Clash of the Titans 23

With a capacity crowd and one of the best team line-ups in years, Clash of the Titans promotions recaptured the energy and excitement of some of its earlier events. Only days prior to the event, I'd decided to put a lid on any more spectators travelling long distances in the hope that they may be able to buy a ticket on the door, since a large proportion of the tickets had already been sold... 'not a bad problem to have,' I thought, '...but a problem all the same.' as luck would have it, two of the seven squads originally scheduelled to compete had been forced to pull out due to unforseen factors [such as injuries and swine flu etc...]. This was our saving grace because, on the night of the event, there wasn’t a spare seat in sight.

Build Up
MC for the evening, Danny Harrison of Combat 32 fame and currently one of the most talked about characters on the sport martial arts scene, promptly introduced The Sheffield Dragons to open the show. I don't know what it is about these highly enthused youngsters from Sheffield, but they seem to improve tenfold each time I seen them perform. To me they are, without doubt, the best martial arts 'Freeform Performers' that this country has produced in recent years.

Whilst the teams took a little longer than expected to loosen their legs, MC Harrison was quick to exploit this spare time by interviewing the Lau Gar legend - now actor and stuntman - Nathan ‘the Megatron’ Lewis. The thousand strong Titans audience listened with baited breath as this veteran Clash of the Titans competitor spilled the beans on just what he’d been up to recently and how far his career had so far taken him. It goes without saying, but given the chance, The megatron would certainly have fought that very evening - testimony to his die hard vigour - an attribute which always gained him the respect of his many hardened opponents. Later the same evening Nathan was to be among a few hand-picked martial artists to enter MAI’s first official hall of fame. Well done, Nathan, from all at MAI.

The Teams
Finally, to the crowd’s applause, in came the teams... First to emerge was the Lau Gar squad, led by the unmistakable Brian Nelson. Brian is himself a respected competitor, world champion, former Clash of the Titans champion and MAI cover star, I could go on! He is a great advert for the martial arts - an instructor of whom it is said ‘demands’ the best from his students.

The Lau Gar were immediately followed in by Joe Tierney’s Shorai (Martec) squad after which, new to the Clash of the Titans arena, entered The WKA squad headed by the former Lau Gar competitor, Curtis Page. Then, in walked the home team and last year’s champions, The Colne Valley Black Belt Academy, whose new captain, Nikoll Gjokan has, over the last few months, been putting quite a collection of trophies together due to his success in cage-fighting and kickboxing events.

However, there was no doubt in anybody's mind who had brought the majority of support... The crowd seemed to go wild when last, but not least, in walked Dave Oliver, Kenny Walton and the all new TAGB squad. To me and a few others present, this was a blast from the past... be it a pleasant one at that. I like the TAGB - they supported us well during MAI’s early years when others sat on the sidelines talking us down.

With two teams having been drawn from the hat to see who would have to fight off for a place in the semi-final, the stage was set for a tournament of epic proportions...

The Fights
As luck would have it, it was the new and younger Lau Gar squad, who lost out on the draw and were to be pitted against an equally young, yet seasoned, WKA team. After a good few, hard hitting contests, the Lau, a once prominent and feared force within Clash circles became the first to be eliminated... Believe me when I tell you, their coach, Brian Nelson was not best pleased and is more determined than ever to produced a better squad next time around.

As for the WKA squad, they met their match when they went on to face the TAGB, who surprised many with their new squad of well trained athletes featuring the likes of Warren Vince, Tyrrell Beloney and captain Gordon Fearn. This new generation of TAGB fighters are a breath of fresh air on today’s arena of sport conflict. They so obviously let their high level Taekwondo ability do all the talking.

After a short break when awards were presented to leading figures within the UK's martial arts establishment. Shorai karate took to the mats to face last year's champions, The Colne Valley Black Belt Academy. Although the locally based  academy managed to win the first couple of bouts they were no real match for the well seasoned Shorai fighters of whom many had, over the last few years, managed to amass a total of three Grand Slam titles to their credit. After what were ten gruelling contests, the courage and steadfastness of the Colne Valley combatants was not enough to win the day this time around - hence the Shorai were through to face the TAGB in the champion of champions final.

The Final
With everything running to schedule, the stage was set for the team final between two of the country’s most respected squads. The TAGB (Taekwondo Association of Great Britain) and master Joe Tierney's Shorai Karate. Throughout this encounter, both teams gave their all. However, no matter how hard the Shorai competitors tried to adapt to the rapid-fire kicking techniques and fast footwork of the TAGB’s fighters, victory after victory went in favour of their opponents. After only a few bouts, it became apparent to many that the UK’s number one TKD team would take the 2009 Clash of the Titans title. With the TAGB proving supreme and their fighter, Warren Vice, picking up the award for best fighter, so came the end of yet another memorable Clash of the Titans event.

Thanks to all the teams who supported the event, our sponsors Blitz sport and Nest Management, our referee, Pete Richardson and all those who worked so hard on the day to make the event possible.

Children In Need
Many thanks also, to all who contributed to the collection held at Huddersfield Sports Centre on November 14th. The money raised was donated to Martin's House Children's Hospice, Boston Spa, near Wetherby, who are always grateful for any donations to help them continue supplying such a vital service to the community.