On Sunday 24th September EPIC martial arts visited the much anticipated 2017 edition of the Infinity & Beyond competition. The competition was moved from its previous location in Yeovil to a place closer to our home location so we took a decent sized team down there! It was also a good turn out for our instructor team, with most being available.
The club recorded a haul of 35 medals on the day with 12 being Gold, 11 silver and 12 bronze. 26 of the 35 medals were for points fighting and 9 of them were for light Continuous as well as both of our junior teams reaching the final of the teams event.
Congratulations to Harvey Tyler, Teia Doyle and the captain Kam ‘jedi’ Doyle for taking the £150 cash prize money and winning the team event. Well done to our other team Harvey Pollard, Ellie Doyle and Brooklyn James for beating all other opponents and setting up an all EPIC final.
Connor Chapman overcame nerves to come through his -4 ft 10 novice points category to win gold and went on to claim a bronze in the same category at intermediate level. His younger brother Ryan Chapman demonstrated a good reading of the points game as he took a bronze in the -4 ft 6 novice points category.
Alex Fellender-Evans took a gold in the continuous -4 ft 6 category as his slick movement and crisp combinations helped him to finish his fights in the judges favour. In the same category but for points he came close in a tense final but narrowly missed out and took silver.
Teia Doyle did a great job in her categories on the day, winning 3 gold and a silver on the day. She also was part of the winning junior team. Her second gold came in the -4 ft 2 points, her final gold came in the continuous -4 ft 2 category and her silver came in the -4 ft 6 points category.
Ellie Doyle took a clean sweep of the medals chart as she took a gold, silver and bronze in her categories before claiming a silver in the teams too. She took a gold in the -5 ft 2 points category, her silver in the -4 ft 10 points category and her bronze in the -5 ft 2 light Continuous division.
Sean MacDonald came through his opening fights in both the intermediate and advance categories in the -4 ft 6 section but unfortunately couldn’t beat his second opponent in either. George Sherlock took a bronze medal in the -4 ft 6 continuous division but didn’t place in his points category of the same height.
Oliver Hiscutt took a bronze in the -4 ft 6 Intermediate section but didn’t manage to place in the advanced version of the same height. Harvey Tyler had another good day at the office as he took another 2 gold medals in the junior teams and his points category respectively. That totals 25 golds for the year now! He then went and added 2 silver medals, narrowly missing out in both of his continuous categories.
Rhiannon Bater continued her successful 2017 competition journey with another bronze in the -5 ft 2 points category but incredibly won a tough -5 ft 2 continuos division to claim another gold! Ollie Lawler also won gold in the -4 ft 10 intermediate points category. He was unlucky with injuries preventing him from progressing in the advanced points and continuous categories. Y
Jess Andrews added a silver and a bronze medal to her previous nights win (at Total Valour). Her silver medal was in -5 ft 2 light Continuous category and her bronze was in the -5 ft 2 points category. Dean Andrews didn’t place in either of his categories but did manage to perform well. He was still buzzing after his win at Total Valour 5 the night before.
Emma Thomas took a clean sweep of the medals too as she claimed a gold in -65kg mixed ability ladies Continuous, a silver in the -65kg novice ladies points category and a bronze in the +65kg novice points category. Alisha Miles took a gold by hammering her opponent 7-3 in the -5 ft 2 novice points girls category. Connor Mitchell lost 5-4 on the buzzer in the men’s -75kg advanced division in a close bout!
Lenny Tindall lost 11-7 in his first external competition fight which is a great effort for the 6 year old. This was in the -4 ft 2 novice points division. He also fought gallantly in the mixed ability -4 ft 2 continuous section and made his coaches proud. Brooklyn James took a silver in the team events, beating all of his opponents with ease before having to come up against the Jedi, Kameron Doyle, in the final.
Filippo Figari stunned spectators with his quality performances as he stepped out of the interclub scene for the first time. He took silver in the novice -4 ft 10 light Continuous section, he lost a tough first fight against a hard hitting opponent in the novice points section but went one better in the intermediate section narrowly missing out on a semi final place.
Finlay Cozens took bronze in both the -4 ft 10 advanced points and continuous sections. His strength and determination are shining as he gets ever closer to dominating these categories. Kailem Mulligan earned himself a bronze in the -4 ft 6 novice points division and was unlucky not to place in the -4 ft 6 advanced points and mixed ability light Continuous category.
Peter Lonsdale overcame tough opponents on his way to a silver medal in the -4 ft 6 novice division and added a further silver in the -4 ft 10 mixed ability Continuous category thereafter. He didn’t place in the -4 ft 6 advanced points category. Harvey Pollard showed steel and determination taking gold in the -3 ft 10 points category and added a hard earned silver from the -4 ft 3 continuous division. He didn’t place in the -4 ft 6 advanced points section.
Tyrese Redgers won a gold in the intermediate -5 ft 2 light Continuous category as he dominated his opponent in style. He added a bronze in the same standard and size category but for points. Rowan Redgers got to the 2nd round of his mixed Continuous category and was unlucky in his points division not to make it to the podium.
The team will next be performing at the Dorking Cimac Open.
