Dec. 10/11 - West Island Karate KARAOKE Christmas Party!
No, thine eyes deceive you not! That is most definitely Sensei John SINGING(!) at our first ever West Island Karate KARAOKE Christmas Party (click on the above photo to see the video advertisement we ran prior to the party)! To be honest, after proposing the idea of a karaoke theme to Sensei, your humble webmaster wasn't sure how it would be received on the evening of the party. But with all the resident party animals at our dojo (yes Vince, I'm talking about you), I needn't have worried. :-D Sensei always says that Kyokushin is about training hard AND partying hard...and boy, DID WE PARTY! It didn't take long before people were lining up for a chance to regale the assembled throng with a melody or two (as well as shake what their momma gave 'em under the colorful stage lights :-)). From some of the youngest munchkins AND their parents, to the students, Sempais and Senseis (including our good friend, Sensei Hugo of Karate Perez), everyone joined in the fun. Sempai Victor belted out a rocking version of Bruce Springsteen's "Born To Run". Not to be outdone, Sensei relented and finally took to the stage, much to the delight of all his students. Under the twinkle of the mirror ball Christmas ornaments that adorned the ceiling, Sensei made his singing debut with Barry Manilow's classic cautionary tale, "Copacabana", flanked by Sensei Steve and Sensei Hugo no less! That pretty much brought the house down! :-) So feeling his oats, Sensei continued by crooning a heartfelt version of Frank Sinatra's "Fly Me To The Moon". Sensei then finished his "set" with a rousing rendition of "Summer Nights" from the movie "Grease", with the men on stage left singing John Travolta's parts, while the women on stage right (including Sempai Nancy) warbled Olivia Newton-John's flirty lines. It was truly a sight to behold! As if all that wasn't enough, Sorin (pictured here conducting some of our younger entertainers) , produced a video tribute to Sensei John as a special Christmas gift to him. Sorin is a music producer, so he put together a spoof of Maroon 5's recent hit, "Moves Like Jagger", which he calls "Moves Like Sensei". :-) Sorin created all the music, sang the vocals (with a big assist from his wife Silvana) and added visuals to his amazing soundtrack. With Sorin's kind permission (thanks Sorin!), we have posted it on our site for all to see. Enjoy! The photo above was taken by our own David Boily who took the time to snap some pics of the evening's festivities (as well as do a little karaoke himself :-)). Click here to see his photo album of the party (thanks so much Dave). When the smoke cleared, the unanimous opinion was that this year's Karaoke Christmas Party was the best dojo Christmas party yet (hmmm...I sense a new WIK tradition coming on). Many thanks to everyone who contributed to our delicious potluck supper. It was an incredible smorgasbord! And a huge thank you to everyone who helped make this party the dojo event of the year. From all of us at West Island Karate, we wish you happy holidays and a healthy and prosperous New Year. See you in 2012. Osu!
A West Island Karate team of 13 strong made the drive to Quebec City for the very first Karaté Kyokushin Québec Championship. Hosted by Sensei Jonathan Ouellet, the tournament featured kata, team kata and semi-contact kumite for karateka of all ages. Predictably our team turned in an impressive performance across the board, from our most "seasoned" veterans like Sempais Manon, Annie and Vincent, to our youngest team member, little Mya. Almost lost in all the excitement of the competition was an unselfish act of honesty by one of our students. Due to an error on the part of the score keepers, Avery (pictured above with Sensei) was mistakenly awarded first place for kata. She in fact did not place this time around and was completely unaware of what had transpired. But after discovering the mistake, she elected to speak with Sensei John and proceeded to return the trophy. Avery's actions demonstrated, in a very real way, the kind of life lessons that are taught at West Island Karate regarding fair play and sportsmanship. This actually was not the first time this has happened. A similar incident involved Sempai Lia earlier this year at a different tournament and it was resolved in much the same fashion. Avery, all of us at West Island Karate are VERY proud of you! Osu! Many thanks to Sensei Ouellet for hosting a wonderful tournament and a hearty congratulations to our entire team. Thanks to our own David Boily, we have some awesome photos of the tournament to share with you (much appreciated Dave...as always). Just click on the picture above to peruse them. In addition, check out 17 videos of our team in action at the tournament.
Your humble webmaster decided to drop in on the Beginner Kids Class on a recent Saturday morning and snap a few candid photos. Besides being ridiculously cute :-), it was obvious that this newest generation of West Island Karate students has great potential. As Sempai Victor led his young charges through some basic movements, combinations and kata, it was equally clear that these junior karateka were having a lot of fun (especially when they volunteered to kick Sempai as seen in the photo above...hmmm :-)). Click on the picture above to see all the other photos from that class. Enjoy.
Nov. 5/11 - Demonstration at Montreal Japanese Language Centre
West Island Karate was once again invited by the Montreal Japanese Language Centre to put on a special demonstration at their annual Autumn Festival. Always a wonderful event, the festival offered the chance to sample delicious, homemade, Japanese food including baked goods and confections. There was also a wide variety of Japanese books, videos, art, origami and games as well as a demonstration of Ninjutsu by Bujinkan Dojo, and shows by the Arashi Daiko taiko drum troupe and the Komachi Japanese dance troupe of Montreal. West Island Karate's demonstration featured many of the same "suspects" from our demo in 2009 with the exception of two new, very cute additions to the team: little Mya (pronounced "Mee-uh") and her big sister Alexa. The young rookies didn't seem phased at all by the big stage or large audience looking on. Predictably they stole the show as their mom, Nadine, snapped some pictures which you can see in our Photo Gallery (in addition to a few that your humble webmaster took at the dojo before we left as well as the group shots that were taken when it was all over). Thanks so much Nadine! Sensei John and Sempai Lia led the team through some basic kihon, kata, self-defense and kumite. Stephane even did an excellent nunchaku kata solo! Osu! The mix of impressive Kyokushin skills with some humourous moments made for a very engaging karate demonstration that was greatly appreciated by the festival goers. And of course, our WIK team had a blast doing it! Click here to check out 12 videos of our demonstration (courtesy of your humble webmaster). Enjoy.
(Click on the above photo to display a larger version). The kids (and a few adults who are just big kids :-)) came out in some very imaginative and hilarious costumes for West Island Karate's annual Halloween Training! Our junior karateka and their parents always look forward to this event as it is arguably the most fun class of the year. Princesses, vampires, ninjas and firemen trained alongside Scooby-Doo, a Chicago gangster (complete with old style tommy gun), Pikachu, Green Lantern, a super-cute carrot, a giant slice of pizza, a red M&M, and a wide assortment of other fun and sometimes frightening characters. Sensei came dressed as Yokozuna (albeit a very skinny version of the famous wrestler :-)) and was flanked by the Tooth Fairy (Sempai Nancy), Ernie from Sesame Street (Sempai Victor), Lady Gaga (Sempai Manon) and Sleepy (a.k.a. Sauren, one of our adult students). Even our dojo mascot, Dexter (Sensei's dog), sported a skunk stripe down his back! After the training, Sensei and the Sempais rewarded all the kids (and some sugar-deprived parents :-)) with some sweet Halloween treats. Click here to see some wonderful photos of the Halloween Training courtesy of Anne-Marie Lemieux (thanks so much for sharing your photos A-M)!
Aug. 27/11 - West Island Karate gives a demo in JAMAICA!
Since summer was winding down, Sensei decided to play hooky today so he could work on his tan instead. So he invited the most deserving of us to meet him at the airport. We then boarded Sensei's private jet for a quick jaunt to Jamaica while the other students sweated out the usual, rigorous Saturday class at the dojo. As you can see from the photo above, the weather in Jamaica was paradise! It was challenging not to dwell on our fellow karateka being put through their paces by Sensei Steve and Sempai Alain back at the dojo, but we managed to do some tough training of our own. Five strenuous minutes later, we took a break from the sun for some pina coladas under the straw huts. What a great day! Hopefully next time, everyone can come along! :-) OK, actually Sensei got a last minute call from the city of St-Zotique to ask if West Island Karate could stage a karate demonstration for them. The demo would dovetail with a "Festival Asiatique" that they were hosting at St-Zotique Beach. Despite being thrown together literally at the last minute, the demonstration went off without a hitch and the spectators at the beach seemed to enjoy it immensely. Thanks to Liz Lorenzca (she's the second from the left in this photo), we have some great photos of the demo to share with you (much appreciated Liz!). Just click on the picture above to see them (Sensei even did a little karaoke for all the beach-goers :-)). Yup, it was a great day!
After 9 years at 550 Beaconsfield Boulevard (the 3rd dojo in our history), Sensei John decided to move to a new location to better accomodate the growth of West Island Karate and the needs of its many students. We are happy to announce that the dojo is now located in Maison Sutton (186 Sutton Place, Beaconsfield, bordering St-Charles Boulevard north of highway 20). It was sad to say goodbye to our old dojo, but as Sensei John himself remarked after some initial trainings at Maison Sutton, the incredible spirit and sense of family that make West Island Karate what it is will always remain regardless of where we train. The Senseis, Sempais, students and parents ARE West Island Karate. Osu!
Sensei John decided to conduct some gradings at all levels in late June. In particular, the grading in the advanced adult class required two evenings to complete. It was a very thorough examination of Japanese terminology, kihon, kata, weapons kata, kumite, physical fitness, endurance, perseverance, and above all, spirit! Passing a grading is never a given at West Island Karate. Sensei insists on the best from each of his students and will not settle for less. Indeed, some of his students did not pass, but in a true testament to their spirit, they returned on the second evening to help and support their fellow karateka, so kudos to them. A grading is not only a chance for Sensei to test his students' skills and gauge their progress, but it forces each of us to evaluate and learn a little bit about ourselves. It is truly a humbling and eye-opening experience. Rejoining us on this evening was Sempai Patsy who took a break from training to start a family. Welcome back Sempai! The evening culminated in the successful grading of Sempai Peter and Sempai Vincent to the rank of Shodan. Omedetou gozaimashita Sempais! Osu! Congratulations to all the candidates. Click on the photo above to see a larger version (many thanks to David Boily for the picture). Then click here to see some photos from the Beginner Adult grading (courtesy of Anna Zavitsanos...thanks Anna!) as well as a few pictures from the Advanced Adult grading (courtesy of Christine Seidel...many thanks Christine!).
June 18/11 - Shihan Tom Flynn and Sensei Toni Flynn
West Island Karate was honored to have another visit from Shihan Tom Flynn and his wife, Sensei Toni Flynn, of Green Mountain Dojo in Vermont. Shihan Tom Flynn has been training for over 40 years and possesses a vast knowledge and understanding of Kyokushin techniques. His classes are both detailed and practical. Sensei Toni Flynn has been training for over 28 years and has travelled extensively throughout the world to teach as well as train with some very notable Kyokushin instructors. She is also the author of "Budo Brain - Kyokushin Karate Activity Book and Study Guide" (the book with the yellow cover that you'll see in Sensei John's office window). They are two very respected teachers in the Kyokushin community and we were lucky enough to have them hold an open clinic at our dojo on Friday night as well as teach some of our classes the next morning. Both the Friday night clinic and Saturday classes were enjoyed by everyone in attendance. Click on the picture above to see a few photos from one of the Saturday morning classes (courtesy of your humble webmaster). The lessons given by Shihan and Sensei Flynn were invaluable as always. Shihan Flynn, Sensei Flynn...domo arigato gozaimashita. Osu!
Sensei Bert Janssens of Belgium was Sensei John's very first opponent in full knockdown competition. So it was only natural that after beating the tar out of each other on the tatami, they became the best of friends. :-) As luck would have it, Sensei Bert came to Montreal to vacation during the 2011 Canadian Junior Kyokushin Championships, so we were honoured to have him in attendance at the 10th edition of our annual tournament. A couple of days later, Sensei Bert came to the dojo to teach a few classes and we had the pleasure of training with him. Click on the photo above to watch a short cellphone video of a class he gave to some of our advanced belt kids courtesy of J Lopez (much appreciated J!). We look forward to your next visit Bert Sensei. Osu!
May 14/11 - The 2011 Canadian Junior Kyokushin Championships
The 2011 Canadian Junior Kyokushin Championships was the 10th(!) edition of West Island Karate's annual tournament hosted by Sensei John Kalaidopoulos. We always strive to make it a special event for everyone, but this year we knew we had to make it exceptional.
It started with the judging/refereeing, without which there literally would have been no tournament. Sensei always extends an open invitation to all qualified parties from any participating dojo to ref at our event and is appreciative for the help. But to ensure that we had enough judges to run our 10th edition, Sensei John turned to his good friend Sensei Hugo Perez of Karate Perez for assistance. Sensei Hugo is a very experienced and respected referee in the Kyokushin community. If you ever have occasion to watch Sensei Hugo referee a match as the center judge, this will be immediately evident. He graciously agreed to hold several refereeing clinics at our dojo as well as at other dojos. These clinics were open to any Kyokushin schools who were interested, regardless of affiliation, and were taught in an "organization-agnostic" manner. Our West Island Karate Sempais took part in these clinics as well as numerous practice sessions in the months and weeks leading up to our tournament, although most of them had already had prior experience. Consequently our Sempais were very prepared to lend a hand in case of an insufficient number of judges...which is exactly what happened. Fortunately because Sensei John prepared for this contingency, the tournament went off without a hitch.
Secondly, we went to great lengths to ensure the best possible kumite match-ups which were both fair, and most importantly, SAFE for all the kids.
Thirdly, we helped Sempai Tony raise money for the Lakeshore General Hospital Foundation by selling tickets for their annual duck race fundraising event. As if that wasn't enough, Sensei John noted the efforts of Mikiko-san and Keiko-san who were selling a variety of beautiful Japanese artwork to raise money for the relief efforts in Japan. So he very generously donated $500 of the proceeds from our tournament to their cause. Osu Sensei!
Fourth, we provided a little surprise for our 10th anniversary. :-) We introduced a mobile tournament website which anyone with a smartphone could access during the competition. Among other things, the website allowed parents and coaches to consult the rules, determine an individual competitor's kata and/or kumite division and even follow the "dojo points race" throughout the day (we award points to each dojo for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place finishes, averaged out by the number of competitors from the dojo - note that as the host dojo, West Island Karate is NOT eligible for these "best average score" dojo trophies). By the end of the day, the mobile website garnered over 1700 page hits from smartphone users! Since there was so much interest, we'll try to add more goodies to the mobile website in upcoming editions of our tournament.
In the end, the 2011 Canadian Junior Kyokushin Championships turned out to be a very special tournament indeed, with almost 250 competitors from 15 dojos (5 of which were competing at our tournament for the very first time) and 11 different karate organizations. Needless to say, the high level of competition which resulted from this unique mix made it a fun day for both the participants and the spectators. Many thanks to all the Shihan, Sensei, Sempai, coaches, competitors and parents for your support. We promise to continue improving the tournament experience for you. Congratulations to our entire West Island Karate team who turned in another exceptional performance! Special thanks to Sensei Hugo for all the refereeing help and to Steve Roumeliotis for our awesome tournament software and cool mobile website. Last but definitely not least, thank you to our dedicated and tireless team of volunteers who kept things running smoothly behind the scenes. Check out this fun video tribute to them! Osu! Whew...if you actually managed to read down to here :-), then click on the picture above to check out David Boily's awesome photos of the tournament! They really tell the story of our tournament's 10th anniversary (thanks so very much Dave). In addition, Joseph Galli (father to one of our WIK students) shot a bunch more photos that he was kind enough to share with us! Great shots Joseph...much appreciated! See everyone next year. Osu!
On the last day of April, West Island Karate sent a sizeable team to the Yukan Karate Championship hosted by Sensei Denis Cordiero of Montreal Kanreikai Karate. Featuring kata, weapons kata and semi-contact kumite, this tournament is always well organized, competitive and a lot of fun for our students. Our kids have been ramping up with a series of tournament training classes and these classes have been paying dividends at every competition. Consequently our team put in a remarkable performance. Perhaps more importantly, through all the preparation and accumulation of invaluable tournament experience, our students have been taking their karate skills to another level. That's something that will always stay with them even when the competitions are done. As John Sensei always emphasizes, that makes them ALL winners. Omedetou gozaimashita (congratulations) to our entire team! Many thanks to Sensei Denis and his hard working team of volunteers for providing another enjoyable tournament experience for our students. Osu! Click on the picture above to see some wonderful photos that our own David Boily took from the competition floor (thanks so much Dave!). Then check out these 23 videos of our students in action at this tournament (courtesy of your humble webmaster).
On Friday morning, West Island Karate hit the road to attend the Eastern Quebec Championship in Rimouski the next day. Our team consisted of 15 hopeful competitors, their parents, siblings, a Sempai or two, and a Sensei who was turning 40 in a few days - by far the largest contigent we have ever brought to this particular tournament (click on the group photo above to see a larger version). Wyatt remarked that we were on a "karate vacation", a term he coined when he used it as an excuse for not eating his vegetables at lunch. :-) It certainly felt like a "karate vacation" as we sang along in the car to the strains of Bon Jovi's "Wanted Dead or Alive" and other rock classics to pass the time (piping our karaoke efforts into Sensei's car in the process via our walkie-talkies :-D). A few rowdy choruses later, we arrived in Rimouski in time to have a group dinner and celebrate Sensei's 40th birthday. The next day, Sempai Lia set the tone for our team by successfully defending her "kata title" which she had won the previous year. The kids followed suit and gave Sensei an awesome birthday present as all of them turned in remarkable performances in kata and kumite. Unfortunately he and Sempai Nancy served as fukoshin (corner judges) for most of the day, with Sensei pulling double duty as sushin (center judge) during the evening knockdown competition, so they missed seeing many of these performances firsthand. Fortunately we had our resident pro-photographer/karateka, David Boily, on hand to snap some great pictures. Click here to check out Dave's photo album of the action as well as a musical slideshow he created from some of his photos (domo arigato gozaimashita David-san...superb shots). Then be sure to watch these 20 videos of our students' performances as well as this special video celebrating Sensei's 40th birthday (happy birthday John Sensei...many happy returns) courtesy of your humble webmaster! Congratulations to our entire team (with special mention to Raffi who decided to compete at the last minute and had to borrow Jay's dogi to do it :-)....well done Raffi) . West Island Karate would like to thank Sensei René Lanteigne for putting on another great tournament and making our "karate vacation" a very memorable one. Osu!
Sempai Manon gave Anna a gentle "you first" during the opening ceremonies of the 2011 Gold Cup as they were about to step up onto the main tatami with the other competitors. They were only two members of the nine person team which West Island Karate sent to compete this year. It turned out to be a long but satisfying day as our entire team, from the youngest karateka to our more "seasoned veterans" :-), performed at a very high level in both kata and kumite. As always, they represented West Island Karate with great skill and distinction. Many thanks to Senseis George and Dominic Ohan of Ohan Brothers Dojo for putting on an excellent event. Click on the photo above to watch some videos of our team competing at this year's Gold Cup. Congratulations to all of them on their exceptional and stellar performances. Osu!
On this Friday evening in March, West Island Karate held its second Movie Night. Always a fun event for our students and their parents alike, we featured the sequel to the charming, classic karate movie shown at our inaugural Movie Night last year. In this episode, our protagonist accompanies his mentor to Okinawa so that the latter can visit his dying father and confront an old rival. In the process, our hero discovers the secret of his Sensei's karate, falls in love, and inadvertently makes an enemy of his own...just another typical day for our "Karate Kid". :-) Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the movie (and in particular the free popcorn and refreshments :-)). One student was so enthusiastic, he even wore his dogi for the evening (which made Sensei beam with pride :-)). All funds raised will go towards our Fighters Fund which is used to support our knockdown fighters. Thank you to everyone who came out to support us...it is very much appreciated. Click here to see a few pictures that Sensei snapped as the evening got underway (thanks Sensei). And in case you missed it, click on the photo above to watch a fun little preview of the evening's event. See you at our next Movie Night! Osu!
A week after attending our first tournament of the year, a small but enthusiastic team from West Island Karate made its way to Joliette for the annual Kanreikai Joliette tournament. Our kids competed in kata, weapons kata and semi-contact kumite. Upon her arrival at the tournament, Sempai Lia was "informed" by Sensei that she would be competing in kata. :-) She's seen "that look" on Sensei's face before, so she knew there was no getting out of it. :-D She did an awesome job under the circumstances, but the scores seemed to indicate that it wouldn't be quite enough to take first place on this occasion. But due to an error at the scoring table, she was awarded the top placement anyway(?). Ironically, when Sensei tried to have the decision corrected, he was rebuffed by the volunteers working at the scoring table (proving the adage that "no good deed goes unpunished" :-)). In a very classy show of sportsmanship, Sempai Lia discussed the situation with the second place competitor and exchanged trophies with her. This was a prime example of the kind of values that Sensei instills in his students. Needless to say, Sempai Lia's actions and the performances of our entire team made us all very proud. Many thanks to Sensei Dominic Morin of Kanreikai Joliette for organizing a fantastic event. Osu! Click on the picture above to see our photo album of the day's events (courtesy of David Boily...thanks Dave)! Then check out some videos of our team in action at the tournament.
West Island Karate's tournament season kicked off with the first one of the year at the Mas Oyama Canadian Cup 2011. Organized by Sensei Hugo Perez of Centre de Karate Perez in Montreal, this very first edition of his tournament featured semi-contact kumite for juniors during the day. This was followed in the evening by a full contact competition for adults - a series of single matches which were contested in a boxing ring. Sensei John (pictured above giving a pep talk to his troops) brought a team of about 15 kids to compete during the day. In the evening, he served as sushin (centre judge) for several of the knockdown matches. Congratulations to our entire team for demonstrating the competitive spirit and sportsmanship which are hallmarks of West Island Karate. A big congratulations also goes out to Sensei Hugo who finally realized his dream of putting on his own tournament. Omedetou gozaimashita Hugo Sensei! Click on the picture above to check out some great photos from the tournament, courtesy of our own David Boily (thanks so much Dave!). Then head over to our Videos page to watch some of our students in action.
On this Wednesday evening, we had a send-off party for one of our West Island Karate students after class. Emily (centre above) will be embarking on a wonderful one year adventure as an uchi-deshi (live-in student) with Shihan Cameron Quinn in Australia! Shihan Quinn was himself an uchi-deshi of Sosai's for three months and trained with him at the honbu dojo in Toyko for several years. Needless to say, it will be the experience of a lifetime for Emily. Fortunately for us, she will be keeping a blog of her time there. Click the photo above to read Emily's blog. We'll miss you while you're "down under" Emily, but your spot on the dojo floor will be here when you get back. Meanwhile train hard and make sure you keep Shihan Quinn's car gleaming with a nice coat of wax now and then (wax on, wax off :-)).
Dec. 10/11 - West Island Karate KARAOKE Christmas Party!
