More recent succeses in UK below - 2011 Trophy/Medal count = 124
40 Medals for The DOJO Squad at
2011 WTKA World Champs, ITALY.
7 Members of Rochdale's Most Successfull Karate Club, The DOJO Karate Centre located on Castlemere Street, Rochdale, returned from the WTKA World Championships with an amazing haul of 40 medals.
This year again, the attendance attracted participants from all corners of the earth, and reached over 3000 competitors to the event. With a strong contingent from Slovakia in all categories. However, the standard of The DOJO Squad proved to be better than ever before especially among the under 15yrs olds.
Best perofrmances were from JACK JOLLIFE and HUSEYN MIKAYILOV. Jack, now has become a seasoned competitor, won 5 Golds, 5 Silvers and 1 Bronze. Along the way he won the Individual Kata against the Slovakian favourite, and got Silver in the Individual Kata in the category above his own age (13-15yrs).
Huseyn, who only started competing this year is a very fast learner and won 4 Golds, 4 Silvers and 1 Bronze. He won Gold in 2 Team Kata events (-12yrs and 13-15yrs, both for Brown & Black belts) alongside Jack Jolliffe and Kieren Roberts beating the strong Slovakian's in the -12yrs event and Italian's in the 13-15yrs group.
Kieren and Huseyn then won Gold in the -12yrs Pairs Kata.
Vanessa and brother Antonio then performed Pairs Kata which they won convincingly beating Italian's and Slovakin's into 2nd and 3rd place
Kieren, Antonio and Huseyn also won the Team Kata for 13-15yrs -purple belts
On the fighting front everyone performed really well. Kieren had not fought for 4 months due to a foot injury. Although he did not win his first fight, he fought very well. However to ensure Team and Pairs Kata perfoemances for the Finals on the Sunday, Sensei Ansari pulled him out of the rest of the individual kumite events. This meant Antonio would have to step into his shoes for the Team event, and little Husyan would fill his shoes to go out 1st on team kumite matches. Although duanted at first, little Huseyn fought brilliantly in the first match against a guy who appeared to be nearly twice his size, but he won him very convincingly. Then Jack finished the match of in style without the need for Antonio to fight. In the next round Huseyn lost his fight, then Jack won to make it 1-1. Now Antonio came into his own by winning the Irish fighter by the maximum margin to take The Team into the final.
Jack performed flawlessly to win the -160cm Shobu Sanbon Kumite and the +160cm Point Karate
Overall The DOJO Squad returned with 16 Golds, 20 Silvers and 4 Bronze medals. Sensei Ansari said 'I am very happy with the results mashallah. Next year we hope to convert those silvers into Gold as their is still plenty of room for improvement.'
Jack Jolliffe - 5 Gold, 5 Silver, 1 Bronze
Huseyn Mikayilov - 4 Gold, 4 Silver, 1 Bronze
Kieren Roberts - 4 Golds, 3 Silver
Antonio Russo - 2 Golds, 2 Silver, 1 Bronze
Vanessa Russo - 1 Gold, 1 Bronze
Natalie Dean - 4 Silver
Irfan Ansari - 2 Silver
A Special thanks goes to Lee Jolliffe, Graciano Russo, Mark Roberts and Dergah Mikayilov for all their volunteered help on tour.
No other martial arts club in the Rochdale area has ever produced as many World Champions nor won as many external competition trophies as The DOJO Karate Centre. There is no doubt that The DOJO Karate Centre is The BEST Karate Club in Rochdale and surrounding areas.
4 DOJO Members win 22 Medals at 2010 WTKA WORLD Karate Champs, ITALY.
Martial artists from Rochdale’s DOJO Karate Centre have to fight their way through their trophy cabinets, after a record win at the WTKA World Karate Championships in Italy.
Over 3000 people from around the world competed in the multi-disciplinary tournament, with Rochdale’s team travelling from the 27 October to the 1 November.
Jack Jolliffe, Nathan Chan, Kieren Roberts and Jamie Ellis competed. Jack Jolliffe won four golds, two silvers and three bronzes. Nathan Chan came in with three golds, three silvers and one bronze. Kieren got one gold, one silver and one bronze, while Jamie came away with three bronze medals.
“Our squad members have a yearning to be successful that is brought about by the strong mental mindset we instil in them,” sensei Ansari said. “This was particularly evident when coaches and officials of other countries came to me and said to me ‘Your squad members are very good.’”
“It was the mental approach of our squad that made them stand out above others,” he added.
Lee Jolliffe, Jack’s father, said 11-year-old Jack has been doing Karate for almost seven years.
“I’m over the moon; I’ve not got enough words to describe it. It was pure determination and hard work for all the kids. A lot of the time he was doing nine events a day,” Mr Jolliffe said. “I was nervous; one opponent was as big as me. He was about 5ft 6in and he had a moustache.”
But his son was less fazed. “I wasn’t nervous,” Jack said. “Ok, maybe a little bit.”
“Jack just gets on with it,” Mr Jolliffe added. “He does what the sensei tells him to do. They’ve all got great respect for him.”
The centre, on Castlemere Street, had to fund its own trip, with donations from local businesses being gratefully received by the club.
Club sensei Irfan Ansari would like to thank businesses around the Milkstone Road area who contributed, as well as main contributors the Haji Superstore and Virgo Travel.
Sensei Ansari also provided free training sessions and provided equipment for the squad to get in top shape.
No other martial arts club in the Rochdale area has produced as many World Champions nor won as many external competition trophies as The DOJO Karate Centre.
“I’ve been to a lot of clubs and this is second to none,” Mr Jolliffe said.
Nathan Chan’s mother Judy Chan also expressed her pride in her son. “I’m very happy with what he’s achieved so far,” she said. “He’s won local and national competitions and he’s exceptionally good with his Kata.” Sensei Ansari agreed, noting that the examiners applauded along with the audience when he’d finished.
11-year-old Nathan has a lot of respect for his sensei, she said. “He’s very good with children. We wouldn’t go anywhere else.”
“Nathan trained so hard for this and I’m delighted at his success,” she said.
But their trip to Italy was not without its problems. “They were all very long days,” she said. “We got to the arena at 8.30am every morning and there was a lot of waiting around until late in the evening. There were so many people attending. We didn’t get any chance to do anything touristy. Every day we ate pizza and chips.”
6 GOLDS, 1 SILVER & 2 BRONZE Medals at
2009 WTKA World Karate Champs, ITALY.
5 members returned from the WTKA World Karate Champs with amazing results to show for their efforts. There were over 5000 competitors at this event. This makes it even more special.
Zain beat last year's World Champ in the semi-final play-off for the Bronze in the -140cm Shobu Sanbon Fighting, and narrowly missed lost in the Point fighting at the quarter-final stage. Jack got Bronze in the 10-12yrs Kata, but Gold in Shobu Sanbon and Gold in Point Fighting for -150cm categories. Natalie performed excellentyl in the finals after getting some really knock to the head, eye, jaw, throat and ribs in the earlier rounds to win Gold in the Girls 13-15yrs Shobu Sanbon and Gold in Point Fighting. Jamie got Gold in Youths 16-18yrs +60kg event for Shobu Sanbon and Silver in Point Fighting. Thomas Bates won Gold in the Mens +19yrs Jnr Grade Kata event.
Their pre-competition training was directed by The DOJO.net Chief Instructor who also lead the group to Italy with great help from Lee Jolliffe who helped with Admin duties, and Suli who managed to secure the Sponsorship of the Team Tracksuits from www.advancetec.co.uk . We would also like to thank Councillors from the Action & Resources Committee, and Rochdale Township for supporting Zain and Jack to attend the Championships.
In all, for 5 members returning with 9 medals is more than excellent - it is EXCEPTIONAL! Finally, the behaviour of the youngsters when abroad was exemplary.
When the performance is right, the results always speak for themselves! So much so that when other World level Coaches and Judges make remarks in their broken english like ".....England Coach...... you kids are very very good...." we know our coaching method is the best in the area because it is proven and not reliant on false claims many other clubs in the area!
A BIG WELLDONE to everyone who went to the World Champs - from Sensei Irfan Ansari (6th Dan)
The DOJO.net produces WORLD CHAMPIONS !
Our amazing trio of 8year old return from the IKF World Champs (Rimini, Itally) with 6 Medals between them. Nathan Chan was truley world class with a Gold in Ind Kata & Team Kata. Bradley Ingham-Eaton got Gold in Team Kata & Silver in fighting, while Jack Jolliffe got Gold in Team Kata & Bronze in Fighting.
We are very proud of their outstanding acheivement!
Since coming back form the World Champs Nathan and Jack have turned up the heat on the Competition scene and have continued to amass lots of titles and trophies.
Read more about them below along with the successes of other members from The DOJO.
2011 Best of British Kata Champs
What a day The DOJO Squad had at the Best of British Kata Champs. We came back with an amazing 37 Trophies. This year we have won 124 trophies altogether. The Squad is certainly beginning to shine, but as Sensei Ansari always says 'There is always room for improvement.'
Whilst everyone performed well, exceptional performances were from Jack Jolliffe, Nathan Chan (missing from photo!), Sensei Ansari (Yes he competed also!), Huseyn Mikayilov, Kieren Roberts, Isobel Pauline, Helen Crabtree. Each of these won their respective categories.
In the pairs Kata we had Isobel and Jennifer win the under 9years event. In the u16yrs (upto Purple belt) we won 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place. The respective winners were the sibling duo of Vanessa & Antonio (1st), siblings Asad & Seif (2nd) and Anna & Sian (3rd). in the u16yrs (+brown belts) Jack & Nathan narrowly pipped their squad friends Huseyn & Kieren into 1st place.
In the 3 person Open grade Team Kata event, again The DOJO Teams came 1st & 2nd. Kieren, Nathan & Jack again just pipped Vanessa, Huseyn & Antonio into 1st place.
Lots of compliments and comments from spectators and other coaches were given to all members of the Squad for their performances. However, the highlight was when the crowed erupted in applause after seeing Sensei Ansari's Kata followed by some of the judges commenting 'we now know why his students are so good!' This is fantastic compliment and recognistion of the hard work everyone puts into training at The DOJO - Well done to all participants.
Thank you to all people who helped coached and do filming that day, namely, Mark, Graciano, Dergah, Lee and Jamie.
2011 BSK Open Champs
OCT 9th turned out to be another amazing haul of Medals for the Rochdale's most Successful Karate Club proving once again that The DOJO Karate Club teaches the best Karate Classes in Rochdale. The DOJO Squad came back with 17 Medals to show for the efforts that included 9 Golds, 5 Silver and 3 Bronze. Best performances were from Jack Reilly, Vaessa Russo, Christopher Mills and Michael Allen. Of course everyone else performed well also. Here is the break down of medals won .....
Jack Jolliffe - 3 Golds & 1 Silver
Nathan Chan - 3 Golds
Anotnio Russo - 1 Gold, 1 Silver
Kieren Roberts - 1 Gold
Jack Reilly - 1 Gold
Christopher Mills - 1 Gold
Michael Allen - 1 Silver
Ahmed Shekuwe - 1 Silver
Vanessa Russo - 1 Bronze
Huseyn Mikayilov - 1 Bronze
Katie Eccles - 1 Bronze
Keep training hard guys - more success to come inshallah!
2011 FEKO Seniors National Open
Ahmad returned triumphant from his first ever Karate competition with 1st Place to show for his efforts to win the FEKO Seniors National Championships. Jamie returned with a 3rd place. A special well done to them both for the hard work they put into their training and coaching.
2011 South Yorkshire Open
Huseyn does it again! He performed excellently to win Gold in 10-12yrs Kata and got a Bronze in Kumite. While fellow team mate Jack came 1st in Kata in the 10-12yrs +Brown Belts and narrowly missed a medal position in the 1/4finals to a very poor decision. Kieren also performed exceptionally to win Bronze in Kata considering he is recovering from a nasty foot injury that seem to be lingering - but his dedication to trianing is not affected at all.
2011 CEKA National Champs
Three members returned from the Central England champs in July with 3 Bronze medals. They were Jack Jolliffe, Huseyn Mikayilov and Natalie Dean. They all performed very well - welldone guys!
2011 FEKO Childrens National Champs
Jack Jolliffe performed excellently to win both the Kata and the Kumite events. Huseyn's first comp, he came 3rd in Kata. Watch out for him he is going to be a World Champion one day. Kieren fought excellently and was placed 3rd as was Natalie.
2011 BKA Kata Open
Due to Club Gradings, Kieren Roberts was the only one from the Squad to attend the BKA Kata Open. He asserted his standard by convicingly winning the Upto Purple Belt u12yrs event in Kata in Warrington. Nice to see him smiling for a change!!!!!! Well done Kieren - form Sensei Ansari.
2011 BRITISH CHAMPS - 8 Trophies
Jack, Nathan and Kieren returned from the British Invitational Kata and Weapon Forms Comp oragnised by WTKA GB in early March with 8 trophies between them. Nathan was 1st in +Brown Belt (10-15yrs), while Jack came 2nd. They both also won the Pairs Kata. Kieren was 1st in Upto Purple Belt (10-15yrs) Kata. They all also came 1st in the 10-15yrs Team Kata. They got 8 1st place trophies and one 2nd place. Not bad for only 2nd Comp of the Year!
USA OPEN
For the 1st time in The DOJO Karate Centre's history, we managed to put together an Adult Ladies Team. They performed nervously as 2 of the 3 had no formal competition experience before. The team made up of the experienced Natalie Dean, and beginners to the Competition scene Janni Hiens and Katie Eccles. They performed valiantly to come 3rd at the USA Open Champs.
Also, our Junior Boys team also performed excellenty to come 2nd in a category that attracted close to 20 teams in the 10-12yrs age group. They performed their technical and tactical duties very well indeed.
Jamie Ellis, now 18yrs old, also performed well in his first seniors event. He got 3rd place via repercharge but not without being decked a few time by the eventual winner (scottish International). I was a big learning curve for Jamie but one he will rise to without doubt.
BSK OPEN
9 Entrants came back with 15 Trophies between them. Best results were from Nathan Chan, Jack Jolliffe and Kieran Roberts who won 9 trophies between them. Best Kata performance was by Nathan Chan and best Figthing performance was by Jamie Ellis who fought his best yet. Our Team kata was the best Sensei Ansari had witnessed from the Club and they beat many teams, all older than themselves in this Open Age event.
Everyone who competed from the DOJO Karate Centre (Rochdale) won a Trophy. In fact the organisor Sensei Charlie Gidley commented to Sensei Ansari "the standard of your competitors is simply amazing." Sensei Ansari said "To hear this from a high ranking internationally recognised Karate Instructor and the fact we won so many trophies goes to show that we remain the Best Karate Club in Rochdale as we keep producing so many champions time and time again. Our results are a testament to the effort we put into each and every member and their attitude to keep improving."
Amongst the Peewee (senior grade) category the Hussain brothers (Harris & Qais) took 1st and 2nd in the Fighting beat black belts on the way. Then Qais surprisingly won his older brother in the final. Their father was ecsatatic with joy as it was only their 2nd competition.
Natalie fought well and ended up 3rd in the her comptition in the Senior Ladies (open age) event. Glenn was 3rd in the Mens (Junior grade) Figthing, while Dominic was also 3rd in his figthing section in his first competition.
Sensei Ansari added "This a fantastic result for all and goes to show how effective our coaching actually is in terms of achieving results. However, for those going to the World Champs in a couple of weeks, this was just a warm-up tournament and there is still room for improvement. So there is no time to rest!"
EKF Open
NOC Open Champs - Results
4 Members returned from the Northern Open Championships on SUN 14th SEP with 4 Medals between them. Outstanding performances were from Jack Jollife who was 1st in the U10yrs Kumite, and Jamie Ellis who came 3rd in the Boys 14-16yrs Open Grade Kumite. Alex wlach also performed well to get 3rd Place in the Boys U10yrs Kata, while yolonda got 3rd in the Girls 13-16yrs Junior Grade Kumite.
UMA Champs - Results
8 Members return with 11 Medals between them - an excellent result by any standard. The Comp was well organised, but could have done with more perofrmance areas and referees. Nathan (1st in u9yrs Kata and 1st in Pairs Kata), Jack (2nd is u9yrs Kata, 1st in Pairs Kata, and 1st in u9yrs Kumite), little Adam (1st in u6yrs Kumite), Rais (2nd in 10-12yrs Kumite and 3rd in Open Kumite), Marya (2nd in Girls 10-12yrs Kumite), Faisal (3rd in Boys 13-16yrs Kumite), Natalie (2nd in Girls 13-16yrs). Looks like the Khan family is settling into the Competition scene nicely!
BSK Open Champs - Results
The DOJO.net Squad returned form the BSK Champs with 11 trophies. Nathan was 1st in U9yrs Kata, Jack (3rd in U9yrs Kata), Natalie (1st in 13-16yrs Girls), Jamie (2nd in 13-16yrs Boys), Sam (3rd in 13-16yrs Boys), Grace (3rd in Girls 10-12yrs), Lauren (3rd in girls 10-12yrs). Outstanding performances were from little Adam Khan, Daniel Shirtcliffe and Zain-ul-Abidbeen who all entered their first competition and came 3rd in their respective categories.
All England Champs - Bradford
Nathan and Jack performed excellently doing a different kata in each round to finish 1st and 2nd respectively. Nathan taking the title for the 2nd year in a row. Jack came 3rd in the Kumite while Zain pipped ahead to 2nd in the same category.
Aadam Khan, known at The DOJO as‘The Chief’, stormed through the u7yrs category setting the crowed alight with his fantastic head kicks that made him win each bout with maximum score lead of 8 points. In the final he fought excellently and only lost to a poor judgement by 1 point to come 2nd.
Natalie, also blazed through the rounds with maximum points but fell victim to poor stretegy in the finals to come 3rd.
Jamie and Shahid both performed well to lose in their semi for the 16-17yrs Kumite, while Phillip returned back to the competition scene after a 4 year break. In the 18-20yr men’s event he came 3rd taking a bad blow to the nose his final round match.
Northern Open Classic Champs
3 Members returned form the NOC 09 Open with Medals to show for their efforts. Natalie Dean was 3rd in the Girls 13-15yrs. Jamie Ellis was 3rd in the Youths 16-18yrs, while Thoma Bates came 2nd in only his 2nd competition. Welldone to all who entered - Keep up the good work!
FEKO Champs
Once again The DOJO Squad performed brilliantly at the FEKO Nationals, coming home with 3 1st places and 1 2nd among the 4 of them. Jack has become 10yrs now and performed in the new 10-12yrs Black Belt events. In Kata he was 4th, but in Kumite he came 2nd. Zain perfoemd excellently and won the u9yrs Kumite event. Nathan won for the 3rd year running in the u9yrs Kata, while Jamie won the 16-17yrs Shobu Ippon event.
'I am very proud of their achievements' said Sensei Ansari.
'But there is always room for improvement!' he added.