THE Rising Sun Kyokushin Karate club's Annual contact tournament took place on Sunday, June 3, Producing Wales' finest KSK (Kyokushin Schools of Karate) Champions of 2007.

The day began with the Junior Kata (form of movement) section. First on, setting the standard, was Jacob Smith who placed second overall, after just being pipped by Morgan Long who took the 2007 title.

Joint Third places were shared by Shane Hilson and Luccia Sims after a semi-final showdown.

The judges for the Adult Kata section had a difficult task to decide the winner as the two finalists both showed great determination and skill, although Richard Long pulled it out of the bag with superior technique over Lewis Giles to take first place, gaining Lewis a close second place, and seeing Samantha Whitlock and Joe Orrey following not so far behind to take joint third places.

Stepping up to the challenge of the Kumite (contact fighting) group 1A, age six-nine, was Morgan "The little samurai" Long, who took first place and was crowned overall "Rising Sun Champion", having fought three hard bouts and later on meeting Ewain O'sullivan (second) in the final round.

Joint third went to Rebecca Nevit and Jack O'Connor after an exiting play-off.

Group 1B, age 9-12 saw Jacob "wonderboy" Smith, take the title with a fine array of techniques and counter attacks against his three opponents.

Meeting Bethan O'Sullivan (second place) in the final, he showed lots of courage and spirit. After having sustained and overcome an excessive contact strike in the final round, Bethan was handed "the most spirited fighter" trophy on the day for her outstanding ability to overcome her fear and carry on fighting strong and finish the round.

Charmaine Roberts and Caroline Whitlock met in the semi-Final of Group 2, where the courageous Caroline held her own throughout the fight only to just miss out on a second place.

Caroline then met her sister, Samantha "No fear" Whitlock, to fight for a well deserved third place. Samantha took the 2007 Rising Sun title trophy after a points victory over Charmaine, showing superiority and skill in the final rounds to defeat and overcome her agile opponent.

Richard Long cruised through to the Group 3 final meeting Joey "Dynamite" Davies where Joey's determination and stamina proved to be too much for the Yielding Richard. By the end of the rounds, Joey just snipped the title after two one minute extension bouts. Joey, the current Welsh (mixed martial arts) Grappling Champion, now has another title to add to his honours, and will also be representing Wales and the Rising Sun Kyokushin Karate Club in Sweden as an uchi-deschi (full time karate student).

There he will be training three times a day up to six days a week, for three months in total.

After his extensive training Joey will then be competing in the Kyokushin Swedish Championships and at the next KSK British Full Contact Championships in England. Good luck Joey!

Joe Orrey and Lewis Giles took a respected joint third in Group 3. Sensei Lee and Senpai Spencer Bennett (Branch Chiefs of the All Japan and KSK Union Worldwide), put on a spectacular demonstration for the audience, where stacks of tiles were broken with amazing jumping kicks and bare handed strikes.

Also whilst performing "Sanchin Kata" (strict form of movement) they both had to endure the psychological task of having multiple six foot sticks forcibly broken over their body. This kept the spectators entertained before the final rounds of the competition commenced.

As well as the "Most Spirited Fighter" trophy, an award was given for "Best Technique". This went to Richard Long as all judges agreed he showed the greatest technique with class.

"Student of the Month" trophy went to a consistent Joe Orrey, who has showed great progress over the 12 month period.

All of The Rising Sun Kyokushin Karate Club instructors are fully qualified and insured, hold CRB checks, and are affiliated with The All Japan Kyoukushin Union and The KSK Worldwide Union.

We are the only independent Kyokushin Club in Wales that has a governing body solely for Kyokushin Karate in the UK. All students are fully insured and licensed.

Kyokushin is recognised worldwide as being the strongest traditional karate, with progressing and optional stages of fighting from non-contact (wuko) to semi contact (clicker) to full contact (knockdown).

There is also an option to simply just practise techniques and katas.

Beginner's classes are held every Friday 7pm-8pm at the YMCA HUB in Barry.

More photographs of the tournament can be found on www.rising-sun-kyokushin.co.uk