A big squad of seventeen Dokan students set off from Newcastle airport on October the 9th for a two day international competition in Poland at Bielsko – Biala. This is one of Europe's largest internationals attracting worldwide entries.

The following morning we had a very early start and were at the arena by 7.30am to find out what the event was going to be like. The standard of competitor was so high I was quite shocked but Holly Stoner still pulled a fantastic silver medal being beat by the current European champion in the final. Team kata was a pre-warning of what was going to unfold as our best team went out 5 flags to 0. I thought they had been disqualified as the decision was so harsh but, no, they were just beaten.

On Sunday we had a lot more competitors entered and the day started in a similar fashion with any slightly close bouts going to the opposition. The Slovacs voted for the Polish and themselves and the Poles returned the compliment. This made a tough competition even tougher.

In individual kata the quality on show was exceptional but some decisions, especially in low age groups, left a bitter taste.

Only kumite could save the day and despite some local referees blatantly trying to help their fellow countrymen we managed to collect a few medals here. Of particular note was Lola Cassidy - at only eleven years old she was beat on hantei in the final of the light weight 13 year old girl section. Rueben Fellows also put in a personal best to pull a silver medal in kumite. I had been in that arena for about 20 hours and we still had no gold medals, this was an all time worse result for Dokan and to make matters worse the kids had performed brilliantly.

Team kumite saved the day and the ball was set rolling by Eleisha winning all her bouts comfortably in 11 to 13 years. Lola, despite being much smaller than all her opponents, put some spirited effort in and Tammy did enough to win and draw the final bout each time to give us a first place victory at last. I was mega-relieved.

Finally under 12 years female kumite time arrived and Dokan took gold and silver in this.

Notable points about this comp.

• Location = Good.
• Venue = Very good.
• Medals = Poor.
• Free spectator entry = Very nice.
• Refereeing = Awful.
• Standard of competitor = Fantastic.

Tags: competitions, 2015