Team Name: Kaizen
IC – Liz Ashley – UKS name: eightwayliz – Age 26 – 1600 jumps – 18 hours Tunnel
OC – Rai Ahmed – UKS name: Rai – Age 31 – 550 jumps – 18 hours Tunnel
P – Jo – UKS name: Pinkie – age 29 – 660 jumps – 17 hours tunnel
T – Liz Cass – UKS name: little_liz – Age 28– 660 jumps  – 20 hours Tunnel
Camera – Dave Curtin – UKS name: 190truck – Age 52 – jumps – 5 minutes(!) Tunnel

Coach -  Mainly Pete Allum - we call him “magical Pete” as he works his magic on our skydiving! Also tunnel coaching from Steve Hamilton and we’ve just won an hour with Thomas Hughes for our performance in the World Challenge (we are quite a new team, so were delighted to do well!). Also currently trying to sort some coaching out with Chris Hollis – we like to hear ideas from lots of people. It’s good to mix it up a bit.

Main training DZ –  Weston, but also training camps in Deland and Empuria. We are (far too frequently for our bank managers to be happy) found in Bedford too.

Wonderful name! Wanna share what it means to our non-Japanese readers?
“Continuous improvement.” That means we had an excuse if we were a bit rubbish to start with!

How did you meet?
Rai and Jo have been on a team together for a couple of years (Aether and Monkey Magic), Liz A had done awesome things with Sounds Grrr8 (as well as running an AFF and wingsuit school “Wingin’ it”) and wanted to try some 4 way and Liz C was an excellent tail flyer last year with Slightly Odd, so it all fell together one night in London over pizza. Dave was looking for a new team and coz he’s fab we class him as an honourary chick! (Not sure he’ll like me saying that!) We actually found both Liz A and Dave by posting on the request forum of UKS.

What is it like being an all chick team in a hairy assed world?
(Dave would object to this question too, but speaking for the rest of us) it’s great to work in an all girl team. It’s very supportive and we attract a lot of interest and support from people we meet…

Will we see Kaizen at the UKSL meets or is it all for the Nats?
We are doing everything! All the grand prix, nationals and ESL. We are in it for the bling! Really looking forward to jumping at beautiful Cark in the GP despite it being a real trek up there from London!

What is the team dynamic like? Defined roles or passive posse?
The team is really supportive of one another, but we all have distinctive (if slightly odd) characters:

Rai is obsessively tidy (you should see her beautiful house), but give her a slice of bread and she’ll fall asleep and she’s deeply suspicious of mushrooms.

Liz C loses things constantly. She’s not allowed to look after her own train tickets when we go up to Bedford! She also has Gatorade dependency issues.

Jo eats constantly and has one of the oldest cars on the road, so mostly drives with her fingers crossed.

Liz A is our professional – teaching AFF, wingsuiting, WARP. We not entirely sure how she manages to fit in 4 way.

Dave is an expert in concrete and first aid – a useful combination in skydiving.

We have a collective love of eating boiled eggs…

Did you do A/Rookie last year? How does the transition feel?
Rai, Jo and Liz C did a last year. It feels like the logical next step, learning more and progressing, improving the moves we did last year, doing them with different team members. Liz A is new to 4way and didn't even know the random dive pool let alone the blocks. It’s been a steep learning curve for her!

In it to win it? Or here for the beer?
Both! The beer tastes sweeter with a medal round your neck!

How was your last jump?
The last jump we did as a team was in Florida and we mostly geeked the camera, as we’d just finished our big camp and are generally a bit vain!

One tip you could give a rookie team averaging 1 point?

Get a bit of tunnel and exit coaching. We’ve all been there and all it takes is a bit of practice and advice. Coaching is so valuable – we’ve learn so much every session from Pete and Steve.

Any formations/blocks or transitions that will cause upset if they appear at the Nationals?
We love doing blocks – soooo much fun! We need more practice at doing some of them on the hill…I (Jo) spectacularly funnelled a 19 on the hill in our training camp and haven’t lived it down since! Our favourite launch at the moment is a 14 (bipole) as it’s like doing twister in the door, but somehow works!

What’s the last thing on your mind before you nod off at night? Crazy frog?
What we do just before we go to sleep is probably not something to discuss publicly!

Closing thoughts?
If you see us on the DZ/in the wind tunnel, come say hi. We are happy to offer help and advice if we can or point you in the direction of someone who can.