posted Jun 11th, 2012 - The NSL News mentioned with the first update of last weekend's meets that the United Kingdom Skydiving League was heading towards new record participation at the second UKSL meet of the 2012 season. 32 teams eventually completed five rounds in Langar, and the six AAA Class teams had enough time for another jump to make it a 6-round meet at the end of the day. It was a very special meet for one team.

Kaizen was formed in 2008 when the original lineup (Rai Ahmed, Liz Ashley, Liz Cass, Jo Hawley) attended the World Challenge to launch the team project. They competed at all three UKSL meets of the regular season in the AA Class competition and then at the UK Nationals 2008 where they won the silver medals.

Kaizen moved up into the AAA Class in 2009, and the team has consistently increased the performance and scoring level ever since, mostly under coach Pete Allum's guidance. However, Kaizen has never been on the very top of any leaderboard, neither in the AA Class nor in the AAA Class - until last weekend.

UKSL 2012 - June		Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5	Round 6	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class	L,E,4,M	G,3,N,19	J,P,K,Q,11	6,F,H,17	18,2,7	10,20,8	Total	Avg
1	Kaizen (UK)	18	15	20	19	12	11	95	15.8
2	Bodyflight Aerodyne Langar (UK)	17	13	12	16	13	9	80	13.3
3	Eclipse (UK)	12	11	12	12	11	8	66	11.0
4	Kryos (UK)	12	11	11	12	11	8	65	10.8
5	Team Steve (UK)	9	9	14	12	10	7	61	10.2
6	Karmic Bitchslap (UK)	11	7	14	13	9	6	60	10.0

It surely was not a weak leaderboard in the AAA Class competition, as UK's national team in the female 4way category, Bodyflight Aerodyne Langar, added competition practice to the team's preparations for the World Meet 2012 in Dubai.

Kaizen's 15.8 average is not really a big surprise after taking a closer look at the team's progression over the years. However, Kaizen had to go through personnel changes, which always makes it challenging for a team to continue without a setback. Rai Ahmed and Liz Cass are now the only original members after Jo Hawley left the team to focus on her 8way slot with the Brit Chicks and Lynne Murray took the open slot.

Francois Cathelain became a Kaizen member when Liz Ashley left the team at the end of the 2009 season. That was also the end of Kaizen's eligibility for the female category.

World Challenge 2012		Rd. 1	Rd. 2	Rd. 3	Rd. 4	Rd. 5	Rd. 6	Rd. 7	Rd. 8	Rd. 9	Rd. 10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class	D,Q,9,10	17,P,11	2,21,7	14,J,O,M	A,L,18,16	N,H,20,G	C,E,19,22	1,8,4	K,6,3	12,F,5	Total	Avg
18	Kaizen	20	18	17	25	17	21	21	15	18	19	191	19.1
7	Bodyflight Aerodyne Langar	17	18	15	26	18	20	19	15	18	16	182	18.2

The Kaizen performance at the World Challenge 2012 indicated that the new lineup would be in great shape this year. The 19.1 average in April at Bodyflight Bedford was the highest indoor result for Kaizen since the teams started in 2008.

Kaizen was also ahead of Bodyflight Aerodyne Langar at the World Challenge 2012 and now followed up at the first outdoor competition for both teams in 2012. Kaizen even increased the difference between both teams compared to the results at the indoor competition.

However, the British national team in the female category won one round, which was the technically most challenging one with the only 3-block sequence in the 6-round meet. Kaizen took the greatest advantage in the fast sequence of random formations (J,P,K,Q) before Block 11 (Photon - Photon) in Round 3.