OSU!
The 4th
North American Weight Category Tournament in Montreal is the
selection tournament for North American fighters in the 3rd
World Weight Category Tournament in Tokyo.
The VKK team of
Sempai Joel Tobin, Johnny LeBlanc, Michi Nagase and me was
formed right after Michi and I got back from the 1st
US Weight Category Tournament in Los Angeles. Since we did
not have much time before the tournament, we prepared ourselves
by setting individual technical goals and rigid training
schedules. I trained at the Richmond East dojo three times a
week, and did swimming and running on the side. The stamina
training at the dojo was difficult for everyone, but we
maintained focus on our goal – winning all divisions in
Montreal.
We arrived in
Montreal at about 8pm on March 25 after a long flight from
Vancouver. Neil Rowley of the Langley dojo met us at the airport
and drove us to Shihan Andre Gilbert’s dojo for weigh in.
Neil gave us tremendous support by driving us around town during
our time in Montreal. His lively character and incredible
sense of humor, especially the spectacular impersonation of
Johnny was enjoyed by all of us. We also met Sempai Irek from
Edmonton Dojo at the tournament gym. Sempai Irek won his first
match by effectively using Gedan Mawashi Geri but lost at the quarter
final match against Stephane Parent from Montreal.
The tournament
started with the adult preliminary divisions in the morning. The
event saw lots of great bouts displayed by the top fighters from
US, Canada and Japan.
Sempai Joel demonstrated excellent technique and experience in
his first two bouts, knocking out one of the opponents with a
well timed jodan heza geri. Johnny also advanced to the finals
by defeating Sylvain, one of the best Montreal fighters.
Michi’s middle weight division had the most number of fighters.
After defeating two opponents, he lost a close decision his
semi-final match. Michi's opponent was Zbigniew Koszela
from Toronto. He is one of the most experienced fighters in
North America. Michi had a slight edge in the first round,
but his opponent came back strong in the 1st
extension and was awarded the victory. Michi trained very hard
for this tournament and was focused on rematch against
Montreal’s Dominic Adams in the finals. It is unfortunate that
Michi did not advance, but his strong spirit will carry him to
great success in future tournaments. Dominic beat Zbigniew
in the finals and captured the MW North American title. I managed to defeat my
first two opponents by decision and advanced to the finals.
The final matches
of the tournament began at 6pm after opening addresses by Kancho
Matsui and Shihan Bobby Lowe.
Sempai Joel faced
Stoyko Kolev from NY in the final match of the heavy weight
division. Joel was fighting well until Stoyko landed a few
solid left low kicks and knocked Joel down, winning by Ippon.
Johnny fought against Michael Martinez in the super heavy weight
final. Johnny hit very hard in the first round, landing many
uppercuts and low kicks, but Michael was able to keep the fight
even and earn an extension round. In the 1st
extension Michael fought back hard, landing over a dozen knee
kicks to Johnny’s stomach. Johnny responded by throwing more
uppercuts and narrowly missing a back spin kick. After two even
rounds, the fight went into the dreaded 2nd
extension. Both fighters were exhausted by this point, but in
the last 20 seconds of the match, Johnny was able to step up the
pace and delivered non-stop uppercuts to Michael’s body. This
was enough for the judges to award the decision to Johnny.
This was the hardest match in the tournament, both fighters
showed incredible spirit and stamina. My opponent in the finals
was from Montreal. He had strong punches and high kicks. I
exchanged punches and low kicks with him in the first round. In
the 1st extension, I was confident of my stamina and
was able to continue punching him, winning by judges’ decision.
After the match, I
was honored to be congratulated by Kancho Matsui and Shihan
Bobby Lowe. Their encouragement motivates me to train hard for
the world tournament. I also met Shihan Gilbert from Montreal,
Shihan Gorai from NY, as well as many Kyokushin senseis, sempais
and students from eastern Canada and US. This was a very
rewarding experience.
I would like to
thank Shihan Stuart Corrigal and IKOK-Canada for allowing me to
compete in this tournament. I would also like to express my
sincere gratitude to Sensei Tats and Vancouver Kyokushin Karate
members for their complete support. Finally, thank you to
Shihan Gilbert and Montreal dojo members for organizing and
holding this event.
I will continue to
train hard and follow the Kyokushin way.
OSU!
Haoyin Zheng
Vancouver Kyokushin Karate
Results:
Haoyin Zheng
(Lightweight -70kg) : 1st
Michi Nagase
(Middleweight -80kg) : 3rd
Joel Tobin
(Heavyweight -90kg) : 2nd
Johnny Leblanc
(Super Heavyweight +90kg) : 1st
