West Island Karate Videos - 2010

This year's Halloween Training featured some of the most varied, cute, hilarious and often disturbing costumes in recent memory!  Led by Sensei John Kreese of Cobra Kai Dojo (as played by Sensei John :-)) and a few of his Sempais, the kids had a great time training in full Halloween costume.  And as per tradition, after the kids determined on their own that they had worked hard enough, Sensei rewarded them with some sweet Halloween treats.  Click the photo above to watch a fun musical video of this year's Halloween Training.  Enjoy.

Click the photo above to watch Sempai Em perform Bo Kata Ni at the Dageki World Karate Championship.  Em eventually went on to win first place in weapons kata (albeit she was one of only two competitors in her category), first place in kata, and second place in semi-knockdown fighting in her respective divisions.  Congratulations Sempai Em!  Osu!

Here's Sempai Lia performing an excellent version of Kanku at the Dageki World Karate Championship.

Click the picture above to watch Sempai Manon perform Saiha at the Dageki World Karate Championship.  She placed 3rd in her division.  Congratulations Sempai Manon!

Here's Sempai Kimm fighting in the full contact/knockdown competition at the Dageki World Karate Championship.  This was only her second time competing in knockdown fighting (the first being last year's Ring Wars tournament in Rochester, New York).  After three hard fought battles, Kimm eventually placed third in the women's lightweight category.  Congratulations Sempai Kimm.  Well done!  Osu!

Since many people at West Island Karate have been clamoring for more video of Sempai Kimm fighting at the Dageki World Karate Championship, I thought I'd post one more (apologies for the partially obstructed view).  This was her third and final bout of the evening, and it was to determine 3rd place in the women's lightweight division.  The primary voices you hear cheering on Sempai Kimm were those of Vlad and Sempai Alex who were seated beside your humble cameraman. :-)  Just like her two previous matches, Sempai Kimm gave it everything she had and then some.  Osu!

Beginning earlier this year, West Island Karate also doubles as Monkey Bar Gym Montreal...the first such gym of its kind in Canada.  Owned and operated by Louise Brunet (Certified Natural Trainer), Monkey Bar Gym Montreal integrates full-body training for strength and power, Eischens yoga for restoration and healing, and plant-based nutrition for your health and the health of the planet.  MBG Montreal's motto is, "WE RUN - WE JUMP - WE CRAWL - WE CLIMB".  Click the picture above to watch Louise and some of her members (as well as a few karateka from West Island Karate) demonstrate that motto at Monkey Bar Gym Montreal's first Open House this past August.

For those who have aspirations to compete in full-contact knockdown tournaments, or who simply want to train more intensely to improve their fighting skills, Sensei John leads a special "Fighters Training" class on Saturday mornings.  This class combines modern, creative training methods with classic Kyokushin kumite techniques and is physically very demanding.  From what I've heard from his students :-), Sensei always comes up with interesting ways to challenge and encourage them to push themselves to new limits.  Featuring (from left to right above) Sempai Kimm, Sempai Lia, Emily C., Em W. and Vlad (with a cameo from Sensei :-)), this video will give you just a small taste of what Fighters Training at West Island Karate is all about (and by the way, their belts are sideways in the above photo due to an exercise they were doing :-)).  Why oh why didn't they take "the blue pill"?! :-) Osu!

West Island Karate topped off an awesome summer with our inaugural Open House.  Everyone was invited to try out a free class or simply watch as we trained outdoors in front of our dojo.  Needless to say, a great time was had by all.  So in case you missed it, here's a fun music video of the day's events.  Enjoy!

Ali performing Pinan Ichi at the Monteregie Championship.

Em performing Seipai at the Monteregie Championship.

Here's Ivan, the youngest member of our team that day, flashing those high kicks of his at the Monteregie Championship.

Jacob performing Pinan Ni at the Monteregie Championship.

Jacob battling it out on the main tatami at the Monteregie Championship.

Jasmine performing Taikyoku San at the Monteregie Championship.

Tasha performing Pinan Yon at the Monteregie Championship.

Thomas performing Pinan Yon at the Monteregie Championship.

At the Monteregie Championship, Thomas delivered a stiff mae geri which literally knocked his opponent off his feet!

Thomas R. performing Pinan San at the Monteregie Championship.

Because Thomas R. and Jacob did so well in their kumite division, they were forced to fight each other at the Monteregie Championship.  In true Kyokushin spirit, they both gave it all they had and still left the ring as friends. :-)  Great job guys.  Osu!

Vlad was our lone representative in the men's, semi-knockdown, kumite division at the Monteregie Championship.  As Sempai Alain would put it, Vlad gave his opponent a pretty good "leg massage" (MY leg got sore just watching this :-)).  Well as Sensei would say, "There is no pain in Kyokushin - only minor discomfort".

This is the first of four special kata demonstrations (see below) that a team from West Island Karate put on for Kancho Matsushima and Shihan Roman at the 2010 Matsushima Canadian Championships.  While Julien and Nico (front line) performed Yantsu to the count given by Em (kneeling), Isaiah and Philippe (back line) demonstrated some possible bunkai (applications) for the movements in the kata.  It was an interesting and novel way to impart a deeper understanding of the kata to the non-karate practitioners in the audience.  Well done guys.  Osu!

The second of four special kata demonstrations (see above and below) by West Island Karate at the 2010 Matsushima Canadian Championships featured Annie and Vincent.  This sister and brother team performed a very nice rendition of Saiha with Kancho Matsushima and Shihan Roman looking on from the honour table directly in front of them.  Great job Annie and Vincent.  Osu!

This is the third in a series of four special kata demonstrations (see above and below) put on by some of our students at the 2010 Matsushima Canadian Championships.  It started out with Isaiah and Philippe deliberately performing a so-so version of Pinan Yon...until a couple of cute but dissatisfied karateka crashed the party (to the surprise and delight of everyone, including Kancho Matsushima and Shihan Roman, our very special guests of honour this year).  With the party-crashers leading the way and encouraging their fellow karateka to go faster (by barking out a stern "speedo" :-)), the kata finally came together. And they stayed "in character" until the very end for one final chuckle. :-)  Too funny guys!  Osu!

Just two weeks prior to the 2010 Matsushima Canadian Championships, Sensei John approached Sempai Lia and Em about putting together some special kata demonstrations.  These would be performed for Kancho Matsushima and Shihan Roman who were our guests of honour at this year's tournament.  Sensei's only piece of advice was to have fun with it.  Other than that, he gave them free reign to assemble their own team and run with it (Sensei didn't even see the finished product until the day of the tournament).  The result was a series of four kata demonstrations (see above) including this last one which features just Sempai Lia and Em.  Over the years, many people have confused the two of them for sisters, which is not totally surprising given that they're both Chinese, are of similar stature, wear their hair in a ponytail when training, and have similar technique.  So they thought it might be appropos to perform a kata as "mirror images" of each other (Em got the unenviable task of doing all the movements "gyaku").  To make it even more fun and challenging for themselves(!), they decided to combine various sections of different katas together (Sempai Lia "choreographed" most of the routine), thus creating something new, yet traditional at the same time.  It made for a very unique and compelling kata demonstration to say the least.  Very well done girls!  Osu!  (And for the record, they're not sisters, but they are the best of friends :-)).

Anastasia performing Pinan Ichi at the Yukan Ultimate Karate Championship.

Andrei performing Taikyoku San at the Yukan Ultimate Karate Championship.

Dante performing Pinan San at the Yukan Ultimate Karate Championship.

Isaiah performing Gekisai Sho at the Yukan Ultimate Karate Championship.

Here's one of Isaiah's fights from the Yukan Ultimate Karate Championship.

Jacob performing Pinan San at the Yukan Ultimate Karate Championship.

Jenna performing Taikyoku San at the Yukan Ultimate Karate Championship.

Jessie performing Pinan Ichi at the Yukan Ultimate Karate Championship.

Mateusz performing Pinan Ni at the Yukan Ultimate Karate Championship.

Here's one of Mathis' fights from the Yukan Ultimate Karate Championship.

Nico performing Yantsu at the Yukan Ultimate Karate Championship.

Philip performing Pinan Ni at the Yukan Ultimate Karate Championship.

Philippe performing Gekisai Sho at the Yukan Ultimate Karate Championship.

Sempai Manon performing Gekisai Sho at the Yukan Ultimate Karate Championship.

Here's one of Yannick's fights from the Yukan Ultimate Karate Championship.

The 21st Eastern Quebec Championship in Rimouski took place on April 17th and started off with the adult black belt kata competition.  Here's Sempai Lia doing a wonderful version of Kanku.  Sempai Lia ultimately took first place in the kata finals that evening on the big stage.  Congratulations Sempai!  Osu!

Sensei John somehow talked Sempai Manon into entering the adult black belt kata competition in Rimouski (he can be very persuasive :-)).  So here's Sempai Manon's first ever competition kata!  She then got way more than she bargained for when her score propelled her into the kata finals that evening on the big stage along with Sempai Lia! :-)  Well done Sempai!  Osu!

Here's Nico performing Pinan San at the 21st Eastern Quebec Championship in Rimouski.

Here's Julien doing an "intense" Pinan Yon at the 21st Eastern Quebec Championship in Rimouski. :-)

Here's Thomas performing Pinan San at the 21st Eastern Quebec Championship in Rimouski.

Here's Philippe doing Gekisai Sho at the 21st Eastern Quebec Championship in Rimouski.

Here's one of Nico's fights at the 21st Eastern Quebec Championship in Rimouski.

Here's Stephane competing in kumite at the 21st Eastern Quebec Championship in Rimouski.

Here's one of Thomas' fights at the 21st Eastern Quebec Championship in Rimouski.

Here's Isaiah's first fight at the 21st Eastern Quebec Championship in Rimouski.  Since kids in his age group were not allowed to kick to the head, Isaiah attacked his opponent's legs instead.  Ouch!

Here's Isaiah's second fight at the 21st Eastern Quebec Championship in Rimouski.  Isaiah's opponent started the bout with a blood-curdling scream which was so loud that it actually distorted the audio on my camcorder!  But as you'll see, Isaiah isn't easily intimidated. :-)

Vlad decided to compete in semi-contact kumite at the 21st Eastern Quebec Championship after having fought at the Gold Cup earlier this year.  With Sensei in his corner, Vlad did a great job and dispatched his opponent by scoring with two kicks to the head.  Well done Vlad!  Osu!

No, they weren't on the tatami at the same time :-), but both Sempai Manon and Sempai Lia competed in the adult black belt kata division at the 21st Eastern Quebec Championship in Rimouski.  The katas they performed during the daytime were good enough to put them in the finals which took place in the evening on the main tatami, prior to the full contact/knockdown competition.  It was fun to watch, but nerve-racking for Sempai Manon who was competing for the first time ever.  Needless to say, she hadn't planned on having to do her kata in front of hundreds of people on a dramatically lit, raised stage, with large video cameras broadcasting her every move on a giant screen!  Well she conquered her nerves and did an awesome job, eventually placing 4th amongst the six finalists.  And to the surprise of no one from West Island Karate's small contigent of supporters, Sempai Lia took the top spot!  By the way, both elected to do different katas than they did during the day to give themselves an extra challenge (Sempai Manon chose Gekisai Sho while Sempai Lia did Seipai).  Awesome job Sempais!  Omedetou gozaimashita (congratulations)!  Osu!

As you may have heard by now, Kancho Yoshikazu Matsushima (9th Dan), President of I.K.O. Matsushima, will be making the long trip from Japan to attend the 2010 Matsushima Canadian Championships on May 29th!  Not only will he be honouring us with his presence at our annual tournament, but he will also be holding a seminar for students of all ages and levels the next day (Sunday, May 30th).  This is an opportunity that you absolutely won't want to miss (click here for details)!  What's it like to train with Kancho?  Well this video might give you an idea.  This footage was taken in November of 2008, when a small team from West Island Karate made the trip to Japan to support Sempai Alex as she competed at the 3rd I.K.O. Matsushima World Open.  The day after the tournament, Sensei John, Sempai Alex, Sempai Louise, Em and Susie joined well over 200 other karateka (99% of them black belts) to train with Kancho Matsushima.  Joining Kancho at the front of the gymnasium were Hanshi John Taylor (9th Dan) of Australia, Shihan-Cho Gary Viccars (7th Dan) of Australia, and Shihan Roman Szyrajew (7th Dan) of Canada.  There were so many high ranking black belts in attendance that Sensei John was relegated to the 4th row!  We were also happy to see many other friends of West Island Karate there that day (Sensei Paul, Sempai Natasha, Sensei Ron Auclair, and Shihan Marc Van Walleghem just to name a few...you'll see them all in this video if you watch carefully.  The sight of all those karateka training together with Kancho was truly awe-inspiring.  Enjoy.

The 2010 MATSUSHIMA CANADIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS (taking place May 29th) is destined to be another exceptional edition of our annual tournament.  Last year, we hosted some 280 junior competitors as well as 28 knockdown fighters in our inaugural full contact competition.  More remarkably, the participants represented 26 different dojos(!), many of them from other karate organizations than our own.  As a result, the level of competition was extremely high - an ideal environment for both the participants and spectators.  Among our Guests of Honour last year was Hanshi John Taylor (9th Dan) of Australia, Vice-President of I.K.O. Matsushima.  This year, we have the great pleasure of welcoming Kancho Yoshikazu Matsushima (9th Dan) of Japan, President of I.K.O. Matsushima!  Not only will he be honouring us with his presence at our tournament, but Kancho Matsushima will also hold a seminar the next day (May 30th) which is open to karateka of all ages and levels from any dojo of any affiliation (click here for details).  In addition, Shihan Roman Szyrajew (7th Dan), Canadian Branch Chief and North American Chairman of I.K.O. Matsushima will also be in attendance as a Guest of Honour.  His support of West Island Karate's annual tournament is always welcome and very much appreciated.  So register early and don't miss out (the registration deadline is May 21st).  The 2010 Matsushima Canadian Championships is truly going to be special.  Osu! 

Sensei discovered this hilarious video, and after watching it myself, I couldn't resist posting it on our site!  It's a music video by a new band called "No More Kings" featuring their debut single "Sweep The Leg" (great tune by the way).  The title of the song comes from a climactic line delivered by villain Sensei John Kreese in "The Karate Kid", one of Sensei's favourite movies (and I suspect a favourite of many karateka).  This video is essentially a tribute to and a parody of that classic martial arts movie.  Best of all, it features many of the original cast members (although you might have to rent the movie to figure out who's who :-))!  Chalk full of surreptitious references to "The Karate Kid", this video requires multiple viewings to catch them all.  Good luck and enjoy (and if you figure out who the pizza guy is, please let this clueless webmaster know....many thanks :-)).  Have a super 2010!  Osu!