13th - 17th October, 2004.

Dundee International Sports Complex, Mains Loan, Dundee. DD4 7AA.

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They came, they saw, but you conquered……..well some of you did! The terrific success that is otherwise known as the 2004 WPKA World Cup & European Championships came to conclusion on Sunday 17th October following two days of fantastic martial arts action, held at the Dundee International Sports Centre.

This success was largely due to the hard work and preparation put in over the weeks leading up to the event, from sorting out the logistics, ringing up foreign embassies (exactly how many languages can you speak now Wendy?!), moving mats from Glenrothes, arranging of merchandise, preparing to cater for 1000 people each day, as well as the all the people that were kind enough to help at the event itself.

Fantastic!! That’s the only way to describe the superb set of results that the Perth Temple Team achieved at the event. Most notably was Ryan Lyall, who ended up taking both of the European Champion titles that he contested for - Semi Contact & Light Continuous.

Double WPKA European Champion Ryan Lyall seen here picking up his first medal.

Team Kata Silver Medallists - Jennifer Simpson, Erin Dixon & Natasha Walker.

 

Silver medals were secured by William Wallace, John, Mark & Erin Dixon, Colin Ritchie and Brianna & Natasha Walker, with Natasha also picking up 3 bronze medals.

Natasha . . . . . .... .John & Ryan . . . . . . ....Brianna .. . . . . .. . . . . Marc . . . . . . .. ... . William

Apart from the medalists, all those who competed from Perth Temple were true warriors! It was young Kristofer McAlpine’s first ever competition and his first round victory was superb! (Perhaps Donna won’t be so nervous next time!) Excellent performances from other Temple Tigers Adam & Amber Shearer and Catriona Beattie also showed that the long term future of the club looks bright.

Euro Tigers . .. . . . . . Kristofer . .. . . . . . . Amber . .. . . . . . . . Catriona

At senior level brave battles were fought by Colin Ritchie, Billy Beattie, David Lyall and not least from David McAlpine. David gave everyone a scare when he took a nasty kick to the face and lay motionless for several seconds before reviving to show some very extreme swelling around his left eye. With suspected concussion, David made a visit to A&E, but thankfully later returned with a smile on his face and some cool shades over his eyes.

Possibly one of the gutsiest performances was from young Mark Dixon in the Team event. He was part of the Scotland Team (All Temple) who took on the Welsh National Team. Mark, 15, was up against a much larger 30 year old, 4 times World Champion. The team event always appeals to the crowd and this time was no different, understandably……. People might have been forgiven for thinking that Mark was going to be out of his class, but he had other ideas! They contested fiercely, and after Mark was knocked down and lay on the ground for a time, it looked like he was out of it. But amazingly he returned to his feet, his face bloodied, and with the seconds ticking away the lead continually changed sides until eventually it finished at 11-11, a draw! One senior Temple instructor said, “He was magnificent, it was like something out of a Rocky movie!”

West Coast of Scotland Martial Arts (Temple) Head Coach, Andy McCracken managed to add the WPKA European title to his WPKA World Champion title he already holds. Well done Andy!

 

 

From other clubs, following on from their success at the WKA World Championships in Switzerland Christine Cuthill (Gold), Aaron Towns (Bronze) & Lisa Hornsby (Bronze) all managed to become WPKA European Champions in Dundee.

Full Results on Temple Website (click here)

2004 WPKA Euro Championship Gallery (click here)

More photos available on Temple Website (click here)