ekf newsletter 2008aug

KonnichiwaEnglish Karate Federation the Way Forward

Newsletter of the English Karate FederationAugust 2008

The EKF is set-up as a democratically elected body for English Karate to cover the whole

spectrum of our martial art and to further develop an understanding administration that

listens to the needs of all the many aspects of Karate from Sport to Traditional, from the

youngest beginner to the most senior instructor.

Jonathan Mottram SecuresFirst Senior European

Championship Kata Medal

Read our Exclusive Interview with Jonathan Mottram

The EKF is a member of the World, European and British Karate Federations.

The Board of the English Karate Federation present to you the 3rdEdition of the English Karate Federation Newsletter - Konnichiwa.

As within keeping of the board's intention to effect a more open andtransparent Governing Body for Karate in England, this newsletter affords usthe opportunity to disseminate additional or more detailed information thatmay or may not be present on the new EKF website. Like many other aspectsof the EKF this newsletter will adapt and grow to suit the needs of its members.

We hope you enjoy this newsletter and find the contents both interesting andinformative.

Remember, this newsletter is for you so don't be shy, if you have any queriesregarding this newsletter or would like a story or news item published, pleasesend you items to :

[email protected]

Preface

ContentsPage 3 -

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EKF BoardCarl Lindley - CharimanMike Dinsdale - Vice ChairJohn Gilliland - TreasurerLes Cutting - CP OfficerTicky Donovan OBE - SquadDirectorAndrew Genery - CoachingDirectorChris Thompson - TechnicalDirectorMick Billman - DirectorJohn De Bono - Director

AdminDebbie Sell

Contact07708 888 880info@englishkaratefederation.comwww.englishkaratefederation.com

Company Registered in

England and Wales.

Number 06527769

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Sainte Maxine International Female OpenFollow the Female team on their South of France exploits.

Makiwara TrainingThe fundementals of Makiwara training explained.

Senior Europeans EstoniaHow the England squad fared in Estonia’s Capital, Tallinn.

BKF Championship OpportunitiesUpdate on BKF Championships and Sponsorship Opportunities.

EKF Licence Registration SystemEKF Licence Registration System explained.

Tokyo Travel Update - New 7 Day OfferNew 7 Day travel Offer to Tokyo WKF World Championships.

Cover Story - Exclusive Jonathan Mottram InterviewKonnichiwa talks exclusively to the European Kata Bronze Medallist.

Karate Commonwealth ChampionshipsSquad report on the Karate Commonwealth Championships, Edinburgh.

Events CalendarList of courses and competitons for EKF members.

Squad Selection DetailsDetails of the next Open Training & Squad Selection session.

New WKF Face MaskDetails for new WKF Face Mask Protector being introduced for Cadets.

England WKF World Championships SquadEngland Tokyo Squad announced & sneak preview of EKF clothing items.

EKF National Chief Referee Job Description

EKF National Coach Job Description

Five Ladies were taken torepresent England at theInternational Open ofFemale Karate - SainteMaxime which was held on21-22nd June 2008.

The participants at this eventwere Ashleigh Kenny

competing in the Kata event withSarah Donnelly, Katie Hurry,Gemma Marwood and NatalieWilliams all competing in theKumite events.

The Sainte Maxainetournament takes place in thesouth of France and henceboasts great scenic value,weather and food. As it ispositioned in the calendar afew weeks after the SeniorEuropean Championships, oneexperiences great technicalability and versatility oftechniques because theathletes reap the benefit ofthe preparation for theEuropean Championships withthe added bonus of the relaxednature of the tournament. Thisencourages the competitors toperform without pressure, showinggenuine character and positiveattitude, hence giving rise to lots offlare and creativity.

As a nation we performed under par,but with most of the individualsachieving personal goals set inpreparation for the World Champi-onships:

Natalie Williams fought with nonegative tension which allowed herto deliver her techniques in a relaxedstate of mind. This is important as onehas very little time to respond on thetatami and if you are not relaxedyou hinder that ability to respondinstinctively. She got through severalrounds having minimal points scoredon her and delivered high kicks,punches and sweeps showing her true

versatile nature all the way to thefinals. She eventually lost after extratime to the Slovakian but stil claimedan excellent SILVER.

Ashleigh Kenny performed AnnanKata with strength and precision,losing to the eventual finalist. Shewent on to compete for bronze andwas nipped at the post with a 3:2score going in favour of heropponent. No medal this time but acreditable 5th place overall. Ibelieve that Ashleigh has greattalent and positive attitude. So it'supwards and onwards for her.

Katie, Sarah and Gemma all lost intheir first rounds and didn't get anopportunity to compete for bronzevia repecahge. Again, individualgoals were set and most of themdelivered and hence that is thepositive angle and focus that weneed to drive on.

The Kumite Team event washeld on the Sunday andshowed promise but we lostthe first bout 2:1 to Eygpt.Eygpt went on to to make thefinal eventually losing toRussia but this alowed thegirls to compete for bronzethrough the repechagerounds. The next bout theteam faced was against theNetherlands but they failedto win once again whichended our battle for bronze.I'll make no excuses here, wejust were not good enough.The hunger, determination,desire and commitment werenot there in abundance andhence the countries thatwanted it more got it. Thisresult gives me, as one of thecoaches, a good under-standing of how far awaywe are from winning as ateam and unless werecognise this immediatelyand do something practicalabout it, Japan may surprise

us.

In saying that, let's all get togetherand support these athletes in theirhopes and dreams for medals in thecoming tournaments, especially thoseattending the World Championships.

Train to be the cream of the crop asrubbing shoulders with the cream justmakes you another contender.

Sainte Maxine - Female International Open

Silver Medallist Natalie Williams

‘Find the Spirit’Juliette Toney

Assistant National Coach

A makiwara is quite simply apadded striking board. Its originsare believed to be Chinese, butthis has never been confirmed. Ithas been an extremely populartraining tool in Japan ever sinceKarate first arrived on themainland in the 1920s, andremains so today. Sizes ofmakiwara vary, as well as thepadding, which used to be strawwrapped around a wooden post.Nowadays very stiff foam can beused, and this can be coveredwith rubber, canvas or evenleather.

Makiwara training is essential tocorrect punching techniques. It isespecially good for developingthe wrist of the punching arm. Itis also important for hipstrengthening for punches, strikesand kicks, and it helps the gripstrength for hands. Although notused as much these days due tothe use of punch bags, I believeMakiwara training is of hugebenefit to the improvement oftechnique. The majority of thedojo either have them mountedon the walls or use portableones. It is important that thebody is kept relaxed whenpreparing to punch themakiwara. At the moment ofthe impact, twist the fist, tensethe abdomen and feel thestrength flow through thedeltoid, shoulder, arm andfinally to the fist. It is essentialthat the makiwara is struckaccurately and that, at themoment of contact the hip is fullytwisted. This action will enablethe power of the body to beconcentrated in the fist of thestriking hand. Do not forge toexpel the air sharply on the punch.This principle of the execution oftechnique applies to striking andkicking of the makiwara board, notjust to punching.

Tameshiwari means ‘spirit test’. InKarate, it is usually associated withbreaking tiles, wood or stone. It isa trial, which is the literaltranslation of the Japanese wordtameshi. The trial is an experimentis to see whether all the hard workof continuous repetitive training inKarate-do has paid dividends. Inthe same way, tameshigiri (‘trial bysword’) is used in kendo (‘way ofthe sword’), to test the strength ofthe blade - to find out whether thesword has good weight and isflexible, especially during an actualcut.

Makiwara training isessential if Tameshiwari isto be practised. Once the student’slimbs are strong enough andsufficient resistance strength hasbeen built up in the body,Tameshiwari can be practised. A

student must be of intermediate toadvanced level before attemptingto break items on a regular basis.

The technique is mainly aconfidence booster for students anda way of demonstrating theirpowers with their Karate technique.It is not what true Karate-do isabout and does not reflect theethos of the martial art.

The goal for all Karate-la is to beable to stop the opponent with onetechnique - ikken hisatsu, or to killwith one blow. A Karate-ka willfocus all his energy, both physicallyand mentally, into one technique,creating focused energy, kime.

One of the ways of practising thismanoeuvre is on the makiwaraboard, then executing Tameshiwari.It is not possible to actually use allthe skills learned in Karate onanother human being, which is whyinanimate objects are focused on inorder to test the ability of aKarate-ka.

Extract from ‘Black Belt Karate’ and

reproduced with kind permission

from Chris Thompson.

Makiwara Training

Straw Makiwara Pine Break Boards

Sunday 27th April 2008 saw thirteen

Athletes fly out to Tallinn, Estonia in

the early hours of the morning for the

Senior European Karate Federation

Championships. The championships

were a three-day affair being held

2nd-4th May. The squad had flown

out early enough to give themselves

a few days preparation time as the

championships started in earnest on

the Friday commencing with the Kata

events.

Lauren Adams was our female Katarepresentative, and was drawn againstPruidze from Georgia in the 1st round.Lauren performed Sepai Kata andbeat her opponents Jion to make thenext round. The second round sawLauren perform her final Shitei KataSeienchin against Ippolitova fromRussia but unfortunately lost out to herRussian opponent. Ippolitova lost out inthe next round which denied Lauren thechance for a bronze through therepechage rounds.

The male Kata representative wasJonathan Mottram. Jonathan haddrawn Novak from Croatia in theopening round and both competitorschose to perform Kanku-Dai. Jonathansecured a 3 flags to 2 win to progressinto the next round. The 2nd roundpitted Jonathan against Dereani fromSlovakia who performed Kanku-Daiagainst Jonathan’s Jion, but it was theJion that secured the votes 4 flags to 1.The 3rd round and now into the free

choice Katas saw both Jonathan andMarcos-Neito from Spain perform UnsuKata. Once again Jonathan won theround 4 flags to 1. In an unlucky draw,the semi-finals had pitted Jonathanagainst non-other than current WKFWorld Champion, Luca Valdesi, fromItaly. Jonathan performed Enpi butValdesi’s Unsu won the round 5-0leaving Jonathan in the repechagefinal. Going for bronze with a finalKata in repechage against the Finnishcompetitor, Hirvonen, Jonathanperformed Kanku-Sho. Hirvonenperformed Suparimpei but it wasJonathan who had finally came out ontop with a 3 flags to 2 win to secureSenior Kata bronze.

Day one also saw Collin Heathcompete in the Male U70kg category.This event was extremely large andsplit into two pools with Collin in poolB. Collin received a 1st round bye butthen came up against Tychinskiy fromRussia in the 2nd round. The fightbetween them was close but Collinunfortunately came out on the wrongside of a 2-1 loss. Tychinskiy went onto lose 2-1 in his next round andthereby scupper Collin's chances of abronze through repechage.

The Male U75kg category featuredEngland’s Alton Brown and like Collinbefore him he also had his categorysplit into two pools. Following a 1stround bye, Alton faced Basturk fromTurkey in the 2nd round and like Collinhe too lost out 2-1. Basturk also wenton to lose his next round fight therebyleaving Alton out of the medal hopes.

The Male U80kg category soon gotunderway and a familiar story withBakhtyar Khazaei receiving a 1st roundbye but losing out in round two, thistime to Hincir from Czech Republic whowon the fight 6-0. Hincir also lost hisnext fight to complete the familiarstory that was hitting the squad fighterstoday.

Davin Pack competed in the Male Over80kg event and to complete the set forthe male fighters he too lost out in the

Senior European Championships - Estonia

Lauren Adams Kata

Flag Bearer Ritchie McMillan leads out the team

2nd round following his 1st round bye.Davin faced Hrachou from Belarous butlost out 5 points to 1. Hrachou wentthrough another round before he toolost out to deny Davin the chance tomedal through the repechage rounds.

With the distinct lack of success fromthe Male fighters so far it was up tothe females to claim some glory.

Competing in the Female U60kgcategory was Natalie Williams.Natalie faced Switzerland’s Schwab inthe 1st round and in a close matchNatalie came out on top winning 3-2.The 2nd round saw Natalie againstSobol from Russia. The match failed toproduce a score even after extra timeand so the decision went to the judges.Natalie had lost out. Sobol went all theway through to the final leavingNatalie in the repechage rounds.Natalie won her opening repechagefight 4-0 to make the repechagesemi-final where she faced Pecakovafrom Czech Republic. Unfortunately itwasn’t going to be Natalie’s day asshe lost out 2-0 as Pecakova went onto claim bronze.

The final fighter of the day wasMelissa Lewis competing in the FemaleOver 60kg event. Melissa foughtbravely but suffered an agonising 1-01st round defeat to Russia’s Zdobnovabowing out early as Zdobnova wentout in round three.

Day two of the competition and up forEngland first was Ritchie McMillancompeting in the Male U60KG event.Ritchie faced Dona from France in the1st round but instantly came unstuck ashe lost out 5-0. Dona lost in the nextround too denying Ritchie a route tobronze via repechage.

The Male U65KG event was contestedby Tom Canham who had successfullynegotiated his 1st round bye. The 2ndround pitted Tom against Kosevnikovfrom Estonia. Tom fought a close matchbut came out on top to win the round2-1. The 3rd round saw Tom againstHuseynor from Azerbaijan. A fairly

high-scoring match ensued finishing 8-4,unfortunately not in favour of Tom.Huseynor went out in the semi-final andthus no repechage route for Tom.

The Male Open event featured DavinPack and having suffered defeat in theOver 80KG event the day before, thiswas a chance for him to redeemhimself and show his true potential andput in a world class performance. WellDavin received a 1st round bye as hefeatured in pool B in this large event.The 2nd round pitted Davin againstPortugal’s Dias. Davin did well andsecured a 4-2 win. The 3rd round sawDavin face Rodriguez from Spain.Another hard fought fight saw a similar4-2 score-line, this time against Davinwho just couldn’t do enough to beathim. Rodriguez went out the next roundsealing Davin’s medal fate.

Not so good for the boys then, maybethe girls would have more luck?. WellGemma Marwood representedEngland in the Female U53KG eventbut unfortunately it wasn’t the start thatwas hoped for as she succumbed to a9-0 defeat at the hands of her Turkishopponent, Ozcelik. Ozcelik made it tothe quater-finals before also sufferingdefeat dashing Gemma’s bronzemedal hopes.

The large two-pool Female OpenKumite event featured Natalie Williamswho had narrowly lost out the day

Jonathan Mottram Kata

Natalie Williams U60KG

before and like Davin early was out tomake amends. After receiving a 1stround bye, she went down straightaway suffering an agonising 1-0defeat in a tight match which couldhave gone either way again. Natalie’sBelgium opponent, Pindeville, lost out inthe quater-finals. A familiar story onceagain.

The remainder of day two was takenup with the Team Kata events,something that England has had littlerepresentation in and it continued hereas the squad watched on and contem-plated on their narrow defeats andwhat could have been.

Day three and the final chance for thesquad to grab some glory in the blue-ribbon Team Kumite events. The maleteam consisted of Ritchie McMillan, TomCanham, Collin Heath, Alton Brown,Bakhtyar Khazaei, Davin Pack andJamie Holt. The magnificent 7 -competing in pool B secured a 1stround bye but lost out in the 2nd roundagainst their Norwegian opponentswho subsequently lost out in thequater-finals themselves.

Would the FemaleKumite Team fareany better? No. Theteam of LaurenAdams, NatalieWilliams, MelissaLewis and AmyThomason facedCroatia in theiropening roundmatch but lost out2-0 bitterly disap-pointed, especiallyas the Croatianteam subsequentlylost out in the nextround too losing 2-0themselves.

And that was the story of three daychampionships, great news in the maleKata event with Jonathan Mottramconstantly pushing the boundaries forEnglish Kata but bitter disappointmentin the Kumite events as theseboundaries have been crossed manytimes before in the past but the squadjust didn’t manage to step up to themark. ‘Ring Rusty’ was the descriptionfrom National Squad Director, Ticky

Donovan OBE, and maybe the turmoilof Karate in England over recent yearshad taken its toll with the seniors.

Thankfully Physio Dr. Surdhur Mohinderdidn’t lose anyone to injury doing hisjob well looking after the athletes. Thesquad coaches, Juliette Toney, WayneOtto OBE and Ticky Donovan OBEworked extremely hard during thechampionships and the build-up periodand hopefully the lessens learnt willpropel the squad forward.

Davin Pack 80KG+

This year the British Karate Federation National Junior &

Senior Championships are being hosted by the English

Karate Federation with the Championships being held in

Ponds Forge, Sheffield, England, chosen as a

centrally located venue within

Britain. The two-day Champion-

ships are being held on Saturday

6th and Sunday 7th September

2008.

The British Karate FederationNational Championships represents thePremier Elite Karate Event within theBritish calendar. Elite athletes from allthe home nations come together tocompete in the most prestigious Karatetournament available within Britain.

Top athletes from Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales andEngland have their opportunity to compete amongst theirpeers with home nation pride foremost in their minds makingthe British Karate Federation Championships one of the mosteagerly anticipated and fiercely competitive tournamentsavailable for British Karate athletes.

The recent 1st English Karate Federation National Junior &Senior Championships recorded nearly 600 athletescompeting over the two-day event making that one of thelargest National Karate Federation Championships ever tobe held. This coming British Karate Federation Championshipsis on course to top this with competitor numbers over thetwo-day event expected to be considerably greater.

This transpires into a great advertising opportunity andsponsors for this major prestigious tournament are now onceagain being welcomed.

We have three distinct levels of sponsorship opportunitiesavailable for these Championships:1. Tatami (Matted competition area)

2. Competition Event Category

3. Banner advertising - Business/Association/Club

Tatami (Matted competition area) SponsorshipAs a Tatami sponsor, you will be announced to the athletesand spectators and the announcer will, on various occasionsduring the tournament, make reference to your sponsorship.

As a Tatami sponsor you will also have the Tatami named asper your sponsor name, e.g., Tatami No.1 would be knownas 'The Metropolitan Police Tatami. Each event would becalled to your 'named Tatami' throughout the duration of thesponsorship period.

As well as having the Tatami named after your sponsorname, advertising boards advertising yourbusiness/association/club, etc may be placed adjacent to theTatami area subject to Health & Safety considerations.

Tatami sponsors will be named in the relevant British KarateFederation Championship write-ups reports which will bedistributed to English Karate Federation Newsletter, EnglishKarate Federation Website, Welsh Karate, Scottish Karate

and Northern Ireland Karate relevant GoverningBodies.

All Tatami sponsors will also have theopportunity to advertise theirbusiness/association/club in the English

Karate Federation Newsletter free ofcharge for one issue which isdistributed to each memberassociation and placed on the

English Karate Federationwebsite for general access.

Competition Event Category SponsorshipDuring the course of the Championships, there will be 77category events taking place, 65 of categories beingindividual event categories with 12 being team eventcategories. This represents a wide range of opportunityopportunities for sponsors.

As a category sponsor, you will be announced to the athletesand spectators and the announcer will, on various occasionsduring the tournament, make reference to your sponsorship.

As a category sponsor, you will be invited to present thetrophies and/or medals for the specific category yousponsored on the day and be announced to the spectators.

Category sponsors will be named in the relevant BritishKarate Federation Championship write-ups reports which willbe distributed to English Karate Federation Newsletter,English Karate Federation Website, Welsh Karate, ScottishKarate and Northern Ireland Karate relevant GoverningBodies.

Banner AdvertisingAdvertising banners for Businesses/Associations/Clubs etc,may be strategically placed within the sports arena for theduration of the two-day championships. The exact placementof the advertising banner will be agreed with the event or-ganiser prior to the commencement of the championshipswhere applicable.

For all sponsorship enquiries please contact: Debbie Sell -

07796924660 [email protected]

Following the resounding success of the 1st EKF National

Championships of FREE admission for spectators, the

board have listened to its members and have decided to

extend the FREE admission again to the BKF Champion-

ships. Your support is now even more important.

From the EKF board, working on behalf of its members.

British Karate Federation Championships

Sponsorship Opportunities

BKF Spectator FREE Entry

The following proceduresdocument the details of theRegistrations System inoperation within English KarateFederation (EKF).

All associations MUST registertheir members with the EKF.

The cost for Registration is £2.00per person.

Members and InstructorsPersonal Accident and PersonalLiability insurance is nowavailable through the EKF withWorldwide Sports Insurance UKLtd and is one of the manyservices being introduced for EKFmembers. Instructors ProfessionalIndemnity insurance cost £55.00whilst the Members PersonalAccident & Liability insurance costs£2.15 per member. The insurancecover does not have an upper agelimit and is one of the few policiesto provide this as we believeMartial Arts are for life.

Registrations slips should bepurchased in advance, these areavailable in packs of 100.

Any association currently operatingtheir own registration database, canobtain unique numbers which theycan use with their registrationssystem.

Each individual must be registeredwith EKF in the month their uniquenumber has been issued.

The purpose of registering with EKFis to provide statistical informationto a variety of authorities, and tomaintain a register of memberswhich will not be disclosed otherthan to official sources whenrequested (i.e. Police or courts etc).

The registration database will beused to check individuals whenentering official EKF events.NO REGISTRATION - NO ENTRY

For the avoidance of doubt, anyindividual who holds an EKFmembership slip, but has not been

registered with EKF, will NOT beallowed to participate in any EKFevent.

This registration system is inoperation NOW, please ensureyou obtain your registration packas soon as possible.

Registration slips or unique numberscan be obtained from:

EKF Membership Secretary.23 Sidlaws Road, Cove,Farnborough, Hants GU14 9JL.

Requests can be made via post oremail:[email protected].

EKF Licence Registration System

EKF Registration Return Form

Due to demand, an extra booking has been made forthe World Karate Championships in Tokyo.

This will include flights, hotel accommodation (includingbreakfast) and 4 days entry into the WorldChampionships.

Depart the the UK 9th November - arrive Japan 10thNovember. Depart Japan 17th November - arrive inthe UK 17th November.

Inclusive price is £1250. Please contact Sensei TerryWingrove on 07708 888 880

Please be aware that there are still a small number ofplaces left for the longer trip of 14 days. This is yourLAST CHANCE to join 100 people on the 'Trip of aLifetime'.

Tokyo WKF Championship Travel Update - 7 Day Tokyo Trip Offer

Born on New Years Eve 1980,

Jonathan Mottram is used to double

celebrations and recently as one of

England's top senior competitive

Karateka, he got the chance to

double celebrate a little earlier than

usual as he achieved major honours

in two major international Karate

championships. So hot off the back

of his WKF European Senior Kata

Bronze medal and his third

successive Commonwealth Karate

Senior Kata title, we thought we'd

see if his celebrations were still

ongoing and take the opportunity to

delve a little deeper and see what

makes England's most successful

Senior Kata exponent tick.

Thank you for taking the time to talk to

us Jonathan.

So when did you start Karate and why

did you start?

I started Karate in 1990 aged 9 yrs.My parents took me to Crystal PalaceStadium, London to watch the EnglishChampionships. I sat and watched theKata and all the Kumite. When wewere leaving the championships myparents asked me what I thought of it.I said I liked the look of Karate andwhen could I start.

When did you start competing?

I started competing in small competi-tions in 1991.

What was your first major title and how

old were you?

I won gold at the Ishinryu NationalChampionships. This may not haveseemed a major competition but, forme it meant so much. I won this at 12years old, so for the first 3 years inKarate I did not win anything, so thiswas a big and special moment for me.

How old were you when you achieved

your first England badge?

I was 16 years old, it was in 1997. Ihave now had my England badge for11 years.

What would you say has been your

greatest tournament achievement to

date?

This is a tough one. Winning my 23rdEnglish Gold was a great achievement.

Winning the English Championships forthe 12th year in a row in individualKata was very special. I have alsowon the English Championships 7 timesin team Kata and 4 times in Kumite soit was my 23rd English gold medal,which was important to me and forIshinryu. They were my main inachievements in England. On theinternational scene, winning bronze atthe Senior European Championships inEstonia this year was my ultimateachievement and I now feel it's takenmy Karate to another level.

How did it feel becoming the first Eng-

lishman to win a Senior European Kata

Medal?

(Big Smile). It felt amazing. Being thefirst person to achieve something is al-ways a great feeling. At Senior Euro-pean level, five times I have just lostout for the bronze medal, but I'venever given up or lost my enthusiasm toget to the top. After training so hardand then losing five times is heart-breaking but to fight back strongerand not give and train harder thanever before shows the strength ofcharacter and the determination I haveto succeed.

Jonathan Mottram Interview

In the 11 years I have held my Englandbadge, aside from my medals, I haveconsistently been in the top 4 or 5 inEurope. I hope this inspires anyonecoming up through the ranks to workand train hard and never ever give up.My motto is: 'WINNERS NEVER QUIT'N' QUITTERS NEVER WIN'.

You were also the first person to win a

Kata medal at the Junior European

Championships where you won silver.

How did that compare to your Senior

medal?

In 1998 Athens, Greece aged 17years I was in the cadet category.I was the first Englishman to get aWKF European Kata Medal. Laterin 2001 Cyprus aged 20 years againin the Junior Europeans, I won a silvermedal. Now I've got a full set, Cadet,Junior and Senior. I think anyone whocan achieve a medal, Kata or Kumiteat European or World level deservesrecognition and I take my hat off to.

So give us a run through of how you

medalled in Estonia at the 43rd Euro-

pean Championships? What Katas did

you perform and who were the opposi-

tion?

OK here goes. In the first round I wasup against a Croatian, he performedKanku-Dai and I matched him with thesame Kata winning 3 flags to 2. Thesecond round I was competing againsta Slovenian, he performed Kanku-Daiand this time I performed Jion and wonthat round 4 flags to1. With the Shiteicompulsory Katas out of the way,things were getting tough now with the

free choice Katas. I was now upagainst the Spanish competitor in thethird round quarter-finals. We bothchose to perform Unsu Kata where Iagain won the round 4 flags to 1. Iwas now in the fourth round semi-finalswhere my opponent was from Italy,none other than current WKF WorldChampion Luca Valdesi. He performed

Unsu Kata and I performed Enpi.Unfortunately I lost out 5 flags to nil.As that was the semi-final round Iautomatically qualified for therepechage final needing one more winto claim a bronze medal. I'd been inthis position many times before, maybethis time I'd succeed. I was up againstthe Finnish competitor in the repechagefinal. He performed Suparimpei, I thenfollowed with Kanku-Sho. I won a closematch 3 flags to 2 but I finally did it, Iwas over the moon.

I could not have achieved this medalwithout the support andencouragement from my Sensei TickyDonovan OBE 8th Dan. Throughout thepre-training Sensei gave me theencouragement to believe in myselfand helped me prepare every Kata asbest as I could. On the day he wasthere every step of the way, as he hasalways been for the last 18 years sinceI started Karate.

Also, a big thank you to the coachesWayne Otto OBE, Greg Francis, IanCole and Juliette Toney for being soinspirational and supportive, and notforgetting Sensei Dave Hazard whohas coached and helped me through somany tournaments and helped shapeme to become the person I am today.

Having gone so close to gaining a medal

at your last WKF World Championships,

where you lost 3 flags to 2 in the re-

pechage final, what was going through

your mind this time in Estonia?

Where do you begin….. So much wasgoing through my mind; I had arollercoaster of thoughts and emotions.When the guy from Finland wasperforming I kept thinking, all this hardwork, all this money spent, all theeffort the coaches have put in to me.

I must make this Kata count.I must make this Kata count…I think I said that maybe 10times. Then I thought five times

I've lost for senior bronze, twice for theJunior bronze, and once for the Worldbronze, but not this time, no way. I shutmy eyes totally relaxed and said tomyself, I love my family, I love myfiancée and this time IS MY TIME. Iperformed the Kata with every singlebit of passion and energy I had.When I finished I stepped back to my

line and thought to myself please,please be mine, then up go the flags!

You secured your medal on day one of

the European Championships in Estonia.

What did that do for morale for the EKF

squad?

I think winning a medal on the first dayof the championships sends a greatvibe around the squad. Usually theteams are on the first day and in pre-vious tournaments where the teamshave done well it put me and thesquad on a high.

What was the feeling of the squad once

the championships came to an end with

only your medal to show?

When you are competing for yourcountry at such a high level, so muchpreparation and sacrifice goes into theevent, some of the squad have childrenand a family. So when you preparefor this you spend more time in theDojo, in the gym and on the streetsrunning than you do with your friendsand family. So to sacrifice so muchand come away with nothing is natu-rally disappointing and very tough todeal with. The coaches gave all of usgood feedback and told us what weneed to change and develop to be thebest at this level so we can only comeback stronger. Disappointed but moredetermined.

This year has seen you in blistering form

and medal at some very prestigious

tournaments. Luca Valdesi, the current

WKF Kata Champion is currently 32

years old. At only 27 years old yourself,

do you feel you are just coming into

your prime?

Luca Valdesi is a very good Kata ath-lete and my aim is to beat him beforehe retires. I think if you want to be thebest you should always tell yourselfyou can be better. I think at the mo-ment I'm only 50% of where I want tobe and what I want to achieve. I in-tend to be around for a very long timeyet.

You secured your third successive Com-

monwealth Karate title in Edinburgh re-

cently how difficult do you find that?

After winning the last two Common-wealth Championships, I was deter-mined to win this event for the 3rdtime. This Commonwealth was a highlevel tournament with five rounds, butcoming hot on the heels of the Europe-ans, the momentum of that carried methrough.

That win in Edinburgh, gaining your

Commonwealth hatrick, must make you

one of the most celebrated Kata expo-

nents the country has ever known. Do

you feel this is a burden or do you revel

in the pressure this brings?

I've competed in hundreds of competi-tions and performed in many demon-strations in front of hundreds of people.There is an expectation from everyonewatching that I am going to walk onthe mat, perform welland win. What they don't realise is theamount of hard work and training I doto be able to perform to the best ofmy ability. This expectation brings un-told amounts of pressure on me, how-ever the pressure is what I thrive on.

When the hall is quiet and only onetatami mat is running and I'm on thatmat I get on a high. The adrenalinekicks in knowing everyone is watchingyou and I try to raise my game evenmore. It's important when you performthat you are in control of your Kataand your mind, not the Kata in controlof you.

How do your students feel about your

titles?

I'm a very humble person and I nevertell the students what I achieve as I feelmy club is about them not me. But in-evitability they find out about some ofmy achievements and are very pleasedfor me. I hope to inspire my studentswhen they see me compete. Sometimesthey say to me "you're so good" and Isay to them "you can be better thanme, you can achieve more than me if

you work hard". My aim is to try andprogress my students to be better thanme. I know if I go Karate and all mystudents are beating me at Kumite andtheir Katas are better than me then Ihave achieved what I set out to do andthey have reached their full potential.

Whats your next target?

My next target is to prepare myselffor the World Championships in Tokyo,Japan later this year. There are sev-eral international competitions which Iwill be competing in aspart of my prepara-tions and training pro-gramme. I'm honouredto be part of the team which will rep-resent England for the biggest cham-pionships of my career. The fact thatthese championships are being held inJapan where Karate originates will bepossibly the highlight of my career sofar.

What is your favourite Kata and what is

your least favourite?

I don't have a least favourite Kata, Ilike them all, they all have differentaspects which I like. In saying thatthough, Unsu is my favourite Kata.

You run a Karate club in Barking, Essex.

How is that progressing?

Yes, my Karate club is called BarkingAbbey Ishinryu. The clubs isprogressing really well and everyoneat the club gets on great. Karate is notjust about competition but we have alot of students that love to compete. Ihave over 10 students that have wonan English or British title. On aWednesday I have an open class whichis for all styles, it's 3rd Kyu and aboveand consists of a competition Kata classfollowed by a competition Kumite class.This is attended by many more Englishand British Championships. So whenyou have a group of students at such ahigh level, they can only bring out thebest in each other and all take thetraining and competition standard to ahigher level. I never forget thatcompetition is only one element ofKarate and I give as much time to mystudents that do not want to competeas I do to those that do compete. I dobelieve that respect and loyalty is atwo way thing. I respect and do asmuch as I can for my students and inreturn they do the same for me.

What has given you the greatest

pleasure in Karate?

There is more than one thing, first, tocompete for England in Kata, ascompeting for your country feels great.Standing on the podium with theEngland flag around your shouldersand the national anthem playing, whatan amazing feeling. Secondly, havingthe honour of being asked by TickyDonovan OBE and Wayne Otto OBE toassist them in coaching the JuniorEngland Squad.

By all accounts you used to be a pretty

hot fighter too. What happened to make

you concentrate on Kata?

Yes I won the English NationalChampionships four times in Kumite andI still train in Kumite now. A lot ofpeople don't realise that I do Kumite,as they only see me compete in Kata. Ilove Kumite and really enjoyedcompeting in Kumite too. I wascompeting in New York in an openWorld Cup for all styles in 2001. Thiswas just after getting my EuropeanSilver for Kata. I was in the semi-finalwhen I got punched in the eye and gota shattered eye socket which kept meout of training for six months. Afterwhich I could only train lightly once aweek for six further months. I thendecided to take one year out ofKumite to let my eye heal properly. Inthis time I missed out on an English,British, European and WorldChampionships in Kata. In order tobring my level of Kata back up to the

level it was I realised I need toconcentrate on Kata only.

What do you think about the standard of

Kata currently in England?

I think the standard of Kata in Englandis at the highest it's ever been and it'sgreat to see many young anddedicated Karate athletes pushing theboundaries of Kata. More arecompeting abroad and this can onlyhighlight the English talent comingthrough.

Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

Well you can plan the future but neverpredict the future. At club level, I'd liketo always assist Sensei Donovan OBEand keep Ishinryu going strong andhelp my students become the best theycan be in all elements of Karate.

At England squad level I'd like to beKata coach holding regular squadtraining sessions and build a greatEngland Squad as a force to bereckoned with on the internationalstage. I have so much enthusiasm tohelp the up and coming talent we havein Kata and try and help them reachtheir full potential and to one daydominate in Europe and the World.

Finally at a personal level I just want tobe an inspiration to all my students andto encourage them to enjoy and be thebest they can in Karate.

Thank you very much for taking time

out of your busy schedule to talk to

us. Good luck and best wishes for

Tokyo.

The 4th Commonwealth Karate

Championships were held in the

Scottish Capital, Edinburgh on 31

May-1st June 2008.

Following the initialdecision of the ScottishGoverning body tomake the Common-wealth Championshipsan ‘Open Champi-onship’ the board haddecided initially not tosend a squad torepresent England.Subsequently, theScottish Governing Body who werehosting this years CommonwealthChampionships segregated an elitesection for competing NationalCommonwealth squads. The board ofthe EKF then decided to support thisaction but having little time to conductsquad selections following this decisionsubsequently allowed the squad thathad been selected for the SeniorEstonia European Championships, torepresent England at these champion-ships.

There were nine countries competing inthese championships including the homecountries. South Africa, Botswana, NewZealand, Canada and India had allmade the long journey to Edinburgh insearch of gold.

There were 1300 competitors over thetwo day championships including theopen categories which were run alongside the Elite events. Given the high

turnout, thevenue wasbursting at theseams with allspectator seatsoccupied. Thechampionshipswere split intotwo distinctparts, with theElite and OpenSenior events

on the Saturday and the Children'sevents held on the Sunday.

Saturday started off with the Kataevents for both Open and Elite sectionsrunning simultaneously. England's tworepresentatives were JonathanMottram, fresh from winningEuropean bronze in Estonia andClare Bonello who was repre-senting England for the first time.Jonathan sailed through hisKata’s to meet a South Africancompetitor in the final. Jonathanperformed Unsu Kata and beathis opponents Annan Kata 5flags to nil to take his thirdconsecutive Commonwealth title.Clare Bonello competed in boththe Elite and Open events. Clare

narrowly missed gold in the final of theopen event settling for a silver andtook a well deserved bronze in theelite event to become a Commonwealthmedallist.

With the Kumite squad it was verydifficult to keep track as some hadopted to compete in the open eventsthat were running at the same time asthe Elite events. Their results from theElite events are listed below. The squadcompeted extremely well with someclose decisions with some pleasingresults.

Thanks to Wayne Otto OBE who wascoaching on two mats and to DavidInman our osteopath who stepped in toensure the squad were well lookedafter. Congratulations to the squadwho will now be working hard towardsselection on the 5th July for the WorldChampionships later in the year. Theresults of the elite competition are asfollows:

Female:-53kg Gemma Marwood - Gold-60kg Natalie Williams - Gold+60kg Mellissa Lewis - SilverOpen Weight Natalie Williams - GoldKata Claire Bonello - BronzeFemale Team - Bronze

Male:Kata Jonathan Mottram - Gold-60kg Ritchie McMillian - Gold-70kg Collin Heath - Bronze-75kg Alton Brown - Bronze-80kg Luki Khazaei - BronzeOpen Weight Collin Heath - Silver

Total 5 Golds, 2 Silvers & 5 Bronzes

Commonwealth Karate Championships

Commonwealth Opening Ceremony

Ritchie McMillan - Gold

Podium for Clare Bonello

08 to 10/08/08

Sensei Tatsuo Suzuki (PHD) Hanshi WIKF Summer CourseAvon High School, Alcester Rd, Stratford Upon Avon, War-wickshire, CV37, 9DH.

17/08/08

AMA North West Karate ChampionshipsBury Castle Leisure Centre, Bolton Street, Bury, Lancs.

25-29/08/09

23rd Grado Stage & 23rd Grand Open Kumite & KataTournament - Italy.

30-31/08/06

European Masters Games 2008Malmö, Sweden .

31/08/08

EKF - Kumite/Kata Officials Course/ExaminationsForest Town Colliery Welfare, Clipstone Rd West, ForestTown, Mansfield NG19 0EE

06-07/09/08

BKF Junior/Senior ChampionshipsPonds Forge, Sheffield.

07-14/09/08

FIT2FITE All Inclusive HolidayClub Alibey, Belek, Turkey.

14/09/08

Northern Open ClassicLeigh Sports Village, Sale Way, Leigh WN7 4JY

14/09/08

Kumite National Squad/Open Training Selection for 36thJunior European Championships in Paris, France 2009Bisham Abbey National Sports Centre

21/09/08

United Kingdom Open Karate ChampionshipsNext Generation Sports & Racquet CentrePensnett Road, Brierley Hill, DY5 3YP, West Midlands

21/09/08

AMA North East Karate ChampionshipsTemple Park Leisure Centre, John Reid Road, South Shields.

27/09/08

Junior Tournament SeriesDisneyland, Paris.

27-28/09/08

German Open - Golden League - Germany.

28/09/08

Grand Open Karate ChampionshipsVista Road, Clacton on sea Essex. CO15 6DB.

04 & 05/10/08

Austrian Open - Golden League - Austria.

10/10/08

Istanbul Open Karate TournamentWith 85.000 USD Cash Prize

11/10/08

AMA-IWKA Irish International Open ChampionshipsThe Basketball Arena, Tallagh, Dublin 24.

12/10/08

3rd K.D.I. Karate TournamentBarking Abbey School, Barking Essex Junior & Senior events

18 & 19/10/08

Hankoryu Open International Karate Championships - Har-low Essex.

18/10/2008 - 12.00am-5.00pm

Bunkai-Jutsu Seminar - The Practical Application of KarateKata With Iain Abernethy 5th DanHarewood Space Sports & Arts, Robert Atkinson Centre,Thorntree Road, Thornaby, Stockton On Tees, ClevelandOpen to ALL Styles / Over 16 years only

26/10/08

EKF Northern Regional ChampionshipsPonds Forge International Sports Centre, Sheaf Street (A61),Sheffield. S1 2BP

02/11/08

International Open ChampionshipsGoresbrook Leisure Centre, Ripple Road Dagenham EssexRM9 6XW

13-16/11/08

19th WKF Senior Championships - Tokyo, Japan.

16/11/08

Meopham Open Junior/Cadet Karate Championships

22/11/08 - Beginning at 12.00pm

Taisho-Do Karate Association (T.A.S.K) presents Wayne OttoOBEHarewood Space Sports and Arts, Robert Atkinson Centre,Thorntree Road, Thornaby, Stockton On Tees.

29 & 30/11/08

ISHINRYU 2008 Open Winter CourseTrain with some of the UK’s top Karate competitorsOxclose Comprehensive School, Washington, Tyne andWear, NE38 0LN

30/11/08

Western Karate Union Kyu Grade ChampionshipsWeston-super-Mare

Events Calendar

30/11/08

AMA Yorkshire Open Karate ChampionshipsRichard Dunn Sports Centre, Rooley Ave, Odsal, Bradford,North Yorkshire, BD6 1EZ

07/12/08

YKKF (UK) Presents - The Kiyan Prince Foundation Kumite Na-tional Championships 2008In Memory of Kiyan Prince 'Removing the Knife Through thePower of Knowledge'.Brunel University, Sports Complex, Kingston Lane, Uxbridge,UB8 3PH

28th February & 1st March 2009

AMA International Karate Championships Seniors & Juniors

03/05/08

Western Karate Union Invitational Event Hutton Moor LeisureCentre, Weston-super-Mare

10/05/09

Southern Open Karate ChampionshipsRivermead Leisure Complex, Richfield Avenue, Reading.Berkshire, RG1 8EQ

Events Calendar Contd.

All member Association's events advertised here have Association agreement that their events are in compliancewith section 21.9 of the World Karate Federation statutes.

All events advertised here are only open to EKF/WKF members.

Please check with organiser of events as these could be subject to change.

Members wishing to add their competitions to this calendar should email: [email protected]

Events Calendar Disclaimer

blank

14th September 2008

Ticky Donovan OBE (National Squad Director) PresentsKATA & KUMITE NATIONAL SQUAD/OPEN TRAINING & SELECTIONS

Selections for 36h Junior European Championships Paris France - Jan/Feb 2009Bisham Abbey National Sports Centre.

MINIMUM AGE TO TRAIN 13 YEARS

· Cadets, Juniors & Seniors - Open Squad Training· 10:30 - 11:00 Registration· 11:00 - 12:30 Open Squad Training Kumite· 12:30 - 13:00 Lunch Break· 13:00 - 17:00 Kumite Squad Selections·

Fee £10.00

There will be a further training/selection session in October 2008, again at Bisham Abbey. Itis extremely important whether you are training or selecting to fill the form out correctly

and fully. If only training you do not have to complete the passport section of the form. Thelicence section has to be filled in too. Please bring licences on the day if you are selecting.

Training/Selection Forms available for Download from EKF Website

National Squad Open Training & Selections

New WKF CADET ‘Face Guard’ ProtectorThe World Karate Federation recently

released a press statement stating

that from 1st January 2009, the ‘WKF

Face Mask’ protection will be

compulsory for the Kumite CADET

categories world-wide.

Recently they also released astatement regarding the changes toage categories for Cadet and Juniorcompetitors. The new age categoriesare 14-15 year olds - CADETS and16-17 year olds - JUNIORS.

Therefore, from 1st January 2009, all14-15 Year olds will be required towear this Face Mask protector for allfuture EKF National Championships andBKF National Championships.

A copy of the letter from AntonioEspinos, the WKF President is shown tothe left.

The Face Masks should be availablefor purchase from October 2008 fromfive main WKF suppliers, namely Adi-das, Arawaza, Budoland, Sports Mas-ter and Tokaido.

As yet the two main suppliers ofTokaido & Arawaza (Kachi-Do) andAdidas (Avasports) WKF equipmentwithin England have yet to releasedetails of the product or a pricingguide so keep checking them forupdates.

The England Squad NationalKarate Team to participate in theforthcoming WKF World Champi-onships being held in Tokyo havebeen announced. The participantsand their respective categories areas follows:

Female England Squad

Female Kata - Ashleigh KennyFemale U53kg - Sarah DonnellyFemale U60kg - Natalie WilliamsFemale O60kg - Katie HurryFemale Open - Natalie WilliamsFemale Team - Amy Thomason

Male England Squad

Male Kata - Jonathan MottramMale U60kg - Ritchie McMillanMale U65kg - Thomas CanhamMale U70kg - Jason LedgisterMale U75kg - Alton BrownMale U80kg - Loxey SimmondsMale O80kg - Davin PackMale Open - Rory Daniels

Male Team - Paul Abel, Chris Blenman,Darren Haynes

The team will be competing in twowarm-up competitions in Leige andGravelines, both in Belgium, in a fournation tournament hosted by theFFKAMA Federation in September andOctober. This should provide the squadan opportunity to hone their skillsagainst the French, Belgium and Dutchsquads in preparation for the WorldChampionships.

The Senior team will be flying out toTokyo, Japan on the 3rd Novemberand have training sessions arranged atvarious dojos in Japan before theChampionships themselves.

The squad has been lucky enough to besponsored by CyberBudo, Adidas(Avasports) and Chikara Ltd.

Chikara Ltd are sponsoring the teamtracksuit and various clothing items.CyberBudo are sponsoring the bagsand AVA sportsare providingKarateequipment.

Members of the EKF will soon be ableto purchase official EKF merchandisefrom Chikara Ltd through the EKF. Thiswill include items such as Bags, Sweatshirts, Polo Shirts, Training Shoes etc. allwith either the EKF logo or ‘3 Lions’badge.

Konnichiwa has provided you a sneakpreview of some items as shown below.Also the new ‘England’ squad badgewill be Three Gold Lions whilst the EKFlogo will remain unchanged. Items ofclothing such as polo shirts will beavailable with both badge options, the‘3 Lions’ or the ‘EKF logo’.

England WKF World Championship Squad


Post Title: National Chief Referee

Reporting to: The English Karate Federation Board

Responsibilities:

To direct the preparation and training of current and future referee's and officials and to ensure the attainment

of qualifications at significant (i.e. World and European) International Competitions.

Be instrumental in budgeting, planning, co-ordination and implementation of the Referee Department and

referee competition preparation program.

Liaise with key support agencies to ensure the integration of wider support services.

Work with EKF Board of Directors, Departments, volunteers and or employees in the development of a

long-term Referee and Officials Development programme and a Whole Sport Plan for Karate.

Generate significant income to offset costs for International development programs.

Oversee and direct regional referee programmes.

Setting clear aims and objectives within the Referee Preparation and qualification programmes.

Set, administer and implement the selection policy of officials.

Overseeing the planning and implementation of training program's and pre-training for major events.

Achieving the stated short-term goals.

Monitoring and evaluating the performance targets within the Programme.

Establish and oversee A Class officials coaching workshops and seminars.

Monitoring the performance of all EKF officials.

To facilitate the development of a talent identification and development programme.

Liaise with the European and World Referee commissions concerning rule changes for National and

International Competitions.

Prepare and submit written reports and budget requirements for the E.K.F. Board, and AGM.

Liaise with specific people on Referee issues when necessary.

Act as spokesperson for matters pertaining to Refereeing.


Performance Indicators

Specific development of all Officials.

Increased success for officials at National and International Level.

Increased success for officials at World Level

Achieve KPI set by the board regarding number of officials qualified within specific given periods.

Achieve KPI set by the Board regarding number of officials maintaining qualification.

Criteria:

- To have a minimum of two years working as an International Official.

- To be qualified to at least European Qualification in Kata and Kumite.

- To have a grade of at least 5th Dan.

FOR CANDIDATES TO NOTE

This Person Specification gives a description of the skills that are required by the post-holder. It is a par-

ticularly important document to consider when completing your application; it provides a "benchmark"

against which applicants will be short-listed. Only candidates who can demonstrate that they meet the es-

sential criteria will be considered. You should therefore ensure that your application demonstrates how

your previous experience, skills and abilities match all of the essentials identified and show examples of

evidence of these.

Please also note that the interview will probe, in more depth, all criteria and additionally:

- Commitment to the promotion of Equal Opportunities Issues

- Commitment to and awareness of Child Protection

- Commitment to Health & Safety

Closing dates for all applications will be Sunday 21st September 2008.

Short-listed applicants will be notified to attend an interview on Sunday 12th October at Bisham Abbey.

Can all applicants send their CV and a covering letter to:

The English Karate Federation (EKF)

e-mail: [email protected]


Post Title: National Karate Coach

Reporting to: The English Karate Federation Board

Responsibilities:

To direct the preparation and training of current and future elite athletes and to ensure the attainment of

medals at significant (i.e. World and European) International Competitions.

The achievement of targets within a World Class Performance Development Plan.

Be instrumental in budgeting, planning, co-ordination and implementation of the National Squads compe-

tition preparation programme.

Liaise with key support agencies to ensure the integration of wider support services.

Work with EKF Departments and employees in the development of a long-term Whole Sport Plan, and

any integrated plans, which may be required to achieve grant funding.

Setting clear aims and objectives within the National Squads Preparation programmes.

Set, administer and implement the selection policy of the National Squads Including selection criteria and

changes with the squads.

Overseeing the planning and implementation of squad program's and pre-training for major events.

Achieve the stated short-term goals.

Monitoring and evaluating the performance targets within the Programmes.

Identify the needs of elite performers, implement a sports science support programme, in consultation with

identified specialists and support agencies.

Identify the needs of elite performers, implement a sports medicine programme, in consultation with

identified specialists and support agencies.

Establish and oversee performance coaching workshops and seminars.

Liaise with support agencies to identify and implement services within the sports performance area to

achieve long-term goals e.g. NOF, BOA.


Monitoring the performance of nominated athletes.

Manage staff within the National Squads Programme.

Plan personal training programs for staff.

To facilitate the development of talent identification and development programmes.

Conduct open courses for Senior and Junior competitors as part of a talent identification programme

Liaise with the Chief Referee concerning rule changes for National and International Competitions.

Prepare and submit written or oral reports for the E.K.F. Board of Directors, Extraordinary and AGM

meetings.

Liaise with identified people on National Squad issues when necessary.

Advise the Board of Directors concerning changes to any development or Long-term plan as required.

Act as spokesperson for matters pertaining to Performance and participation in relation to the national

squad.

Act as lead coach for regional coaching programmes, ensuring that such programmes are developed in line

with the national coaching development plan

Selection of staff in relation to the National Squad (s) if applicable

Performance Indicators

Specific development of all National Squads.

Attendance at selected International events to gather information on competitor training and development.

Achievement of targets, both nationally and Internationally. Identifying what these targets should be.

Development of a national development programme for athletes of all ages and abilities.

Criteria:

- To have experience of coaching at International (European & World) Level competitions.

- To have a grade off at least 5th Dan.


FOR CANDIDATES TO NOTE

This Person Specification gives a description of the skills that are required by the post-holder. It is a

particularly important document to consider when completing your application; it provides a "benchmark"

against which applicants will be short-listed. Only candidates who can demonstrate that they meet the

essential criteria will be considered. You should therefore ensure that your application demonstrates how

your previous experience, skills and abilities match all of the essentials identified and show examples of

evidence of these.

Please also note that the interview will probe, in more depth, all criteria and additionally:

- Commitment to the promotion of Equal Opportunities Issues

- Commitment to and awareness of Child Protection

- Commitment to Health & Safety

Closing dates for all applications will be Sunday 21st September 2008.

Short-listed applicants will be notified to attend an interview on Sunday 12th October at Bisham Abbey.

Can all applicants send their CV and a covering letter to:

The English Karate Federation (EKF)

e-mail: [email protected]

Note for both job applications:

- Salary / Expenses TBC.

- Applications are restricted to EKF members applying for the jobs

- Further details and full Job description available on EKF website.

- Interviews will take place 12 October between 10am and 12pm.

ekf newsletter 2008aug

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