Chesterfield was the setting for the second Grand Slam event of this year. This is a competition where all the members of the English, Scottish and Welsh squads compete against each other in both team and individual events.

The crowd is kept entertained throughout the day, as all the fights and katas were of a high standard.

The preliminary rounds were packed full of action, and with four areas on the go at once it was difficult for the spectators to chose which area to watch. Highlights included G Hegarty’s (England) ippon-scoring jodan punch against T Ives (England) whilst, on the other mat, M Price caught S Olver (England) with a fast jodan mawashi geri that knocked him off his feet. The ladies’ events weren’t short of ippon techniques either. In the junior ladies’ kumite J Mitcham caught S Griffiths (Wales) cold with a clean jodan punch whilst, in the senior event, G Nightingale (England) caught J Madden (Scotland) with a jodan mawashi geri, much to J Madden’s surprise as she was one of the tallest ladies there!

The finals are summarised below:

Female Kata

In the ladies’ kata, Jemma Mitcham (England), the current JKA European kata champion, was a clear winner with her performance of Gojushiho Sho. Vicky Phillips (England) took second place with Nijushiho, Paula White (England) took third with Gojushiho Sho and Lisa Williams (Wales) took fourth with Sochin.

Senior Female Kumite

The four ladies to go through in the kumite were Kelly Perry, Shareena Edmonds, Vicky Phillips and Vicky Mulhearn, all from England.

Kelly Perry and Shareena Edmonds were first to fight. Shareena, the current National champion, was on good form but Kelly was aggressive and determined and took the fight with two jodan punches to secure a place in the final.

The second semi-final was between Vicky Phillips and Vicky Mulhearn. Both fighters were cautious and the first two minutes went by without any points being scored. In the extension Vicky Phillips managed to get the upper hand, scoring twice with chudan gyaku-zuki to put her in the final.

So the final fight in the ladies kumite was between Kelly Perry and Vicky Phillips. This proved to be a close match as both fighters have fast hands and good reactions. Kelly got the upper hand with the first clash as her chudan punch landed just before Vicky’s, giving her the first point. Vicky, however, stayed relaxed and took the next point with a jodan punch and then went on to take the title with a fast chudan punch.

Junior Female Kumite

The standard in the junior ladies kumite was also very high. Jemma Mitcham (England) and Tara Cummins (England) stormed through the preliminary rounds to face each other in the final. The fight was close but it was Jemma who got the first and only point, scoring with a body punch, to take the title. Third place was shared by Holly Sterling (England) and Natalie Keall (England).

Male Kata

In recent years the male kata has become a very close event. This time Matthew Price (England) repeated his Nationals win, taking the title with a powerful performance of Unsu. Stuart Gordon (England) followed very closely behind, taking second place with Gankaku. Third place was awarded to Paul James (Wales) with Unsu, and forth place was Christian Whale (Wales) with Gojushiho Sho.

Junior Male Kumite (under 18)

The under 18 years male kumite final was between Alan Hesketh (England) and Antony Duffy (England). Antony was the first to score, using his long reach and timing to execute a fast jodan punch. A chudan mawashi geri from Antony failed to score but knocked the wind out of Alan, who took a few moments to get his breath back. Finally, Antony took the title with another jodan punch. Third place in this event went to Damien O’Donnell (England) and Ryan Mitcham (England).

Junior Male Kumite (18-20)

The first fight in this event was between John Bruce (England) and James Eltringham (England). John dominated the fight, securing his place in the final with a spectacular sweep, taking James down to the floor and finishing him off with ippon-scoring punch.

The second semi-final was between Lee McLeod (England) and Chris Cray (England). This was an exciting fight with plenty of action from the very start. Chris scored the first point with a chudan mawashi geri. He then went on to finish the fight with a powerful jodan punch to give him an ippon and put him through to the final.

The final in this event was then between John Bruce and Chris Cray. John relied on his fast timing in this fight and took the title with two chudan gyaku-zuki techniques.

Senior Male Kumite

The first semi-final in the senior male kumite was between Liam O’Grady (England) and Mathew Price (England). This promised plenty of action and didn’t disappoint, with Matthew taking the lead with a jodan gyaku-zuki as Liam ran in. Matthew finished Liam off as he leapt across the mat and caught Liam with a jodan mawashi geri to give Matthew an ippon and take him into the final.

The second semi-final was between Stuart Gordon (England) and Greg Hegarty (England). Both fighters were fired up, but Greg, the current National champion, was on top form. Greg used a back sweep to take Stuart’s front foot from under him in one fast action, taking him down to the floor. A strong punch from Greg as Stuart landed scored him an ippon and gave Greg the fight.

The final of the senior men’s kumite was between Greg Hegarty and Matthew Price. The crowd had high expectations and were treated to a great final. This fight was to go to three ippons, rather than the usual one ippon, much to the crowd’s delight. There was action from the start as Matthew used his timing to catch Greg with a jodan punch as he came in to attack, giving Matthew the first point. A similar tactic gave Matthew his second waza-ari, which left Greg with some catching-up to do. Matthew took Greg down with a sweep, but was unable to follow up and score as Greg kept himself out of reach. Greg managed to get one waza-ari back with a jodan punch, but was unable to draw level, as time ran out and the title went to Matthew Price – his 10th Grand Slam win!

Junior Female Team Kumite

The England team consisted of Jemma Mitcham, Tara Cummins and Holly Sterling. The Wales team fighters were Kirstie James, Lynsey James and Alice Griffiths.

First to fight were Jemma Mitcham and Kirstie James. Jemma took control of the fight and gave England the first win, scoring with two chudan punches.

Tara Cummins and Lynsey James were next up. Tara followed Jemma’s lead, dominating her opponent and scoring with two strong, chudan punches to give England the win.

The final fight was between Holly Sterling and Alice Griffiths. Although the team fight had already gone England’s way, Alice didn’t let this stop her winning her fight. She scored early on with a chudan punch and Holly was unable to even up the scores, making the final result 2-1 to England.

Senior Male Team Kumite

The senior England team consisted of Matthew Price, Greg Hegarty, Dean Field, Stuart Gordon and Liam O’Grady. The senior Wales team consisted of Ceri Phelps, Lee Thomas, Matthew Stockham, Lee Butler and Chris Evans.

First up were Matthew Price and Ceri Phelps. Matthew was doing all the attacking but the fight went the distance with no points scored.

The second fight was between Greg Hegarty and Lee Thomas. Greg scored the only point of the fight, catching Lee with a strong ushiro geri to the body. 1-0 to England.

Next up to fight were Dean Field and Matthew Stockham. Both fighters were bounding with energy, with Dean throwing some spectacular kicks that just failed to reach the target, keeping the crowd on the edge of their seats. The first point went Dean’s way with a chudan gyaku-zuki. He then went on to take the fight with a foot sweep, following up with a punch to score an ippon. 2-0 to England.

Stuart Gordon and Lee Butler were the next two fighters. Lee needed to win this fight to keep Wales in with a chance but Stuart did what he needed to do and, by the end of the fight, there was no score. The last fight of the day was between Liam O’Grady and Chris Evans. Although England had already secured the team victory, both fighters still came out looking for the win. It was Liam who took the lead with a well-timed chudan gyaku-zuki. Chris was unable to even up the scores and when time was called the fight went Liam’s way.

Final score – England 3, Wales 0

Full Results List

Male Kata

1st Matthew Price - England
2nd Stuart Gordon - England
3rd Paul James - Wales
4th Christian Whale - Wales

Female Kata

1st Jemma Mitcham - England
2nd Vicky Phillips - England
3rd Paula White - England
4th Lisa Williams - Wales

Junior Ladies’ Kumite

1st Jemma Mitcham - England
2nd Tara Cummins - England
3rd Holly Sterling - England
3rd Natalie Keall - England

Junior Male Kumite (18-20)

1st John Bruce - England
2nd Chris Cray - England
3rd James Eltringham - England
3rd Lee McLeod - England

Junior Male Kumite (Under 18)

1st Antony Duffy - England
2nd Alan Hesketh - England
3rd Damien O’Donnell - England
3rd Ryan Mitcham - England

Senior Ladies’ Kumite

1st Vicky Phillips - England
2nd Kelly Perry - England
3rd Shareena Edmonds - England
3rd Vicky Mulhearn - England

Senior Male Kumite

1st Matthew Price - England
2nd Greg Hegarty - England
3rd Stuart Gordon - England
3rd Liam O’Grady - England

Junior Ladies’ Team Kumite

1st England
2nd Wales

Senior Male Team Kumite

1st England
2nd Wales