The first of the Inter-club Scottish Championships took place at Blantyre Sports centre on Sunday the 24th of February 2008.

Students travelled from Glasgow, Blantyre, Hamilton, Bellshill and Larkhall to take part in the event. They where accompanied by their Instructors and parents.

The day started with students participating in forms (patterns) which was broken down by belt.  Students then undertook continuous sparring. The emphasis of the day was to let the students gain experience in this type of sparring, especially before the Scottish Nationals in May.

Some hard bouts where fought within the continuous sparring section and the atmosphere was electric when Mr John Kirkwood Jnr and Mr Ryan Kirkwood, both brothers took to the final bout. John Jnr executed some awesome kicks to his brother, however was beaten by Ryan's quick punches. Both brothers did extremely well after only just returning to training with their father Master Kirkwood.

Another brother and sister act was the Wilmot family. Once again both Ashley and Adam met in the ring, for a place in the final. Adam was beaten in the final seconds of the bout by his sister who then went on to win the title.

This year Master Kirkwood incorporated adult point sparring as a demonstration. The final saw Mr Alex Walker and Mr Ryan Kirkwood fight it out and was taken up to a sudden death moment, putting the pressure on the competitors to score the first point between them. The final seconds was electric and Mr Walker was the quickest of the two and he scored. Mr Alex Walker took the title and Mr Ryan Kirkwood took 2nd place.

The second event was team against team. Master Kirkwood split the teams by competitors selecting numbers, giving the teams an equal chance and splitting up the competitors from all the clubs fairly.  The results ended with a tie between each team and a final bout from Mr Belgacem and Mr Ryan Kirkwood took the decision in favour of Mr Belgacem's team.

All students received a medal for their participation on the day. Students who won 1st, and 2nd received Trophies, with the first place winner becoming  the "A.I.M.A.A Scotland Inter-club Champion of 2008" .

Master Kirkwood would like to thank all the Instructors for supporting the event, and for those Instructors and High grade students who refereed on the day.

He would also like tot hank the students and parents for their support and for another exciting competition. The day was a success and many students went away with trophies. Over 100 people attended the event and we look forward to our Nationals in May.

CLICK HERE TO SEE PICTURE GALLERY........