WKA - World Championships, Germany

WKA � World Championship 2007 � Karlsruhe, Germany

Report by Mr Michael Belle, 3rd Degree


From the 27th of August to the 1st September 2007 two members of Master Wolf Taekwon-do Academies (MWTA) competed in the World Kick-Boxing Association (WKA) World Championships, which were held in Karlsruhe, Germany.

The two MWTA members attending the tournament were Ms Lucy Wolf, 5th degree and Mr Michael Belle 3rd degree, of course under the guidance of Master Wolf 8th degree and care of Mrs Brenda Wolf. The Event was held over a 5-day period with world class fighters from all over the globe, representing England, Ireland, Germany, USA, Brazil, Italy, Canada and many other countries.

For this competition MWTA was to be supporting our close friends of the WKA � Ireland team Mrs Patricia Dalton and Mr Don Dalton.


Day 1 � Sunday 26th August 2007

Our group met at London Stanstead Airport. There was some confusion with the weights and amount of bags we could check in. Once this had been ironed out we were a little short of time to make our flight, we had a quick run through the airport to the departure gate where we met with Mr Dalton and his son Jordon at the gate. The flight was on time with no problems, approximately an hour and a half in the air and we landed at Karlsruhe-Baden Airport.

Once in Germany we headed over to the Team Hotel to meet with the rest of the team and to complete our registration and weight in. Once the weights were made there was time for a quick check in to our rooms and then straight out for dinner as our food intake had been very limited due to the pending weights. As the Competition started the next day it was an early night for all.


Day 2 � Monday 27th August 2007

The 1st Day of the competition started at 9am and as they say there�s no rest for the wicked, Lucy was up first thing in the under 50kg division of the Continuous Sparring. The rounds were 2 x 2 minute and the rings were 7 by 7 meters in size. Lucy�s first round saw her face one of Germany�s best fighters. With her calm and focused fighting style cruised through to the semi finals, where she was to face the very tall division favourite from Brazil. With another sharp and heart filled performance Lucy made it through to the finals later in the week.

Next up was Michael Belle in the Continuous Sparring, under 65kg division.
The contest began with Michael dominating over his German counterpart with a barrage of rapier side kicks, which completely overwhelmed him, unfortunately his frustration led him to strike back with a wildly executed and illegal leg sweep, which caused a bad injury to Michaels toe, by way of dislocation. Although the referee issued a stern warning, this did not help Michael, who was unfortunately incapacitated by the injury and although unable to perform any more kicks, bravely fought his way through to the end of the bout.
The decision of course went to his opponent, who went on to the semi-final stages, narrowly losing to the eventual division gold medallist.


Day 3 � Tuesday 28th August 2007

With another early start Lucy kicked off the day this time in the under 55kg semi contact. With Lucy giving away over 5kg in this division the action started with Lucy winning 3 to 4 against the USA in the first round. In round 2 Lucy faced a fighter from England, the fight was entertaining with Lucy showing her fantastic techniques. Lucy lost the fight 2 to 5 however there were a number of clear side kicks that were not scored, all part of the learning curve!


Day 4 � Wednesday 29th August 2007

Wednesday saw the continuous team sparring event start. The female teams were made up 3 fighters and 1 reserve; the males were made up of 5 fighters and 1 reserve. With the Ireland male team getting the bye through to the final saw Germany facing Switzerland. With Germany winning 3 � 0 it was going to be another Germany vs. Ireland final.

The female team was not so lucky, the Northern Ireland team got the bye through to the final, and this left Ireland to face Germany in the Semi Finals.
With Ireland winning 2-0 thanks too a convincing win from Moira they were through to the final.


Day 5 � Thursday 30th August 2007

Thursday was the first full day of the finals, with a very early start at 8.00 Jordon Dalton in the final of the continuous male kids under 25kg sparring. The final was a very close fight with both competitors showing great skill, the eventual split decision went in favour of the German competitor with Jordon taking the silver.

After 3 days of waiting since the semi-finals of the Monday, the time came for Lucy to take the centre stage for her final in the female under 50kg continuous sparring, against her opponent from Ireland. Probably due to the fact that this very large and highly competitive World Championship Tournament was taken at such short notice, being only 3-weeks after our own ITF World Championships, Lucy was not able to re-focus and reproduce the inspired performances that she displayed at our ITF Worlds and in the qualifying bouts of this WKA Worlds, but achieving a silver in her first ever World Kickboxing Championships was no mean feat; and credit to her Irish counterpart, as has now come to be expected of the Irish fighters, she was a very strong and worthy adversary.


Day 6 � Friday 31st August 2007

After a long week, it was time for some fun and unwinding. A trip to a theme park was in order with Master Wolf, Mrs Wolf, Lucy, Michael, Shane, Leon, Moira and Jordon all making the hour-long journey. Once we finally made it to the theme park it was non-stop all day, lots of shouting, screaming, candy floss and running. By the end day and after the rollercoaster�s, log rides and the free fall tower we were all tired, except for Jordon that is.


Day 7 � Saturday 1st September 2007

Saturday saw the final of the Light Contact team events, with the ladies Irish team up first against the Northern Irish Team. Ireland started off well taking the first bout, however the Northern Ireland team came back, narrowly taking the second and third bouts. Meaning Northern Ireland took the title with a score of 2 to 1.

Next up were the men�s teams with David O�Sullivan flying in especially for the event! Spirits were high! The Irish Men�s team were to face the German team, with Germany taking the first fight it was all to do for team Ireland. This was not going to be a problem with Ireland taking the next 3 fights with a great display from Leon in the final fight, giving the title to Ireland with a final score of 3 to 1.

After a closing speech from Mr Paul Ingram (WKA World President), there was time for some quick team photos. Then back to the hotel for a shower and then out for a final night. After a team meal at our favourite restaurant it was back to the hotel for some. However some of us wanted to go �dancing�, so we checked out the closing party.

There was not much happening there so we made our way over to Karlsruhe best night spot, with every one showing their move�s on the dance floor and fits on laughter all night. It was a great night and the perfect way to end the week. With the dancing award going to Lucy and Leon for their Macarena, gorilla jumping and star spotting, lots of memories!


Day 8 � Sunday 2nd September 2007

After a big day on Saturday it was a lazy morning with everyone getting ready to travel home. Once every one was ready, it was a short journey to the airport where we had to say goodbye to old and newly made friends before our individual flights home.

We would like to thank Mrs Dalton and Mr Dalton for giving us this opportunity to compete in the WKA World Championships; also Master Wolf for his continuing hard work and support for us and all MWTA members. We are all looking forward to the WKA World Championship next year in the USA.


Please check the MWTA Gallery soon for photographs and video footage from this event.


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