KARATE fighters from Hereford took five medals from five categories entered at the recent Tipton Open.

The Combat Academy Karate may have only been a small one, but their effort and achievement was huge.

With only four fighters this time out they completed a total of 12 English Contact Karate Association fights taking two gold and three silvers out of the five divisions entered.

Jack Millorit was the Academy’s first fighter up.

His brilliant performance came in the Semi-Contact points division, winning through three fights to reach the final.

A very close final against a fighter from CMA in Halesowen finished 2-1 at the end of the time and Millorit received a deserved silver medal.

Young fighter William Richards had a cracking weekend at the championships.

Competing in both Semi-Contact Points and Light Continuous. Richards used a good range of kicking and punching techniques throughout all of his matches.

Firstly taking a silver medal in the points, then after a really close final in the Continuous his hand was raised and he had earned the gold.

Keeping it in the family Neil Richards (William's dad) beat his opponent convincingly winning by the maximum points in the Semi-Contact section to earn himself gold medal and the top spot on the podium.

Junior coach Josh Small had three very athletic fights in the Light Continuous category. Lots of jumping kicks and superman punches mixed with big combinations put him into the final.

The action continued with a very close fight against a tough welsh fighter. The decision didn’t go his way and Small collected a well earned silver medal.

The Combat Academy is hosting the Hereford ECKA (English Contact Karate Association) Open Championships at Whitecross High School on May 19.

This is a competition open to all styles and striking disciplines of karate, kickboxing, taekwondo and kung fu etc.

It will feature lots of local clubs coming together to test their skills as well as clubs from the Midlands and Wales too.

The Combat Academy has a friendly karate and kickboxing team and new members are always welcome.

They operate at their full-time premises at Unit 24 Foley Trading Estate, Hereford. HR1 2SF. For further information contact Chief Instructor Simon Small 6th Dan on 07710 775416 or simon@thecombatacademy.com.