July 8th 2012 saw the Genesis Unleashed Fight Team out in force once again at their biggest competition of the year the Cimac World Cup at Cocks Moors Woods Leisure Centre Birmingham.

Cimac World Cup  - Genesis MA

Joining the fight team were students Ellis Banning, Adam Spittles, Antonio and Instructor Trevor John. 

First up as always was Waleed Bin Akram competing in the boys semi contact under 4ft 2” section. Waleed who currently tops the leaderboard in this section fought a competitive first round against his opponent going point for point for the entire round. In the dying seconds of the round Waleed attempted to break the deadlock to secure the win and pressed his attack. Uncharacteristically he was picked off and lost narrowly lost the first round by a single point with 1 second of time remaining.

Kieran Johnson with 3rd

Joining the fight team were students Ellis Banning, Adam Spittles, Antonio and Instructor Trevor John.

First up as always was Waleed Bin Akram competing in the boys semi contact under 4ft 2” section. Waleed who currently tops the leaderboard in this section fought a competitive first round against his opponent going point for point for the entire round. In the dying seconds of the round Waleed attempted to break the deadlock to secure the win and pressed his attack. Uncharacteristically he was picked off and lost narrowly lost the first round by a single point with 1 second of time remaining.

Kieran Johnson looked to increase his strangle hold on the boys novice semi contact section under 5ft 2”. Having advanced to the third round of the category Kieran put one of his most strategic performances of the year against an opponent that had clearly out grown the division, but was eligible to compete due to starting the year in the section. Despite the size difference the match was evenly contested as both scored points at will. At the end of time Kieran down by a single point due to the referees preferring to score attacking points over Kieran’s countering style but the performance secured joint 3rd place.

 In 2013 Kieran will leave the novice section behind and move to the open boys section. This section is a much stiffer text and was one of the largest sections of the day. Positively Kieran made it to the second round for the first time in this section and will continue to find his way in it next year.

Archie Thompson remains unbeaten in all light continuous competition under 5ft 2” this year and once again dominated on route to victory. In semi contact Archie made it all the way to the final  narrowly losing by a single point in the dying seconds. Video of the fight may show a different result, but regardless if you fight for long enough you win some and you lose some.

 Up next Shannon Barlow looked to upstage Archie by securing victory in the Girls under 5ft 2” section in the final against the ultra tough Stevie Snadden, by a single point.

Shannon with first place trophy

Like Kieran, Shannon also leaves this section at the end of the year and will be moving into the young ladies under 60kg section. Proving to be a tougher challenge Shannon was soundly beaten in the first round in this category as will need compete in the section a few more times to gain further experience and tactics to compete with the taller, stronger girls in the section. 

 Louise Birkett competed in the girls over 5ft 2” semi contact section advancing through to the second round meeting Stevie Snadden who Shannon met in the final of the category below 5ft 2″.

Louise put up a decent performance and worked hard to heed her coaches advice but by the end of the time period Stevie’s additional speed and timing was enough to beat Louise 2 to 6.

In what may be her stronger event the Light Continuous Louise secure 3rd place narrowly losing to an ultra aggressive Storm fighter in the semi final. 

Back from studying from exams Bradley Reason stormed to victory in the Junior men’s over 63kg section once again demonstrating great athleticism and improvisation on route.

Unleashed Fight Team member Craig Johnson entered the men’s intermediate under 74kg section looking to secure the win in the absence of his team Mate and section leader Armid Akram. In the first round Craig looked to rack up points using his Blitz, but was picked off at each attempt by a savvy opponent. Craig’s performance may be the result of irregular training due to work commitments but he will come back stronger.

Ellis Banning appears to be a typically quiet teenager until she steps onto the mat where she is unleashed. Competing in the girls under 5ft 2” light contact section Ellis progressed to the second round of the competition and looked to her coaches to be on route to a narrow victory, however the judges awarded the win to her opponent which resulted in Ellis taking third place.

Finally 20 year old Adam Spittles took to the mat in his first ever competition and what a debut it was. Standing 6ft 4 inches in height Adams reach, timing and choice of offence gave his opponents fits in the men’s over 74kg novice section. In an unlikely turn of events for a participant in their first competition Adam advanced all the way to the third round before losing out to the eventual section winner. Placing third in his first ever competition.

 

Trevor with first place tropgy and £100 prize money

The Genesis Unleashed Fight Team and Genesis Squad members once again did Genesis and themselves proud fighting at a higher level than usual and showing decent progress from previous competitions. This is all positive but they still have much to learn! In step Trevor John!

 Trevor “Coach” John has not competed in over a year but decided to show the young team how things should be done! It appears that age has done little to diminish Trevor’s speed power and timing that belies his build. Through out Trevor demonstrated exactly how the team should approach their future bouts which a variety of offence including his trademark sweep, defensive side kick and a jumping spinning kick on route to victory in the men’s veterans open weight semi contact section. Check out his highlights! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3utGNgetcnA

 

 As always thanks to parents Mohammed, Sharon, Stewart, Steve and Nicole for their support.

Genesis Martial Arts Unleashed Fight Teams next outing will be the European Open Championship 18th August 2012 – Ponds Forge, Sheffield.