Long live Jam Britannia!
The 1st ever Freestyle-only tournament in the UK was held last weekend in West London and I’d have to say it exceeded expectations in almost every way, what a memorable event. Organized by the Jasons (Salkey and McGlade) with plenty of help from Pavel Baranyk and many others pitched in as well.
Over 50 players were in attendance (37 competitors) coming from 10 countries (the US, the UK, Denmark, Poland, Germany, France, Belgium, Czech Repub, Italy and Israel).
Organizing an event in a big city like London in no small feat. Jason Salkey was able to find a huge indoor space for the event
complete with built-in sound system and seats for spectators. He was also able to arrange lodging for the players for only 15
pounds per night at nearby hostel walking distance from the gym and he provided sandwiches, bananas and water for all the players.
On Friday jammers were able to get their jam on at the gym early in the day and then meet up for a walk down Portabella Road, followed by fish and chips and then a few beers at a traditional English style pub called the Eagle. After returning to the hostel we met all met up at a nearby pub called “The Flying Fisherman”. The pub was completely empty when we arrived so we sort of took over the place and before long the party was booming. Unfortunately, word began to spread about the attacks in Paris and our French jammer guests Julien and Raphael were frantically trying to reach loved ones.
Uncertainty turned to fear as we found out that Raphael’s girlfriend Cécile was at the concert where hostages were being held and was not responding on her phone. Hours passed by with no word, all we could do was hope for the best and finally word came through that she had been saved and a collective sigh of relief was felt by all. Raphael decided to return to Paris early the next day to be with her and our thoughts went with him.
On Saturday the tournament began in the late afternoon which was good since the Friday party ended a bit late as the pub stayed open an extra 2 hours after closing time for us. There were some truly shredding performances in the first pool of the Co-op Semi Final with Toddy, Sascha and Benjamin hitting some ridiculous stuff. However, they were not to be outdone by Manuel, Freddy and Alex who also totally smoked – two of the hottest routines I’ve seen all year. Also making the final from pool A was Jan S, Thomas N and Jakub K buoyed by their cool choreography.
From pool B a big surprise were the Belgian boys Pepyn and Steffen busting a move with local Brighton jammer Andy as they shredded their way into the finals by hitting some spectacular moves with few errors. Also making the finals from pool B were Pavel, Robert and Irena and Jason S, Fabio S and Tom L (me) with a 1 drop routine.
Saturday night’s party hosted by the hostel began a bit slow but as Nötzel’s band ‘and the horse’ hit their groove the party started picking up momentum. Before long the dance floor filled up and a mosh pit ensued. The band was brought back again and again for several encores. Just when the party seemed to be dying down another band took the stage firing up the party to epic proportions. Jason Salkey’s wife Natasha was so moved that she took the microphone and put into words what everyone was feeling commenting on how much love was filling the room.
Sunday’s finals began with mixed pairs and the very first team started off with a bang as Jason Salkey teamed with Sophie Rickers from Brighton – they hit a super speed flow sequence to begin their round which helped carry them to 3rd place. Ilka and Sascha played well to take 2nd and Irena and Jakub K hit their routine nicely to secure the win.
In the co-op final Alex, Freddy and Manuel ran away with the title with a clean and technically difficult performance. Taking 2nd were the seed busters Pavel, Robert Dittrich and Irena with me, Jason and Fabio placing 3rd.
The spirit of the game award went to Raphael Legrand who was not present but Julien accepted it for him and brought the hand crafted wooden piece of art back to Paris and presented it to Raphael and Cécile.
Here are some thoughts and memories from the weekend…
It was great to see Jason McGlade taking photos and performing his magic on the microphone just days after being in the hospital when an infection during knee surgery threatened his leg and even his life – after 2 more operations and countless mixes of antibiotics doctors finally cured the infection. Good to have you back on the road to health Jason.
Also, great to see John Coxhead again – and introduce one of the original UK Discstylers to Jason S and the gang.
It wouldn’t have felt like Jam Britannia without Adrian Wainwright – so great to jam with him again.
Thanks to Anne-Cathrin McGlade and Natasha Salkey for helping out all weekend.
Pavel’s 109 consecutive indoor body rolls set a world record. Amazing! see the video here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwUBOWMbnaA
The Saturday night party will be remembered as one of the most spirited in years!
Amazing to see 3 kids under 10 years old who all could delay using the nail glued onto a thimble.
There were jammers in their 10’s, 20’s, 30’s, 40’s, 50’s and 60’s
Cheers to J, J & Pav and to everyone who made Jam Britannia what it was – A SMASHING SUCCESS!
(Please see Jason Salkey’s comments below as well)
– Tom Leitner
RESULTS
Co-op Semis
Pool A
1 Alex Leist / Freddy Finner / Manu Cesari
2 Sascha Scherzinger / Benno Edelmann / Todd Brodeur
3 Thomas Nötzel / / Jakub Kostel / Jan Soerensen
4 Jessica Skomroch / Harry Skomroch / Tim Pattberg
5 Andrea Stazi / Michal Maciolek / Sophie Rickers
6 John Coxhead / Ilka Simon / Steve Scannel
Pool B
1 Tom Leitner / Fabio Sanna / Jason Salkey
2 Pavel Baranyk / Robert Dittrich / Irena Kulisanova
3 Yonatan Kriss / Jan Schreck / Fabian Dinklage
4 Greg Marter / Julien Menetrat / Marc Pestotnik
5 Steffen Verstichelen / Pepyn Tavernier / Andy Absolom
6 Chris Bellaj / Gordie Brown / Steven Rhodes
Co-op Finals
1 Alex Leist / Freddy Finner / Manu Cesari
2 Pavel Baranyk / Robert Dittrich / Irena Kulisanova
3 Tom Leitner / Fabio Sanna / Jason Salkey
4 Thomas Nötzel / Jakub Kostel / Jan Soerensen
5 Sascha Scherzinger / Benno Edelmann / Todd Brodeur
6 Steffen Verstichelen / Pepyn Tavernier / Andy Absolom
Mixed Finals
1 Irena Kulisanova / Jakub Kostel
2 Ilka Simon / Sascha Scherzinger
3 Sophie Rickers / Jason Salkey
4 Jessica Skomrock / Harry Skomrock
Here is Jason Salkey’s summary:
“How do I sum up the epic weekend we just shared?
Possibly, by telling you I was anticipating Jam Britannia like a kid looks forward to Christmas and boy, I got three Xmas days in a row, I even got visited by a bearded man in the middle of the night smile emoticon
It was the largest assembly of UK jammers, uniting generations and the different freestyle regions of Jam Britannia. Shame I didn’t get a photo! I loved having my neighbourhood teeming with jammers; bumping into the Brodeurs on my way to the shops particularly lovely.
The atmosphere created at our post jam gatherings was nothing short of electric; Saturday night at Le Junction will live on in Jamily party history. Seeing my mini Jam Britannians showing their stuff filled me with pride.The enthusiasm and determination to improve of my Ginger partner inspired me no end. The appearance of Adrian Wainwright, the unique and excellent brush run, the fact my wife now loves the Jamily, Pavel’s world record, the excellent creative minds of SPINCO, the iconic images they produced and the incredible courage they showed in the face of such inhumanity.
And finally what made me most content was the way McGlade, Baranyk and Salkey came together and harnessed our different yet compatible energies to make Jam Britannia a success.
All of these wonderful memories will live with me for forever and I have the Jamily to thank for that.”
Jason ‘Jam Legs’ Salkey
