Tuesday, Nov. 25/08 - Last Minute Preparations

This will (hopefully) be a blog of West Island Karate's trip to the 3rd I.K.O. Matsushima World Open Kyokushin Karate Tournament in Japan (assuming your intrepid webmaster can access a computer now and then while we're there).  Featuring some of the best Kyokushin fighters from countries all over the world, this special, full contact, knockdown event only takes place once every four years.

In 2004, Sempai Jimmy went to Japan to compete and made it to the round of 16.  This year, West Island Karate is sending the only female competitor from Canada...our own Sempai Alex (pictured at left with Sensei John).  Alex has been training extremely hard for this, and needless to say, everyone at West Island Karate is very proud of her and is cheering her on!  She will be accompanied to the tournament by her father Rick (pictured here with Alex's younger sister Kelly), Sensei John, Sempai Nancy, Sensei Steve, Sempai Tony, Sempai Louise, Susie and Alex H., and Em and Mike (your humble webmaster).  At this moment, we're all making last minute preparations for our flight tomorrow (Wednesday) morning.  We'll be landing at Narita Airport in Tokyo on Thursday afternoon local time (we lose a day travelling there).  After a brief overnight stay in Tokyo, we'll be making our way to Isesaki where the tournament will take place on the weekend.  Obviously we're all very excited about making the trip, watching Sempai Alex compete, and subsequently touring Japan (where we'll hopefully be able to put Keiko-san's Japanese lessons into action :-)...domo arigato gozaimashita Keiko-san!).

Well that's it for now.  Assuming I can figure out how to work a Japanese version of Microsoft Windows (should have got a Mac :-)), the next entry you see will be from Japan!  Osu!

Tuesday evening, Nov. 25/08 - A Letter From Rick & Sue

I know I said the next update would be from Japan, but the following e-mail from Sempai Alex's parents, Rick and Sue, was received by many of us just this evening and I know it was meant for the entire dojo (Rick just didn't have everyone's e-mail address).  The letter speaks for itself....

A Letter Of Thanks To Our Entire West Island Dojo Family

As my daughter Alex and I prepare for one of her most memorable experiences in life, we have checked and rechecked to make sure that we have remembered all of the things we need for our trip to Japan and her competition.  I realized that I had forgotten the most important thing - to thank all of you for making this trip possible for her and her family.

I can say without a doubt that she (we) would not be making this trip without the contributions you have made over the last 6 years to the various fund raisers and most importantly those contributions you have made from your heart through YOUR hard work, help and sweat while training at our West Island Dojo, Maine and numerous other gyms around Quebec.

Someone once said that it takes a village to raise a child.  I think in our case it takes a Dojo to raise a fighter.  The pride we have in Alexandra is equal to the pride we have in our hearts for the warmth, support and community spirit you have all shared with us.  We never thought that when Sue drove by a new dojo opening up in the neighbourhood 6 years ago that we would find a second home and an important extension to our family.  It is through your efforts that we are going.  Win or lose, we believe that we have already won through what we have learned and what we have all shared these last few years.

Sensei John, I would like to recognize your efforts in creating this close dojo family.  None of this would have been made possible without your hand guiding and molding both the spirit of the dojo and those of the fighters.  We owe you a debt of gratitude that I don't think we can ever fully repay.

Finally, for all those who have felt the hammer fist punches, freight train-like mawashi-gedans and sternum-cracking knuckles of Alex over the last few years, I thank you for your sacrifice and contribution to the training.

Again, thanks to all of you for being such a supportive dojo family and for sharing in one of our most memorable moments in our life.

Sincerely,
Rick and Sue Katigbak

Wed-Thurs, Nov. 26-27/08 - Nihon Ni Ikimasu

(Translation:  Going To Japan).  At 7:50 am, Wednesday morning, we began our journey to the Far East by heading west.  On the first leg of the trip, Em and I had to endure five hours of harsh treatment in first class for which we didn't hear the end of it from the rest of the team during our two hour stopover in Vancouver. :-)  But like the Survivor TV show, we thought it best not to talk about our reward to avoid being kicked off the tribe.

Upon boarding the larger Air Canada 77W airplane on which we were making the overseas leg of our trip, we met up with Sempai Alex and Rick who were already aboard and living it up in first class (they took a different initial flight from Montreal via Toronto).  After oo-ing and ah-ing at our pod-like seats in first class (basically automated Lazy Boy lounge chairs which fully recline while being surrounded by a partition for privacy), Em and I took our rightful places at the front of the plane ;-), this time with Alex and Rick, while the rest of the team were once again relegated to economy class.

It was an unfortunate turn of events, but Rick and I agreed that we should take one for the team.  Knowing that they had to purchase $5 cold-cut sandwiches back in economy made it quite difficult to enjoy the fine wine, delicate duck appetizer, braised ossobuco, brie cheese with crackers and grapes, and chocolate gold-leaf cake dessert...but somehow Alex, Em, Rick and your humble webmaster toughed it out.  Again we should probably thank Sensei's training for our mental fortitude.  Osu!

We endured about 10 hours of this mistreatment before finally landing in Narita Airport a little after 4 pm local time on Thursday afternoon (you lose a day travelling to Japan).  There we met up with Sensei Steve who had taken a separate flight altogether and had arrived over two hours earlier but had decided to wait for us (thanks Steve Sensei).  The bilingual signs (Japanese & English) made it easy to get around the airport and collect our luggage.

A short one hour train ride later and we were at Ueno Station - a major train hub in Tokyo proper from which you can get to pretty much anywhere in Japan.  Exiting Ueno Station was a surreal experience as we were greeted with a scene straight out of the movie Blade Runner...a dense array of tall buildings with lights and flashy advertising everywhere we looked.  It was very reminiscent of Times Square in New York if you've ever been there or seen pictures of it.

Our hotel, the New Izu, was just a short walk from Ueno Station.  After check-in (and after each of us took a turn in the free automated massage chair...gotta get one for home :-)), we immediately headed off for dinner which turned out to be a very unique experience in itself.  Outside the entrance to the restaurant was a poster with photos of the actual dishes that they had to offer.  Inside the restaurant was a machine with a large array of buttons featuring the same photos of food as on the poster/menu outside.  Just as Keiko-san had described (domo arigato gozaimashita Keiko-san), you simply insert some Yen into the machine and make your food selection by pressing the corresponding button.

Out pops a ticket with your order on it.  After finding a seat, you place the ticket in a small glass holder on the table.  The waitress then comes to collect your ticket/order.  A few minutes later and you are served a wonderful, hot Japanese meal.  Mmmm....oishi desu (delicious).  The meal combined with the sleep deprivation of our long flight was enough to encourage everyone to hit the sack early...but not before exploring the Lawson (a ubiquitous depanneur in Japan) next to the hotel.

That place was a god-send for midnight snacks or quickie breakfast stuff.  See you in the morning everyone.  Hope things are good at home and at the dojo.

Friday, Nov. 28/08 - Lost In Translation

Sensei Steve and I were the first ones up.  Due to jet-leg, we didn't sleep much past 4-5 am and ended up chitchatting and relaxing in the lounge area of the hotel lobby.  We availed ourselves of the vending machine just outside the door of the hotel for our morning beverage.

Besides the usual assortment of soft drinks, juices and water, the drink vending machines here all offer HOT drinks in a can.  It was neat to retrieve my canned beverage selection (hot chocolate) after it fell to the bottom of the vending machine and feel the warmth of the can.

After everyone else joined us in the lobby, we were off to Ueno Station for breakfast (after wandering around lost for a while because we decided not to adhere to Sensei Steve's directions :-)).  We ended up at that most Japanese of establishments:  STARBUCKS!  While standing in line, we were given a menu with pictures of the coffees offered so we could simply point at our selection (the alternative would have been to try and say "large, non-fat, no-whip latte" in Japanese :-)).  It was fun to hear our orders transmitted verbally from one server to the next in very happy sounding, sing-song Japanese.  In the end, our Starbucks coffees tasted exactly like the ones at home.  By the way, we got better at navigating around Ueno Station...to the point where Sensei Steve actually gave directions to some Japanese tourists who stopped him for assistance!  :-)

Today John Sensei offered to take us to see Sosai's old dojo in Tokyo, so off we went on another train ride.  A quick note:  the trains are warm this time of year because they blast the heat inside them!  Luckily most of us were dressed in layers, so we were able to adapt by removing our very low-profile, Kyokushin Karate jackets (which many locals noticed and commented on in Japanese not realizing that we could kind of understand them :-)).  Sosai's dojo was located in a modest part of town.  The building itself was fairly unremarkable except for the huge banner on the side of it which simply read "Karate" and featured a giant kanku and a picture of Sosai.  Sensei John and Sensei Steve had the honour of being invited by Sosai's daughter, Christina Oyama, to enter the dojo and actually train there when they first visited in 2000.  To this day, Sensei Steve says that was an experience that still keeps him motivated and training.  Unfortunately the dojo was closed on this day, so we contented ourselves with simply taking some pictures of the outside.

Sensei John then took us to a Budo Shop (a martial arts supply store).  They had a beautiful selection of bos, bokken (wooden swords), katanas (real swords), nunchaku, books, DVDs, t-shirts, custom dogis on which you could have your name embroidered in 15 minutes (Sempai Tony got one), Kyokushin caps....you name it and they had it.  That was followed by a little shopping at the 100 Yen Shop (their Dollar Store :-)) and then back to the New Izu Hotel where we had left our luggage.  We scurried back to Ueno Station where we caught the Shinkansen (high speed bullet train) and subsequently a regular train to Isesaki where the tournament is taking place.  I'm now writing this from the Harvest Hotel in Isesaki where we're staying.  We went out for dinner at a yakuniku restaurant (Korean BBQ) where they bring raw slices of beef, pork and chicken to your table, whereupon you cook it yourself on a gas grill built into the table top.  It was another delicious meal which brought a nice end to another fun day.

Well the excitement is building now...the 3rd World Open begins tomorrow!  I'll let you know how the first day (Saturday) turns out when I get a chance to write again.  We're all anticipating seeing Sempai Alex on the big stage.  Osu!

Saturday, Nov. 29/08 - Day 1 Of The 3rd I.K.O. Matsushima World Open

Day 1 of the 3rd I.K.O. Matsushima World Open Kyokushin Karate Tournament was finally here!  We all met for breakfast in the hotel restaurant at 7 am.  Most of us managed to finally sleep through the night and turn our body clocks around.  Sempai Alex understandably had a less restful night in anticipation of what was to come, but she was in good spirits and excited.  Sensei Steve was looking sharp in his corner judge uniform consisting of black pants, blue shirt and white bow tie.  The evening prior, all the Shihans, Senseis and Sempais who were going to serve as coaches or judges had a meeting at the tournament site (the Isesaki Citizen's Gymnasium) to go over the rules and judging procedures.  This year there were a lot of Shihans/ Senseis/Sempais able to assist as judges.  Those serving as judges were divided into five man teams - four corner judges and one center ring judge per team.  As we discovered at the tournament, the judging teams are swapped out every few fights - a good way to maintain the required level of alertness amongst the judges because things can happen extremely quickly in the ring.  Sensei Steve was understandably nervous about his task.  Obviously as a judge, you don't want to make a mistake because the fighters train a long time and some travel very far to attend (like Sempai Alex).  You are also performing your judging duties in front of Kancho Matsushima, Hanshi John Taylor and many Shihans/Branch Chiefs from around the world (like Shihan Roman) who are watching from the honour table which is ring-side only a few feet away.

Before heading out on the bus to the tournament, we hit a local kombini (convenience store) called "Save On" to buy some lunch food and snacks since we had been told that there would be no food served at the site nor were there any restaurants within walking distance.  We picked up some interesting rice triangles wrapped in seaweed (the same seaweed you'll often see in sushi) and some surfboard-shaped snack food which was also seaweed flavoured.  We passed on a product called "Pocari Sweat" which is an electrolyte replacement drink (think of it as Japanese Gatorade) and opted for some plain bottled water instead. :-)  Then it was back to the hotel to catch the coach bus to the tournament.

At the entrance to the Citizen's Gymnasium, everyone had to remove their shoes and put on slippers before entering the building.  There were convenient shoe shelves just outside the doors to store our shoes in.  If you forgot to bring slippers, they provided some loaners that you could take from a large bin just inside the entrance.  The "gymnasium" was in actuality a mini-stadium, a cavernous facility with a very high ceiling and stadium seating on all sides.  The floor was dominated by the one and only ring...a raised platform on which the tournament would be contested.  It was a huge blue square surrounded by a yellowish orange out-of-bounds border with padding on the floor surrounding the ring on all sides (to prevent injury in case a fighter was forced completely off the raised platform...which happened more than once on this day).  The ring was surrounded by seats on the floor on all sides with the exception of one side which was reserved for the "honour table" where Kancho, Hanshi John Taylor and the branch chiefs sat.  Behind them was a TV camera up on a tower approximately 10 meters high.  I was told by Sensei John that this tournament was being broadcast on local television (don't look for us on TSN though :-)).  At the far end of the room behind the TV tower was a raised stage area where all the trophies were lined up on display.  All in all, it was an impressive venue.

As they lined up the fighters by country for the opening ceremony's parade of nations, the souvenir tables were being mobbed by spectators and participants alike.  After much elbowing and patience, we managed to secure a few mementos to bring home with us.  It was very interesting to hear all the different languages being spoken around the souvenir table due to the wide variety of countries being represented.  Fortunately the Japanese sales people were somehow able to communicate with their anxious customers whether they spoke English, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, etc, etc, etc.

The opening ceremony started with a raucous drum solo on a loud taiko drum set up in the center of the ring.  You could literally FEEL each strike of the drum as it resounded throughout the arena.  They also used the same taiko drum to begin and end each round with a single strike.  Eventually the music started for the parade of nations/fighters (note:  the music is the same Japanese marching music that John Sensei uses for West Island Karate's tournament...now I know where he got it :-)).  Each country's fighters were preceeded by a country representative holding up a sign indicating their country (like in the Olympics) as they marched in a single queue in front of the head table to pay their respects.  They proceeded onto the ring where they were instructed to sit while Hanshi John Taylor and Kancho delivered opening speeches which were translated into Japanese and English, respectively.

Finally after the opening ceremony ended, the fighting began!  The first team of judges took their place after bowing to the head table and the audience, and the first fighters were called to the ring over the PA.  After being announced, a fighter has one minute to report to the ring otherwise he or she is disqualified and immediately forfeits the fight.  On this day, there were quite a few defaults in this fashion, most likely because a participant was not able to attend the tournament.

The fighters that did attend were from all over the world...Australia, Ukraine, Russia, Hungary, Japan, Pakistan, Georgia, Israel, Iran, India, South Africa, New Zealand, the United States and Canada just to name a few.  It was an impressive list of countries and their Kyokushin Karate skills were just as impressive.  Okay, let's get to what you've all no doubt been waiting for...Sempai Alex's fight!

Alex drew a 35 year old, South African fighter named Tamari Booi for the first round.  Tamari is a 1st Kyu, weighing 84 kilos and standing 169 centimeters tall (as opposed to Alex at 74 kilos and 158 centimeters).  Alex was at a significant size disadvantage, but her training had prepared her for this.  As soon as the taiko drum was struck to start the round, Alex moved in to attack with Sensei John calmly urging her on.  Alex seemed relaxed and in control as she started delivering some punishing punches to the body and kicks to the legs.  This was an Alex that our dojo had not seen during the last few weeks of her training and sparring sessions with us in class.  I realize now just how much she was holding back.  The SOUND of her kicks landing on Tamari's legs were enough to make me glad I was not on the receiving end of them.  But Alex's opponent was also a strong woman and was able to weather Alex's attack, countering with much the same tactics.  Alex's efficient techniques and movement around the ring were visibly better (by comparison her opponent lumbered and punched in more of a large swinging fashion), but Tamari was able to compensate with her weight and reach advantage.  Although Alex was far more active and aggressive, the judges scored it a tie at the end of the regulation round.  That forced a 1 minute extension round.  In the extension, both fighters were more aggressive.  You could see that Alex's conditioning was phenomenal as she did not slow her attacks.  She pounded Tamari on the sternum with a series of full-out punches that we could hear from ring side.  Alex was hoping to draw a reaction from her opponent that the judges would notice, but Tamari was very disciplined and did not let on that Alex's punches were doing any damage.  As the final seconds of the fight were ticking down, Sensei John and the rest of us were imploring Alex to let it ALL go and she did.  But being the heavier fighter, Tamari was able to drive Alex backwards more often than Alex could.  Ultimately I suspect that was the deciding factor as the judges gave a split decision to Alex's opponent after the extension.  Alex to her credit took it in stride, knowing that she had done all she could.  She had fought her best at the tender age of 18 and told me later that she had learned a lot from this incredible experience.  Maybe she'll do it again one day.  Sensei John, her father Rick and the rest of us couldn't be more proud of Alex!  She fought a heck of a fight and proved to herself that she CAN compete at the very highest world level.  Osu Alex!  Omedetou gozaimashita!

Apologies

My apologies, but I was unable to update this blog during the remainder of our Japan trip due to technical problems accessing the website from there.  So unfortunately this will be the last entry (at least until the next I.K.O. Matsushima World Open takes place in 2012 :-)).  To make it up to everyone, I will be producing a DVD of this year's World Open featuring some highlights from this year's tournament (including Sempai Alex's fight).  Stay tuned to the website for details...coming soon.  Please note that this DVD will only be made available to students and parents of West Island Karate (sorry, but I just don't have the facilities to create more DVDs than that).  Thanks for tuning in the last couple of weeks.  Osu!

Mike - your humble webmaster