MARTIAL ARTS
Kyokushinkai Karate
THE CALEDONIA Kyokushin club held two grading tests in Oban this month, one on December 12 and another on December 19.
During the process, the clubs gained new high grades. On December 12 Paul MacKay moved up to 1st kyu and Drew MacKinnon moved to 2nd kyu while on December 19 Andrew Smart gained his 1st dan black belt. After the technical part of the test, Andrew had to complete 20 two-minute fights against fresh opponents.
Martial Arts
IT’S BEEN a busy year for martial arts in Oban, with all the clubs competing at various national and international events.
It takes a lot of bottle just to compete at these tournaments and I take my hat off to all those that have done so. Win or lose, the experience is invaluable.
To experience the adrenaline rush then control it and channel it takes a special kind of person.
One of my personal, if not slightly biased, highlights of the past year was Mark Welsh taking the international title in Edinburgh in May against much heavier opposition.
This was a huge confidence boost for Mark who was fighting way out of his comfort zone.
Elsewhere, the BJJ team has done extremely well taking medals at every event they attended.
Future
Coach Coogie Potter deserves a special mention for the hard work he puts in week after week to get the team in top shape for these events, and with the recent addition of a kids BJJ class, the future looks bright for Oban BJJ.
Senshi Do Kickboxing’s chief instructor Wullie Rodger has been struggling with back problems for the last couple of years and is at last getting a long-awaited operation in February.
We wish him good luck and a speedy recovery.
Despite the back issues, Wullie has steered his club members to many successes over the year at international and local events.
Argyll Martial Arts instructor Kenny Gray has had a good year too, from dan grade promotions within the organisation to Kenny himself taking first place in a kata tournament in November showing there is life in the old dog yet!
The Argyll Martial Arts and the Kyokushinkai clubs closed for the Christmas break but the kickboxing and BJJ clubs had a few sessions planned throughout.
Contact details for the local clubs are: BJJ; coogiepots@gmail.com Kickboxing; shihanwill@gmail.com
Argyll Martial Arts (Shukokai Karate); kenni.gray@btinternet.com
Kyokushinkai Karate; iain@ ikku.co.uk
As my particular art (Kyokushinkai karate) originated in Japan I will wish you all a good New Year in that Language; Yoi otoshi o omukae kudasai.