The Combat Academy & Hereford Contact Karate Club Groundfighting Tournament
March 2005
The Combat Academy and Hereford Contact Karate Club recently hosted the first of their bi-annual Ground-fighting championships. In addition to fighters from the host clubs, the event, which continues to grow in popularity, attracted fighters from Ipswich Sonsho, South Wales Falcons, Gower Judo Club, SDF Wales, Gloucester TJK, Wolverhampton TJK and Hereford Judo Club.
Ground-fighting is a hybrid combat sport combining the skills and techniques of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Judo, Sport Ju-Jutsu and Wrestling, with points being awarded for pins, holds and for fighters over the age of sixteen, submission techniques such as arm/leg locks and chokes/strangles.
In the Boys under 31kg category Falcons fighter Mason Jones defeated four opponents on his way to the Gold medal, with Combat Academy's Olly Bohn and Jacob Spink taking the silver and bronze medal.
In the Boys under 35 kg category 5 fighters battled it out for the medals. Gower Judo Club's Brandon Dodge produced an outstanding performance defeating all 4 opponents without conceding a single point on his way to the Gold Medal, with Falcons Christian Evans taking the silver and Luciano Celozzi of The Combat Academy the bronze.
In the Boys & Girls under 45 kg category Jac Jones made it gold medal number 2 for the Gower Judo Club as he defeated all three of his opponents, like his club mate, without conceding a single point. Kate Bishop and Becky Hayes of The Combat Academy collected the silver and bronze medals respectively.
The boys and girls open category was a very close category. Because of his competition experience Gower Judo Club's Curtis Dodge elected to fight in the open category. In a fantastic battle Curtis defeated Falcons fighter Matt Morgan 3 - 2, despite giving away 20 kilos. Combat Academy fighter Dan Hayes put in a spirited performance, losing 0 - 3, despite giving away 13 kilos to the Falcons fighter. With Combat Academy fighter Emma Baker defeating Curtis 3 - 0 the pool finished with Matt and Curtis having 2 wins apiece with Matt taking the gold on account of having scored 11 points to Curtis's 6. Dan and Emma had 1 win each with Dan taking the bronze medal having scored 4 points to Emma's 3.
The senior under 72-kg section was a very strong category that saw some of the best fights of the day. In pool 1, Judo black belt and Welsh Judo Squad member Spencer Dummer, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu blue belt Russell Evans of Wolverhampton TJK, Dan McKwan and Neil Preedy of The Combat Academy fought for the two semi-final places. A Ju-Jutsu Kumite red belt under Dave Coles, Neil Preedy gave an excellent account of himself losing by a single advantage to Judo Black belt Spencer and by 0 - 5 points to BJJ fighter Russell. Fight of the day was between Russell and Spencer, with Spencer taking the 5 - 3 points victory after the fight had gone the distance.
In pool 2, 15 year old SDF Wales fighter Luke Harris gave a very good account of himself in the senior category beating The Combat Academy's Sam Davies 10 - 0 and narrowly losing 0 - 2 to the experienced Simon Edmunds of Falcons.
Club mates Luke and Spencer faced off in the first semi-final with Spencer progressing to the final. In another close fought semi Falcons Simon Edmunds defeated Russell Evans 1 - 0. In the Final Simon defeated Spencer 6 0 to take the gold medal. In the fight off for the bronze medal Russell Evans defeated Luke Harris to take the bronze medal.
Seven competitors battled it out in the mens under 80-kg category. Pool 1 consisting of Carl Edmunds and Kyle Waters of Falcons, with Lewis Green and Lee Emmett of The Combat Academy. Carl defeated all three opponents, without conceding a single point, to progress to the semi-final alongside his clubmate Kyle. In Pool 2 Andrew Morris, Falcons, Chris Randall, Ipswich Shonsho and Gavin Emmett of The Combat Academy battled it out for the other two semi-final positions. Chris Randall progressed to the semi-final after defeating Andrew Morris 2 1 in a very close fought battle, and Gavin Emmett 10 0. Andrew filled the final place in the semi-final draw. Falcons team-mates Carl and Andrew fought a tight battle in the first semi-final with Carl advancing to the final via an advantage win. In the other semi Kyle defeated Chris 5 - 0. In the final Carl recorded a 1 - 0 victory over clubmate Kyle. In the fight off for the bronze medal Ipswich Shonsho fighter Chris Randall defeated Andrew Morris 4 - 1 to take a hard earned medal.
The mens under 90-kg category had 9 competitors split into two pools of 5 and 4, so all fighters were looking at 5-6 fights for a medal. Pool 1 had Bram Roberts and Chris Crothers of The Combat Academy, Paul Gallegher, Falcons, Tom Odell, Ipswich Shonsh and Mindaugas Mockevicius of Gloucester TJK. Bram and Mindaugas progressed to the semi-final with 3 wins apiece, with Mindaugas finishing in first place in the pool on account of scoring more points in his fights. Ashley Price and John Downes of the Combat Academy, Falcons Shaine Redman and Bruce Davies of SDF Wales made up pool 2, with Shain 3 wins and Bruce 2 wins progressing to the semi-final. The first semi-final fight paired off Mindugas and Bruce, with Bruce progressing to the final via a 1 - 0 victory. On the other side of the draw old adversaries Shain Redman and Bram Roberts fought and entertaining battle with Shain taking the fight 8 0. In the final Shain beat Bruce Davies 10 - 0 to secure the gold medal. In the fight off for the bronze medal Bram avenged his earlier defeat to Mindaugas with a 5 - 3 victory.
The Mens +90 kilo category also had 9 competitors, split into pools of 5 and 4. In pool 1 Shaun Carter, Ipswich Shonsho, Andrew Bayton, Falcons, Dave Cooter The Combat Academy and Mark O'Connor, SDF Wales fought for the semi-final places. Mark, a Silver medallist in the Commonwealth Judo Tournament (New Zealand, 2004) always looked favourite to take the Men's Open title. Despite giving away weight in all of his fights, Mark conceded only two points en-route to the gold medal. In pool 2 Craig Sennett, Ipswich Shonsho, Hugh Griffiths, Falcons and Matt Lucas and Greg Matthews of The Combat Academy were looking to progress to the semi-final stage. With 3 wins and no points conceded, Greg topped the pool, with Hugh Griffiths qualifying in second place.
With Mark defeating Hugh 10 - 0 in the first semi-final, club mates Dave Cooter and Greg Matthews battled it out to see who would face Mark in the final. A 5 - 0 win for Dave saw him progress to the final where he would collect the silver medal. In a very close fight for the bronze medal Greg defeated Huw by just one advantage.
The aim of the event had been to run a friendly event giving competitors as many fights as possible. All competitors had a minimum of two fights, with the majority having between five and six bouts. The spirit of the event was summed-up when a small matted warm-up area that had been set up at the rear of the hall, was used towards the end of the day by fighters from different clubs to exchange techniques in somewhat of an impromptu open mat.
Full Results:
Boys under 31 kg.
1. Mason Jones Falcons
2. Olly Bohn Combat Academy
3. Jacob Spink Combat Academy
Boys under 35 kg
1. Brandon Dodge Gower Judo Club
2. Christian Evans Falcons
3. Luciano Celozzo Combat Academy
Boys & Girls under 45 kg
1. Jac Jones Gower Judo Club
2. Kate Bishop Combat Academy/HCKC
3. Becky Hayes Combat Academy
Boys and girls open
1. Matt Morgan Falcons
2. Curtis Dodge Gower Judo Club
3. Dan Hayes Combat Academy/HCKC
Senior under 72 kg
1. Simon Edmunds Falcons
2. Spencer Dummer SDF Wales
3. Russell Evans Wolverhampton TJK
Senior mens under 80 kg
1. Carl Edmunds Falcons
2. Kyle Waters Falcons
3. Chris Randall Ipswich Shonsho
Senior mens under 90 kg
1. Shaine Redman Falcons
2. Bruce Davies SDF Wales
3. Bram Roberts Combat Academy/HCKC
Senior Mens Open
1. Mark O'Connor SDF Wales
2. Dave Cooter Combat Academy
3. Greg Matthews Combat Academy
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