The ESKA Kata Squad.

As most of you will have heard, ESKA has launched a Junior Kata Squad, with the aim of producing a team to represent ESKA in regional competitions later this year and in the years to come.

Nick Lower, Paul Grimsey and John Gillespie have volunteered to setup and run this venture under the guidance of Sensei Nursey. They hope to pass on their competition experience to a new generation of ESKA competitors and give them the chance to shine on a national or even international stage.

The First Session.

The first ESKA squad session was held on Sunday the 6th of April in Baldock Town Hall. 26 eager students turned up, far more than was expected, so well done to all the Instructors who sent them and well done to the 26 students for making the effort.

Sensei Nursey and Sensei Rae were there to oversee the first session and offer their support.

The session started with Nick giving a short introductory talk, thanking everyone for coming and emphasising the work ahead. The class was then divided into 3 groups split by grade.
John taught stances, Paul taught team kata and Nick taught competition form. After each 30 minute period the instructors swapped groups, so that every student had an opportunity to try each activity.
In the last part of the session a small competition was held with volunteers competing against each other. This was to give the students some idea of what to expect if they are asked to compete for ESKA.

At the end of the day Sensei Nursey held a debriefing session with the instructors. First of all everyone said how impressed they were by the quality of the students and their eagerness to learn. It was a privilege to teach them and all agreed that there is a lot of potential in ESKA today.

STUDENTS, Word of warning: If you were one of the first 26, don't get too complacent. There is a lot of hard work to do before any of you would be able to compete successfully in a regional competition. You can bet that the kids in all the other organisations are practising at home for hours every day, just so that when they meet you, they can beat you!

During the debriefing Sensei listed several very important points which we discussed at length. These points will now form the basses for the squad rules and procedures (to be published at the next squad session).

Future sessions.

There will be a regular 2 hour squad session every three weeks (see calendar below), to be held in Baldock Town Hall. These will be structured very much like the first, with each of the three instructors teaching different aspects of competition Karate. However there will be a strong emphasis on progress through work done at home or in their club (and the help of the club instructors would be greatly appreciated in this). Shortly the class will be divided into three squads: A, B and C. The position of each student in these squads will depend largely on their personal progress.

Competitions.

Sensei Nursey has identified the first competition that ESKA will be entering a team for. It is the "WADO-KAI ENGLAND OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPS" to be held on Sunday the 11th of May at the Rivermead Leisure Complex, Richfield Avenue, Reading RG1 8EQ. Selection for this 1st team will take place at the second squad session on the 27th of April at Baldock. There will be more competitions later in the summer.

Club Instructors/Parents.

The squad instructors don't want club Instructors to feel excluded from this squad activity. They are very aware that most of the students came from clubs other than their own and know that most of the hard work for the students will be done in the individual clubs or at home, under the supervision of club instructors or parents. So any success the squad may have should be shared by the club instructors and the parents. The squad instructors will be feeding back as much information as they can on your students progress so that you can help them progress. When the squad goes to a competition it will be essential that we have a parent or guardian for each child, but also would like to encourage club instructors, club members & anyone who has an interest to come along and show your support for the kids.

About the instructors.

Nick Lower (5th Dan) is a legend throughout ESKA. He has a vast experience of competition Karate having competed many times at club, national, and international level. He has been the ESKA champion no less than 13 times (they made him stop, it was getting boring!), but probably his greatest achievement was coming third in the 2001 National Open. In addition to his competition wins Nick has recently qualified as an England Kata judge, so he really ought to know a what to look for in a student's Kata.

Paul Grimsey (3rd Dan) is himself an ESKA Kata champion and has also competed in many national and international events. Paul came in the top six again this year at the EKGB National Open. That is the second year in succession that Paul has been placed 6th/5th in the country, a very significant achievement.

John Gillespie (3rd Dan) won his first black belt kata competition back in 1980 (TORI KA Clubs Open). Since then he has come out of retirement "to show these youngsters a thing or two". John holds a number of veteran titles, but his greatest achievement was winning the AMA British Open in 2000. Most remembered for falling over a chair at the "Millennium Event".

Squad Calendar.

All lessons will be at 10:00 am to 12:00 noon and will be held in Baldock Town Hall.

Squad Dates:

• Sunday the 27th April 2003.
• Sunday the 18th of May 2003.
• Sunday the 8th of June 2003.
• Sunday the 29th of June 2003.

Squad Pictures.

Click on the picture to view some clips of the Squad instructors in action.