meat rolls) and head to the Newtown Tao Centre gym for their long awaited second promotion.
The promotional groups last offering in August last year had been a good one and it would be interesting to see if the second one could live up to the same expectation and quality.
It is unusual these days for a light contact show to be held on a Saturday and this was one of the reasons given for the small turn out last time out. This venture however had been advertised extensively and the promoter were hoping for a bigger turn out from the local martial arts community.
We arrived with a contingent of 10 fighters and a healthy cheering squad to inspire them and encourage them to victory.
Unfortunately the first impressions again were that it was poorly attended.
Host club Colin Glasford's Ying Yang, Garth Porter's Ying Yang, Learoy Moss's Force One, Sugar Rose's Windmill I.S.K.A, Dale Wood's Jesters and of course USKA seemed to be the only clubs present.
This is such a shame as the promoters seemed to had made a real effort in order to bring the fighters in but once again in the growing trend of these type of shows the Instructors couldn't be bothered to support for reasons only known to themselves.
Obviously match making is more difficult when there is a smaller pool of fighters to pick from but the organisers were confident that something could be found for everyone even if it was only in the form of a demonstration bout.
With the feeling of something being better than nothing it was on with the show.
The following is a brief run down of the USKA bouts on the day and of course the results.
NOOR MUHAMMAD (USKA)
Vs
DILLON MOSS (FORCE ONE)
Dillon the more aggressive of the two does enough to take the decision in this close well matched fight.
STACEY RICHARDS (USKA)
Vs
MELINDA MOSS (FORCE ONE)
Stacey's pressure proves to much to an aggressive Melinda Moss with Melinda's corner pulling here out of the contest mid way through the second round after taking a body kick.
Winner by way of stoppage Stacey Richards.
TYLER SHAKESPEARE (USKA)
Vs
JASON WRIGHT (YING YANG) DEMO
Tyler and Jason match each other technique for technique in this excellent demonstration bout. Tyler at only 14 years of age and giving away 4kg in weight to super kicker Wright more than held his own and showed just why he is one of the best junior fighters in the country right now.
MARK SEDGWICK (USKA)
Vs
MATHIAS COLITHAN (WINDMILL)
Mark Sedgwick in an excellent display of control and technique totally dissects and outguns his opponent with text book kicking form to win a clean points decision.
MURDOCK KELLYMAN (USKA)
Vs
HELLI HUTCHINSON (YING YANG) DEMO
An on point Murdock Kellyman looks to be well and truly back to where he left off before his lay off giving away 3kg to accomplished kicker Helli Hutchinson in their demonstration bout. Murdock digging deep into his bag of tricks looked nothing short of top class showing that it is not about the size of the dog in the fight but the size of the fight in the dog.
JAKE RICHARDS (USKA)
Vs
RICKY SINGH (WINDMILL)
Fresh off his WKA English title win Jake Richards outlasts and outkicks the very tough Ricky Singh from ISKA Windmill to earn this hard fought points decision.
Jake must be thinking what he has done to have him deserve all these tough fights in a row.
STACEY RICHARDS (USKA)
Vs
CHARLOTTE (YING YANG) DEMO
USKA's Miss hire a spar Stacey Richards kindly steps in to do a demonstration with a girl that although very talented lacks confidence in competition environment.
In safe hands with Stacey the two put up a good show for the crowd in this controlled demonstration of technique.
QASIM NISAR (USKA)
Vs
IAN HARRIS (YING YANG) DEMO
Another demo now with Qasim Nisar giving away age and weight to aggressive ying yang fighter Ian Harris. Harris with an awkward style posed problems for Qasim at first but Qasim being the intelligent fighter he is found his form, asserted himself and showed exactly why he is being touted as being the best prospect in the country right now.
JAKE RICHARDS (USKA)
Vs
HAILEY HANSON (YING YANG) DEMO
Jake Richards always willing to help out with unmatched fighters in demonstration bouts takes on yet another tough assignment this time in the form of talented former USKA student Hailey Hanson. Hailey who now fights out of the ying yang gym fights with alot of passion but Jake managed to balance the right amount of control with technique to see off but not overwhelm his female counterpart.
TOMMY COLLETT (USKA)
Vs
JASON WRIGHT (YING YANG)
Interesting one now with 16 year old Tommy 'Gun' Collett taking on Ying Yang kicker Jason Wright. Tommy knew he had to neutralise the excellent kicks of his opponent Jason and therefore pressed the action to close him down. The power escalated from both sides only for the bout to be brought to a premature end after Tommy landed an uppercut that knocked down and in effect knocked Jason out.
Thankfully Jason after a short rest was ok and back on his feet without any lasting damage.
The referee's ruling was that both fighters were responsible for the fight escalating in power and as a result ruled it a no contest.
As a side note, the uppercut was one that Ricky Hatton would have been proud of.
AZAD KHAN (USKA)
Vs
JAKE RICHARDS (USKA) DEMO
Mr unmatchable Azad Khan back in the ring for the first time since his lay off climbs back through the ropes having to make do with Mr demonstration himself Jake Richards.
Both fighters treated the crowd to a nice display of text book USKA technique to show just why the gyms fighting style and fighters are respected so much.
JAY COLLETT (USKA)
Vs
MARK SEDGWICK (USKA) DEMO
Finally for the USKA team it was another fighter Jay Collett who also ended up without a match. Stepping in to give Jay a run was his fellow team mate and sparring partner Mark Sedgwick. Both lads wowed the crowd with again some quality sparring even finding the time to choreograph some Ong Bak stylee arial kicks.
Great demonstration to end the day from two lads whose styles really gel.

On the whole not a bad day with all the USKA fighters able to have a little ring time whether it be in a competitive fight or competitive demonstration.
My feeling is when we go to these shows if one USKA fighter has an experience that promotes growth in them as a fighter it has been a worthwhile one.
This was certainly the case in the bouts involving both Tyler Shakespeare and Tommy Collett so i as a coach have no complaints and welcome an invite to next of the Tao shows.