Sean McCarthy new Wako Pro World Champion -63kg
(Sean & Kelly celebrating with the club at Cafe Rialto)
On Saturday 21st November 2009 Sean McCarthy Instructor of Kickboxkarate travelled out to Dublin where he would contest the WAKO Pro World Championship Belt for –63kg against Robbie Haugh from Ireland. The fight consisted of seven 2 min rounds with 1 min rest between each round. Sean travelled out with his two coaches Jacey and Tony Cashman, Mother Lorraine McCarthy, Girlfriend Kelly Thaxter and fellow Instructor Lisa Boardman. Sean and Robbie started the fight at a high tempo at the end of round seven both Sean and Robbie were drawing on points. The fight then went into a further round at which they were still drawing on points! Sean eventually won in the 9th round 49 points to 48 points making him the current Wako Pro World Champion Title Belt holder! I would like to say thank you to all that has helped me on my journey I could not have done it without you. A full report will follow shortly!
Title Belt not just for kicks for McCarthy
Dorking Advertiser Report by Lee Wilmot
Sean McCarthy is only 22years old, but this time on Sunday he could be a new world champion. The Dorking kickboxer is travelling to Ireland this weekend and he could return with the World Amateur Kickboxing Organisation Pro title belt in his hands. He said “Obviously I’m a bit nervous, but I’m excited as well. I’ve got all the natural emotions at the moment. This is pretty much what I have been working towards since I took up kickboxing and it would be nice to have this to my name.” McCarthy will face off to Robbie Haugh in the bout on Saturday in the -63kg weight division, although he will have to square up to the Irishman twice before the belt is guaranteed to be his. “This is the biggest thing in kickboxing and it’s a quite a big achievement even being selected to challenge for it. First of all you have to get selected for your country and then if you feel you are a good match and within the ranks you go forward for the fight. I will have to fight this guy twice though. The belt became vacant because the previous champion retired and there is always a rematch when it becomes vacant.”
The fight in Ireland consists of seven two minute rounds with one minute rest between each. McCarthy has been hard in training for the bout doing endurance work, including pad training, sparing and competitions, six days a week. As part of his preparation he won a bronze medal at the Italian Open that he described as a good warm up. There is allot of pressure on this match up though as he revealed that he might not get the opportunity to fight for this again. “The majority of people will only get asked once or twice to compete for this belt, so I might not get another chance if I don’t win it now. If I do it’s obviously up to other fighters to challenge me for the title.” McCarthy will be hoping that history repeats itself on Saturday. He has only ever squared off against Haugh once before and he came out on top on that occasion.
Italian Open 2009
On Friday 30th October 2009 Instructors Sean McCarthy and Lisa Boardman travelled along to Italian Open in Bergamo along with fellow team mate Jem Campbell. The tournament was of very high standard with the majority of fighters using the tournament as preparation for the World Championships at the end of November. Lisa Boardman fought extremely well but had a tough draw meeting all top fighters within the first round of her category. Sean McCarthy secured a bronze in the -69kgs and fellow team mate Jem Campbell received Bronze in the female open weight. Well done to all who competed!
SKF Kickboxkarate vs South East Academy Club Challenge
On 25th October 2009 SKF Kickboxkarate team went to an interclub challenge. The team travelled over to High Wycombe where 14 fighters’ kids and adults went face to face with the South East Academy. Fighters who fought from Kickboxkarate were: Lewis James, George Harris, James Harris and Kelly Thaxter the rest of the team were made up from other SKF clubs. Both teams fought really well to bring it to a draw. This meant we had to send out another fighter for the deciding match in which we went on to win. So it was Gold medals all around for team SKF Kickboxkarate. Well done to all the team members’ parents and coaches Guy Hamilton and Sean McCarthy.
Kids UK Open & Bristol Open 18th Oct 2009
Well a vast haul of medals this weekend! As the UK Kids Open and the Bristol Open clashed on dates Kickboxkarate divided squads to fight at two different events. With this being the case we have managed to collect a vast amount of medals. Here are our results from 13 fighters on the 18th October 2009:
1st place x 5
2nd Place x 3
3rd Place x 6
UK Kids Open results:
1st Place
Lewis James
Christian Hamilton
Joshua Hamilton
James Harris
Ellah Reader
2nd Place
Dylan Knight
Tag Team Kickboxkarate 1: Lewis James, Ellah Reader and Lucy Narain
3rd Place
Tom Mountley
George Harris
Lucy Narain
Tag Team Kickboxkarate 3: Joshua Hamilton, James Harris and George Harris
Well done to all of the other fighters who fought as well at the UK Open:
Kacie Reader
Jacob Scott
Tag Team Kickboxkarate 2: Tom Mountley, Dylan Knight and Jacob Scott
Tag Team Kickboxkarate 4: Kacie Reader, Christian Hamilton and James Harris
Watch this space these guys are champions in the making!
Bristol Open Results:
Kelly Thaxter got 3rd Place in two of her individual divisions
Lisa Boardman 2nd in the Tag Team narrowly beaten by the Norwegian national team
Dorking Superleague
On 4th October 2009 14 fighters competed at Dorking CIMAC Superleague. Team Kickboxkarate had 7 fighters who had never gone to a tournament before so their respect is now been earned for stepping on to the mat and giving it a go. Here is how they did:
Kids:
Lewis James 4th Place
Jacob Scott well done for competing in your first tournament!
Thomas Mountley unfortunately didn’t get placed but showed great potential to be a future champion.
Joshua Hamilton well done for competing in your first tournament!
Dylan Knight well done for competing in your first tournament!
Christian Hamilton well done for competing in your first tournament! 4th Place.
Ellah Reader 4th Place.
George Harris 4th Place.
James Harris 3rd Place.
Adults:
Andy Gale well done for competing in your first tournament
Wojciech Polawski well done for competing in your first tournament
Petra Janakova well done for competing in your first tournament
Kelly Thaxter great fighting but unfortunately lost to the winner of the division in the first round.
Lisa Boardman 1st Place.
Special thanks go out to Richard Harris for organising the fighters and to Lisa Boardman, Guy Hamilton and Sean McCarthy for coaching the team. Thank you to the parent’s friends and family who supported Team Kickboxkarate on the day.
WAKO Belgium Open International September 2009
On Friday 4th September 2009 four fighters went out to compete in the Belgium open to return on Monday 7th September 2009. Kickboxkarate Students George and James Harris fought in kids divisions. Instructors Jacey Cashman and Sean McCarthy fought in the adults divisions.
The Competition kicked off with George Harris competing in two weights. George fought extremely well for his 2nd international tournament. With his best fight so far since he has been fighting for Kickboxkarate. George has great potential to be a champion in next few years. James was next to fight he earned himself a place in the finals in two divisions which was held on the main stage in the evening. James came 2nd in the final of both divisions in which he met the same fighter in both finals. Eventually James came away with two silver medals. Jacey was fighting well but unfortunately had pull out of the tournament due to injury. Sean fought well but lost to the winner of his division. Special thanks go to Tony Cashman, Sue Harris, Richard Harris and Paul Benedetti for their continued support to the squad.
Cimac World Cup International
Well done to all who competed at the Cimac World Cup International Tournament in Maidenhead on 12th July 2009. Kickboxkarate gained a bronze, silver and gold. George Harris gained bronze in the blackbelt section. Sean McCarthy gained silver in the blackbelt section. Jacey Cashman won gold in the GB team challenge. A special mention to the fighters who competed on the day: James Harris, George Harris, Lisa Boardman, Tom Mountley, Sean McCarthy and Jacey Cashman. Thank you also to Team Spirit coaches: Guy Hamilton and Tony Cashman.
Best Fighter Wako World Cup Italy 2009
Sean went to the Wako World Cup in the beautiful area of Rimini along the East coast of Italy. It was an amazing venue to set the start of a great event.
Sean’s closest fight came in the Men’s Open Weight when he went out to the eventual winner Italy’s Manuel Esposito with a close fight. Sean looks forward to next year when he will look to take out more fighters from Team Kickboxkarate to compete on the international stage.
Superleague 5 Reading
A 6 person squad went to Reading to compete in the 5th Superleague of the year. Well done to Tom Mountney, George Harris, James Harris, Tracey Jenkins, Lewis James and Sue West. It was a first tournament for Lewis James and Sue West.
Some good results from the tournament well done to all. Tracey Jenkins got Gold in her section, George Harris got Silver in his section and Lewis James and Sue West both got Bronze in their individuals.
Bristol Interclub 2009
James and George competed at the Bristol Interclub. James got Gold in his individual division. George got Bronze in his individual division. Kickboxkarate managed to enter in the team division with the help of one fighter from another club. The Team fought well and managed to get Bronze for the team.
Superleague 4 British Open Championships 2009 Birmingham
Tracey competed at the British Open Championships in Birmingham on Sunday 10th May 2009. She fought in two divisions and received a bronze in the novice ladies over 60kg.
Superleague 3 Winsor
Three fighters all came within the top two in each category. James won gold in his kid’s division Black belt category; he stepped up to the challenge as he is currently only a Purple white belt. Kelly got silver in the women’s novice section her best result so far after 5 tournaments. Steve got silver in the intermediate men’s section despite his age (classified- He will kill me for that one!). All did really well considering the high standard of the Superleague congratulations.
SKF Inter-club Competition at K2 in Crawley
The results say enough!
Individuals:
1st place: James
2nd Place: Ellah
3rd Place: Sam, Steve, Tom and Joel
Kids Team:
1st place: James and Joel
3rd Place: Hope and Toby
1st place: Joe, Ellah and Jake
3rd Place: George and Tom
Adult Team:
1st place: Sean, Sam and Kelly
2nd Place: Tracey + other SKF members
Fighters: Joe, Toby, Tom, Jake, James, George, Steve, Sam, Hope, Kelly and Joel
Fist Tournament: Ellah, Matt, Natasha and Tracey
A Special thanks to the Parents and those who supported the day!
Irish Open Competition 2009
Team Kickboxkarate fought in style at the Irish Open. With an average of 2000+ competitors from 27 different countries it is labelled as the most prestigious tournament in Europe.
For James, George and Kelly it was their first international
tournament. They fought really well and we have good expectations for them in future international events. Well done!
Superleague no2 2009 Wales
Team Kickboxkarate take on another Superleague match in Wales! James, Kelly and Jake made the trip over the English border to Cardiff.
James fought well and was gunning for his second 1st place at a Superleague but unfortunately felt sick and could not continue. Congratulations to Jake for completing his fist competition.
Superleague no1 2009
Well done to Lisa Boardman, Sean McCarthy, Kelly Thaxter and Alec Donelly for competing at the first Superleague of the year.
Results:
2 x 2nd place
2 x 3rd place
The O.N.E. The Watford Open Nationals
Well done to Kelly, James and George who competed at the Watford Open Nationals under the coaching of Lisa Boardman.
Results:
1 x 3rd Place
Sean went to the Wako World Cup in the beautiful area of Rimini along the East coast of Italy. It was an amazing venue to set the start of a great event. Superleague 5 Reading
Individuals:
1st place: James
2nd Place: Ellah
3rd Place: Sam, Steve, Tom and Joel
Kids Team:
1st place: James and Joel
Adult Team:
1st place: Sean, Sam and Kelly
2nd Place: Tracey + other SKF members
Fighters: Joe, Toby, Tom, Jake, James, George, Steve, Sam, Hope, Kelly and Joel
A Special thanks to the Parents and those who supported the day!
Team Kickboxkarate fought in style at the Irish Open. With an average of 2000+ competitors from 27 different countries it is labelled as the most prestigious tournament in Europe.
tournament. They fought really well and we have good expectations for them in future international events. Well done!
Well done to Lisa Boardman, Sean McCarthy, Kelly Thaxter and Alec Donelly for competing at the first Superleague of the year.
2 x 2nd place
2 x 3rd place
Results:
1 x 3rd Place
