Q&A
with Albert, John and Esther
about the 21st Canadian Championships
VKK's Next Generation
June 5, 2004
Kyokushin Karate
has a lot of students who fall into the teenage category, and many of them are
very interested in competing in tournaments. Active high school grades like
Albert, Esther and John needed to spend their fast charging energy into a hard
physical exercise. Then, they encountered Kyokushin Karate and joined us. In
May, the three fought in the 21st Canadian Championships and won the Gold Medal
in each division they entered. In this interview, we gave them a total of eight
key questions to find out what they thought before/during/after the event.
Q1: How did
you get to know about our club and how did you come to join Kyokushin?
Albert: My friend showed me the ad in the Killarney booklet and I decided to join
because some of my friends always talked about winning Tae Kwon Do and Karate
tournaments and I thought if they could win then I could probably win too.
Esther: I always wanted to try karate or
some kind of martial art. I thought it was just learning self defense and doing
stuff like that. My parents thought it would be a good idea and decided to sign
me up. Not knowing anything about any different styles, I randomly chose
Kyokushin from the community center brochure.
John:
Well, before I had moved to Vancouver, a young boy from Japan who trained in
Kyokushin came to Victoria and trained at our Shotokan dojo. I was very
impressed when I saw when this young boy practice his karate. I watched the way
he sparred and was quite intrigued. As soon as I moved over here I decided to
change styles and try Kyokushin.
Q2: Did you
know anything about Kyokushin Karate before joining?
Albert:
Not really..
Esther: No, I didn't really know anything
about any martial arts.
John: The most I knew was that Kyokushin was a very tough style of karate that
stressed physical contact.
Q3: What keeps
you interested in training Kyokushin Karate?
Albert:
I want to someday beat Takashi and want to fight in world tournament one day.
(Albert was beaten by Takashi Omuro from LA in Vancouver Cup two years ago.)
Esther: I like the tough training and full
contact. I suppose it is mainly the fighting, but I enjoy everything we do such
as Katas and self defense.
John:
I find the fighting quite challenging and fun. I can really see that training
under Kyokushin is going to greatly improve my physical health and spirit. I
also quite admire the other fighters in our club and would like to learn more
from them.
Q4: You are very active in
tournament fighting. What pushes you to compete and what do you like about it?
Albert: I compete because they make you a
lot stronger and I want to beat all the people that have beaten me before so I
keep training hard. I like it because you get a lot stronger every time you
train for a tournament.
Esther:
Hmmmmm....well...I guess in my first
tournaments I just wanted to try it because I really enjoyed fighting, then I
started really enjoying it and became more serious about it. It's addicting. I
like everything about tournament fighting. All the hard training you do for a
few fights, and then all your effort pays off on the mat. It is an awesome
feeling, and even when you don't win, it's such an amazing experience that you
learn so much from.
John:
I love to compete in tournaments.
They give me good short term goals to focus on. Every time there is a
tournament coming up I train harder. Tournaments also allow me to test out my
abilities as a fighter. Of course, I'm never happy with my performance even if
I do win haha. I always like to think that a good student is never really happy
with where they are. I will always want to improve.
Q5:
How did you prepare yourself for the Canadian Championships?
Albert: I went to class twice a week and
went to Sunday class, I also ate a lot of junk food like McDonald's to gain
weight.
Esther:
I was going to class three times a week. And on Saturday, Cassandra would come
and push me and give me a lot of advice. (Thanks Cassandra!!) At school I was
playing on the rugby team and doing a lot of running which really helped to
improve my stamina.
John:
I did regular training and also went to fight training on Sundays. I was very
happy to get to train with fighters of that caliber. Even though my
skill level wasn't as high as theirs, I was able to learn a lot because of
them pushing me. We also did some really good stamina training and weight
lifting. I could really feel the difference after a few Sunday classes.
Q6: How did you
feel on the tournament day before fighting. Were you nervous, excited or scared?
Albert: I was nervous and excited because I had to fight in a new division with people I
had never fought before.
Esther:
I was really nervous. I can never manage to eat breakfast. It always seems to
happen to me, I don't know why though. I have a lot of confidence, especially
when I fight in my own division (13-14) I was totally nervous right until I
stepped onto the mat.
John: I was very nervous on the tournament day. But, I guess it's always like that.
I was especially nervous because I've never been in a division with people a lot
older than me. Yet, in the end I was glad that I was able to compete in that
division.
Q7: Which one
was the toughest fight and how did you manage to win it?
Albert:
My toughest fight was the second fight against Tyler
because it was my second round and he had gotten a bye so he wasn't tired yet,
and in my first tournament fight, he beat me pretty badly. I managed to win
because I kept telling myself if I couldn't beat Tyler then I could never beat
Takashi.
Esther:
I think that my final fight in the 13-14 division was the hardest. The girl I
fought was really heavy, and instead of me pushing her around (like I expected),
she just kept charging me. I knew I had to do something right away, so I tried
sidestepping. The mat was really slippery, but it worked. I would step to the
side, and follow with a kick before she could move in on me.
John:
I think my toughest fight was my fight in the finals. My opponent was older and
bigger than me. But when the fight started all I could think about was fighting
my opponent. I noticed that a lot of my stomach punches were connecting and so
I just focused the majority of my attacks on his stomach. This strategy worked
as I was able to weaken and push him back quite often. In the middle of the
fight he even told me that my stomach punches were hurting him hahaha.
Q8: What is your
short-term and long-term goal in training Kyokushin Karate?
Albert:
My short term goal is to win every
Canadian tournament and my long term goal is to fight in world tournament one
day.
Esther: My short term goal is to keep fighting in every tournament I can. Each time
improving my techniques, stamina, strength etc. My long term goals are to fight
in big tournaments and of course keep training to eventually get my black belt.
Osu.
John: My short term goal will be to
compete in tournaments and try to do the best I can. I would also like to
become more physically fit as well. My
long-term goal is to one day compete in big tournaments like the All American
Open in New York.
Reading their
comments on their Karate life, I couldn't help thinking back my own young days.
How did you live everyday when you were their age? How did your personality
grow? Were you quiet, talkative, humble, aggressive, goal oriented....? I think
young people like these three are very lucky to encounter Kyokushin Karate.
Through the process that they train for a belt exam and a tournament, they
experience many different feelings and learn how to deal with them.
It is an
unfortunate fact that the number of crimes committed by teens is increasing each
and every year. I hope that more people in this age group will join us so they
are given the same opportunities that these three are enjoying. Kyokushin Karate
is "Budo" (Martial Way). It is a very good educational tool to teach youths many
valuable things which will impact their future in a very positive way. (But it
doesn't teach a student to eat McDonald's everyday. Eat healthy, Albert!) Osu.
