Competition
is not for everybody, however for those who do
wish to PRESSURE test their skills and receive
trophies and maybe even win Championship Titles,
there are four different levels of competition
a student may enter. Two that are for Amateurs
and two that are for Professionals.
For all Students that chose to compete at Warrington
Kickboxing, Competiton always starts at stage 1, and
for those dedicated and exceptionally gifted the
opportunites are endless as
Warrington Kickboxing Studio
is one of the few Martial Arts Schools with access
to all four levels of competition, Amateur and
Professional divisions.
Competition - The four
Levels.
Level 1. Amateur
- ( Kumite Division) :
KUMITE ( promounced kum-ee-tay. A Japanese
word that means Sparring ).
The Kumite Division, or Free-Sparring Division,
is for newcomers to the Competition Circuit or
for those that maybe chose not to compete Full-Contact
due to work commitments.
Full Amateur protective equipment of Headguard,
Bodyshield, Large 16oz Gloves and Shinpads are
always worn (as seen on many photos throughout
this website). Usually these events are held at
individual Schools or small hall type venues.
Bouts are contested under
Kumite
( free-sparring ) Rules, whereby to minimise
any risk of injury, only controlled-contact is
allowed when using techniques that target the
Head, and not Full-Contact.
Emphasis
during KUMITE matches is to not to test power,
but to test Fitness,
Speed and Technical skill and
these bouts can be very competative and exciting
to watch when the Seniors are matched. Bouts are
scored by points for techniques that connect cleanly
just as with Olympic Boxing and Olympic Taekwondo
with the most points at the end of the match declared
the winner.
Kumite
bouts are matched over 7 weight divisions. These
competitions are a test of a Kickboxers Martial
Arts Skills and are very popular, with opportunites
for the more advanced students to compete for
Kumite Championships.
For Kickboxers under
the age of 16, there are Amateur Junior contests.
The Kumite rules are very similar with Bodyshields,
Gloves and Shinpads being worn, although no head
gear is neccessary as no head contact is allowed
at all ( as opposed to Controlled-contact to the
head with Adult matches ). Again Championship
titles are contested by the very best Juniors,
and several of the U.K.'s leading Professional
Champions today on the European and World Circuit,
won their very first Titles in the Amateur Junior
Division.
W.K.S. organises six Amateur Kumite Competitions per year, as well as
attends similar Free-Sparring Competitions held
by other schools throughout the North-West Counties
of England ( Lancashire, Cheshire and Yorkshire)
for those members that may be interested in this
level of Amateur Kickboxing.
Level 2. Amatuer
( Pro-Am. / Full Contact Division):
The Pro-Am. level of amateur competition allows
Full-Contact, but with protective equipment
still being worn. These bouts are matched over
12 weight divisions. With Kickboxing, these are
part of a well organised National and International
Circuit and can lead to World Championships withs
Bronze, Silver and Gold Medals awarded. This level
of competition is usually only contested between
Kickboxers, it is very rare for other disclipines
such as Karate, Kung fu or Taekwondo to compete
under Full-Contact rules.
Level 3. Professional : (Match-Fights). These bouts are where only very
skilled fighters matchup against each other. This
level of competition has opportunities for Kickboxers
to compete for Professional Championship Belts
and to compete on an International Level travelling
to different countries and experiencing different
cultures.
Level 4. Professional : (Tournment-Contests) : These are known as Grandprix's.
An 8 man competition, whereby competitors have
upto 3 bouts in one night ( very tough! ), you
will see these under the banner 'K-1',
and this is the circuit to which only the best
of the best compete, with the eventual aim of
the World K-1
Grandprix in the Tokyo
dome.
Kumite Competition is
most popular competition format pursued by the
majority of our members, both ladies and gents
alike. They are held every two months and are
open to BLUE BELTS
and above. Different Kickboxing Schools
and Martial Art Styles also attend with their
latest members to the competition circuit which
can lead to some very exciting bouts.
This helps Students gain
valuable Ring experience. There is only 'Controlled-Contact'
allowed to the Head, and everyone wears protective
equipment ( as seen below ).
Competitors are matched
over 7 weight divisions for men and 5 weight divisions
for ladies (for further details see the A.K.A.
Website). Each competitor receives a large trophy
and a fully edited DVD of the competition.
This can then be utilised
as an important aid in assessing an individuals
progress as mistakes can be pointed out, and comparisons
can be made between competitions as a Kickboxers
skills and confidence improve.
The main reason
that KUMITE competition is so popular amongst
Martial Artists is that No K.O.'s are allowed
by concussion to the head,
only Controlled-Contact
is allowed to this area as the
aim of this level of competition is to test speed
and technical skill. Due to this any risk of injury
is minimised and no-one gets hurt.
This also allows other Styles to compete against
Kickboxers such as Karate, Taekwondo and Kung-Fu.
Please Note:
Competition is not compulsary, and many members
never pursue this avenue.
However there are many Schools that never offer
this type of competition, which is not good should
you feel this maybe something that you would eventally
like to try, even if it was only the once.
Graham Sayer had no intensions of ever competing
when he first joined W.K.S.
but after competing just the once,
Graham found that his confidence improved dramatically.
Following this Graham continued to compete regularly
as an Amateur Player until he eventually became a Champion!
Kumite Competition
is a very good teaching method through pressure
testing. Before an event, most people get the
customery butterflies that are associated with
feeling frightened.
However this is merely your body responding to
pressure with an adrenelin release. If you face
upto this pressure you will learn better how to
cope with it. These would be the same butterflies
that you would feel if you were confronted in
a real life situation. Training in a non-contact
system as many Martial Arts or Kickboxercise/
Aerobic programs are, will not give you much experience
of an adrenelin rush and could result in a person
not being able to defend themselves.
It is not unknown for a Martial Arts practisioner
from a non-contact system, after many years of
dedicated training in a non-contact system, being
confronted and in need to "self-defend"
and they have just frozen up or blanked out. This
is because the 'fear' or 'pressure' from an adreneline
release has overwhelmed them, as they have never
had any experience of the pressure of actually
facing an opponent.
This is where joining a school like Warrington
Kickboxing Studio, that runs regular KUMITE competitions,
can be of great benefit to you, should you at
some time in your training wish to take this path.
For the benefit of our members all our Competitions
are always recorded, and the DVD given to the
student to keep, this way we can analyse how well
one performed, and explain specific areas to improve.
Amateur Kumite competitions are Safe, fast,
exciting and testing and is the most popular and most practised
competion format open to Martial Artists.
VERY IMPORTANT NOTE:
Unbelievably, many Martial
Art Centres do not adhere to the
strict safety regulations that are followed at
Warrington Kickboxing
Studio! The most common safety
regulation not followed by other Schools, is not
wearing a Head Gaurd whilst Free-Sparring!
A Head Gaurd is a very serious item and gives
additional protection from possible cuts and contact
strikes. Consider this, If Lennox
Lewis and Mike Tyson,
two professional Heavyweight World Champions and
extremly skilled individuals, always wear head protection during Free-Sparring,
then why do these Martial
Arts Centres not insist on this?
The second safety regulation that should always
be followed, and unfortunately is not, is that
Free-Sparring should only be conducted
in a Kickboxing Ring.
This has a safety padded floor, and most importantly
ropes to stop you accidentally bumping into other
people, as you have a 18ft Square safety area
in which you and your Sparring partner can safely
move around.
Many clubs simply let the whole class ( of
upto 40 students ) free-spar at the same
time on an open mat with very limited space! Injuries
can be prevailant such an enviroment as people
accidentally bump into others that are also sparring
at the back or side of them, and again consider
this, would Lewis or
Tyson ever spar on a
mat and risk injury.
The third safety regulation that should always
be followed is that Free-Sparring should
be Supervised (refereed).
How an Instructor watches 40 students sparring
at the same time is a question that I cannot answer.
I will leave it you to arrive at your own conclusion!
Our reccomendation
would be NOT to train at any Martial
Arts Centre that did not stress the safety
of its members.
At the W.K.S.
Full protective equipment is always worn so that
no-one receives injuries. This consists of Headguard,
Large well padded 18oz Boxing Gloves, Gum Shield,
Elbow Pads, Groin Guards, Body-Shield and Shinpads
( Checkout the photo of the Kickboxers Freesparring above
). Any Free-Sparring is always supervised and
conducted in a Kickboxing Ring.
Level 2.
- Amateur : Pro-Am.
(Full-Contact) Division
Some Students develop their defensive Blocking
Skills to such a high level on the Kumite
system ( which is one of its primary
aims ) that they chose to progress onto the NATIONAL
Amateur Championship Competitions, with Full-Contact strikes allowed.
Competing as a Professional, with Full-Contact
strikes allowed, yet still as an Amateur with
the Full Protection still being worn by both Kickboxers
to minimize injury. Pro-Am. matches are contested
over 12 Weight Divisions instead of 7.
Fighters who win the National Eliminations
qualify to compete as part of the England Team
and can travel to different countries for the
World Championships. This
year, 2005, the World Amateur Championships are
to be held in the SWITZERLAND!
Pro-Am. ( Full-Contact Amateur Level ) Championship
achievements are rewarded with Medals of Bronze,
Silver, and Gold.
Chris Cronin, is Warrington's most succesfull
Amateur, winning 2 Gold Medals, in the 2001 and
2003 Championships. Chris is now the English Pro.
Champion at 62 Kgs and recently defended that
title, winning by K.O. in round 3 - see latest
news - archives section.
Pictured above Warrington Kickboxers
Left : Dave Leffler
2001 British Champion - Pro-Am. Gold Medalist
- Cruiserweight
Right : Nathan
Liptrot, 2001 British Champion
- Pro-Am. Gold Medalist - Super Heavyweight
Level
3. - Professional Competition
: Championships
Professional Competition is where no protective
padding is worn and Full-Contact strikes are used
to try to stop or Knock Out an opponent. To enhance
safety, weight divisions at professional level
cover 12 categories, with only 2 kilos between
each, and Kickboxers are always tried to be matched
at the exact same weight.
This is a very tough Sport and only very few
students ever progress onto this high level. Usually
it is for those select few who have had great
achievements on the Amateur Circuit ( Much like
professional Boxers who'm progress from the Amateur
Ranks of the A.B.A.'s).
For those that do compete under Professional
rules though the rewards can be high. These fighters
get paid to compete and many opportunities to
fight abroad. The very best of which even get
to compete for Championship Title Belts on a Regional,
National and World class level.
In Action below Kickboxing Instructor:
Mark 'The Diamond' Matthews
One of the countries leading Kickboxers
Mark Matthews, on his way to another International
Win in an England vs Belgium contest.
Matthews, world ranked #10, has
never lost a contest at Super-Welterweight with
all of his wins by K.O.!
Senior Instructor, Matthews, who
is a 3rd Degree Blackbelt in Okamido Kickboxing
is the current reigning Inter-Continental Champion.
Levlel
4. - Professional Competition : 'K-1'
Kickboxing Circuit.
The professional circuit is now at its highest
popularity level due to Japan's Master Ishi, who
introduced the most popular Kickboxing format
known as the K-1to
find out who really is the number Kickboxings
number -1
in the world, with elimination Grandprix Tournements held in different
coutries throughout the year. These are held until
the final 8 meet in December at the Tokyo Dome in front of 50'000 spectators
in a super-tournement known as the 'World
K-1 Grand-Prix', with the winner receiving
upto a million dollars!
We have many links listed to K-1
sites to help new members become accustomened
to K-1, as well as video tapes and written literature
available at the Studio. Eurosport is currently
promoting K-1
on a regular basis, at the present this is through
a martial arts programme called 'FIGHT CLUB' ,
you will have to check the TV listings as it is
also shown on other days and times. See an Instructor
for more K-1 Kickboxing
information or checkout our links page.
- HIGHLY reccomended!
Competition Achievements
: W.K.S.
Warrington
Kickboxing Studio has an excellent reputation on the Pro-Circuit
for consistently turning out competitors of the
highest level. Kickboxers that even beat opponents
that have had much more experience than themselves.
Recently Rhys Edwards from Warrington Kickboxing Studio - W.K.S. beat
Colin Armstrong - Birmingham for the British Welterweight Title.
Darren Collins from W.K.S. beat Steve Donnolay
from Altringham
for the English Light-Welterweight Title.
And Mark Matthews from W.K.S. beat Keiren Keddle
- London
( Now a very successful World Champion
) for the British & Commonwealth Title!
Surely our record on the Pro-circuit helps to
show the quality of Private Tuition that is on
offer at the Studio. In
just ten years we have produced to date Twelve
Amateur Champions, , Five
Pro-Am. Gold Medalists and Nine
Professional Kickboxing Champions!.
Join us today, and train
in the winning system of Okamido Kickboxing!
Although you may not wish
to compete, it will not be long before you a fighting-fit
with our comprehensive Blackbelt training programme.
If you want to achieve
YOUR best, then you need to train
with THE best!
Warrington Kickboxing Studio
- The Blackbelt School of excellence!
should be the choice for
you!
Please feel free
take a moment to drop us an email with any questions
that you may have regarding the training at Warrington
kickboxing Studio.
Email: info@warringtonkickboxingstudio.com
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