2011 SCOTTISH KARATE ALLIANCE / WUKF shobu-ippon Open In 1999 Sensei Bill Hair promoted the first open karate championships at the Citadel Leisure Centre , Ayr, Scotland and named the event ?The Ayrshire Open At that time his club Burakudo Shotokan Karate Club were a member of Japan Karate Association and Karate Union of Great Britain under the guidance of Sensei Keinosuke Enoeda , the Chief Instructor for shotokan karate in Europe In 2003 Enoeda Sensei tragically died when a routine stomach operation went wrong and with no successor waiting in the wings a power struggle started throughout Europe amongst its karate-ka . This led to Bill ,and some other like minded Scottish karate people ,to form their own karate group which they named Scottish Karate Alliance and they then joined a group , what is now called World Union of Karate ?do Federations ( WUKF ) Bill was elected President of the Scottish Karate Alliance , a position he has held since its formation . This then led to the Ayrshire Open becoming Scottish Karate Alliance / WUKF Open ,different name same event ,same venue and on Easter Sunday the 2011 event was held . Prior to this year there were many great moments when some of Ayrshires finest karate ?ka stood at the Citadel and faced opponents from not just all over Scotland but from England ,Ireland ( North and South ) and Wales . Every year threw up its magic moments and unforgettable memories ,when Bill?s Burakudo members won their event ,many times against overwhelming odds .Names like Scott Brown,Billy McCurdie ,Brian Kilpatrick ,Robert Foulkes , Alex Graham ,Tahmara Bark ,Kirsty Hair , Paul Naitby , Sam Steven , Alistair Gosling ,David Carter ,Ross Stewart ,Andrew Carter ,Adam Steven ,Eleyna Curie, Brodie Leggat, Erin Norris,Alex Clark and many more . In that illustrious group there are two brothers Sam and Adam Steven who both fought there way into the hall of fame winning the children?s black belt kumite before they moved into the cadets and hopeing to following their footsteps was a third brother Ben . Bens last chance to win the children?s black belt event was in 2010 when he was a very credible 3rd and it looked like he would not match his brothers feat until fate took a hand . The WUKF announced there 2011 Children?s European Championships were to be the first weekend in October ,the usual day of SKA Open so the 2011 SKA open was brought forward to April ,and if you are still with me, Ben was due to turn 15 in May 2011 and would have moved up to the cadet section so the date change give him a final chance to follow his brothers . The day started well with Ben being part of a kata team that won the kata but is was to get better with some excellent punching techniques and fast foot work Ben won the boys 13-14 black belt kumite . I think that Bill was hoping that Paul and Jane Steven the boys parents might have a 4th boy but no luck here,so far , so we just add Ben ?s name to Burakudo hall of fame and appreciate all three boys efforts and cherish the memories . Nikita Azarkevich ,from Ayr also won the boys 11-12 years black belt kumite . Magic moment of 2011 came in male team rotation where Glasgow Karate Academy were leading Burakudo 4-3 with 10 seconds left when 17 year old David Carter was thrown on as a last throw of the dice against the current male open winner and yes David scored twice in 10 seconds to give the Burakudo a great 5-4 win. The ladies team rotation saw AMA leading 5-2 with seconds left when Donaghy scored an ippon with a foot throw and follow through punch and with ippon counting for 3 points the event was forced to an extension where the AMA ran out worthy winners The 2012 Scottish Karate Alliance / WUKF Scottish Shobu-ippon open will be back to its usual date in October where a warm Scottish welcome will be given to all karate-ka who would like to attend . For more information please contact SKA President Bill Hair on 07979222986 or e-mail mailto:billhai@sky.com