PHOENIX School of Martial Arts in Beckenham held their second bi-annual inter-club tournament on Sunday.

Teams from across the south of England took part and it was a day full of challenges during almost 12 hours of competition.

There was great excitement from the Beckenham competitors and supporters, some of whom had queued for an hour to get a seat right at the front near all the action.

Phoenix’s juniors were first to compete and faced the Croydon Steve team, who dwarfed Beckenham in both age and size.

But although Beckenham were overwhelmed by the size of the opposition, they fought valiantly.

Beckenham juniors then showed incredible resilience and spirit when they fought for a second time against the Croydon Ruth team by winning with true sportsmanship and high spirits against opposition of equal size.

The highlight of the day came when Ellis Simmonds, captain of the junior team, fought with great skill and control in his individual challenge match against a fellow blue sash from Wallington and convincingly won by 11 points to one.

Beckenham instructor Nick Jaye said Ellis embodied the true spirit of martial arts by inspiring and looking after his fellow team-mates and showing great respect for his fellow opponents.

Phoenix’s senior men, all intermediate and inexperienced competitors, were selected to fight against the Croydon A Team.

They fought well, but lost against the vastly experienced Croydon black sashes, the world, European, national and Superleague kickboxing champions.

Beckenham’s ladies’ team finished third, with Elit Kane competing in her first tournament and showing she has great potential.

Second brown sash Zoe Green won both her fights in great style and is once again undefeated in competition.