- Kata
Seminar
- This
year Sensei Kyle Funakoshi once again taught a seminar on
advanced kata while Sensei Kevin Funakoshi taught kata to
the kyu ranks. Students of all ages always take the
opportunity each year at this event to sharpen their
skills, and fine tune their katas, under the watchful eye
of these two very talented instructors.
-
- (photo courtesy of
Sensei Omar Vera, FSKA Puerto Rico)
- No
one does it better
- Saving the best for
last here we see Sensei Kyle caught in full flight as he
performs the jump in his favorite kata, Unsu. Few karate-ka
can match his style or his technique. I can be seen in
the middle of the photograph in my black and gold team
jacket taking a video of the demonstration.
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- A
long way from home
- Before
the Friday evening seminar Shihan Funakoshi meet with
many senior instructors, to his right, Sensei Eric
Govender, Go Dan, Sensei Wiehahn Eksteen, Go Dan, and
Sensei Selvan Govendar, Yon Dan, all of whom travelled
for almost 34 hours from South Africa to attend this year
FSKA World Championship. All three took part in the Dan
grading later that evening which started right after the
two hour kihon seminar given by Shihan Funakoshi, this in
spite of also having to deal with a 10 hour time
difference. Now that is dedication.
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- Stretching
- Prior
to the kihon seminar with Shihan Funakoshi those senior
students who knew what to expect, arrived early and took
the time to warm up and do a little extra stretching
before the start of training. Sempai Amy Barnes, Sho Dan,
of FSKA Canada, who is attending her second FSKA World
Championship is on the left hand side of the photo.
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- Advanced
Kihon
- On
the Friday evening almost all of the senior instructors
attending this years event took the opportunity to go
over basic FSKA kihon with Shihan Funakoshi. The two hour
event covered a wide range of hand techniques, kicks, as
well as combinations, and the tremendous amount of space
afforded by the Stardust Hotel's 40,000 square foot
Pavilion Convention Centre, gave each individual plenty
of room to practice.
-
- Waiting
for the next set
- Shihan
Funakoshi knew what he wanted and explained each set
clearly. By the half way mark of this two hour seminar
every one appreciated even the smallest opportunity to
rest and catch their breath. The seminar was followed
immediately by a Dan grading with students from various
countries seeking to advance in rank. This year they
included students trying for Sho Dan and San Dan, as well
as very senior Sensei's looking to advance to both Go
Dan, and Roku Dan.
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-
-
- Day
one
- As
for the tournament it's self, day one as in the past, was
devoted entirely to kata.
-
- From
first thing in the morning to well into the early evening
referees, judges, time keepers, and score keepers alike
in every one of the rings, were kept busy with a
seemingly endless steam of competitors of all ranks and
ages. The katas were good, and the scores were close, in
many cases the margin of victory between those who
received a medal and those who did not could be measured
in a matter of tenths.
-
- In
all cases good sportsmanship was the order of the day and
all of the competitors, regardless of their country of
origin, were shown the appreciation of a very
knowledgeable audience. Since the amount of dedication
and hard work that went into preparing for this event by
all of the competitors in each category was evident for
all to see.
-
- Men's
brown belt kata
- Uwe Bartley of
Canada stands patiently with students from several
different countries as they all await the start of the
men's over fourty brown belt division. The scores were
close with many of the competitors electing to do the
katas Bassai Dai and Jion.
-
- Awaiting
the results
- Competing
in his second FSKA World Championship Uwe awaits the
results. Having moved up a division since last year, when
he won a Bronze medal as a blue belt, Uwe still posted an
excellent 4th place finish in this very competitive group.
As was the case last year it was interesting to notice
subtle differences in the performance of each of the
students kata depending on which country, and dojo they
came from, as always this makes judging interesting to
say the least.
-
- Senior
Men's Division
- Competing
for the third time at the FSKA World Championships, this
year I took first place in the Senior Men's kata
division, performing one of my favourite katas, Ji'in. On
my left is David Elson of the U.S.A who finished in
second place, a real gentlemen and a strong supporter of
every FSKA event David holds the rank of San Dan and
trains out of the Honbu dojo in Milpitas, California. On
my left is Robert Nielsen of Cedaridge Karate who took
third place.
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- The
Judges
- It is customary to
thank each of the judges personally at the end of your
event. Here I have the privilege of shaking hands with
Sensei Roger St. Pierre, Yon Dan, and thanking him for
his time and consideration. Sensei St. Pierre is the
Chief Instructor at New England Shotokan Karate-Ko, in
Woonsocket, Rhode Island. His son Marc was to later earn
a bronze medal in his kata division.
-
- The
Senior Men's medal winners with Shihan Funakoshi
- After
our event the medal winners had a chance to pose for a
photograph with Shihan Funakoshi who always makes a point
of watching and filming all of the senior events in both
kata and kumite.
-
-
- Day
two
- Day
two as always was devoted entirely to kumite.
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- Women'
sparring
- Sensei Miriam
Garnica , Yon Dan, of FSKA Hollister, California, was the
centre judge in the ring for this very spirited division.
Seen here on the right Sempai Amy Barnes is about to move
in to close the gap between her and her opponent.
-
- Mawashi
geri
- A rear leg mawashi
geri drew a block from her opponent, then moving forward
quickly the moment she put her front foot on the floor
Sempai Amy scored a half point by following up
immediately with a chudan mae geri.
-
- A
Bronze medal for Canada
- Also
taking part in her second FSKA World Championship Sempai
Amy Barnes this year earned a Bronze medal in her age
group in women's sparring. Each of the rings over the two
day event had a large following of spectators and this
division was no exception.
-
- Ring
one
- A
large part of an event like this centers around having
enough judges to fill all of the rings at any one time.
Fortunately at an FSKA event this is seldom a problem,
due to the large number of senior Sensei's in attendance.
In ring number one on my right is Sensei Omar Vera, Yon
Dan, FSKA San Sebastian, Puerto Rico, on my left Sensei
Garry Cross, Shichidan, FSKA Honbu dojo Milpita),
California, Sensei Chet Kawashige, Roku Dan, (FSKA), and
Sensei Kevin Sheehan, Yon Dan, (FSKA). Here he five of us
pose for a photograph with the medal winners in women's
under twenty-five back belt sparring division.
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- Team
sparring
- The
men's team sparring event was once again one of the
highlights of the tournament. This year saw the United
States up against France in the final. The five man teams
were very evenly matched which made for a very exciting
competition indeed. Sensei Kevin Funakoshi of FSKA Hawaii
seen in the right hand corner was one of the principal
judges for this event.
-
- Team
U.S.A
- Pictured
here is the men's team from the U.S.A. who won the Silver
medal at this year's "B" event. Once again this
year the matches were close.
-
- Gold
medal in team sparring
- This
year saw the team from France win the Gold medal in the
Men's Team Sparring event, which was the last event to be
held at this year's tournament. Seen here with team
France is the Chief Referee for this years final, Sensei
Kyle Funakoshi. Congratulations to all of the
participants, the sparring and the sportsmanship were
both excellent.
-
-
- Meeting
old friends again and making new ones
-
- Marc
St. Pierre's Silver
- On the far right is
Sensei Roger St. Pierre, Yon Dan, and Chief Instructor at
New England Shotokan Karate-Ko in Woonsocket, Rhode
Island, and next to me is his son Marc (FSKA, Ni Dan) who
won a bronze medal in his kata division. A strong
supporter of FSKA events Sensei St. Pierre and his family
are a fine example of what makes the FSKA such a great
organization to be associated with.
-
- Sensei
Leonard Lafferty
- One
of the highest ranking members of the FSKA, Sensei
Lafferty holds the rank of Shichi Dan, and has been with
Shihan Funakoshi for 35 years. I have been going to the
United States for the past 5 years to compete and judge
at either the FSKA Fall Invitational Tournament, or the
FSKA World Championship, and I have always enjoyed Sensei
Lafferty's company and I greatly appreciated his advice
and support. Sensei Lafferty has his dojo in Vacaville,
California, where he trains with his wife Jan Homer, a
retired U.S. Air Force Captain, who is currently ranked
Yon Dan in the FSKA.
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- Sensei
Omar Vera
- This
year I had the pleasure of finally meeting Sensei Omar
Vera, Chief Instructor for FSKA Puerto Rico. During
Sensei Kyle Funakoshi's visit this past summer to his
dojo in San Sebastian, Sensei Vera graded, and was
promoted to the rank of Yon Dan. A strong competitor
Sensei Vera also attended, the Shotokan Cup 2004
tournament, as well as the Kinseki Shotokan Karate Do
2004 tournament, both of which were held in Cidra, Puerto
Rico.
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- Ireland
and Canada again
- Seen
here on my right is Sensei Niall Wright, Ni Dan, (FSKA)
from Castletown, Ireland. Sensei Wright will be hosting
the Five Continents World Championship in Ireland in
October 12th - 16th, 2005 which will be held at Ireland's
National Events Centre Gleneagle, Killarney, in County
Kerry. This is the largest multi-purpose events centre in
Ireland, with seating for up to three thousand spectators.
At this time over 175 dojos have already committed to
send students to this event, and it has the full support
of Shihan Funakoshi and the Funakoshi Shotokan Karate
Association. Sempai Jan Homer, Yon Dan, of FSKA
Vacaville, California, can be seen behind me talking with
one of the competitors.
-
- South
Africa and Canada
- On
my right are Sensei Eric Govender, Go Dan, and Sensei
Wiehahn Eksteen, Go Dan, both from FSKA South Africa. It
was a pleasure spending time with them during this years
event and I hope I have the chance to meet them again in
the future, perhaps in Ireland in 2005.
-
- Two
Sensei's
- On the left Sensei
Andre Dulce, Roku Dan, of FSKA Washington State, U.S.A.
and on the right, Sensei Ron Silverthorn, of FSKA
Crawley, England, where the very first FSKA World
Championship was held six years ago. Both are familiar
sights at any major FSKA event.
-
- Sensei
Kevin Funakoshi
- A former FSKA and
International kata and kumite Champion, Sensei Kevin
Funakoshi seen here on my right heads up the FSKA
organization in Hawaii. At the end of this years event
each of the visiting instructors once again received a
hand drawn calligraphy done by his wife. Sensei Ron
Silverthorn on my left, still takes part each year in
Shihan Funakoshi's kihon seminar given prior to the start
of the FSKA World Championship even though he is 70 years
of age. True dedication indeed.
-
- Grading
results
- At
the end of this year's tournament one of the last orders
of business was for Shihan Funakoshi to give out the
results of the Dan grading that took place Friday evening.
Here Shihan Funakoshi is seen here speaking with Sensei
Eric Govender, and Sensei Selvan both from South Africa.
Also due to meet with Shihan Funakoshi is Sensei Wiehahn
who also graded. The results of the grading will be made
public in the near future.
-
-
- Sensei
Kyle Funakoshi
- Uwe
and I are seen here with Sensei Kyle Funakoshi, Roku Dan,
former FSKA World and Invitational Kumite, and Kata
Champion. We have been privileged to have Sensei Kyle
visit our dojo on several occasions, most recently this
past June for our Annual Summer Camp and Dan grading.
-
- Shihan
Funakoshi
- Shihan
Funakoshi is a Master of the art of Shotokan Karate, and
whether it is training with him at the Honbu dojo, having
him visit our dojo in Victoria, or attending one his
seminars at the FSKA World Championships, I always come
away with a greater appreciation of all that Shotokan
Karate-do has to offer. Thank you Shihan.
-
- Westshore
Karate, Victoria, B.C.
- Sempai
Amy, Uwe, and I once again had a wonderful time in Las
Vegas, and all three of us are already looking forward to
next years event.
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- Our
dojo is proud to be affiliated with the Funakoshi
Shotokan Karate Association, and to support the Funakoshi
Shotokan Karate Association's World Championship
Tournament. On
behalf of all of the students from Westshore Karate Inc.
who took part in this years FSKA World Championship, I
would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere
appreciation to Shihan Kenneth Funakoshi, his son's,
Sensei Kevin Funakoshi, and Sensei Kyle Funakoshi, as
well as all of the other FSKA instructors, judges, time
keepers, score keepers, volunteers, and supporters, who
helped to make this years tournament another truly
excellent event.
-
- We look forward to
seeing all of you again in Las Vegas in 2005.
