2007 All American Open Karate Championships took place in New York on June 21st. The qualifying event for the North American Team gathered up top contenders from Costa Rica, US and Canada. The Canadian team this year worked together closer than ever before. The fighters from East and West wore the red team t-shirt providing us with strong feeling of the team spirit. This was also the first All American Open which had both Dominic Adam and Johnny Leblanc, the Canada's best hope for success  in the 9th World Tournament. The powerhouse Brazilian team showed up with the "perfect" members. The reigning World Super Heavyweight Champion, Ewerton Teixeira, rose straight to the finals without even sweat. Kris Erickson from our club fought him in the 2nd round. 30 seconds into the match, Kris's left shoulder dislocated after exchanging a flurry of several punches with the Brazilian. It was very unfortunate for him that the bout had to end like that, but the first international experience boost his confidence and expanded his horizon.

After beating a fighter from Serbia in his first match, Johnny faced off with Anderson Da Silva, the regular winner from Brazil in this event. The fight turned out a "battle". Johnny had sharpened Gedan Mawashi Geri (Low Kick) for this event and they worked very well against the Brazilian. His Inside Gedan landed so many times and constantly pushed his opponent off balance. But the strong Silva effectively retaliated with a flurry of Hiza Geri (Knee Kick). The first round saw no flags come up from the judges and the fight went into an extension round. Johnny did not make a change in his strategy while Silva began using more high kicks. Johnny's defense, which we worked extensively in our daily training, did not allow them to touch his face. It was becoming more apparent that Silva was taking more damage from the Gedan Mawashi but he refused to quit.

By the time the spirited bout was declared Hikiwake (Draw) again, the crowd went wild. Most of them were somehow cheering for Johnny. They seemed to want to see a North American fighter beat a Brazilian. Being backed up by the crowd, Johnny kept on going with Gedan while Silva delivered Hiza and Jodan. The seven minute seesaw match ran out of time while the two heavyweights were still going at each other. The split decision (2-2) was declared by the corner judges, then the center referee gave it to Silva. Although we again lost to a Brazilian, we believe there is no much gap left between them and us.

The event saw Teixeira take 1st, which makes him 5-time All American Champion. Andrews Nakahara placed 2nd leaving strong impact by knocking out a couple of fighters by lightening Jodan kick.

After the tournament, Sayonara party was held at the NY dojo. There, we deepened our Kyokushin friendships among fighters and representatives from different parts of the world, and promised to meet each other in Tokyo in November. Osu.

Tats Nakamura
Vancouver Kyokushin Karate

Click the poster to visit the event organizer's web site for the official results.
Photos are up on www.europeankyokushin.org and will be up on www.kyokushin.ca