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In early
March I was bounding up and down for one
single reason. I had been selected as
one half of a two-man team to compete in
Russia.
My objective was to represent
Canada to the best of my ability in the
10th Open Oyamas Cup in Khabarovsk,
Russia. All of my free time before this
tournament was now dedicated to
training.
On May 12th the journey began. It took
6 flights and an estimated 29 hours just
to reach my destination of Khabarovsk.
This included a stopover of about 10
hours in Moscow because the airlines
lost my bags, and then, the Russian
Karate group forgot to meet Sempai Irek
and myself. (Dont worry, they found us
after 6 hours and we were on another
plane 4 hours after that).
Sempai Irek
and I were then greeted at the airport
and taken to the East Russia Honbu, and
then to the hotel. It was now 4 PM on
Friday, May 14th, the day before the
tournament. The hospitality of the
organization in Russia was first class.
We had translators that helped us in
anyway they could, buses and drivers at
all times. After an overdue shower, we
went for dinner. After that it was to
bed with no interruptions during the
night except for a very odd phone call.
The next day started with breakfast and
then a bus ride to the Arena where the
tournament would be held. With only
occasional talking, 27 international
fighter drove to the tournament venue in
near silence.
Once at the
tournament site we changed, stretched,
bag trained, and began to do our own
little warms and pre-fight rituals. I
was extremely nervous, this being my
first international tournament. There
were 126 fighters in total, 99 of them
were Russian. I won my first fight!
Looking back, I now know that I own a
deep debt of gratitude to my teammates.
To Sempai Irek for his words of
encouragement, but also to the two
fighters from New York. After my fight,
it was Sempai Ireks turn. An excellent
fought match by both competitors but in
the end the Russian came away with the
decision.
At the end
of the first round 9 of the 27
international fighters would proceed to
their second fight.
These
fighters included:
Sempai
Sergio Da Costa, one of Brazils top
fighters (top 16 of the 7th and 8th
world tournaments).
Alejandro
Navarro, the Spanish champion
(competitor in the 8th world
tournament).
Bumtsend
Galbaatar, Mongolia.
Michael
Glardina, New York, (only his second
tournament).
All four
Japanese would continue on.
Sempai
Atsushi Kadoi, (team leader being the
oldest and having placed in the top 16
at the 7th and 8th world tournaments,
also the All Japan Super Heavy Weight
Champion in 2001).
Taisei Ko,
(member of the Japanese 8th world
tournament team).
Takumi
Sato, (the Japanese teams alternate for
the world tournament, and in Russia he
put his 20 year old body, 6 foot 3
inches, and 110kg to work in delivering
one of the most devastating knockout I
have ever seen. The hiza gari is a
dangerous tool, and in the hand of Sato
it becomes even more).
Yuji Kogure,
(a 19 year old brown belt, I will be
watching for great thing to come from
him).
So these 8
fighters and myself were all that was
left to continue on against the
Russians.
Unfortunately after the second round,
(which concluded the first day of
fighting) there would only be 7 of us
left. Michael and myself lost our
second fights.
The final day started with a walk-on of
all the competitors. Then came the
opening ceremonies by Kancho Matsui,
Russian Shihans, and delegates. Once
all of this was finished, the tournament
started and Irek and I proceeded to
support our newly found friends. Only
Sempai Sergio and Sato from Japan moved
on to the top 16. From that, only Sato
would proceed to the final 8 where his
amazing spirit was not able to over take
the Russian Andrey Stepin. The
eventual winner of the tournament
Mikhail Kozlov who knocked out Andrey
Stepin in the 2nd extension of the next
fight.
After the
Tournament was over we went to an
excellent Sayonara Party with all the
fighters of the tournament and
delegates. The food was amazing, the
vodka was interesting, and the
entertainment was first class. All in
all, it was the prefect ending to an
excellent tournament and an amazing
experience.
An
experience that I would like to
personally thank Shihan Corrigal for,
thank you for believing that I could
represent Canada. Sensei Larry for all
the training, and encouragement. And to
everyone else that helped me prepare for
the tournament, there are to many of you
to list but you know who you are.
OSU!
Matt
Hitchen
Armstrong
Dojo
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