WEDNESDAY 29TH APRIL 2020
KHUZAIMAH DOUGLAS / USKA
WATER WELL CHARITY PROJECT
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On
20th February 2020 we received the devastating news that we had
lost one of our own at the USKA Fight Factory.
At only 19 years of age our beloved brother, friend and training
partner Khuzaimah Douglas was taken from us suddenly and it has
left a void and a space in our hearts that will never be
replaced.
Khuzaimah was an exceptionally talented Martial Artist who in just
under 4 years of training won 12 World Championship Gold medals and
had the World at his feet in terms of how far he could have gone
within his chosen sport.
Khuzaimah's nature as a person was an infectious one and he left a
positive mark on everyone he came into contact with from the
smallest of little ninja at the gym to the most senior of adults
making him one of the most personable members of the USKA gym and
one that has had the most impact in his passing.
We in Zaymi's memory must change and excel in everything we do, be
better at everything we do and make him proud with the way we live
our lives, conduct ourselves and how we approach our art.
We miss and love you Zaymi and one day will get to go a few more
rounds with you in Jannah Inshallah.
Please pray for Khuzaimah and his family and do good in his
name.
Inna Lillaahi Wa Inna Ilayhi Raaji'oon
(To Allah we belong and to him is our
return)
In
Khuzaimah's memory and name we intend to raise £3000 to build two
Solar Powered Water Well's in Pakistan so that our Brother may
benefit from the Charity given in this
project.
Please
give generously and share this project far and wide to make it a
success.
jazakallah
khairan
TUESDAY 14TH APRIL 2020
JOIN OUR ONLINE TRAINING PROGRAM
If you are a member of USKA Fight Factory and have an
active (although frozen) GoCardless payent plan with us make sure
you add yourself to the Exclusive Members only USKA Factory TV
Group to continue with our fantastic Online training
program.
There is already over 60 training drill video's on there
including 11 Live classes featuring all of the USKA Fight Factory
Instructors to aid your online learning.
CLICK HERE TO FIND OUR GROUP ON
FACEBOOK
USKA
FIGHT FACTORY TV GROUP
Any of our members who have not currently got an active
GoCardless plan who would like to be added to this group we have
now set up an option for you to join up by signing up to our
GoCardless
Online Payment pass costing £20.00 p/m.
None Members of USKA can join up to our GoCardless Online Payment
pass costing £35.00 p/m.
MEMBERS SIGN UP HERE £20.00
P/M
NONE MEMBERS SIGN UP HERE £35.00 P/M
Don't miss out... Join today!!!
Here is a sample Virtual Parwork drill of what you can expect in our USKA Fight Factory TV group.....
TUESDAY 24TH MARCH 2020
*** Important Membership Information ***
Dear USKA Fight Factory Student, Parent, Guardian,
Thank you for those of you who have sent messages of support and best wishes at this difficult and testing time for all of us.
Following the Governments latest announcement yesterday evening it is very much looking like this thing could drag out much longer than first expected.
We were hoping it was going to be a matter of weeks before we could get back to training but it looks more now like we are looking at months.
With this in mind we have an important update regarding training fees in particular those that have been set up using our GoCardless service provider.
After contacting GoCardless given this unprecedented situation they have given us the facility to effectively freeze people's payments by zeroing their monthly fees.
By doing this rather than cancelling it will make it much easier to reinstate the subscriptions without having to set up new links once we have been given the all clear to resume training should that be the option that people want to take at the time.
By the end of today everyone's payment plans will be set to £0.00 meaning no further payments will be collected until further notice.
We will endeavour to still bring you content on our USKA Fight Factory TV Facebook page but given that we do not have access now to the gym or the ability for our instructors to meet this too could become difficult. We will do what we are able to do.
Until
we see you all again please stay home, stay safe and stay
healthy.
Kind
regards,
USKA Fight Factory
WEDNESDAY 18TH MARCH 2020
***IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT***
Important USKA Fight Factory Announcement Regarding Coronavirus Pandemic.
With
these uncertain and testing times regarding the Coronavirus
Pandemic we have sadly made the decision at the USKA Fight Factory
to close our classes provisionally for two weeks as from this
evening Wednesday 18th March.
The
climate will will be closely monitored over this time to see when
it is safe to re-open which we very much hope is not too long
appreciating that USKA is a big part of many of your lives as
it is ours.
When it is safe to re-open we will make announcements on our
Website, Facebook and Instagram pages.
Knowing
that your training is a big part of your weekly routine we are
exploring the possibility of putting together some Members Only
video training drills and live online classes for you guys to be
getting on with at home to tick over if it looks like we will be
off for a prolonged period.
With
this in mind we ask that you show continued support for your club
my keeping your memberships active at this time and not cancelling
your GoCardless accounts.
If you have any queries or need additional information please feel free to contact us at neilfex1@aol.com or phone 07815785661.
Thank you all for your continued support which as a club we will very much need at the moment if we are to come through and continue operating once this has run it's course.
For now, please all stay safe and stay healthy and we look forward to catching up with you all real soon... Osu!
SATURDAY 14TH MARCH 2020
A monster Grading today at the USKA Fight Factory seen 72 new grades awarded across 9 different coloured belts.
FRIDAY 13TH MARCH 2020
Big
day tomorrow for our Female Division when our two Instructors
Ruqayya Griffith and Lucy Kings-Wheatley both attempt their USKA
Black Belts.
After
over 9 years of training more often than not up to 6 times a week
both girls are feeling confident and ready to do themselves proud
and turn in performances worthy to have them inducted into the very
exclusive USKA Black Belt club.
We
wish them the very best of luck on their grading and have every
confidence that they will nail it after all the hard work they have
put in.
FRIDAY 13TH MARCH 2020
Due to the present
situation regarding the Coronavirus we think it is only sensible to
take the following precautions in attempt to keep the USKA gym as
sanitised and safe as possible while still closely listening to
Government and Health officials advice and guidance in the course
of the next few weeks.
First and foremost
anyone who is not feeling well should not attend the gym in
particular if they have a cough, high temperatures or shortness of
breath.
If anyone in your
household is experiencing these same symptoms it is probably also a
good idea to not come to the gym just in
case.
For the time being we
will not be using the gyms shared focus pads. We will work around
our training with alternative drills.
There will also be no
shared use gloves available at the gym, you have to choice of
either purchasing your own or abstaining from those classes that
you would need them on for the immediate
future.
WEDNESDAY 11TH MARCH 2020
We
will be hosting a short informal memorial gathering for our
brother, friend and team mate Khuzaimah 'Zaymi' Douglas on Sunday
15th March at the USKA Fight Factory from 6pm -
7.30pm.
There
will be refreshments available as we watch some tribute videos
followed by an open mic where we encourage people to share there
thoughts and memories of Zaymi.
Khuzaimah's
family will be in attendance.
This
is an open all inclusive gathering with everyone welcome to the
place where Zaymi loved and spent so much of his
time.
Hope
to see you all there.x
TUESDAY 10TH MARCH 2020
On 20th February 2020 we received the devastating news that we had lost one of our own at the USKA Fight Factory.
At only 19 years of age our beloved brother, friend and training partner Khuzaimah Douglas was taken from us suddenly and it has left a void and a space in our hearts that will never be replaced.
Khuzaimah was an exceptionally talented Martial Artist who in just under 4 years of training won 12 World Championship Gold medals and had the World at his feet in terms of how far he could have gone within his chosen sport.
Khuzaimah's nature as a person was an infectious one and he left a positive mark on everyone he came into contact with from the smallest of little ninja at the gym to the most senior of adults making him one of the most personable members of the USKA gym and one that has had the most impact in his passing.
We in Zaymi's memory must change and excel in everything we do, be better at everything we do and make him proud with the way we live our lives, conduct ourselves and how we approach our art.
We miss and love you Zaymi and one day will get to go a few more rounds with you in Jannah Inshallah.
Please pray for Khuzaimah and his family and do good in his name.
Inna Lillaahi Wa Inna Ilayhi Raaji'oon
(To Allah we belong and to him is our return)
SUNDAY 8TH MARCH 2020
The
latest TMA Fight Series instalment at the 2nd City
Suite in Birmingham today lived up to all expectations with 18
great bouts of contact sports action.
The
show titled ‘The Dream Continues’ was headlined by Professional
Unified Super Lightweight ICO and WRSA Champion Qasim ‘The Dream’
Beg as he attempted to add the IKF version of the strap to his ever
growing collection.
Including Qasim We had 6 USKA Fight Factory Fighters in bouts on the Undercard making this a bumper night of action for the home team.
First
up for we had a well matched contest in Nikita Raubiska against
Aero-Kick’s Dre Corbett in a 3 round Light Continuous
bout.
Nikita
was doing the cleaner work but Dre’s pressure was relentless making
it a very close bout.
The
judges were split on their score cards with Nikita winning a close
but deserved Split Points Decision
win.
Next
up we had ‘Killah’ Kaifah Imran in a 5 round Light Continuous bout
against TMA’s Kelsey Welshman to contest the BLCC -30kg Midland
Area Title.
Over
5 intense and at times scrappy rounds due to both girls really
wanting to win it was Kaifah’s cleaner work on the outside with her
kicks that grabbed the judges eyes with her crowned the new
Champion by Unanimous points decision.
Third
up for USKA we had Charlie ‘Steamroller’ Stokes take on TKA’s Cian
Johnson in a 3 round Full Contact bout. Charlie was stepping in as
a replacement for a team mate who had pulled out with injury on
Thursday and was giving away over 5kg’s in weight but was eager to
seize the opportunity to feature on such a great
show.
Unfortunately
for Charlie though it wasn’t to be with Cian one step ahead of him
over the three rounds to claim a worthy Unanimous Points Decision
win.
No
excuses, we lost to the better man on the night and lessons will be
learned by the experience.
The
forth USKA fighter in the ring was Shakeel ‘Showtime’ Hussain in a
3 Round Full Contact Bout against TKA’s Connor
Bradbury.
Shakeel
showed good composure, pace and variety over the three rounds to
pick himself up a convincing Unanimous Points
Decision.
Next
up for USKA we had Ra’ees ‘Cool and Calm’ Kiani contesting the WRSA
English Full Contact Title against Finn Brooks from Selby Martial
Arts over 5 Rounds.
Ra’ees
found his flow early keeping his range and mixing up his shots well
from body to head.
Just
beginning to find his optimum flow we were disappointed that the
bout had to be cut short after the third
round due to an injury to the shoulder of Finn leaving him unable to continue.
Ra'ees was announced the winner by 3rd round corner retirement and crowned the new WRSA -65kg English Champion.
We
wish Finn a speedy recovery following his injury.
Next
we seen the return of USKA’s Elliot Gohari following a 7 year lay
off from the sport.
Elliot
has been back in the gym working hard and has lost a lot of weight
in his short time back trying to get himself back to fighting
fitness.
His
opponent over this 3 Round full contact contest was Wes O'Neil from
Manchester.
Elliot found his flow straight away dropping his man with a head kick and following two more punch combination knock downs the referee jumped in and waved off the contest by way of TKO in the very first round.
This will serve as a great confidence booster for Elliot who is now looking forward to climbing his way to the top after relighting his love for the sport.
Main
event time now for USKA’s finest Qasim ‘The Dream’ Beg who was
attempting to add the IKF Super Lightweight World title to the ICO
and WRSA belts that he already held.
His
opponent was the tough Raul Gimbel from Spain who came with an
impressive record and reputation and was very much ready to try and
spoil Qasim’s home town party and seize his opportunity with both
hands.
The Dream was in fantastic shape for this contest though and it was going to take something very special to derail him.
Qasim started strong stringing combinations together to the body and head and the Spanish fighter took them well showing he would be a hard nut to crack.
Cutting his opponent in the 3rd Qasim was starting to make a dent and was investing heavily in the body attacks in an attempt to weaken his man and break him down.
In
the 7th round Qasim switched to Southpaw and landed
a perfect straight left that sent Gimbel down to the canvas for a
count.
At the start of the 8th round an unintentional
clash off heads opened up another cut over Raul Gimbel’s eye and
the doctor was called to assess the
damage.
Feeling
that it would affect the vision of the Spanish fighter the fight
was called off on his instruction and we would have to go to the
judge’s score cards who would score it including all the completed
rounds of the contest.
All
three judges had it the same, a complete shut out in favour of
Qasim with point totals of 70-62 on al three
cards.
Qasim
moves now to 49-0 and looks forward now to a June date for his next
contest where we hope to announce something big with it being his
50’th contest.
All
in all a good night for team USKA amidst the most difficult of
build ups following the death of our team mate and Brother
Khuzaimah Douglas who should have also been featuring on this
card.
All
the fighters on the night dedicated their performances to Zaymi and
know he was there in spirit watching proudly over them as they
climbed through the ropes to do their
thing.
A big
thank you to Gavin Burrows and the TMA Fight Series team for
allowing our fighters a platform to do their thing and to each and
every spectator that turned up to cheer our guys on throughout the
night.
#TheDreamContinues
#ThreeTimesUnifiedChamp
#DreamTeam
#ForZaymi
SATURDAY 7TH MARCH 2020
A ripped and
ready Qasim 'The Dream' Beg weighed in at a shredded 61.8kg ahead
of his IKF Super Lightweight World Title fight tomorrow night
against Spain's Raul Gimble who marginally outweighed Qasim tipping
the scales at 62kg.
The Dream who is already the ICO and WRSA Champion attempts
to add the IKF strap to his collection and extend his undefeated
run to 49-0 in front of his home crowd at the 2nd City Suite in
Birmingham topping a fantastic bill of Kickboxing action on the TMA
Fight Series promoted show.
USKA also have 6 fighters on the bumper 18 fight
undercard featuring Nikita Raubiska, Kaifah Imran, Charlie Stokes,
Shakeel Hussain, Ra'ees Kiani and Elliot Gohari so all our
spectators are guaranteed bang for their buck.
The doors to 2nd City Suite open at 2pm with the first fight
kicking off at 2.30pm.
We do have a handful of standard tickets still available at
£25.00 if anyone still needs them but will be handing all unsold
tickets back to the promoter at 12pm tomorrow so get in touch if
you are after one.
We guarantee you a Kickboxing show not to be missed as we
continue the dream to collect all the
belts.
SUNDAY 9TH FEBRUARY 2020
USKA
Fight Factory had fighters competing today for the second
consecutive Saturday and Sunday taking part in the WMO National
British Championships.
The
tournament was held at the Lutterworth Sports Centre in
Leicestershire.
The
WMO has a reputation for its old school approach to mat sports
with only competitors in attendance who are ready to fight turning
up knowing that you have to really fight for your
wins.
SUNDAY 2ND FEBRUARY 2020
We had 12 USKA fighters in action at the Cannock Chase Leisure Centre in Cannock on Sunday at the ICO British Championships which also doubled up as the first leg of the Lordswood Tri-Series events for 2020.
SUNDAY 26TH JANUARY 2020
USKA Fight Factory fighters hit the ground sprinting today at the
Aero-Kick BLCC event in Birmingham in their first competitive
outing of the year.
We
had 25 fighters in action in 23 bouts under the watchful eye
of coaches Neil Kelly and Sean Quinn.
The
team consisted of Abdullah Riaz, Zain Amer, Remeshae Forbes Brown,
David Gizewski, Nikita Raubiska, Julia Glowacz, Kaifah Imran, Eissa
Ahmed, Maryam Sarfraz, Aadam Ali, Charlie Stokes, Myesha Imran,
Ryan McQueen, Aamina Sarfraz, Rohan Kumar, Shakeel Hussain, Jacob
Ashford, Jad Joma, Sami Kelly, Haatim Shand, Mustapha Khan, Ruqayya
Griffith, Khalysah Plummer, Elliot Gohari and Steve
Parish.
Some
outstanding performances from our fighters today saw the team keep
a clean sheet conceding no loses despite many
of them giving away weight and age in contests that they went into
the underdogs.
A great start to the competition season that has shook off the
Christmas / New Year rust and put us in great stead for the long
list of Championships we have coming up over the next few
months.
Well done to you all..... Osu!
FRIDAY 24TH JANUARY
2020
!!!TMA Fight Series Big Fight
Announcement!!!
Unbeaten
and Unified ICO and WRSA Super Lightweight Champion of the World
Qasim 'The Dream' Beg returns to the ring on Sunday 8th March at
the 2nd City Suite in Birmingham attempting to add yet another
Professional World Title Strap to his collection when he challenges
Spain's Raul Gimble for the Vacant IKF World
Title.
FRIDAY 17TH JANUARY 2020
***New Class
Announcement***
With
ever increasing numbers on our USKA Ninjas classes we are very
pleased to announce that by popular demand we will be introducing a
new weekend class from Saturday 1st February at
9am-10am.
This
extra Ninjas class will relieve some numbers from our weekday
classes and also afford young members that can not make those
classes the opportunity to train with the
team.
❗️
Education through Martial Arts For Young
Minds❗️
One of the most popular kickboxing classes at the USKA Fight Factory is the USKA Ninja's. USKA Ninja's classes are designed and aimed for children between 4-8yrs old and are the perfect introduction to their Martial Arts training. The classes run by our team of expert qualified instructors and coaches incorporate interactive and basic co-ordination skills with fitness, flexibility and concentration games along with kickboxing technique and discipline in a fun hour long workout. Parents of our USKA Ninja's have commented on how their children's behaviour at home and school and overall concentration have improved after only a few classes. Bring your child along now to take part in the fastest growing and most effective FUN FILLED WORKOUT around!
✅ DISCIPLINE
✅ SELF DEFENCE
✅ CONFIDENCE
✅ FOCUS
✅ FITNESS
✅COORDINATION
✅ RESPECT
SUNDAY 12TH JANUARY 2020
We will be gifting two of our old Century Wavemaster XXL free standing bags to two USKA Fight Factory members this weekend when we replace them with two new bags.
THURSDAY 2ND JANUARY 2020
The USKA Fight Factory has over the years built up a reputation as being a gym that produces quality fighters that are always fully prepared every time they climb through the ropes to compete.
WEDNESDAY 1ST JANUARY 2020
Happy New Year
2020!!!
Wishing all our USKA
members, friends and family a very happy new year 2020 bringing us
all good health, prosperity and success. Let's set our goals and
stick to them long after the mood has passed...
Osu!!!
We Re-open for classes
from Sunday 5th January!!!
SUNDAY 22ND DECEMBER 2019
USKA FEMALE DIVISION
END OF YEAR SUPERWOMAN COMPETITION AND PRESENTATION
On
Sunday 22nd December we held our end of year Superwoman Competition
and Female Division Presentation awards for
2019.
The day began with our annual Superwoman competition, where the females would be competing in a 10-event fitness competition, in age appropriate categories to get as much points as they could.
Some of the events which they faced were squat thrusts, step ups, shuttle runs and so on. With each and every competitor giving it their all, it was nice to see them challenge themselves in new areas of their training.
The top 3 competitors of each category were
10 and unders
1st Place - Ruqayyah Aslam
2nd Place - Dahlia Sultan
3rd Place - Serena Khan
11-13 years old
1st Place - Haalah Sultan
2nd Place - Hannah Aslam
3rd Place - Zaynab Haseen
+ 16 Years old
1st Place - Khalysah Plummer
2nd Place - Faith Velland
3rd Place - Vicky Mcgovern
Mum Category
1st Place - Samera Ali
2nd Place - Michelle Plummer
3rd Place - Haleema Khan
Following on from our Superwoman competition it was the end of year party and annual presentations to congratulate some of the top students from the Female Division for 2019.
USKA Female Division Ruqayya Griffith conducted the presentation with the following speech...
It’s now time to start off with our student presentation awards for our 3rd year running.
Before that, I’d like to give a short review of this year.
As I move onto my 5th year of teaching, the classes have significantly grown in numbers over the years and in fact has become one of the most popular classes at the USKA fight factory. To help with the growth of our classes, we have bought a further coach on our coaching staff being Lucy Kings- Wheatley who I strongly believe can assist me, in taking the Female Division to a whole new level. We have been fortunate to add several classes to our existing successful Beginner’s class and now we have an Intermediate and Advanced class solely for the females. With the increase in classes, it is clear that the girls are equally as passionate and determined as the current mixed classes to succeed in Kickboxing. We have consistently hit record numbers of over 50 students and I confidently believe that in 2020 we will have over 100 students being part of the Female Division.
Our recent successes of the Female Division include 4 successful gradings with each and every student passing their belt. In particular, we had 2 students achieve their Green belts in December being Hajrah Mahmood and Sumayyah Mahmood.
We now move on to our presentation award for today. The first 2 being student runner ups.
This student is definitely a natural when it comes to Kickboxing. She has consistently been training for over 3 years and not once has her hard work gone unnoticed. Seeing her on my classes, week in and week out, I knew this girl has a lot of potential to become successful in the sport. With her work ethic and mindset, she is a role model for the younger students and lower grades and is always looking at ways to pass on her knowledge. Whether this being by holding pads for the beginner’s or encouraging others in sparring. This year she has gone the extra mile by attending all 4 classes each week to prepare for her Green belt. Seeing her step up her training has resulted in her passing her Green belt with an exceptional score of 92 / A-.
This award goes to...
Sumayyah Mahmood
Moving on to our second runner up.
This student is by no means a natural in comparison to others on class. Despite of this she still gives 110% on all her classes. Having recently been diagnosed with a health condition, she doesn’t let this phase her and still gives her all on class. In previous years the passion in her training was usually missing and often being outshone by her sister. But this year I have seen a new spark in her training and a change of attitude. She bounces off her sister really well and has also increased the number of classes she attends.
This has resulted in her also achieving her green belt and becoming the 2nd student to pass their green belt solely under the tuition of the Female Division.
This award goes to...
Hajrah Mahmood
Now we move onto our students of the year. One being for a junior and one for an adult.
For the first time ever, this was an easy choice regarding the younger members as the concentration amongst the younger students has not been the greatest which has put this person as the front runner.
This person is far from the loudest person on class but her hard work has not gone unnoticed.
She often catches mine and Lucy’s eye and both of us are always impressed with the standard of her work and her technical ability. We have seen a noticeable difference in her confidence in and out of training. Despite others around her laughing and joking, she remains focused and applies herself well on class. She has recently started sparring. Initially with her being quite hesitant to actually hit somebody due to her friendly personality and this being totally out of her character.
We have seen a huge improvement in her sparring over the past few months. Also, she has recently passed her White belt with an exceptional score of 92 / A-. Both me and Lucy, strongly believe that if she remains as focused as she is, she will definitely go far in Kickboxing. This was an absolutely easy choice for our Junior of the year.
This award goes to...
Haalah Sultan
Now we more onto our last award of the evening being our Adult Student of the Year.
There were a couple of students in consideration for this award but this person has gone the extra mile and made her deserving of this award. Over the past year, her technical ability has consistently improved making her one of the best students on class. She remains attentive on all her classes by focusing on locking down each technique to the best of her abilities. She often approaches us and will ask us questions in order to fine tune a particular technique and it is clear that with her mindset she wants to be the best person on class. Besides her attitude to her training she is also a full-time mum, in particular to a child with special needs.
She finds time to be a regular on class and I can’t remember the last time she has missed a session. This student gives nothing less than 100% on all her classes.
Her attention to detail has resulted in her passing her white belt with a 92 / A-. In the future she has expressed to us that she wants to step into the ring and compete at least once.
Both me and Lucy believe that if her work ethic continues as it is, her future in Kickboxing is bright.
This award goes to...
Amera Ali
I also want to congratulate those who were in the running for such awards. Even though there is no formal award. I would like to acknowledge Dahlia Sultan, Judith McTiernan and Haleema Khan. And well done to all those who attend on a regular basis.
This concludes our female division event and classes for 2019. It has been a very busy year and a well-deserved break. In 2020, we hope to expand the USKA Fight Factory possibly allowing us more opportunities to increase the number of classes and possibly put on a fighter’s sessions solely for the females alongside several mid- week classes.
Thank you for everyone who has helped to make today possible and such a success.
Our sessions will resume on Sunday 5th January 2020. On behalf of myself, Lucy, and the other instructors we would like to wish our members and friends a Happy Christmas, holiday period and a new year.
SUNDAY 15TH DECEMBER 2019
USKA FIGHT FACTORY YEARLY REVIEW 2019
It’s now time for our Student presentation awards for 2019 and as always I’d like to give a short review of our year as a club highlighting some of our successes both in and out of the ring.
2019 has seen growth in USKA like never before with classes packed and unprecedented memberships and retention from our students in all areas of the club.
To help with the growth of our classes we have brought in two further coaches on our coaching staff in Qasim Beg and Lucy Kings-Wheatley who are both doing a great job alongside already existing coaches Sean Quinn and Ruqayya Griffith.
We have had busy
grading examinations and even though the numbers have been up we
have managed to maintain a very high technical standard keeping
that all important bar as high as ever.
We have had 6 more USKA Ninjas complete the USKA Ninja’s syllabus of belts to Blue Belt in Sufyaan Qayam, Ryan Hulance, Isaac Haris, Dean Fahd, Ehsaan Khan and Inayah Khan.
We hosted two World class Seminars featuring Superstars Raymond Daniels and Stuart Lawson which were extremely well received with our students really embracing the content and hopefully using that knowledge as power that will improve their all round game.
This is something we are hoping to build on in 2020 bringing other World Class Martial Artists for more Seminars to our door.
In October we were
awarded funds from West Midlands Police Active Citizens fund to
afford full scholarships to 10 carefully selected youths in an
attempt to eradicate the problem of knife crime in our
society.
We have filled three
of these slots already and will continue to do so in 2020 to ensure
the project is a success.
Competitively we have had a phenomenal year and in terms of success the most fruitful year in the clubs history.
We attended two World Championships at with the WKO World Championships in Barnsley in July and the ICO World Championships in Scotland in October.
Fight Camp for these Championships have kept the Fight Team on the boil all year seeing them consistently doing well at Area, English, British and European level competitions.
Our competitive title
tally this year seen us pick up 10 Midland titles in ICO
Competition, 31 English titles in ICO, WKA, WKO and BLCC
Competition, 85 British titles in ICO, WKO, AFSO and WKU
Competition, 5 Five Nations titles in ICO Competition, 32 European
titles in The Unified European Championships and a WRSA
Professional European Title Belt last week with Lee Whitfield, and
a massive and Outstanding 78 World titles at the ICO and WKO World
Championships and only last week a Professional WRSA World Title
when Qasim ‘The Dream’ Unified the Super Lightweight Title
belts.
In total that is an
unbelievable 242 recognised Governing Bodies Championships in
comparison to the 121 titles we won from last year. That is
double!
Outside of these titles we have picked up Grand Slam Grand Championship trophies at other high level competitions and have bettered last year’s win ratio from 95 to 96% at BLCC Competition from novice to seasoned competitor.
At the end of June a Champion returned home when Qasim ‘The Dream’ Beg returned to the ring following a 4 ½ year lay off.
Qasim made short work
of his three Comeback opponents finishing them all in by first
round KO and in the process he regained his old ICO Championship
belt.
A tougher test awaited
though when Qasim challenged the WRSA Champion Dylan ‘The Natural’
Cheema in a World Title Unification just last
week.
The bout lived up to
all the pre fight expectation and after one of the best fights ever
seen in a British Kickboxing ring Qasim convincingly claimed the
victory via a points decision and became a Unified Champion and
amazingly a three times Professional World
Champion.
Looking back at the
two World Championships as I think they deserve a special mention
we had 14 fighters compete in Barnsley at the WKO World
Championships and 15 fighters compete at the ICO World Championship
in Scotland.
From the two World
Championships they brought home an incredible 121 Medals including
76 Golds, 33 Silvers and 12 Bronzes.
I’d like to just take
a second and give credit to our World Championship Fight Squad and
present them with a little token to celebrate their efforts… Could
we have up…
Abdullah Riaz who fought at the ICO World Championships in Scotland & the WKO World Championships in Barnsley
Kaifah Imran who fought at the ICO World Championships in Scotland & the WKO World Championships in Barnsley
Nikita Raubiska who fought at the ICO World Championships in Scotland & the WKO World Championships in Barnsley
Ehsaan Mahmood who fought at the ICO World Championships in Scotland & the WKO World Championships in Barnsley
Charlie Stokes who fought at the ICO World Championships in Scotland & the WKO World Championships in Barnsley
Remy Mann who fought at the ICO World Championships in Scotland & the WKO World Championships in Barnsley
Aamina Sarfraz who fought at the ICO World Championships in Scotland & the WKO World Championships in Barnsley
Myesha Imran who fought at the ICO World Championships in Scotland & the WKO World Championships in Barnsley
Rohan Kumar who fought at the ICO World Championships in Scotland
Hammaad Shand who fought at the ICO World Championships in Scotland & the WKO World Championships in Barnsley
Ryan McQueen who fought at the ICO World Championships in Scotland & the WKO World Championships in Barnsley
Shakeel Hussain who fought at the ICO World Championships in Scotland & the WKO World Championships in Barnsley
Qasim Hasan who fought at the ICO World Championships in Scotland & the WKO World Championships in Barnsley
Khuzaimah Douglas who fought at the ICO World Championships in Scotland & the WKO World Championships in Barnsley
Faith Velland who fought at the ICO World Championships in Scotland & the WKO World Championships in Barnsley
Can we give our World Championship fighters a big round of applause on their achievements.
It’s
hard to imagine bettering that tally next year but one thing is for
sure we will try.
We
already have at least two World Championships to look forward to
next year home and abroad and with the right effort, preparation
and application anything is possible.
We start our awards off today with four of the most deserving awards that we give out every year…….
our USKA Coaches and Instructors Awards.
We are lucky enough at USKA to have some of the most passionate,
dedicated and talented coaches in the business which translates in
them helping to produce some amazing talent.
With the growth of the classes at the Fight Factory it was
essential that we grew our coaching team and also that we had the
right instructors that would pay the same attention to detail that
our students have always been accustomed to.
Our team all are looking in the same direction and work together
well sharing the common goal to bring the best out of each and
every student in their care.
Our first Instructor award…
goes to a young lady who has not been teaching for us long but even
in that short time has turned into a really good instructor and
coach.
Her own ability is unquestionably second to none with multiple
World titles and an unbeaten Full Contact record to her ledger and
with these credentials she will be looking at passing on some of
that knowledge to the next generation of girls and ladies on our
Female division classes.
This award goes to one of our USKA Female division
Instructors…..
MISS LUCY KINGS-WHEATLEY
Our next Award today is another USKA Instructors award…
This award goes to
another of our Female Division coaches who until recently when Lucy
joined the coaching team had single handily managed to bring on the
USKA girls up to an amazing level.
The class numbers
through her instruction are hitting record numbers and the standard
is very high with two of her students recently passing their Green
belts with two very good grades
indeed.
She is very passionate
about improving the standard of the ladies and girls of USKA and at
the same time is chipping away at her own Martial Arts development
with her planning to take her 1st Dan Black Belt in
March 2020.
This Instructors award goes to....
MISS RUQAYYA GRIFFITH
Our next Instructors award today…
Goes to a man that needs no introduction but I’ll give him one
anyway.
As a student of USKA for over 20 years it was decided in April that
Qasim Beg would return to the USKA Fight Factory gym in the role of
a full time coach and at the same time return to his Professional
Full Contact career in an attempt to recapture his Professional
World title and fulfil his potential as being one of the country’s
best ever Full Contact fighters.
Qasim’s addition to the coaching staff at the gym has been
invaluable with him passing his wealth of knowledge on to all the
up and coming fighters and also casting his expert eye across all
the members on the technical classes.
He is showing real passion and pride in teaching with everyone
under his tuition knowing fully that everything he is showing them
has been tested and proven right up to the highest level of
competition.
Qasim regained his ICO Professional World title in September by
1st round Knockout and only last week Unified the ICO
and WRSA World title via a masterclass Unanimous points decision
against Dylan ‘The Natural’ Cheema.
With even bigger and better things in the pipeline being planned
for Qasim in 2020 he is well on his way as cementing his legacy as
being a true bonifide legend of the sport.
This award goes to the one and only....
QASIM ‘THE DREAM’ BEG
Following Qas’s win last week we would like to officially award him now his WRSA World title belt that he won last week in that amazing Unification title fight.
Our last Instructors award today…
Goes to one of the driving
forces behind USKA.
Sean ‘The Mighty’ Quinn
has been a standout coach at the USKA Fight Factory for many years
and is as passionate if not more passionate now than he was when he
first started out.
On each and every session that
Sean conducts he makes it his mission for it to be as good a class
as he can possibly deliver and takes as much pride in teaching an
absolute beginner on their first class as he does working with a
World Champion.
Sean despite having an
incredibly busy and full lifestyle outside of the gym always makes
time and fully commits himself to the USKA Fighters both on
classes, extra training and at tournaments up and down the country
most weekends throughout the year.
He is equally as passionate
working with the youngest members of the gym on our USKA Ninjas
classes showing week in and week out the patience required to minds
so young.
USKA 100% would not be where it
is today if it wasn’t for this man and each and every USKA student
can accredit much of their success to his
teachings.
This award goes to our Martial
Arts Hall of Fame Coach ....
SEAN ‘THE MIGHTY’ QUINN
Before we move on to our student awards it is time to give credit and acknowledgment to someone who pretty much manages single handily to run the administrative side of the USKA Fight Factory day in day out throughout the year.
With
the incredible growth of USKA over the last 12 months this has not
been an easy job but Alva seems to manage it front desk despite
having a terrible three year old clinging on to her legs behind
reception for most of the time.
Alva
is the first impression people have of the gym and the fact that so
many people are staying to train with us is a testament to her
making them feel welcome and at ease on their first few
visits.
Another very important cog in the USKA wheel and not given anywhere near the credit she deserves.
Our full appreciation goes to…..
MISS ALVA BEIRNE
On to our student awards now...
This has been another
incredibly hard year to whittle down our final candidates for our
USKA Student awards for 2019.
We have made short
lists and even shorter lists and for the first time ever all of our
coaches having input on who they think are the students who most
deserve the accolade based on the full last 12 months of
training.
We have gone back and forth and many things have been taken into consideration in our decision making process.
We have also taken into consideration etiquette, attitude and conduct with that being very important when it comes to the character of any good martial artist.
The truth is we could
probably make argument to give out twice as many awards with many
who haven’t made the cut today still very worthy but alas we have
had to make final decisions taking everything into
account
In no particular order our first student award now...
Student Award 1
Our first student
award this year goes to one of our beginners who has the potential
to go a long way within the sport if he remains focused and
passionate about what he is doing.
When he joined us he
was not the most confident child in the world which was the main
reason his mum brought him to join us here at the USKA Fight
Factory.
Instantly finding a
love for the sport he has thrown himself into his training and you
can see him week by week becoming more confident in his
surroundings which has also brought his confidence out in other
areas of his life outside the gym.
Just passing his
second bet last week we have marked him as one to watch for the
future.
This award goes
to…
MUSA RAFIQ
Moving on now to our second student award...
Student Award 2
Our second award goes to a young lady who at the start of the year
had her first BLCC contest and by the end of the year was a multi
discipline, multiple World Champion from two separate World
Championship tournaments.
She came to us with previous Martial Arts experience but her
competitive potential had never really been tapped in
to.
Through hard work and dedication and trust in her new coaches she
has dealt with the highs and lows that a competitive career brings
to prevail at the highest of levels to bring home the
Gold’s.
On her technical classes she has worked hard to steadily improve
and has turned in some excellent Grade results showing that she has
a good understanding of her syllabus and the mechanics of her
technique.
A great year which we hope that will improve even further next year
this award goes to...
FAITH VELLAND
Our third student award...
Student
Award 3
An award now for one of our Ninja’s who never seems to have a bad night in the gym which is extremely rare for any chid let alone one so young.
Her behaviour is second to none with none of the Ninjas instructors or helpers ever having to pull her up on her discipline for breaking rules.
She quietly gets on with her training and is probably flying under a lot of people’s radar but her training effort has been noted and today it will be rewarded.
This student award goes to...
SAADIYA HUSSAIN
We move on now to our forth student award...
Student Award 4
Our
next student award goes to one of our all
rounders.
With
technical skills for days that also cross over into competition
this young lady is one of the most proficient members of the USKA
Fight Team.
Despite
having her GCSE Exams earlier in the year she was still a regular
on the USKA classes over the last 12 months and even managed to get
some competitions in and perform really
well.
The
competitive highlight though came in September when she made her
Full Contact debut against a French girl who was the reigning
European Champion with over 20 gala fights to her resume. She
won a Unanimous points decision and impressed everyone in
attendance with her silky skills.
For
her second Full Contact bout she went one better and took on a
reigning World Champion against a girl who had an awesome record of
35 wins and only 4 losses. She in a tough fight took a majority
points win and agreed a rematch knowing she could have beat her
more convincingly.
Winning
her full contact division at the Unified European Championships she
moved to 3-0 and then in her rematch with the World Champion she
turned in a much better performance to earn herself a Unanimous
points decision and finished her year with a Full Contact record of
4-0 and beating a European Champion and a World Champion in the
process.
As
well as her Full Contact successes she started coaching a Female
Division class at the USKA Fight Factory and has steadily built
it’s numbers up showing she has the ability to teach others what
she herself has been taught.
Our next award goes to...
LUCY KINGS-WHEATLEY
Moving on now to our fifth student award...
Student Award 5
Our next award goes to a young man who has come back from the brink
Formerly one of our biggest fighting stars who was amazing in the
gym and winning everything there was to win on the tournament
circuit he for a number of different reasons went through a hard
time and lost his motivation and direction going off the rails both
inside and outside of the gym.
Descending into a very dark place his parents decided to give him a
break from the gym to give him time to sort himself out and
rekindle the love he had for the sport.
Following a short time away from the gym his fire was burning again
and he was eager to recapture his form and continue where he left
off at his peak.
On his return to the gym he was a different child, refocused,
re-energised, and super disciplined.
Since then he has gone from strength to strength winning World
titles, gaining his Blue belt and conducting himself impeccably as
a positive role model for the younger students at the USKA Fight
Factory gym.
He truly is an example of how someone can turn things around and
his story will be inspirational to other children experiencing the
same kind of thing in the future.
This award goes to…
CHARLIE STOKES
Time now for our sixth student award...
Student Award 6
Our next award goes to one of our young fighters who has had a very
good year competitively and has improved dramatically since her
first competitive fight at the start of the
year.
Pretty much going straight into Open tournaments has served her
well and accelerated her progress so much in fact that she has
entered two World Championships and picked up Gold medals in each
in three different disciplines.
Outside of competition she has worked hard on her technical classes
and has progressed through to Green Belt
grade.
She is a regular helper on USKA Ninja’s classes showing that she is
happy to give back to the younger members of the gym which is also
an important part of the decision making process when awarding
these presentation trophies.
This award goes to...
MYESHA IMRAN
Our seventh student award now...
Student Award 7
Our next award goes to a student who really just gets on with
business every time he trains and puts 100% into every class he
attends.
His hard work and focus on his classes could go unnoticed to some
with him being a quiet unassuming lad but all our Instructors
unanimously noted him as a worthy candidate for an award this year
meaning that he is suitably impressing on all his
sessions.
Doing exceptionally well on his technical work and his gradings he
has also crossed over and took part in his first competitive outing
on a BLCC which hopefully will lead to more of the same next
year.
A very worthy award winner…
JACOB ASHFORD
Student Award 8
Our next award goes to a young lady who has been with us for some time but had somewhat plateaued in previous years.
This year however we have seen her step it up in all areas of her
training and shown some marked improvement which has been apparent
to all the USKA coaches and Instructors.
Her technical ability has improved dramatically and she has even
made a return to the ring where she performed very well
indeed.
We hope she builds on this for next year and continues to improve
at the same rate through hard work and
dedication.
This award goes to…
MARIAH MAHMOOD
Student Award 9
Our next award goes to a fighter of the gym who has flare and flamboyance in abundance In his fighting style separating him from his competitors.
A tremendous year pretty much winning everything and culminating in
no less than 10 World titles from two World
Championships.
His Competitive successes were recognised in November when the ICO
Technical committee recognised him as being their best cadet
fighter of the year.
Alongside all his open tournament wins he has also picked up the BLCC English title and made his successful Full Contact debut only last week.
Another USKA Ninja’s helper which like we said before is very important in bringing our young Martial Artists through.
This award goes to...
SHAKEEL HUSSAIN
The first of our Student of the year awards for 2019...
Our first student of the year has literally had a full 12 months with us after joining the gym in January this year.
After training in other gyms before finding USKA it is clear to see
that he has now found his home having an absolutely amazing year on
the mats and in the ring competing in many different disciplines
and picking up titles for fun at pretty much every competition he
fights in.
His style has evolved superbly and he is unrecognisable to the
fighter he was just 12 months ago with USKA very much putting it’s
stamp on him with the way he is fighting..
He always puts in a good account of himself on every class he attends and he has progressed through his first four belts at USKA with flying colours and high grades.
All our coaches Unanimously voted him for this award today meaning he is impressing everyone.
Our first Student of the year award goes to the mean machine…
RYAN McQUEEN
The second of our Student of the year awards for 2019...
To be considered for this award you need to be fully invested in the gym and everything it is involved in over the full 12 months of the year.
Our second student of the year has done just that and has improved
in every area of her training both on the technical classes and her
practical fighters sessions.
Starting the year as pretty much an absolute Rookie, time invested
in the gym has seen her grow and mature in front of our eyes over
the last 12 months to turn in some very good grading results and
even better performances on the mats and in the ring in
competitions.
Often pitched in out of her depth against fighters far more
experienced than her she has closed the gap by sheer heart and
determination with a real never give up
attitude.
She has picked up British, European and World titles all in one
year with some really inspirational
performances.
She manages to stay focused in her training and away from the over social side of things that sometimes distracts the girls from what they are actually here to do.
Aside from her martial arts she is a lovely girl and helpful in and around the gym with the younger members and is an absolute pleasure to teach.
Our second student of the year award goes to…
MISS AAMINA SARFRAZ
Moving on now to our Fighters Fighter of the year award for 2019...
Our next award is for the fighter from the fighters and is aptly named the USKA Fighters Fighter award.
Any fighter who has competitively stepped on the mats or in the ring over the last 12 months gets a vote on who they think is most worthy of this award.
They might choose their favourite fighter, they might choose who they think has most improved, they might go with someone who they feel has shown lots of heart or they might choose the person they feel has performed best against the best opposition.
Their choice is their own and their vote is confidential.
The following fighters were nominated with 1 or more
votes…
Abdullah Riaz, Charlie Stokes, Dawid Gizewski, Elliot Gohari,
Kaifah Imran, Khuzaimah Douglas, Lucy Kings-Wheatley, Mustapha
Khan, Myesha Imran, Ra’ees Kiani, Remy Mann, Rohan Kumar, Ryan
McQueen and Zain Amer
In third place position with 6 votes was….
Aamina
Sarfraz
In second place position 7 votes was…
Nikita
Raubiska
In First place position with a total of 10 votes our Fighters
Fighter award goes to…
SHAKEEL HUSSAIN
Our last award for today will be our Student Scholarship award for 2020...
USKA Scholarship 2020
The scholarship award is now in to it’s 11th year and for over a
decade now has really gave it’s reciprocates a great opportunity
and platform to really develop themselves with 12 months of all you
can eat kickboxing.
The Scholarship basically funds all costs relating to one students
martial arts development over a full year including Training fee's,
membership fee's, licence fee's, grading fee's, equipment
sponsorship and competition entry fee's in a package that can be
worth well over £1000 pounds.
With such a massive award at stake myself, Sean and the other USKA coaches assess and deliberate throughout the year to see who we feel is most worthy of such an incredible opportunity.
Over the last 12 months we have gone back and forth between many of the active students at the gym taking many things into consideration and finally we have all unanimously have come to a decision.
The USKA Scholarship award for 2020 goes to...
JACOB ASHFORD
Thank you to everyone who has helped to make today possible and such a success.
Our classes will be on as normal until Sunday 22nd December and then we will break up for the holidays.
We are back in the New Year on January 5th for Ladies classes and January 6th for all other sessions with gradings planned for March and Open Competitions and a BLCC competition planned for the end of January so anyone wishing to take part in these we will be wanting you back on our return dates.
Before you go we’d like to very quickly get a group picture to mark the day and to remember the class of 2019.
Just to wrap things up I would just like to thank everyone for their support today from myself, Alva, Sean, Qas, Ruqayya and Lucy we hope you’ve all had a great day... Osu!
SUNDAY 15TH DECEMBER 2019
A great time was had by all today at the USKA Fight Factory
end of year Iron man competition and celebration party.
The Iron Man competition had over 100 competitors take part over 6
tough events in front of all their supporters.
The atmosphere was great with everyone cheering each other on
showing real team spirit.
On the completion of the competition everyone was treated to a
great spread of food which was gratefully provided from the gyms
family and friends.
FRIDAY 13TH DECEMBER 2019
Here is the full fight
footage from USKA's fights at the TMA Fight Series 'When Champions
Collide' event at the 2nd City Suite in Birmingham on Sunday 8th
December.
It was a great night of action and 5 wins out of 5 for team USKA bringing home a Professional European Title belt and a Professional World Title belt.
ICO / WRSA UNIFIED PROFESSIONAL WORLD TITLE
QASIM 'THE DREAM' BEG VS DYLAN 'THE NATURAL' CHEEMA
WRSA UNIFIED PROFESSIONAL WORLD TITLE
LEE 'THE WIZARD' WHITFIELD VS MEDGHI HASSAINE
SHAKEEL 'SHOWTIME' HUSSAIN VS SAM
BEAVON
LUCY 'LAZER LEGZ' KINGS-WHEATLEY VS VICTORIA 'TIGGER'
PERKINS
RA'EES 'KOOL AND KALM' KIANI VS TYLER
MORGAN
SUNDAY 8TH DECEMBER 2019
Well the TMA Fight Series 'When Champions Collide' event at the 2nd City Suite in Birmingham lived up to all the hype and then some on Sunday where Kickboxing Fight Fans were treated to a brilliant 14 fight card of action.
SUNDAY 8TH DECEMBER 2019
Following yesterdays Grading at the USKA Fight Factory it
was the turn of the Female Division today with 15 girls attempting
their next belts in front of club instructor Ruqayya Griffith and
USKA Chief Instructor Neil Kelly.
The first five Grades from Red Belt to Green Belt were in
contention and the girls did not disappoint all passing with
respectable grading results.
Ruqayya is doing a great job with the Female division with
numbers at an all time high and producing a standard of Female
Kickboxing in Birmingham that hand on heart I can say is second to
none.
Well done girls on yet another impressive grading
examination.
The full list of successful results is as
follows...
Lyba Azam --- Red
Belt
SATURDAY 7TH DECEMBER 2019
So the scene is set following today's weigh in of Champions for the TMA Fight Series 'When Champions Collide' main event tomorrow at the 2nd City Suite in Birmingham.ICO World Champion Qasim 'The Dream' Beg and WRSA World Champion Dylan 'The Natural' Cheema both scaled a ripped and ready 63kg bang on the Super Lightweight limit.Tempers flared between the two after the Cheema Camp threatened to pull out of the contest as late as Wednesday night in an argument about which champion should walk out second.The Dream Team were unfazed by their diva antics and said they should be more worried about the things that do matter when the first bell rings.Despite the drama we have ourselves a fight and tomorrow we will see a Unified Champion crowned in what should be an amazing fight for the crowd.
SATURDAY 7TH DECEMBER 2019
74 New Grades were inducted into the USKA Kickboxing record
books today following a 5 hour grading examination at the USKA
Fight Factory.
8 Grades from Red Belt to Jnr Brown Belt were contested
with each and every candidate being put through the scrutiny of the
USKA syllabus under the watchful and detailed eye of Grading
examiners Neil Kelly.
Anyone who has ever participated in an USKA grading will
know just how hard they are with no favours given meaning anyone
who doesn't reach the prescribed standard leaves empty handed
having to go and regroup fixing their shortcomings and showing what
they are made of to come back stronger next time out. It is a
bitter pill but one that ultimately in the long run is for their
betterment as a Martial Artist.
We had some outstanding results
today with our A-Team of passes including Tobias Cox (Red
Belt), Ateeq Al Rahman (Yellow Belt), Hashim
Mohammed (Yellow Belt), Julia Gowacz (Orange Belt), Rohan Kumar
(Orange Belt), Ryan McQueen (Orange Belt), Kian Beech (Green Belt),
Ehsaan Mahmood (Purple Belt), Aryan Singh (Blue Belt), Remy Mann
(Jnr Brown Belt).
WEDNESDAY 4TH DECEMBER 2019
THE GLOVES ARE OFF!
So here we are
on Fight Week 4 days before the Super Lightweight Professional
Unification fight between ICO Champion Qasim 'The
Dream' Beg and WRSA Champion Dylan 'The Natural'
Cheema.
TMA Fight Series sat both men down and then spoke to both
men's coaches in Neil Kelly and Simon Akufo with the voice of
Kickboxing Malcolm Martin to go
head to head and discuss the
fight.
SUNDAY 1ST DECEMBER 2019
On Sunday 1st December In the last BLCC competition of the year at
Aero-Kick gym in Birmingham we had 12 fighters in
action.
Coaches
Neil Kelly and Sean Quinn cornered Zain Amer, Dawid Gizewski, Julia
Glowacz, Maryam Sarfraz, Ehsaan Mahmood, Eesa Hassanjee, Safwaan
Gul, Aamina Sarfraz, Ryan McQueen, Jad Joma, Steve Parish, Elliot
Gohari in 13 bouts and we finished the day with only 1 solitary
loss after good performances across the
board.
This
last competition of 2019 rounds up a Phenomenal competitive year
for Team USKA with them all deserving a well earned rest now with
the next BLCC competition scheduled for 26th January
2020.
A big
well done to everyone who has climbed through the ropes or stepped
on the mats in USKA colours over the last year. We are
exceptionally proud of each and every one of
you.
SATURDAY 30TH NOVEMBER 2019
On Saturday 30th November four USKA Fight Factory members were
honoured at the ICO Annual awards for 2019 at the ICO's 10th year
anniversary Celebrations at the Hatchford Brook Golf Course in
Birmingham.
Following
a nomination process candidates were narrowed down to the most
deserving top three nominees for final selection at the awards
evening.
We
are thrilled to announce that Ehsaan Mahmood was awarded the top
junior fighter award for 2019, Shakeel Hussain was awarded the top
cadet fighter award for 2019, Khuzaimah Douglas was awarded the top
senior fighter award for 2019 and Neil Kelly was awarded the top
coach award for 2019.
Many
thanks to the ICO for the recognition of their awards which the
USKA contingent were very happy and proud to
receive.
SATURDAY 30TH NOVEMBER 2019
Saturday
30th November witnessed the Return of the Jedi to USKA when World
Renowned Fighter and Instructor Stuart 'The Jedi' Lawson honoured
us with his presence conducting a three hour Super Seminar at the
USKA Fight Factory.
Stuart
for many years has been considered one of the Pound for Pound
greats of British kickboxing and he did not disappoint on the
seminar treating it's attendees to an amazing session which had
everyone fully engaged.
We
would like to whole heartedly thank Stuart for an awesome session
and also Congratulate him on being presented with the ICO Lifetime
achievement award that he received on the evening of the seminar at
the ICO Awards evening.
SUNDAY 24TH NOVEMBER 2019
Today USKA Fight Factory fighters attended the
inaugural Unified European Championships Co-hosted and sanctioned
by the WKO, the AFSO and the WRSA Kickboxing
Associations.
We
had 13 fighters in action including Abdullah Riaz, Kaifah Imran,
Nikita Raubiska, Ehsaan Mahmood, Charlie Stokes, Myesha Imran,
Aamina Sarfraz, Ryan McQueen, Shakeel Hussain, Lucy Kings-Wheatley,
Aryan Singh, Ra'ees Kiani and Elliot Gohari, competing over 4
different fighting disciplines.
After a really good day of competition we
finished proceedings with an impressive 40 medals including 32
Golds, 6 Silvers (2 in USKA V USKA finals) and 2 Bronze medals
which topped the medal table and had us awarded the top club of the
tournament trophy from over 80 clubs in attendance at the closing
ceremony.
5
of our competitors made the Top Ten individuals of the tournament
(Ra'ees Kiani, Shakeel Hussain, Ryan McQueen) with Ehsaan Mahmood
awarded the Top Male Competitor title belt and Kaifah Imran the Top
Female Competitor belt.
We
also were awarded two officials choice competitors of the day in
Ehsaan Mahmood and Lucy Kings-Wheatley for outstanding
inspirational performances.
A
very productive day and a great finish for team USKA from
Championship tournaments for 2019.
Well done all!
WEDNESDAY 20TH NOVEMBER 2019
Watch
a little highlight reel from Weston-Super-Mare last weekend where
Remy Mann, Ryan McQueen, Lucy Kings-Wheatley and Ra'ees Kiani all
picked up wins on the Tuff House gym
show.
Well
done to all of our fighters on some great
performances.
TUESDAY 19TH NOVEMBER 2019
In what already looks like a fantastic card of Kickboxing action at
the 2nd City Suite in Birmingham on Sunday 8th December we are
pleased to announce that there will be more USKA interest on the
undercard showcasing some of the USKA Fight Factory's finest young
talent.
Shakeel 'Showtime' Hussain will make his Full Contact debut over 3
x 2 minute rounds against the very talented Samuel Bevan from the
excellent TKA Kickboxing gym in Tamworth.
Samuel has just returned from the WKU
World Championships in Austria with an incredible 4 Gold
medals and Shakeel has recently returned from the ICO World
Championships in Scotland with 5 Gold medals making this a
mouthwatering clash of multi World Champions in a fight for the
fans that can not fail to impress with given the standard and
quality of the two protagonists.
Ra'ees 'Cool And Calm' Kiani rematches the teak tough Andrew
Perkins from the Western Dragons gym in Swansea, Wales in a Full
Contact Contest over 3 x 2 Minute Rounds.
Ra'ees caused somewhat of an upset on last weekend in
Weston-Super-Mare dropping Andrew for a count in the second round
on-route to a points decision in a ding dong fight that seen both
fighters have their moments.
Andrew finished the fight very strong indeed and will want to
continue where he left of in this rematch eager for revenge.
Lucy 'Lazer Legs' Kings-Wheatley is also involved in a rematch with
Multiple World Champion Victoria 'Tigger' Perkins again from the
renowned Western Dragons gym in Swansea, Wales in a Full Contact
contest over 3 x 2 minute rounds.
Lucy pulled off the impossible in Weston-Super-Mare last weekend in
only her second Full Contact fight winning a very close Majority
Points Decision over Victoria in another excellent crowd pleasing
bout.
Qasim 'The Dream' Beg Vs Dylan 'The Natural' Cheema
Two reigning and defending Professional World Champions will collide to Unify the ICO and WRSA World Super Lightweight Titles over 12 x 2 minute rounds in a clash that has got everybody talking and everybody divided in opinion on who will come out victorious in a winner takes all fight for pride and glory.
Dylan the young hungry WRSA Champion Vs Qasim the experienced
battle hardened unbeaten ICO Champion.
If that wasn't enough outside of USKA we have...
Ryan Davies Vs Dan Morgan for the Professional WRSA British Title
over 7 x 2 Minute Rounds
Donovan Wint Vs Reuben Williams for the Amateur Midland Title over 5 x 2 Minute Rounds
Jack 'Bruiser' Dilloway for the Cadet WRSA World Title over 5 x 2
Minute Rounds
Plus a stacked undercard featuring Faye Blount, Dave Hill, Brad
Finn, Romaine Porter, Luke Porter, Dylan Matthews and
More.
Remaining few tickets are available from the USKA Fight Factory gym but be very quick to avoid disappointment because they are going like hot cakes...
£25 theatre style seated (Kids tickets up to 13 years £20)
SUNDAY 17TH NOVEMBER 2019
From
the Fantastic Four last night in Weston-Super-Mare to the Fantastic
Five Nation Five today at the Lordswood Tri-Series ICO 5 Nations
Championships at the North Solihull Sports Centre in
Birmingham.
Five
USKA Fight Factory fighters including Kaifah Imran, Ehsaan Mahmood,
Myesha Imran, Aamina Sarfraz and Shakeel Hussain took to the ring
today alongside their coaches Neil Kelly, Sean Quinn and Qasim Beg
to contest ICO 5 Nation Titles at the final Lordswood Tri-Series
event of the year.
The
small contingent performed excellently throughout the day
collecting 5 Gold medals and 1 Bronze medal which coincidentally
was in a category that we also picked up Gold in by another
USKA competitor.
Well done to the team on yet another strong
showing!
SATURDAY 16TH NOVEMBER 2019
It was four out of four for Team USKA tonight at the WCA Sanctioned
Tuff House Gym show in Weston-Super-Mare when our fantastic four
fighters Remy Mann, Ryan McQueen, Lucy Kings-Wheatley and Ra'ees
Kiani climbed through the ropes and put on an excellent display of
kickboxing.
First up Remy turned in a Master Class against his opponent Jack
State in a Low Kick contest earning himself a Unanimous Points
Decision.
SATURDAY 9TH NOVEMBER 2019
Four USKA Fighters travel to Weston-Super-Mare next Saturday (16th
November) for some last minute fights to help out a show that has
been plagued with pull outs.
Remy
Mann fights Jack State in a Junior low kick contest, Ryan McQueen
fights Freddie Fudjie in a Junior Kickboxing Contest, Lucy
Kings-Wheatley fights World Champion Victoria Perkins in a 3 round
Full Contact Contest and Ra'ees Kiani fights Andrew Perkins in a 3
round Ful Contact Contest.
On
paper some really tough fights for Team USKA especially given that
they are taking these fights on such short notice but as always
they definitely won't be going to make up numbers and will be
looking for the wins.
If
anyone would like to make the trip to Weston-Super-Mare to support
our Fantastic Four tickets are on sale priced at just
£15.00.
SUNDAY 3RD NOVEMBER 2019
It was a busy day for USKA today at the Combat Sports Centre's BLCC event at the Tudor Grange Leisure Centre in Solihull.
SUNDAY 3RD NOVEMBER 2019
On
30th October 2019 Birmingham's Unity FM aired an interview
featuring USKA Fight Factory's Qasim 'The Dream' Beg and his
lifelong coach Neil Kelly.
The
interview conducted by presenter Nasser Mockbill was based around
the theme of Raising a peaceful and wise generation through Martial
Arts and the Sport of Kickboxing.
Qasim
and Neil talked about their journey together so far and also their
plans for the future around the Sport that has had such a huge
impact on both of their lives.
Outside
of the Sport Neil as a Muslim revert talked about his journey to
Islam and the impact it has had on his life and his
gym.
FRIDAY 1ST NOVEMBER 2019
WHEN CHAMPIONS COLLIDE
QASIM 'THE DREAM' BEG VS DYLAN 'THE NATURAL' CHEEMA
So
the Superfight is set!
On Sunday 8th December at the 2nd City Suite in Birmingham
two reigning and defending World Champions will colide to Unify the
ICO and WRSA World Super Lightweight Titles.
Tickets are available from the USKA Fight Factory gym at the following prices...
Gold : £500 ringside tables of 10 includes waitress service & hot Indian buffet on each table
Silver : £300 tables of 10 or can be sold separately at £30 (Kids tickets up to 13 years £20)
Bronze : £25 theatre style seated (Kids tickets up to 13 years £20)
SATURDAY 26TH OCTOBER 2019
26 USKA Ninjas flew through their grading examinations today at the USKA Fight Factory performing excellently in front of their family and friends.
FRIDAY 25TH OCTOBER 2019
We are lucky to have another all time great of Martial Arts visit
us on Saturday 30th November to deliver a Seminar that is not to be
missed. As a multiple World Champion and Co-founder of the World
famous Paragon Kickboxing gym in London Stuart Lawson returns to
the USKA Fight Factory almost 10 years to the day of his last
Seminar making this truly the Return of The Jedi! Get in touch to
book your space on this World Class seminar with this bonafide Hall
of Fame Kickboxer and legend of UK Martial Arts.
1pm - 3.30pm ~ Seminar
3.30 - 4.00pm ~ Autograph and Photo Oportunity
We have limted spaces on this
course.
Reserve your space now at the USKA Fight Factory priced at only £25.00 per person.
MONDAY 22ND OCTOBER 2019
We are all wrapped up and home safely following the closing gala
evening on Sunday evening at the ICO World Championships 2019 in
Scotland.
An
amazing event with a great standard of competing, organisation and
officiating from ICO Team Scotland.
The
team of 15 USKA fighters did not disappoint finishing the
tournament with a spectacular 63 medals including 42 Golds, 14
Silvers (7 of which were USKA Vs USKA finals) and 7 Bronze
medals.
5 of
our fighters finished in the top 10 competitors of the
tournament and once again we closed as top contingent team
within ICO Team England.
Myself Sean and Qas are exceptionally proud of the team and what
they have achieved over the tournament and are thrilled that all
their hard work over the last 6 months paid off bringing home such
fantastic results.
Thank you to everyone who played a part in their success and a big
Congratulations to our team on an amazing
achievement.
WEDNESDAY 16TH OCTOBER 2019
Tomorrow 15 fighters and three coaches from the
USKA Fight Factory gym will travel to Scotland to compete in the
2019 ICO World Championships.
The team have endured a gruelling six month
training camp 5 to 6 days a week to prepare themselves for the
Championships and to equip them to be able to contend with some of
the best fighters from around the
World.
All that is left to do now is for them to have
the belief in themselves to be able to go and do what we all know
they are capable of.
We won't wish them good luck because luck is for the unprepared and
that does not apply to team USKA.
Pictured below is our 2019 World Championship team
Back Row... Hammaad Shand,
Rohan Kumar, Myesha Imran, Aamina Sarfraz, Ryan Mcqueen, Shakeel
Hussain.
Middle Row... (Coach)
Sean Quinn, Khuzaimah Douglas, Faith Velland, Qasim Hasan, (Coach)
Qasim Beg, (Coach) Neil Kelly.
Front Row... Charlie
Stokes, Ehsaan Mahmood, Kaifah Imran, Abdullah Riaz, Nikita
Raubiska, Remy Mann.
SATURDAY 12TH OCTOBER 2019
It
was 3 wins out of 3 for team USKA tonight at the Strictly
Business Boxing XVIII card at the Edgbaston Stadium in
Birmingham.
Disappointingly all
three fighters had to face replacement opponents following a series
of unfortunate events that left their original opponents unable to
compete.
Shakeel
'Showtime' Hussain contested the BLCC -55kg English Title against
Solihull Combat Sports Centre's Jake Thermaine winning by Unanimous
points decision.
Ehsaan
'The Head Hunter' Mahmood contested the AFSO -30kg British Title
against Dundee Kickboxing's Derren 'Dynamite' Currie winning by
Unanimous points decision.
Qasim
'The Dream' Beg continued his 1st Round Knockout run stopping his
opponent Martin Hammond early after three
knockdowns.
As a
fighter all you can do is beat the fighter in front of you and our
three fighters did that comfortably enough but it is
disappointing that they did not get the tests that they were
looking for.
On behalf of all three fighters we would like to thank the Strictly Business Boxing promoters and the TMA Fight Series for the opportunity to compete on the card and to wholeheartedly thank all the supporters that came to cheer our guys on.
SUNDAY 29TH SEPTEMBER 2019
The TMA Fight Series England Vs The Rest of the World fight card at the Premiere Suite in Cannock on Saturday 14th September did not disappoint the fight fans with main event of the evening seeing USKA's Former ICO World Champion Qasim 'The Dream' Beg attempt to win back to ICO Super Lightweight title he never lost in the ring against French European Champion Jonathan Maine. Qasim was coming off a 1st round knockout win in July following a four year absence from the sport and had trained exceptionally hard looking forward to getting some rounds in against the Frenchman Maine who came with a really good reputation. After a minute of feeling each other out in the first round Qas sunk a right body hook in that seen his opponent wince. Seeing the effect it had Qasim faked the same punch again but this time took it to the head and it was lights out for Maine 1 minute and 18 seconds into the very first round for a second time in a row. Now a two times World Champion Qasim intends to build on this and Unify the division to cement his legacy in the sport. He will be fighting in Birmingham on 12th October in a non title contest with his eyes set on adding another World title to his collection early December to cap off a successful comeback year. We would like to thank Gavin Burrows at TMA for affording Qasim the opportunity to do his thing on his shows and to all the fans that came to support Qasim. and Lucy. All the action is captured here by FightNightLive-TV with commentary from the one and only Malcolm Martin.
On the undercard USKA
Kickboxing's Lucy Kings-Wheatley made her Gala Full Contact debut
against France's K-1 European Champion Emilie Tomas.
The experienced Tomas brought with her an 18 fight record which
made Lucy a considerable underdog on paper but the USKA starlet
performed well to win every round on all three judges score cards
to pick up a Unanimous points decision win. The action again is all
caught here by FightNightLive-TV with commentary from Malcolm
Martin.
SUNDAY 22ND SEPTEMBER 2019
A
full team of 23 USKA Fight Factory fighters competed yesterday at
the Warriors Fight Club BLCC event at the Meadway Sports and Social
club in Kitts Green in Birmingham.
The
team headed by coached Neil Kelly and Sean Quinn consisted of Hawwa
Sarfraz, Dawid Gizewski, Zain Amer, Julia Glowacz, Maryam Sarfraz,
Kaifah Imran, Nikita Raubiska, Ehsaan Mahmood, Eesa Hassanjee,
Ibrahim Iqbal, Charlie Stokes, Remy Mann, Aamina Sarfraz, Myesha
Imran, Rohan Kumar, Ryan McQueen, Shakeel Hussain, Jad Joma, Sami
Kelly, Qasim Hassan, Ra'ees Kiani, Mustapha Khan, Faith
Velland.
After
some great performances in 25 individual bout we only dropped one
decision in a closely fought contest showing lots of skill and will
throughout the day.
Well
done to everyone on their efforts as we look forward to the next
BLCC event on Sunday 3rd November at the Combat Sports Centre in
Solihull, West Midlands.
WEDNESDAY 18TH SEPTEMBER 2019
USKA
Fight Factory played host to one of Martial Arts all time greats
this evening when the G.O.A.T. Raymond 'The Real Deal' Daniels
conducted an awesome 3 hour seminar to a packed room full of star
struck attendees.
Raymond
teaching his unique spin on combat sports was engaging and funny
from start to finish whilst covering kickboxing fundamentals in a
way that only he could drawing from the experience from all of the
different fighting styles he has competed in nearly 35 years in
Martial Arts.
Breaking
down the reasoning behind every move Raymond's instruction was
second to none and everyone in attendance will have taken something
from the session that will help them develop as fighters in the
future if they practice and try to develop what they have
learned.
Following
the session the G.O.A.T. conducted an informative question and
answer session followed by a photograph opportunity and autograph
signings.
A big
thank you to Raymond for taking the time to visit USKA and share
his knowledge with us. We will definitely be having him back again
when he tours the UK in 2020.
SUNDAY 15TH SEPTEMBER 2019
13 of
our Female members took a step closer to Black Belt today at the
USKA Fight Factory after passing their grading on our USKA Female
Division Grading Examination.
The
Grades in contention ranged from Red Belt (1st Belt) to Purple Belt
(6th Grade) and in total including the warm up Grading Preparation
class the highest grades were on the mat for a total of 5 hours
really testing themselves not just technically but physically over
the course of the day.
Congratulations
to all our successful candidates and a special well done to our A
star grader Amera Ali on her 95 / A- Red Belt
Pass.
Our
full list of successful results are as
follows...
Safa
Amir --- Red Belt
SATURDAY 14TH SEPTEMBER 2019
The TMA Fight Series England Vs The Rest of the World fight card at the Premiere Suite in Cannock on Saturday night did not disappoint the fight fans in attendance with 8 really good fights of contact sports.
FRIDAY 13TH SEPTEMBER 2019
Both USKA Fighters easily made weight today at Metro Inn Hotel at
the Weigh in for the England V The Rest Of The World Event that
will take place at the Premiere Suite in Cannock tomorrow
evening.
Lucy Kings-Wheatley who is making her Gala debut came in at 61.5kg
against the very highly rated French European K-1 Champion Emeline
Thomas.
This is a big ask for Lucy against her more experienced opponent
but she and her USKA coaches are confident they can use Lucy's
silky skills to pull off the upset and claim the
win.
Our World Title contender Qasim 'The Dream' Beg scaled in at 62.2kg
against his French opponent and current European Champion Jonathan
Maine for the main event fight of the evening which on paper looks
like a brilliant match up.
Both fighters are happy, relaxed and refuelled and are looking
forward to putting on a great show for everyone tomorrow
night.
We have our last few tickets available from the USKA Fight Factory gym tomorrow morning priced at £30.00.
The Premier Suite, Danilo Road, Cannock, WS11 1BJ.
Doors open 5pm, First fight 6pm
TUESDAY 10TH SEPTEMBER 2019
NEW VENUE FOR QASIM 'THE DREAM' ICO WORLD TITLE FIGHT
SATURDAY 7TH SEPTEMBER 2019
The latest General Grading at the USKA Fight Factory on Saturday
7th September seen 36 successful grading candidates take and pass
their next coloured belts over a 5 hour Examination in front of
USKA Chief Instructor Neil Kelly and club instructor Qasim
Beg.
Anyone who has ever taken part in an USKA grading will appreciate
just how hard they are with everyone truly earning their belts in
an age where they are more increasingly handed out from a business
perspective rather than the high set standard of the old school
Martial Arts of yesteryear.
At USKA we maintain high old school values meaning sometimes
candidates come up short and have to go back to the drawing board
to make corrections and improve for next time out which
unfortunately was the case on this Grading. This is not the end of
the world but more of a wake up call that in the long run will
improve the student as a Martial Artist.
Well done to all our successful Graders but in particular our star
graders in Musa Rafiq (Red Belt A / Pass), Hashim Mohammed (White
Belt A / Pass), Ryan McQueen (Yellow Belt / A- Pass) and Rico Mann
(Blue Belt / A- Pass).
Also special mentions to Mohammed Ibrahim Khan, Sumayya Griffith
and Khuzaimah Douglas who all passed their Junior Brown Belt Grade
which was the highest belts contested on the
day.
A full list of results are as follows...
HUMAYAH IQBAL --- RED BELT
SATURDAY 31ST AUGUST 2019
A
great turn out of over 50 fighters showed up today at the USKA
Fight Factory to take part in our 100 rounds of sparring
fundraising event to raise money to help send 15 USKA Fighters to
the ICO World Championships in Scotland in
October.
The
participants took part in two minute rounds of Sparring with a one
minute rest across disciplines including Body Shot Boxing,
Freestyle Boxing, Kickboxing, Low Kick and K-1 pledging to do a set
amount of rounds with some toughing it out and doing the full
Hardcore 100.
The
Sparathon took a mega 5 hours to complete which in itself is a
great feat of stamina, staying power and determination and everyone
was respectful and controlled throughout making it a very enjoyable
day.
Well
done to everybody that took part and thank you to everyone who made
a donation.
If
anyone would still like to donate a help our team with their
funding please follow the link below to our Gofundme page,Many
thanks in advance for whatever you can spare for this great
cause.
DONATE
HERE!
THURSDAY 29TH AUGUST 2019
At
the end of July 2019 a team of 14 USKA Fight Factory fighters
travelled to Barnsely England to compete at the 2nd Annual WKO
World Kickboxing Championships.
Following
two days of competition the team walked away with an outstanding 58
Medals including 34 Golds, 19 Silvers and 5 Bronze medals as
well as being awarded the number one club at the event based on
accumulated points from results.
Our
young fighter Ehsaan Mahmood was awarded Top Male Competitor of the
competition based on his results and we also had 3 more of our
fighters placed in the top ten overall competitors at the
Championships..
Here
are our fighters in action with some of the highlights across a
number of the different disciplines that they competed
in.
Abdullah
Riaz - 00:20
SATURDAY 24TH AUGUST 2019
The
latest USKA Ninjas Grading Examination at the USKA Fight Factory
saw 23 new belts handed out to some of the youngest members of the
gym.
The
grading took place on Saturday 24th August under the watchful eye
of USKA Ninja Instructors Neil Kelly, Sean Quinn and Qasim Beg with
a number of helpers consisting of intermediate and advanced grades
from our technical classes.
The
90 minute Grading consisted of an Exercise Circuit, Kickboxing
Padwork, Basic Shadow Boxing Line Work and a gruelling Relay
Circuit really putting the grading candidates through their paces
making sure they earn their grade in front of their family and
friends for that little added
pressure.
All
our Ninjas passed with flying colours and were awarded their new
coloured belts and certificates as an acknowledgement of their
efforts.
Well
done to all our successful graders.
A
full list of Grading Results are as
follows...
ANNIYAH
IQBAL - USKA NINJAS RED BELT
SUNDAY 18TH AUGUST 2019
A smaller than usual USKA Fight Team due to the
holiday period were in action today at the Burton Kickboxing
Academy's latest BLCC Ring Continuous Kickboxing event in
Burton-On-Trent.
11 fighters including Julia Glowacz, Abdullah
Riaz, Zain Amer, Nikita Raubiska, Charlie Stokes, Rohan Kumar,
Hammaad Shand, Ryan McQueen, Qasim Hassan, Khuzaimah Douglas and
Qasim Beg took to the ring in 14 contests and conceded only 1 close
defeat throughout the course of the
day.
Coaches Neil Kelly and Sean Quinn were very
happy indeed on their fighters performances with lots to go back to
the gym with to improve on for next time out which is what it is
all about.
The next BLCC event will be held at the Meadway
Sports and Social club in Birmingham on Sunday 22nd September where
we expect a bigger team back in action and hopefully more of the
same in regard to results.
Well done team on another successful day of
competition.
SUNDAY 12TH AUGUST 2019
USKA Fight Factory would like to wish all it's members and friends Eid Mubarak.
May blessings be with you and your family's today and always.
All classes remain on as normal for anyone who wishes to train.
