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The North American Weight Tournament was
hosted March 26, 2005, in Montreal by
Shihan Andre Gilbert and the Eastern
Canada Kyokushin Karate Organization. A
good field of competitors from Canada
and the United States attended this
event with the winners of the menfs
divisions vying for a spot on the North
American team to the World Weight
Tournament in Tokyo on May 1, 2005.
The team from Western Canada consisted
of five competitors:
Haoyin Zheng (Lightweight)
Michi Nagase (Middleweight)
Irek Slobodzian (Heavyweight)
Joel Tobin (Heavyweight)
Johnny Leblanc (Super Heavyweight)
The team was well prepared and ready for
competition, with an eventual outcome
of:
1st place – Haoyin Zheng &
Johnny Le Blanc
2nd place – Joel Tobin
3rd place – Michi Nagase
Top 8 finish – Irek Slobodzian
Congratulation to all team members!
In support of the team were:
Coach – Sensei Tats Nakamura
Trainer – Neil Rowley
Sensei Tats did a great job of preparing
the fighters both before and during the
event. Neilfs valued support gave the
fighters a chance to completely relax
and not worry about any routine
details.
First place finishers, Haoyin and
Johnny, now have one month to prepare
for the World Weight Tournament on May 1st
in Tokyo.
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Additional Article by Haoyin Zheng
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 Vancouver 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 Gilbertfs 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. Michifs 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
Montrealfs 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 Johnnyfs 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 Michaelfs 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 judgesf 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
Photo
Gallery
More
photos can be viewed at
Vancouver
Kyokushin's web site.
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