The 3rd International Liberation Tournament, Kuwait
February, 2004
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This year Kyokushin Canada was invited to send two fighters to the 3rd International
liberation tournament in Kuwait. I was lucky enough to be chosen by Shihan Stuart Corrigal
to represent Canada at this event, along with Dominic Adam, a fighter from Montreal. When I
first told others I was going to Kuwait to fight, many (including myself) were surprised.
This was to be my first tournament fight in three years. Why did I want to go through this
again, especially on only three weeks notice? It was not a decision I took lightly. I
respect our sport and fighters too much just to show up in poor shape and give a poor effort.
I was lucky that our Edmonton dojo sent fighters to the last men’s and women’s World tournament
and I had to prepare for my 30 man kumite at summer camp, so I was still in reasonably good
shape. I also thought that my experience might help me prepare on such short notice.
Finally, I had a little urge to compete for possibly one last time. So, for three weeks
I jumped from regular training to six days a week.
The trip from Edmonton to Kuwait was a 30-hour marathon through Calgary and London. I met
up with Dominic in London along with the American and Spanish fighters. Dominic is a great
guy as well as an excellent fighter. He competed in the last world tournament and also won
the Vancouver Cup.
Once in Kuwait, things were actually quite organized and efficient. The organizing committee
arranged for our visas, which we picked up at the airport, and also drove us to the Messilah
Beach Hotel. I had left on Monday night and we arrived on Wednesday morning. Kuwait is 10
hours ahead of Edmonton (I was actually the competitor from the farthest away). The weekend
in Kuwait is Thursday/Friday, so those were the days of the tournament. We had 1 day to rest
and relax. Kuwait City itself is very modern in some ways, but very distinctly Middle Eastern
in others. Most importantly for me, it was in the 20’s and there were palm trees everywhere!
Thursday the fighters were driven to the tournament hall, and there was a practice for the
opening ceremony. Everything was on “Arabic” time, which means: Late! Once we started
though, everything was smooth. There were fighters from Spain, Serbia, South Africa, Japan,
and all over Asia and the Middle East. This was my first time fighting as a heavyweight
(Dominic and I are both middleweights so one of us had to move up), and there were 15 fighters
in my division. Dominic’s division was very tough. Dominic easily won his first fight, and
then had to fight the Spanish Champion in the quarters. This was a tough draw, as they were
the only two fighters in the division who were in the last world tournament. Dominic fought
brilliantly but lost after two extensions. This was easily the fight of the day. The Spanish
fighter ended up winning the division.
In my division I fought a Serbian in the quarterfinals. I was lucky enough to score a waza-ari
with Chudan Mawashi, and win the fight to move on to the second day. We tried to relax that
night, and went out just for a little while. On Friday there was another opening ceremony
with each fighter being introduced individually, followed by tamashewari, similar to the world
tournament. It had been a while for me, so I was quite nervous and excited. Many of you will
be happy to know I got through the breaking without any broken bones! Unfortunately I lost in
the semi-final to a South African fighter. It was a tough fight, but I lost fairly. The South
African won the division, beating a Spanish fighter in the final.
That evening there was a Sayonara party at the hotel. It was a nice setting, but it was my
first Sayonara party with no alcohol or women present! On Saturday Dominic and I had a chance
to do a little sightseeing, and relax. Then, Sunday it was back home. The trip to Kuwait for
me was excellent. Any time we have a chance to travel and meet Kyokushin people from around
the world, it is a great experience. It also makes me appreciate what we have at home. While
the hospitality in Kuwait was first class, some of the organization and judging was poor. I
also realized yet again in how high esteem Shihan Corrigal is held internationally.
I would definitely go to Kuwait if invited again. I would like to thank all those people in
Kuwait who treated me so well, and Dominic for being a great teammate. I would also like to
thank my dojo mates for helping me to prepare, and Shihan Corrigal for giving me the opportunity
to represent our organization. Now, back to retirement? ;) OSU!
Nathan Howat
Edmonton Dojo
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