Martial Artists from Cris Janson-Piers' Falcon Fight Academy Sheffield
competed at the very first WMKF British Championships making history on their
very first UK event in the very capable hands of British President Lee Matthews
and Vice President Drew Neal.
Jordan Waring was the first in action. He is a very talented up and
coming -67kg K1 Rules star who is climbing up the rankings rapidly! With only
three fighters contending his K1 Rules category and both the other guys from
the same camp Jordan was put into the first round against the first fighter
drawn who was Liam Simons. Either way Jordan was going to be facing tough
opposition from the Thai based Karl Kilbrides Team Kilbride camp from
Liverpool.
The first round of three was expected, a planning round, which saw
Waring carefully approach his opponent, drawing him in, to allow Cris to see
the fighters traits, then he stepped on the gas and took it up to what can be
described as a three quarter pace but with lovely flowing combinations executed
with technical expertise. A true trademark of the Falcon Fight Academy
ringsport fighters. Into round two and confident Waring could up this another
level Janson-Piers instructed him to go forward stronger and that is what young
Waring did. He extended the lead and although Simons tried to come back into
the game Jordans ring craft saw to terminating any further forward movement of
his opponent.
In round three in true traditional Thai style Liam from Team Kilbride
came out strong, which CJP had already anticipated. Waring is training on 10
rounds at the moment to help his training partner and World Champion
Kerry-Louise prepare for her next World title over 5 x 3 minutes, so his cardio
was well prepared for the higher level. Although the Liverpool fighter put up a
fair challenge Waring was always in the lead and he and Cris had purposely left
out his main armoury so the onlooking second fighter from the Kilbride camp
could get no real pointers on how to fight him in the final.
With some great knee and clinch work off Waring his lead increased and
at the final bell he was sure that he had done enough, which he had. However
his unanimous victory was overshadowed by the fact that he had twisted and
aggravated an old back injury which meant he had to decline going into the
final. Although it was something Jordan didn't want, coach Cris did not
hesitate in "pulling" him the minute he was aware of the extent of
the injury.
Waring is training in Lanzarote for two weeks at the end of the month
and Janson-Piers Commented "Although it pained me to pull Jordan out of
the final, I have to think of his well being and his recovery, plus he has a
two week intense course at the end of the month and now he needs the time out
to recover fully or that's a lot of money wasted if he isn't able to go!"
One of our next fighters was Ben Fahey who is a BFKKO member/fighter
managed professionally by Cris and trained by the team at "Jez Hall's
Satori Martial Arts" Lincoln.
Ben had to fight in his second favoured style of full contact as there
wasn't a K1 Rules competitor for him.
His first fight was against Jay Harvey from BMAA but Ben just
seemed to be the more polished all the way through the bout,although Jay was a
tough cookie and kept on coming back Ben never seemed to be out of his depth.
Ben has matured a lot over the last few months and is still very aggressive but
he has now channeled it to his benefit rather than it being a hindrance which
it had been in the past. (Well done there Ben, respect).
Three rounds in the bag, no question, Ben Fahey Unanimous!!
Ben was then told to rest whilst other bouts took place as he had to
fight again in the final.
A strange one next but a great story! Sean Morgan, new kid on the block
with White Scorpion Fight Management as of the end of this month, Cris
Janson-Piers management company, a student of great fighter and coach Brett
Healey of Team MMAFIA Coventry was to face Joe Mc Mullan from Leif Taggarts
Flying Falcon Gym, Middlesborough. Taggart being coached, trained and managed
by Janson-Piers! Just the mix here said this fight already promised to be of
top quality even though the two guys were novices to the K1 Rules game in their
own rights. The names behind these two fighters certainly meant a high quality
-67kg youth fight was to ensue.
Cris has studied both fighters and actually seen both these guys train
on one of his seminars and commented "Mc Mullen looked cleaner, he didn't
rush in, which is what I fully expected. Morgan threw single shots in the first
and tended to drop his head in the clinch, but after coaching inbetween round
one and two he kept his head up and put combinations together which I thought
brought the fight to an even point. Round three was a fantastic finish to the
fight and both lads threw everything they had. With minor errors corrected it
was going to be close, but Joe just got there first a few times."
Janson-Piers' assessment of the fight was perfect and was echoed by a 29-30
decision in favour of Joe Mc Mullen and new WMKF British Champion.
Leif Taggart had to resign himself to coach for the day as his category
wasn't contended, however we are sure that Joe Mc Mullens win made the journey
more than worth the while!
Then we saw the return of Ben Fahey to the ring who was to fight Jake
Slater from TKA in the -60kg final. This again had the recipe to be a title
fight on its own merit. The guys went head to head under full contact rules for
three two minute rounds and as expected it was close. Fahey was certainly the
stronger fighter with more aggression whilst Slater was smooth and slick. but
which would impress the judges who were looking for good clean scoring
technique. Round three produced the answer and it was Fahey who was to be
crowned British Champion.
Eight year old Dani Wheatley competed in her first ever Light Contact
fight in a ring. The nerves were there, but so was the desire to never give up,
against a bigger and more experienced opponent. Dani came out of the fight with
a silver medal for her efforts!
Out of the ring and onto the mats next. We saw a few fighters making
their first ever competition appearances.
First in action in semi contact, was Tamsin Baker, aged 15. Tamsin
fought in the U16 Advanced girls category. It is two years since Tamsin last
fought when she was placed second in the WKA British Championships. She was
determined to go one better at the NEC.
She came out cautiously in the semi final and went behind early on. This
young fighter kept her calm and went ahead before being caught in the last few
seconds to be forced into extra time. This set the alarm bells ringing, and
Tamsin came out with all guns blazing and immediately landed a head kick for
two points. This was followed by some nice movement to see her through to the
final.
Here you could see she was ready to go the extra mile. There was no way
her opponent in the final was going to stop her from reaching her goal. Tamsin
set off at full speed to take a commanding lead early and followed this with
more competent scoring to become WMKF British Champion by a comfortable margin.
The first of the Falcons in action in Semi Contact took the title of British
Champion. Well done and well deserved!
Loren Taylor was soon in action in semi contact in the U16 advanced
girls category. This was Loren's first ever competition and nerves were a big
issue for this youngster. They needn't have been, as she comfortably made the
final. She listened to her coach Kerry Louise and gave 100%. Loren gave a great
performance to achieve a silver medal.
Next, we saw the big girls come out to play! Beth Revill and Rose Baker,
were the more mature combatants in the semi contact fighting arena. More
mature, being 16 and 17 respectively.
Beth brought a massive determination and very long legs to the party.
She made great use of her assets and never took a backwards step
in her quest for victory. Unfortunately she came across a very well
known fighter who has been around for a number of years, and knows how to
fight, to get the points needed for victory. Beth should be very proud of her
attitude and efforts. The wins are sure to follow very soon!
Rose Baker - Tamsin's older sister- came back to the competition arena
after a massive four years away from the sport, mainly due to injuries
requiring operations to her hand. Rose has been training hard for her return to
action, with her coaches Kerry Louise Norbury and Cris Janson Piers. The
decision to return at the British Championships, was a brave one. But one which
was not taken lightly. Rose came up against an experienced and talented
opponent, who went on to win the Title, defeating all in her path.
This wasn't the end for Rose on this day.
Rose is 17 years old and next went to fight in the Light Continuous
Ladies Category. This was Rose's first attempt in this style of kickboxing. In
her semi final fight she came across a very willing opponent who wasn't afraid
to get stuck in. Rose fought fire with fire and made it through to the final,
where she came up against a much taller competitor. Her opponent took control
early and pushed for an early victory. Rose wasn't going to let that happen as
she was obviously enjoying herself too much! She fought back hard with a couple
of excellent head kicks, and was only just pipped to the title by one point! A
great effort for her first time in the ring. Well done.
Another one of the younger fighters in semi contact, was Tamsin Baker,
Rose's younger sister aged 15. Tamsin fought in the U16 Advanced girls
category. It is two years since Tamsin last fought when she was placed second
in the WKA British Championships. She was determined to go one better at the
NEC. She came out cautiously in the semi final and went behind early on. This
young fighter kept her calm and went ahead before being caught in the last few
seconds and be forced into extra time. This set alarm bells ringing, and Tamsin
came out all guns blazing and immediately landed a head kick for two points.
This was followed by some nice movement to see her through to the final.
Here you could see she was ready. There was no way her new opponent was
going to stop her from reaching her goal. Tamsin set off at full speed to take
a commanding lead early and followed this with more competent scoring to become
WMKF British Champion by a comfortable margin. Well done and well deserved!
Cris Janson Piers of the Falcon Fight Academy and BFKKO/WFKKO President
commented "All the Ringsports sections were of a high standard, with some
solid performances. We also have a strong team of Semi Contact fighters coming
through at the moment. Each of these did me proud too. As we always say here
TEAM and as the GB teams say One Team, One Fighting Spirit! Well done to every
single competitor today."
Cris went on to say "This just proves that the majority of these
competitors have justified their selections to represent GB at the WOMAA World
Games in August."
