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UKKRO LINKS TO USA KARATE REFEREE'S
Alex Miladi - WKF/PKF/USANKF Referee
UKKRO - USA Karate Referee's Link, more details coming soon...
UKKRO SUCCESS AT THE EUROPEAN KARATE FEDERATION REGIONALS
From L-R Alan White, Dave Robinson, Tony Dent, Vince Parker, Terry Pottage, Billy Brennan, Brian Noble, Ivor Thomas, Terry Robins and Steve Coupland.
At the European Regional Championships, held in Maribor, Slovenia, last weekend, the European Referees course was held prior to Saturdays Championships, our officials were a credit to UKKRO and achieved some fantastic results.
The course began on Thursday evening with the presentation of the theory followed on Friday morning with the theory examinations for Kata and Kumite, after a short break all the candidates for Kata had to change into Gis and were given 90 minutes training on the Kata Seishan, Sienchin, Jion and Sepai by Referee Commission members , with Terry Pottage taking over 40 of the highest graded officials in Europe through Shito Ryu Sienchin which was thoroughly enjoyed.
This is the first time for many years that this system of Referees Kata training has been held and was received extremely well. This was then followed by the candidates all having to perform a Kata from their own style and one from another style, after completion they were then questioned on the Kata in relation to Bunkai and the Kihon of the style. The final part of the examination was dependant on their performance at the Championships I am happy to report that we had 100% success with the following results.
Billy Brennan Kata Judge A
Vince Parker Kata Judge A
Brian Noble Kata Judge B
Tony Dent Kata Judge B
This means that both Billy and Vince now have the highest qualifications in both Kata and Kumite at European level along with Nariman Jeddi and Terry Pottage.
The final part of Kumite examination was conducted at the Championships once again all of our candidates performed very well unfortunately two of our candidates were unsuccessful on this occasion and didn’t reach the required percentage. The following are the examination results from the event.
Ivor Thomas Judge A
Steve Coupland Judge A Retained
Terry Robins Judge A Retained
Dave Robinson and Alan White unfortunately did not reach the required pass mark.
Out of the four finals of this event English officials were used in three of them again another recognition of the esteem our officials are held in also Billy Brennan was also appointed as assistant Tatami Chief for this event, a fantastic recognition.
A final comment is that once again every one of these officials were prepared to put their hands in their pockets and pay to attend this event without any form of sponsorship or funding so if anyone out there wants to help these dedicated officials with financial support then please let us know.
EUROPEAN KARATE FEDERATION - REFEREE COMMISSION
The EKF Referee Commissions' elections took place on May 1st at 7pm in the Sokos Hotel Viru. The 110 referees present voted for 3 members of the EKF RC who will stay in office until 2012 (4 year term).
The election procedure by secret ballot lasted for 1 hour and the results were as follows:
Terry Pottage (England) re-elected
Robert Hamara (Norway)
Giuseppe Zaccaro (Italy)
The entire procedure was supervised by Mr. G. Nordahl, EKF A' Vice-President.
REFEREE & JUDGES PROMOTIONS
On Sunday 6th April at the EKF National Championships in Sheffield, the following officials gained new qualifications due to their excellent performances throughout the two day championships.
KUMITE
PETER BIBBY - REFEREE 'A'
TONY DENT - REFEREE 'A'
MIKE TOINTON - REFEREE 'A'
NIGEL LANGSON - REFEREE 'B'
GARY HOYLE - REFEREE 'B'
MIKE BREASLEY - REFEREE 'B'
BRIAN JARVIS - REFEREE 'B'
ALAN CONNOR - REFEREE 'B'
ROB HARDY - JUDGE 'B'
DONNA MARSHALL - JUDGE 'B'
JOHN BONAS - JUDGE 'B'
MARK SYMONDS - JUDGE 'B'
KATA
GORDON HARRISON - JUDGE 'B'
CHRISTINE PULLEN - JUDGE 'B'
MIKE TOINTON - JUDGE 'B'
DONNA MARSHALL - JUDGE 'B'
The qualifications were awarded by UKKRO Chief Referee Terry Pottage and Vice Chairman Doug James following recommendations from the Tatami Chiefs after assessments throughout the championships.
EUROPEAN REFEREE COMMISSION MEMBER JOINS UKKRO
WKF Karate Referee Vladi Vardiero, a fellow European Karate Federation Referee's Commission member along with Terry Pottage had become the first honorary member of UKKRO.
Vladi who is a 7th Dan is currently serving on his second stint as a Referee Commission member after first being selected to work on the commission by Tommy Morris in 1999. In 2004, Vladi was again elected to the EKF Referee Commission and has worked along side EKF Referee Commission President Tommaso Mini and his colleague Terry Pottage with the task of improving the formation of European Judges and Referee's.
At the last WKF World Championships, due to his vast international experience he also served as an Appeal Jury member.
Talking to Terry Pottage about UKKRO, Vladi said 'I have seen your web site and it is fantastic! The idea to make an independent referee federation is a very good idea!'
On behalf of UKKRO, Terry would like to welcome Vladi to UKKRO and looks forward to continuing their work together on the commission.
CENTRAL EUROPEAN KARATE LEAGUE - 4TH HARASUTO EUROPEAN CUP
On Saturday 1st and Sunday 2nd March, 2008 the latest event in the Central European Karate League took place in the city of Lodz, Poland. England were represented at the tournament by Ken Yu Kai who should be congratulated after Ian Swain and the Ken Yu Kai Squad turned in some fantastic performances to claim 1st place in the medals table on day two and 2nd place overall. England and UKKRO were also represented at the tournament by Peter Bibby who is a National Kata & Kumite Official.
Working alongside some of the best EKF and WKF officials in Europe, Peter commented on the courtesy and respect shown to him by everybody at the tournament including Chief Referee Mariusz Jaworski and the Polish Officials. On behalf of UKKRO, Peter would like to thank the event organisers and officials for their friendship as well as the very generous expenses he received and is looking forward to returning to Poland in November for the Grand Prix. Any officials interested in gaining international experience at the Grand Prix in Poland, please contact Peter on 07835 558424 or email:-mail@ukkro.com
UKKRO / EKF KATA & KUMITE REFEREE'S COURSE
On Sunday 10th February, 2008 the first EKF/UKKRO Kata & Kumite Referee Course took place at the Cheslyn Hay Leisure Centre in Cannock, West Midlands. Changing from the normal routine of either Kata or Kumite, this was a combined course taken by UKKRO & EKF Chief Referee Terry Pottage.
Terry started the course by going through the current W.K.F. competition rules in great detail covering both Kata and Kumite explaining the finer points clearly. After the theory training, it was examination time. Candidates who are attempting a new qualification or renewing their current qualification must attempt a theory exam with a minimum pass mark of 80% for Kumite Judge, 90% for Kata Judge and 90% for Kumite Referee.
The theory exam was the followed by practical training on the tatami. Everyone changed into their Karate Gi for practical training on the Shitei Kata for W.K.F. competition. Terry Pottage - 7th Dan took the entire group through the Shito Ryu version of Bassai Dai followed by Doug James - 7th Dan taking the group through the Wado Ryu version of Seishan and finally Nariman Jeddi - 7th Dan took the group through the Goju Ryu version of Saifa. Candidates who wish to attempt a Kata Judge qualification must perform one Shitei Kata from their own style and then one Shitei Kata from one of the other 3 styles. The group then split into three groups depending on which of the 3 Shitei Kata they wished to concentrate on.
The final part of the course meant a final change back into Referee uniform for some practical Kumite Judging. With the help of 5 W.K.F. qualified officials and 2 European Officials, all candidates were given the opportunity of practical training thanks to a couple of volunteers from a local Karate club who came along to do some sparring and aid with the course. For course photographs, please go to the 'GALLERY' page.
With over 40 officials in attendance, the future of UKKRO looks very good indeed. The next course will be taking place at the same venue on Sunday 30th March, 2008 For further details please contact us at:- mail@ukkro.com
TERRY POTTAGE - E.K.F. CHIEF REFEREE
Former E.K.G.B. and K.E. Chief Referee Terry Pottage has been appointed as Chief Referee to the English Karate Federation. As the Chief Referee of UKKRO, a World Tatami Chief Karate Referee and a European Karate Federation Referee's Commission member, Terry was the only logical choice for the job. Working in conjunction with UKKRO, the Referee Unit will continue to go from strength to strength under his leadership.
As the Chief Referee of UKKRO I wish to make our position clear.
In the absence of a governing body UKKRO was formed in order to maintain our standards and continue development within English Karate.
Our goals are very clear and transparent, we already have an incredibly high standard of officials within England 12 of whom are currently WKF/EKF qualified, we intend to keep them. In order to continue the development programme we have conducted courses and examinations plus we have attended competitions when requested provided that WKF rules are applied.
I will not jeapordise our International qualifications by being seen to support any organisation not recognised or seen to be in conflict with the WKF.
We also have adhered to the statement I made at the first English Karate Federation meeing in April, that the current English National and International officials would ONLY support organisations that were 100% WKF!
I would like to make it clear we have affiliations with no particular organisation in England but wish it to be understood that UKKRO is a non-political body, we intend to be a part of the WKF affiliated organisation in England when this happens.
Terry Pottage
7th Dan Shukokai/Shitoryu
WKF Referee/Kata Official
European Karate Federation Referee Commission Member
Chief Referee Commonwealth Karate Federation
BKF Chief Referee
UKKRO Chief Referee
Former EKGB Chief Referee
Former KE Chief Referee
