The Irish Kenpo Karate Union (I.K.K.U.) recently held their National Championships in Tallaght, Dublin. The event attracted some international interest with entries from Northern Ireland, Wales, Scotland, France and Bulgaria. Irish entries came from nationwide, Donegal to Cork and Dublin to Mayo.

The all styles kumite event saw two hundred Karateka from twenty five clubs take to the tatami's over the course of the day.

Representing The Official National Amateur Karate Association of Ireland (O.N.A.K.A.I.), Peter Mooney Chief Referee, was in attendance to oversee the implementation of the World Karate Federation (W.K.F.) recent rule changes.

The Female senior event started off proceedings, which saw Linda Walsh, representing Mayo Association of Shotokan Karate (M.A.S.K.) taking the honours from Nicole Perry World Shotokan Karate Federation (W.S.K.F.). The Male senior event was dominated by the I.K.K.U.'s own Gordon Smith and Aaron Mc Loughlin. O.N.A.K.A.I.'s kumite coaches Derek Desmond (Male) and Paul Brennan (Female) kept a close eye on proceedings, as they plan ahead for International Duties. The junior event proved to be just as competitive as the senior event. O.N.A.K.A.I. Junior Coach, John Connolly, was very impressed with the talent on display.

I.K.K.U. clubs put in a strong performance, which saw them top the medal table. Both the Navan and Glasnevin clubs won three gold medals each. Larkhill won two gold and Cloghroe won one. W.S.K.F. finished in second place, under the guidance of Brendan Perry from Kaizen Dojo. Wado-Kai Association of Ireland (W.K.A.I.) were well represented by the Dunne brothers. A total of eight medals went north of the border to Simon O'Dowd's Strabane club and 3 Rivers, coached by Martin Mc Namee. M.A.S.K. brought back five medals to the West, another successful day out for Kevin Loftus.

The performance of the day went to thirteen year old twins, Chris and Sean Mc Carthy from the Cloghroe club in Cork. The pair met in the final, and both displayed remarkable fighting spirit and attitude.

Paul Brennan, I.K.K.U. chief instructor, was pleased with the high standard at the event. "The international entries really helped to raise the standard of fighting here today.



A full list of results and medal table can be found here