2013 World Women and 5th World Weight Category Cahmpionships

2013 World Women and 5^th World Weight Category Cahmpionships

Reported By Jack Shiah

Thanks to Mark for summarizing the support that we received from our fellow VKK sempais and kohais (as well as the fight breakdowns). I cannot describe it better myself. Thank you very much everyone!

The 5^th World Weight Category tournament was a bitter-sweet experience for me. I've sacrificed all my time training for the past 5 months for that 2 minutes on the mat. I was very disappointed in myself because I lost, and didn't perform as well as I could. At the same time, I am glad that I get to realize what I have to work on, and really improve myself for the next tournament. The opponent that I faced, Zenjuro Mori, showed me what a true champion is made of. He was so calm on the mat, and displayed excellent techniques. I will train hard to try to get to his level one day. I have been thinking about the fight everyday, I think it is very interesting because I've never put so much thought into a match. Hopefully it would turn out to be a positive thing for me.

Special thanks to Sensei Tats for coaching us on tournament day (thanks thanks thanks!!!) I was so nervous that day and Sensei's presence made it a lot better.

Last but not least, I would also like to thank Shihan Stuart for communicating with IKO headquarter and encouraging us Canadian fighters to compete at the highest level of Kyokushin Karate.

Osu!

Jack Shiah
Vancouver Kyokushin Karate

Reported By Mark Berg

A tournament  only lasts for a day (or three in this case) but the preparation of everyone involved starts months in advance. Everyone trains as hard as they can so they can squeeze out an extra kick, block an additional punch, and sidestep a last minute rush. There is a lot you can do by yourself in terms of kicking a bag, or improving stamina but almost everything else you require the help of others to practice it. Jack, Tomomi and I were lucky to get that additional help.

Dojo mates would drop their personal routines after class to hold pads or spar. They would also change their fighting style in sparring to let us practice our weaknesses. Sensei sacrificed his remaining free time and weekends to give us that extra training and pointers that we needed to fight well. Sempai Michi, Sempai Kris, and Sempai Joel also showed up on occasion to hold pads and spar. Then the dojo donated funds to help us with the expenses of getting and fighting in Japan, as well as sending us all off with a gift (a signed Canadian flag). With all the extra training and help, we left confident that we had done as much preparation as we could.

The Women's tournament started the day before the mens, so Tomomi fought first. Tomomi was matched up against a tall Russian named Elena Gulko. Tomomi's hard training showed a great improvement in her movement but Elena landed too many solid knees and won the fight by decision. The next day was the women's finals where everyone was ecstatic to see Julie Lamarre from eastern Canada win the World Champion title in women's middleweight.

After the women's finals had ended, Jack's fight soon came up. His opponent was Zenjyuro Mori (Japan), the 2009 Middleweight Champion. Jack started off well and interfered with Mori's rhythm, but about a minute in Mori got the distance to make an impressive combo. Jack kept fighting hard, throwing good hiza's but Mori kept control of the match and won it. After that came my turn to fight. It is both an exciting and a nerve-wracking thing to do. The excitement comes from the desire to push and test yourself, to see your improvement, and the nerves come from being worried you get the chance to show everything you can do.

My opponent was Stevin Cujic  from Australia. The match started well, and I landed some effective kicks. Towards the middle of the fight Stevin changed up and started throwing some overhead punches that landed on my collar-bone and pushed me back. In the last bit of the match, Stevin increased the tempo and I couldn't keep, also landing a sweep with 20 seconds remaining. It went to decision where Stevin won unanimously.

Unfortunately we didn't win a match, which was a disappointment to us. The results of the hard training showed, though, and this experience will help us grow into even stronger fighters. Thank you to Shihan Stuart for all the organization in getting there, IKO for the tournament and to VKK for all the help in preparing for the fights.

Osu!
Mark Berg,

Vancouver Kyokushin Karate