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On Sunday October 30th my
family and I departed to Tokyo for the
10th Open World Tournament.
A large group from western Canada would
be meeting us there including some
people from Calgary. It was a long
flight filled with anticipation. I was
unsure of what to expect upon arrival.
All I knew was that I would be in for a
major culture shock by one of the
largest and famous cities in the world.
The whole experience started for me once
we had arrived at the airport. The signs
and airport broadcast all in Japanese
were the first introduction to the
Japanese culture. We were lucky enough
to have Shihan Don Corrigal on our
flight and he helped navigate us through
the airport and to the train station.
Now that we had some idea of where we
were headed I was able to slightly relax
and take in the sights as we took the
Japanese transit line to our hotel in
the Ikebukuro district.
My family and I had spent a couple days
in the Ikebukuro district exploring the
city and establishing a knowledge base
of our surroundings. There was so much
to take in on the first few days;
everything was different. The buildings,
vehicles, infrastructure, customs and
cuisine of the city were all so
different than Canada and definitely
took some getting used to. Even amidst
all of this culture shock there were
some comforts of home like McDonaldfs,
Starbucks, 7-11 and even Subway. I was
impressed to see the cleanliness of such
a large and densely populated city. The
streets were all garbage free and nobody
seemed to litter whatsoever. I have
nothing but good things to say about the
people and the service in Japan as well.
Everybody was so accommodating and
always willing to help; it gave me the
impression that their culture thrives
off of respect and goodwill.
After the third day I had to leave my
parents and the others and head off to
the Tokyo Olympic Plaza to stay with all
of the other fighters competing in the
tournament. The plaza provided me with a
once in a lifetime experience. Once
there, I was introduced to a small dorm
like room where I would be staying with
other members of Team Canada. It was a
great experience being with all of the
other team members for a couple days
before and during the tournament. The
plaza also provided another large part
of the tournament experience for me
because all of the fighters from around
the world were staying there. It was
surreal to walk around the plaza and see
all of the fighters representing their
nations, recognizable either by their
reputation in the Kyokushin world and by
their nationfs team tracksuit.
The first event for the 10th
World Tournament was the Friendship
tournament. This event was for the world
junior competitors and the world senior
(35+) competitors. From western Canada
we had 4 competitors, two of which were
from our own dojo in Calgary.
Representing not only Calgary but Canada
in the world junior tournament were Alex
and Andrew Sedore. The other competitors
representing Canada were Jake Peacock of
Banff, AB (Junior Competitor) and Keith
Klughart of Nelson, BC (Senior
Competitor).
Andrew had fought earlier in the day
against a Japanese fighter; his hard
work from his training in Canada was
definitely visible in his fight. Andrew
fought a spirited fight and in the end
lost his fight by decision. Alexfs fight
was against a tough Russian opponent.
Alex also had a strong showing and never
backed down, despite being on the
smaller end of the weight difference
between them. In the end Alex had also
lost by decision. Even though our
fighters had lost in the first round, I
am positive that this experience was a
positive one with the strong potential
to motivate them to improve their
fighting skills and hopefully establish
a successful international career. They
represented our club really well and I
was really proud of how they fought.
The next day was the first day of the
World Open Tournament and I was
scheduled to fight in the morning. We
had arrived at the venue early so that I
could warm up in the sub-gym before
being called up to fight in the ring. I
was nervous and extremely excited for my
chance to fight. I had been waiting for
this experience for a long time and now
it was finally my chance to take part in
this historic event. My fight was
against Yoshitatsu Beppu of Japan. The
fight was going well. We were both
exchanging hard punches and low kicks.
He was a strong puncher and experienced
in fighting on the international stage.
In the end I had lost by decision. At
first I was upset by the loss, as my
goal was to make it further than the
first round. However, the experience
that I had gained from that fight was
invaluable. The experience will not only
add to my technical fighting skill but
it will play a huge role in increasing
my comfort in the ring.
Even though I was out of the tournament,
I stayed to support, watch and help
coach our remaining fighters. Even
though none of the Canadian fighters in
the Menfs open had won their first fight
they all fought hard and represented
Canada well. The world womenfs
tournament also took place over the
weekend and all of the Canadian women
fought well. Julie Lamarre of Montreal
placed 2nd in the world.
The most memorable part of the trip for
me was watching the final day of fights.
There were so many renowned fighters
left in tournament matching up against
each other and the intensity of the
fights increased as the afternoon went
on. In the final fight of the tournament
we watched the current world tournament
champion Ewerton Texiera fight against a
young Russian fighter named Tariel
Nikoleisvili. It was an amazing fight to
watch and it went two extensions. At the
end of the day we saw Tariel
Nikoleisvili of Russia win the World
Title.
This trip was a great experience for me
and its one that I will never forget. I
would like to thank Shihan Stuart,
Sensei Tats, Sensei Brad, and the
Canadian Team for all of the work they
provided in helping me prepare for this
tournament. I would also like to thank
everybody who came to Japan from Calgary
in support of this event; they are:
Michelle Gillespie, Tim Pullar, Craig
and Robin Meckelborg, Doug Potter, Nola,
Lawrence, Cam, Alex and Andrew Sedore
and my parents. Furthermore I would like
to thank everybody from Canada who came
to this event either as supporters or as
competitors. It was your help and
support that made this a richer
experience for me and Ifm sure all of
the other competitors. Thank you.
Osu,
Jordan Forget
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Official Results
1st:
Tariel Nikoleishvili (Russia)
2nd:
Ewerton Teixeira (Brazil)
3rd: Goderzi Kapanadze (Russia)
4th: Makoto Akaishi (Japan)
5th: Zahari Damyanov
(Bulgaria)
6th: Nikolai
Davydov (Russia)
7th: Oleksandr Ieromenko
(Ukraine)
8th:
Ilya Karpenko
(Russia)
Best Spirit Award:
Goderzi Kapanadze (Russia)
Best Technique
Award: Yuta Sawamura (Japan)
Best Tameshiwari Award:
Zahari Damyanov
(Bulgaria / 24 Boards)
Young Lion Award:
Tariel Nikoleishvili (Russia)
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