The 11 Festival of Chinese Martial Arts & the 17^th British Open tai Chi Championships, Oxford – Sunday 10 April, 2005:

The Blackbird Leys Leisure Centre, Oxford, was the venue for the 17^th British Open Tai Chi Championships and the 11^th Festival of Chinese Martial Arts, held last weekend. This prestigious event is the first of the Chinese martial arts tournaments on the calendar for 2005. It is a tough contest with martial artist coming from all over the UK and Europe. For a number of years it has been the tournament to indicate the shape of things to come for the rest of the year. It, therefore, tends to attract the very best martial artists from each club.

Luton Connection:

Luton based martial artists Gavin Gooden (29) of Manor Close, Luton and Winston Shakespeare (37) of Tenby Road, were both successful in defeating their opponents in the San Da (Full Contact Sparring) category, both taking first place. Shakespeare was also able to take third place in the Tui Shou (Pushing Hands) category.

Results:

Gavin Gooden – First Place (Under 90Kg – Full Contact Sparring Category)

Winston Shakespeare – First Place (Under 95Kg – Full Contact Sparring Category)

Winston Shakespeare – Third Place (Under 95Kg – Pushing Hands Category)

Both Gooden and Shakespeare are part of the British Shuai Jiao Team, and currently train at the Well Space Gym, Wigmore, Road, Luton, under Master Rob Simpson and Master Nicky Sadler, respectively. Their programme includes both traditional Chinese wrestling Bao Ding Shuai Jiao; Sport Shuai Jiao, for tournament; and traditional northern external Chinese martial arts.

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