We’ll be taking a break for a couple of weeks over Christmas and the new year. We hope you all have a lovely, restful time; and return ready to smash your goals in 2025!
Student Awards 2024
CONGRATULATIONS to the winners of our 2024 Student Awards!
Tiger of the Year:
Jonny A
Matthew T
Newcomer of the Year:
Raza R
Most Improved Student:
Isla M
Indomitable Spirit Award:
Ethan C
Eoin C
Rising Star Award:
Kal M
Jay W
Best Junior Male Competitor:
1st place – Olly G
2nd place – Jay C
3rd place – Owen G
Best Junior Female Competitor:
1st place – Eloise W
2nd place – Nikola K
3rd place – Ava P
Best Senior Competitor:
1st place – Callum E
2nd place – Connor M
3rd place – Sandra B.
Big thanks to Studio8cakes Limited for the absolutely incredible cake; to DJ Brian Killen for the awesome music; to Halewood Town Council for granting us concessionary use of the hall; and to Hollies Hall staff for putting up with us all evening!
GTI Black Belt Competitor of the Year Awards 2023-24
The winners of the GTI Black Belt Competitor of the Year awards for the 2023-24 season have been confirmed! These winners were top-ranked in the Black Belt Competitor Ranking Tables for the 2023-2024 season of GTI tournaments.
CONGRATULATIONS to all winners, but especially to our Owen and Stef!
Winners will be presented with their awards at the next competition, the GTI English Open Championships on 9th February in Hinckley.
2024 GTI British Open: RESULTS
Well done to our team for a superb effort at yesterday’s GTI British Open in Cheltenham
It was a really tough competition with lots of very talented opponents to test our students. Everyone gave it their best, and our final haul from 13 students was 12 medals: 5 gold, 4 silver & 3 bronze
Well done to all our medal winners and also to Raza, Olly K, Alin, Rod and Connor, who missed out on medals this time. Regardless of results, it takes a lot of courage to compete and we’re proud of you all for having a go and doing your best
Thanks to everyone who got involved with supporting and coaching. Well done, team
RESULTS: 2024 GTI British Open
Jay Williams-Garrett | GOLD Sparring BRONZE Patterns |
Dominik Kruk | BRONZE Sparring |
Liam Murphy | SILVER Sparring BRONZE Patterns |
Olly Gargan | GOLD Sparring SILVER Patterns |
Eloise Williams | GOLD Sparring |
Adam Ahmad | BRONZE Sparring |
Owen Gargan | SILVER Sparring |
Callum Edwards | GOLD Sparring SILVER Patterns |
Chris Davies | GOLD Sparring |
2024 OMA Welsh Championships: RESULTS
Cracking results from the team today at the OMA Welsh Championships in Wrexham!
We had 21 students taking part and they absolutely smashed it, winning 33 medals: 19 gold, 11 silver & 3 bronze!
Well done to all our medal winners and also to Luis, who missed out on the medals but worked really hard in all his events. We’re super proud of everyone for stepping up and having a go, especially the less experienced competitors who had a few nerves to overcome. You’ve all done us proud just by getting in the ring
Thanks to all our coaches and supporters for looking after the team! And thanks to OMA for a great day
RESULTS: 2024 OMA Welsh Championships
Jonny Almond | SILVER Sparring |
Raza Rehman | SILVER Sparring |
Kal Merritt | GOLD Sparring GOLD Speed Kicking |
Erin Davies | GOLD Sparring SILVER Patterns |
Tilly Riley | GOLD Speed Kicking SILVER Sparring BRONZE Patterns |
Jacob Almond | GOLD Sparring SILVER Patterns SILVER Team Patterns |
Jay Williams-Garrett | GOLD Sparring GOLD Speed Kicking |
Olly Kruk | SILVER Sparring |
Eoin Carney | SILVER Team Patterns |
Ethan Carney | SILVER Patterns SILVER Team Patterns |
Joe McNicholl | GOLD Sparring |
Dominik Kruk | GOLD Sparring |
Isla Murphy | GOLD Sparring |
Tom Kelly | GOLD Sparring GOLD Speed Kicking |
Olly Gargan | GOLD Sparring GOLD Speed Kicking BRONZE Patterns |
Eloise Williams | GOLD Sparring GOLD Speed Kicking GOLD Patterns |
Adam Ahmad | BRONZE Sparring |
Owen Gargan | GOLD Sparring |
Rod Hizmeri | SILVER Sparring |
Krzysztof Kliza | GOLD Sparring |
Black Belt Grading October 2024: Results
After many years of training, competing, coaching and being an awesome member of our team, we’re pleased and proud to present the club’s newest black belt: Harry Newstead, 1st Dan!
Congratulations, Harry! Well deserved
2024 UITF World Championships: Results
CONGRATULATIONS to our team on their incredible success at the World Championships in Croatia! 🇭🇷
Nine Liverpool students recently travelled to Novigrad, Croatia, as part of the GTI England team. After months of hard training in preparation for the tournament, our squad members really shone with some passionate, determined performances. We’re pleased to report that they absolutely smashed it, with every one of them bringing home a medal! The total haul was 18 medals: 13 gold, 4 silver and 1 bronze 🙌
RESULTS:
🥇🥇 Olly Gargan – 2 x gold patterns & sparring
🥇🥇🥉 Jay Connolly – 2 x gold sparring & team sparring, bronze patterns
🥈 Liam Murphy – silver sparring
🥈🥈 Nikola Kliza – 2 x silver patterns & sparring
🥇 Eloise Williams – gold sparring
🥇🥇🥇 Owen – 3 x gold patterns, sparring & team sparring
🥇🥇🥈 Callum – 2 x gold sparring & team sparring, silver patterns
🥇 Connor – gold team sparring
🥇🥇 Stef – 2 x gold patterns & sparring.
The whole GTI England team had a great weekend, winning 51 medals, as well as a trophy for 2nd place in the overall black belt rankings 🏆
Regardless of the results, the passion and determination shown by each of our squad members has been incredible; not just at the tournament, but over the months of hard training that they have dedicated themselves to in order to achieve their goals. We are beyond proud ❤️
Well done to all the England squad members, and thanks to the GTI and the GTI Squad coaches for giving our students this amazing opportunity. Thanks to coaches John Newman, Alf Ferguson, Kirsty Kavanagh and Nicole Murphy, who were behind them all the way; particularly Coach Newman, for also taking on the mammoth task of organising the trip and all the logistics 👏
Thank you to everyone who supported the team’s fundraising efforts and helped them on their way to victory. Thanks also to the squad’s generous sponsors for helping to fund the new squad kit: Pi Accountancy, Whitetree, Talks With Toni podcast and Beard Construction.
Thanks also to Leanne Connolly for helping to organise the tournament (gaining an award from the official organisers! 🏅); and to the amazing team of supporters that cheered our fighters to victory over the weekend. Without a doubt, the GTI cheering squad was the loudest and proudest of them all! 🏴
Congratulations, everyone! Job done 🎉
2024 GTI National Open: Results
A good day for the team at the 2024 GTI National Open!
We had 8 students taking part, and they all did themselves proud, winning 3 gold and 2 silver medals. Well done to our medal winners, and to Kal, Jay W and Ethan, who all fought really well, finishing just outside the medals
RESULTS: 2024 GTI National Open
Eoin Carney | SILVER Sparring |
Jay Connolly | GOLD Sparring |
Adam Ahmad | SILVER Sparring |
Rod Hizmeri | GOLD Sparring |
Stef Davies | GOLD Patterns |
2024 ITC UK Open: Results
Well done to our team for a great effort at the ITC UK Open today!
We had 12 students taking part; all worked hard and showed great improvement. They won 19 medals: 7 gold, 9 silver & 3 bronze!
Special mention goes to Kal, who was sparring competitively for the first time and did a great job! Well done also to Alin, who put up a really good fight but just missed out on the medals.
Well done, team! Thanks to our coaches for looking after everyone and to our cheer squad for all their support
RESULTS: 2024 ITC UK Open
Kal Merritt | BRONZE Sparring BRONZE Speed kicking |
Talia Murphy | SILVER Speed kicking |
Jay Williams-Garrett | SILVER Sparring BRONZE Patterns |
Jay Connolly | GOLD Speed kicking SILVER Sparring SILVER Patterns |
Liam Murphy | SILVER Sparring |
Eloise Williams | SILVER Sparring SILVER Speed kicking |
Nikola Kliza | GOLD Sparring GOLD Speed kicking SILVER Patterns |
Adam Ahmad | SILVER Sparring |
Olly Gargan | GOLD Patterns GOLD Speed kicking |
Owen Gargan | GOLD Sparring |
Callum Edwards | GOLD Sparring |
2024 ITFU British Open: Results
We had six students competing at the ITFU British Open today, and they all smashed it!
Excellent performances from each of them, despite some tough competition. Everyone came away with a medal, with the total at 4 gold, 3 silver and 1 bronze!
Special shout-out to Jay, who was absolutely amazing in the sparring, even though it was his first time sparring at a tournament! He really got stuck in and showed true fighting spirit to win the gold. One to watch…
It was a successful day for our team and for the rest of the GTI fighters, who fought hard and bagged another load of medals
Well done, everyone!
RESULTS: 2024 ITFU British Open
Jay Williams-Garrett | GOLD Sparring |
Eloise Williams | GOLD Sparring |
Olly Gargan | GOLD Sparring |
Owen Gargan | GOLD Sparring SILVER Patterns BRONZE Special technique |
Rod Hizmeri | SILVER Sparring |
Callum Edwards | SILVER Sparring |