Planes Trains and Automobiles

In December last year, Sam and I took the time to plan all the events we wish to attend this year.

We were keen to have more format and structure to our wider work and to do so we needed to clarify which competitions we planned to attend.

Last year we had a wonderful experience at the Scottish Open in Dundee and attended after only six weeks of planning.

Consequently, we took a small team of seven. This year the selection process took place immediately after the British Open in March and our team entry swelled to 12.

So, it was with much anticipation that we began to make travel arrangements back in April for this year's Scottish Open.

In 2024 we travelled in a big group, but we discovered that this can be limiting. People's work, school and life schedules can be very different, so we needed flexibility.

Sam made suggestions, but everybody took responsibility for their own travel plans. I decided to fly as did Amanda, Tommy, Elliot and Bremner while others opted to drive or take the train.

During the half term I was away in Glastonbury with my family, so I drove home early Friday morning and dropped off my wife and kids. I then collected my mum and auntie who were keen to visit Dundee as they had holidayed there as children on many occasions.

After navigating the usual route, we were soon parked up, through passport control and encamped in departures.

The flight was smooth (I slept the whole way) and after collecting our hire car we were soon in Dundee.

As I walked to the hotel, I soon heard familiar voices calling “HI sensei Matt”. It was Jacob and Evie story accompanied by mum Kayleigh who had just driven the length of the country in their electric battle bus. An impressive feat!

Once checked in my stomach became my primary concern. Ciani, Ionuts and his wife Christina had beaten us to the hotel (Ciani is a focused driver) and had already eaten.

We found a bustling Italian restaurant call Tony Macaroni's (Brilliant) and we had a wonderful meal before meeting our favourite Romanians for a refreshment.

The next morning, I was up early for breakfast and joined team Storey. I had a full Scottish while Evie had a waffle as big as her head!

By 7:45 AM we were on route to the venue as doors opened at 8:15. As always, I was thrilled to bump into our friends from the HKA in the car park. Josh’s beard was Immaculate while Callum looks leaner by the day. Mind you, he is the Highlands very own Wim Hoff!

True to form Roy O'Kane sensei and his team had facilitated a slick set up. Soon enough we were in the hall, athletes were changed and warming up, referees and coaches were duly briefed.

Despite our teams’ diverse methods of getting to Dundee we were all soon huddled, focused and enjoying each other’s company. Special mention must be given to Betty who had been on holiday in Newcastle over half term and came straight to the competition with her dad Tom and her Nan.

At the British Open I had identified that we needed more explosive power speed and stamina. For the past few months our competition classes have focused on ladder drills and sparring rotation.

We had also visited our friends at Moichido karate in Epsom for some help with final preparations. So, as proceedings began we felt calm and well prepared.

First up at 8:45 AM was Jacob in Kata.

His first Kata was Heian Godan and strong enough to score 20.8 despite nerves causing him to miss the first kiai. In the second round he smashed out a smooth Heian Sandan finishing in 5th place and only marginally out of the medals.

In all honesty Elliott would rather not do Kata. But he finished second in his category last year and I felt a runout would help him blow away any cobwebs before kumite. Elliotts Heian Godan was tidy and his Kiai loud and confident, but the category was strong, and he didn't progress.

Everyone put in solid displays in kata. Marlee had joined us for her first road trip and buried any nerves to lead the group for a while. Whilst she didn’t medal this time, her calm demeaner and constant smiles will light up any event in her bright future.

Ionuts was sharp and his Sochin particularly en-point. Ciani’s Ninjushi-ho is developing beautifully and she was smooth and moving well. Miraculous as she has recently had a cartilage operation. Both reached the finals and finished in 5th place in their events on this outing.

Our kata star of the day had to be Amanda. Well done Mrs Fry who was originally coming to support Tommy until I entered her for kata. Amanda showcased her deep stances and smooth kime to secure a well earnt first place in the female coloured-belt category. What a legend!

First up in Nihon kumite was Jamiee who recently had a frustrating AKA tournament having met her big sister in the first round.

Jaimee demonstrated a new maturity with wonderful patience and movement. She stayed sharp with excellent timing and progressed smoothly through the rounds with gyaku’s and gizami’s a plenty!.

The final was a tight affair with an equally patient fighter.

In the end the match was tight and the decision went to Jamie's opponent as Jamiee had a Jogi area infringement.

It was tough for Jamiee to lose a final by decision, but she was thrilled with her second place. It truly was a massive step up in class and performance from this young warrior.

Suddenly it seemed that all six areas in the main who were buzzing, and I took up position in the middle so I could move between all areas.

In the ippon kumite Tommy progressed smoothly through the 1st two rounds. But in the semifinals, he began to get a little frustrated. Despite a throw and tsuki follow-up that made me jump from my chair, his technique was unscored, and frustration got the better of him. Harry from Ireland prevailed but Tommy secured 3rd place.

Big bad Brem was also in this category but ippon can be fast and unforgiving. His first opponent was sharp and picked Bremner off before he could find his groove.

Jacob was in the thick of the action in the Nihon committee. His sharpness and movement were on point and his patience was akin to Jamie's newfound maturity.

Rather than chasing points JJ was demonstrating a calm refinement. He progressed through a number of rounds with sharp punch combinations. He was unlucky not to make the finals and was a little frustrated. But this was only his second WUKF tournament and he is on a strong growth trajectory.

Anna and Elliot were now both scheduled to be fighting in Ippon at the same time as JJ. Thankfully Ciani who is so patient and skilled with younger members supported me with the coaching (thank you).

Anna has an incredible Gyaka Tsuki but like Bremner needed a little more time to find her rhythm. Her opponent was straight out of the blocks and frustrated Anna in the Ippon event.

Elliott has put in a number of extra shifts lately and he looked sharp and focused straight from the go. After demonstrating textbook gyaku scores his confidence kicked in and his standout ashi (sweep) and punch follow-up told me the Els was back in the groove.

He progressed convincingly through the rounds and had an excellent match in the final with the talented and gracious Callum from Kanzen Scotland.

Callum came out a worthy winner but it was a tight well fought match and a deserved silver medal for Els.

The sports hall was getting very hot, and the atmosphere was electric. The teenagers quickly donned their shin guards and mitts and soon the Sanbon event had started.

Tommy and Bremner were once again in the same event and Els and Anna had a break in the schedule.

One of the factors that makes me so proud on our trips is that all our team support each other. Those who weren't competing were Mat side for their friends and the teenagers had helped the youngsters warm up.

What a class bunch of humans!!!!

I strongly believe that certain members of our clubs massively contribute to the positivity and warmth that surrounds our work. In our membership and certainly within our team, nobody exudes positivity and team spirit more than Bremner.

He's a unique and wonderful human!

And boy did he find a new gear in the sanbon kumite!

Bremner easily won fights in the early rounds but then faced a skilled opponent. He appraised the situation, dug deep and with a strategy based on angles and movement stepped up and found a new level.

It was so impressive!

Bremner won the fight and his teammates (and myself) were thrilled. It is so wonderful to see somebody achieve new levels directly in front of you.

Bremner left everything on the mat, so it was no surprise that he was spent in the next round. Regardless, he had massively stepped up!

Tommy had to put aside his frustration from the ippon event which is never easy when you are passionate and crave the win.

I can be hard on Tommy at times as I know he can take direct communication. But I was instantly proud of him as he set to work with a fresh focus and deliberate attitude.

He faced a much smaller opponent in the first round and some athletes may have taken advantage of the situation. I was impressed that big T did enough to win the fight with class and didn't simply overwhelm the other young man. He then clicked in and found his lightening touch, movement and diverse repertoire that make him so unpredictable.

He underestimated a young man from Scotland in a later round and had to come back from behind. Once again, he did so effectively, keeping it simple when the job had to be done.

Tommy faced Harry from Ireland, so a win was going to be well earned.

At this stage Tommy's confidence was growing and he found another gear. The match was tight and points were readily exchanged. With 20 seconds to go Tom edged in front with a sharp punch combo. He then switched to elusive movement and secured the win.

Tommy a well-deserved first place in sanbon kumite 😊.

Perhaps the kindest human you can imagine off the mat, Anna has a focus and determination when competing that is unprecedented.

Anna was progressing nicely with mature movement and fast counter punching. Once she started stringing three-punch combinations together I felt she was going to take a lot to beat.

In the semi-finals she met a fighter whose kicking ability stifled Annas tactics. We will work on this and with her work rate I have no doubt that the big wins are in Anna’s future.

On this occasion Annas efforts secured a deserved third place in Sanbon and a coach from another team came up to me and complimented her skill and attitude. Well done Anna!

Due to scheduling Jessie and Betty had to be patient and their kata took place while the teens were in kumite.

They both showcased composed performances but were stifled on this occasion. Good experience for them both and we will add some senior kata options to their arsenal to afford them more opportunities in the future.

Realising they had not progressed they maturely set to work preparing for kumite.

Jessie was smooth and relaxed in the first round and easily dispatched her opponent four points to nil. Betty has a great forward attitude and desire to get stuck in. Sadly she did not progress pass the first round, but like Anna I see wins in her future as she does not seem fazed by the bigger occasions on the road.

In the second round Jessie was frustrated. Her sharp punching looked good to me, but the referee’s did not agree (I may be a tad biased) 😊

As always Jessie maintained a wonderful attitude and hid any frustration well.

In the sanbon event Eliott truly came into his own with his Ice Man attitude complimented by impressive and unpredictable repertoire. Elliott dispatched his opponent in the rounds without concern and then met a talented older fighter from Ireland in the final.

Ireland took the win in a close affair, but Elliott had fought extremely well. He only lost by two points and this fighter had dispatched others with ease. From my chair Elliott forced his opponent to do his best work securing his second kumite silver medal.

The final event of the day is the ever-exciting Team Rotation kumite. We soon discovered that due to withdrawal and injury we were straight to the final against a team from Kanzen England.

Our team of Elliott, Tommy and Bremner worked beautifully and equally contributed to the win. It was an exciting affair and close at points. But these lads have wonderful team spirit and put themselves on the line for each other.

First place in team Sanbon, a significant step up from our second-place last year.

After the final medal presentations we all posed for team pictures before I delivered my team speech.

We had a wonderful support network of family members who were there for everyone, not just their own relatives. We are stronger together #ubuntu!

After the competition we encamped at the Queens hotel who kindly allowed us to order a take-away and eat it in the bar. Sensei Slaney from the HKA joined us for a wonderful evening of laughs and banter.

Thankfully Tommy and Elliott have incredible appetites as I had underestimated the dominance of an 18” pizza.

The next day we all went our sperate ways accommodating diverse travel plans. I spent the day sight seeing with my Mum and Auntie in Broughty ferry and Edinburgh. Life is good.

After a flight and drive I walked back through my front door at midnight, tired but proud.

As the Japanese say ‘tabi ni deru koto wa, sekai o hirou geru koto’ "Traveling is expanding the world."

Let’s keep expanding.

Whether it be by trains, planes or automobile!!