British Karate Federation News

BKF International Open Championships 2010

Jul 16, 2010

The BKF Championships was held at the Kelvin Hall, Glasgow, on the 10^th & 11^th July, and was a great success.

The 11 countries that attended the competition were England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Republic of Ireland, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Australia, Egypt, and the Republic of Yemen. A special thank you must be made to all who made the effort to travel to Scotland, especially the Australian Squad for travelling so far, and Egypt, who brought a large contingent of their first team competitors.

Every country attending took home medals and, once again, the disabled category was tremendously well received.

Thanks must go to all the officials and again thanks must go to the Referees, Judges, and table officials, who worked so hard throughout both days.

Special mention must go to the Medical Team, headed by Sports Injury Specialist and Osteopath Dave Inman, of the Oldfield Osteopathic Clinic, ably assisted by his assistant, Osteopath Alex Earle, plus the medics from Hart Services, led by John Greenfield. The whole team worked tirelessly throughout both days and were complimented on many occasions for their expertise.

Mention here must be made of the fact that Dave and Alex both gave their time voluntarily and the BKF are extremely grateful for their most valued input.

It was felt that the visiting countries would like to see a Scottish Pipe Band and, if they were leaving early on the Sunday, may have missed out, so the opening ceremony was conducted on both days of the competition. It commenced with the officials and competitors being led in to the arena by the Pipe Band. This was followed by Terry Connell, the BKF President, officially opening the competition, then handing the microphone over to Mike Billman, the BKF Vice-President, who made a short speech about UNICEF, the newly adopted BKF charity

On the Sunday, the day of the children's championships, the ceremony was held once again. This time there was a guest speaker from UNICEF, who explained the work of the charity around the world.

All categories in the championships were strongly contested and the standard of competition was excellent throughout.

Once again, many thanks to all who played a part, and congratulations to all the medal winners.

A few quotes received from competitors and spectators:

"thanks heaps Mike i really appreciate that. I would also like to add that the tournament for me was well put together and i enjoyed it very much and hope to compete in it many more times thanks"
Rhys Linnett

"Hi Mike
I had great weekend as it was good to catch up with people from the past like Billy Brennan and for your introductions to others etc. Likewise, it was great to see some karate again."
David Croft

"Hi Mike,
Best of luck with implementing the new disability categories. I was genuinely proud to see a martial art I love take the lead on something that a lot of other sports seem to have ignored."
Best wishes,
Hannah Donaldson

"Hi Mike & Dave
Just wanted to say a big thanks from Ann, Margaret and myself for a great intro to Med cover for Karate and a great weekend I trust you all got home safe."
John Greenfield. Hart Medical Services.

All contents Copyright © 2012 British Karate Federation

The BKF would like to thank Shitokai Scotland for funding the design of the new BKF logo. To visit the Shitokai website please click here.
The BKF would like to thank Nick and Trevor Matthews of Matthews Haulage Ltd, Hertford, for sponsoring the maintenance of the BKF website.
The BKF would like to thank Mr G Sahota of the Traditional International Shotokan Karate Association (TISKA) for sponsoring the maintenance of the BKF website.