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Above : The top three in the O90 Kg Class at the Birmingham Show — Danny Poole, Dammon Martin and Martin Stevenson — form an impressive line-up

After last year’s fantastic results the UKBFF Finals for 2007 were bound to be an anticlimax for The Forest Gym. As we have reported last month Kevin Davenport — one of Harold’s best prospects — was out because of injury and several of our gym competitors failed to qualify this year.  Nevertheless, we had Terry Watson in the LW Class. He has been looking seriously good for the last few weeks and a high place finish was always on the cards. In fact, he did super good.  He won the Class and became yet another in the long line of British Championship class winners from the Forest Gym.  His is a very compact physique and for his height, he carries a lot of muscle.  What was surprising was that on the day — in spite of looking big, full and very hard — he weighed in below 65 Kg [10st 3lb].  If he can plan to come in on the absolute weight limit he will be almost unbeatable — like Paul George was in the past. Terry has no real weaknesses. After his qualification for the British Finals via his win at the Stars of Tomorrow last year, it was decided that he needed to do more to improve his legs.   This he has done and coming in very dry showed off the extent of the improvement. More is possible for next year. But his best body parts remain the delts and traps. Terry’s win was convincing.  All the judges placed him first in every round for a total score of 15. After that the judges were very divided over the matter of 2nd and 3rd but finally they placed Damien McBride from Cambridge in 2nd, looking pretty good with an overall score of 49, only just ahead of the very experienced Brandon Marjoram from Bodyshapers in Kettering with 53.  John Orcher from Prime Bodies in Swindon with a score of 61 was 4th and Nav Sword was 5th.

Alex Mac will produce a full detailed report of the Finals for “The Beef” and so we will just concentrate on the major incidents and highlights of the show.  Although there has been much criticism of late of the management of the UKBFF by almost everyone, on matters of petty-fogging rule changes and unannounced edicts, it did not stop huge numbers turning up to compete. There were over 270 competitors, which, I am sure is a record — and by a considerable margin  With such an on stage line-up, the competitors dragged in the supporters and there was a good big audience all day — even if they were starting to flag by the end of it all.   I sometimes — often — worry about the future of Bodybuilding but whatever negative forces are released or obstacles erected,  it seems there will always be men and women wanting to compete and being prepared to give all the commitment and suffer the hardship necessary to reach the highest levels.

The Finals took place as usual in Nottingham, on 14th October in the Nottingham Centre. In almost every category and weight division the standard of competitors was first class and there were a number of epic battles.   The audience did not always agree with the judges decisions — is this news? — and in at least one class voiced their dissent quite loudly.  Still, we do have to have some sympathy for the judges. The need to select winners from so much quality muscle is not easy and resulted in one of the longest ever judging sessions.   It was 6.45 pm before the final selections had been made in the HW class.  To get to Nottingham in time for the start of judging needs a very early departure from Crawley and the drive back after a quick post evening show meal can mean a 20 hour day.   I am getting too old for such escapades.

Big H and Karen went up on Saturday because they wanted on the night before the contest to check that everything was spot on and to make any last minute adjustments to some of the competitors whom they had been helping

Juniors

This was a convincing win for Natan De’Asha from the Training Station in Liverpool with another perfect score.  I had expected that Lewis Breed from Plymouth would have done well here after seeing him at the Birmingham show but perhaps he just needed a bit more mass.  The 2nd place went to the superb Geraint Baldwin from Fitness First in Cardiff. This is a physique that I like a lot.  He had great proportions with outstanding delts and traps and he was in nice condition.  Hasam Azizi from Sugar’s Gym in Leicester was 3rd.

First Timers

This Class was won by the fabulous Shaun Tavenier from Genesis Gym [see below - right].   I had heard great stories about this man after his qualifier and they were all true. He could have beaten Flex Lewis for the overall — perhaps.  He was well ahead of Chris Bajak in 2nd.  The 3rd place went to Jaun Arier from Muscle Works in Bethnal Green who also qualified via the South East Show.

Masters

Marcus Braithwaite from Extreme Fitness in Leicester took this convincingly, dropping just one point in the three rounds.  Tony Hanson from Cyril’s Gym in Nottingham scored 45 coming in 2nd and Brian Connolly from Betta Bodies in Denton with 57 was in 3rd. Brian seems to have been around for years but always manages to get his condition right.   In the O50s Bernie Cooper was not able to overcome Dave Lamptey from Metroflex in Sydenham but it was very close.  Veteran Walter O’Malley was unplaced.

Intermediates O80 Kg

I was  staggered when they announced Patrick Williams in 3rd. I wasn’t the only one.   The audience booed  an appalling result.  I saw Patrick Williams in Birmingham 2 weeks before and I thought then that there was no way that he could not win.   This guy is so good, he would not have looked out of place in a pro line-up.   I am not saying that he would win, he just would not be overawed.  Placing him 3rd was crazy.   The audience response was bad for the other contestants in 1st and 2nd, Jordan Jones and Dan Juma.  They were not responsible for the judges.

Classic Bodybuilding

What is this all about?  According to the UKBFF this class has been introduced because of a demand for contests for men who do not want to get as big as Bodybuilders.   Is there such a demand?     Most people I know take the mickey — and it deserves it — and certainly there is little interest.  Is it just an attempt to introduce Fitness [Men] by the back door?   I understand that there is some kind of mathematical formula that adds the competitor’s weight to the biceps measurement and divides by the square root on the hypotenuse in order to see if the competitor comes up to scratch.  These contests may have an appeal in some foreign countries but not Britain.   And, if that sounds xenophobic — good!

U80 Kg

It seems from the score sheets that by the time the judging had reached this class the judges had given up the will to live — hardly surprising — and confined themselves to picking a top five and then just sorting out 1,2,3 etc from these.   We have not seen much of Wade Stafford in recent months and we believe that his preparations this year were assisted by James Llewellyn. We thought that he was well on course for a great showing at the Finals, when he qualified in Birmingham just 2 weeks earlier.  Then he had the muscle and shape but with just a little more drying out required for the finals. In fact he came in well off. What happened?  The class was won quite easily by Tom Bailey from Muscle H&S in Great Yarmouth.   He has an advantage.  Off season [winter] Great Yarmouth has few distractions to keep you out of the gym. I have been to Great Yarmouth in February, mate!  But he did look great all over.  The judges showed a strange uniformity of opinions in placing Nathan Selcon 2nd and Stephen Graham 3rd.

U90 Kg

This was almost a forgone conclusion but in fact the contestants seemed to have conditioned themselves for the result.  It should have been closer between James Llewellyn and Flex Lewis.  James has more muscle but his condition was slightly off and this made Flex with his shape, condition and presentation a definite winner.    Barny du Plessis was 3rd; perhaps he needs just that bit more muscle to win this class. Can he do it without going over the weight limit? I would have thought — yes!

O90 Kg

This was a win for Darren Ball from Daz Ball Extreme Gym in Leicester.   I have seen this man grow over the years from being just another competitor to an awesome Bodybuilder.  He was impressive at the South Coast in April but now even more so. Massive, massive, massive and in condition. He was not quite a unanimous choice of the judges but was not far off.   Of course Zak Khan was 2nd.  He was, like last year, huge even if a little lighter.  But why can’t he get shredded??   He has so much muscle he could afford to lose 20 lbs to come in ripped and ready to win.  But he does not.  Why?    Alvin Small from Garth’s Gym in Nottingham was also impressive in a more aesthetic sort of way and fully deserved 3rd.   Stuart Core from Core Fitness in Plymouth was 4th.  He has a classic physique with no weaknesses except he needs to be bigger.  He is still a man with enormous potential — and he is not very old — he won the Junior Mr Universe 7 years ago. David Titterton from Quirke’s in Sheffield has a classic shape but lacks the mass to get to the top of this class.

Women’s Bodybuilding

In the U57 Kg Class Venetia Gloux from Physique Warehouse was a fairly convincing winner.  She had teh best combination of shape, size and proportion although she could have been slightly sharper.  Tracey Kiley was 2nd and Eileen Kirkwood from Stevenston in the wilder parts of Ayrshire.  In the O57 Kg Class, Aga Ryk from G’s Gym in Ealing the winner from Jacqueline Reilly from teh Castle Gallery in Windsor.

Body Fitness

In the Body Fitness Shalmieno Paper from Esporta in Peterborough was in first place ahead of Clare Taubmann from Fitness First in Fairham. This was teh right decision but Clare was a bit disheartened by her experience.  Last year she was down graded because she was too hard; this year she was 2nd because she was not hard enough.  The problem is that teh rules are too nebulous.  How much is too much?

The Men’s Overall Winner was Flex Lewis.

Overall winner and U90 Kg Barney du Plessis at the Midland Classic.

All above pictures by Eric Guy

The 2007 Midlands Classic took place at the Alexandre Theatre in the middle of my “favourite” city of Birmingham.   Birmingham has been a traffic nightmare since the beginning of time and it shows little prospect of getting better any time soon.  To reach this venue we had to endure a ridiculous traffic jam about half-a-mile from our destination that delayed us for 25 minutes.   Then there was the car park with an £11.00 charge for parking on a Sunday. Still, the theatre was pretty good as far as venues go and view of the stage was good from all parts of the auditorium. We came to see Danny Poole returning to competition, much improved from his condition on previous outings. There were five in the HW [O90 Kg] Class and we could see immediately that Danny was in with a shout. After many comparisons the win went to Damar Martin from the Metroflex Gym in Sydenham.  He is a very experienced competitor but wins on his classic shape more than anything.  He has good muscle bellies and he was in good condition but he is light for a HW and still lacks calves.  He was the deserving winner but will struggle in the finals.  The 2nd spot went to Martin Stevenson of Olde H&S in Buckingham.  He had plenty of size but is not a particularly pleasing shape.  I had the impression that he could have lost a bit more water and tightened up his waist.    Danny was 3rd  and definitely a much improved shape.   He was the heaviest in the class but still looked as though he needed more mass.   He needs the mass to allow him to get harder. Danny’s legs are much improved and now look good in side poses — but they need to be held flexed at all times to bring out separation and condition. More mass is needed on the hams but more than anything an outer sweep will help improve overall shape still further. Nevertheless, a good effort — and posing was good — and a well deserved 3rd.

In other classes, there was a good Junior winner in Lewis Breed from Core Fitness in Plymouth — he looks like a younger Stuart Core.   He is a Bodybuilder with a great future; great size, symmetry, condition, separation and balance.

Walter O’Malley in the O50s returned to contests after a gap of about ...  oh 30 years or so. Walter is over 70 years old now and not in too bad a condition for his age. He competed against Peter Vickery many times in the early seventies and he had started his competitive career as a Junior over 50 years ago.   He brought the house down with his attitude and a posing routine that seemed much as it was in 1975.   Well done old man.    The winner was Rob Young with Shawn Bagnall 2nd and Walter 3rd.

In the Intermediate O80 Kg there was the astonishing physique of Patrick Williams from Cinder Hill Gym in Nottingham.  He has a terrific physique weighing in at 250 lbs at 5ft 10in [approx].  He is big everywhere but with a very small waist.  His legs are huge, cut and vascular. He has size, balance and condition — an easy winner.   Should take the title at the British Finals [I was wrong — he did not}.

There were only two in the U80 Kg Class. One of these was Wade Stafford.  We have not seen much of Wade down at the Forest Gym in recent months.  He has been training at Castle Gym in Windsor and helped in his contest preparations by James LLewellyn.   Wade won over Aaron Wild.  Wade had more muscle but he was less hard.  Wade has good balance and proportions but will need to dry out more for the finals.

The U90 Kg winner was the still improving Barney du Plessis [above]. Barney from Vern Montgomery’s 24 Hour Gym in Swindon was in very good condition with all round size and shape.   A well balanced package with particularly good separation in hams and glutes.  I think he was well ahead of Marc Westercott from Unique Fitness in Middlewich in 2nd — he just needs some more muscle mass.  Martin Beaufort was 3rd.

The Overall title went to Barney du Plessis.

So that was it.  A well organized show in a good venue but in a nuisance location.

Shaun Tavenier from Genesis Gym in Wembley was the astonishing winner of teh First Timers at the UKBFF Finals in Nottingham.  This guy is awesome.   He will be a pro by next year and who can say how far he will go.  Other Bodybuilders will see this man and weep!

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Pictures above from Weider Site