Osu.
On Sunday, February 6th 2005, the 1st US Weight Category Tournament was successfully held in Los Angels, California. When I traveled to this city for Freshman Tournament last October, I did not have a team member. But this time,  Haoyin Zheng decided to compete in the event with me as a team mate. Haoyin also trains at Richmond East Dojo and his recent success includes the gold medal at the Vancouver Cup's lightweights last December.

To prepare ourselves for the event, we began training together right after Vancouver Cup. We even trained on Christmas Day and New Year Day in order to discipline ourselves. Throughout the holiday season, we were able to stay in a fighting mode rather than a holiday mode. So we did everything we could do in this short period of time before this tournament.

One day before the event, We arrived in Los Angels about 10pm. We stayed at the beautiful Manhattan Beach Dojo which has a full accommodation facility. We could stay relaxed and rest enough to fight next day.

The tournament began early in the morning with Junior Divisions. Then, the Men's Divisions started at 3:00pm after the door opened for public. In the first two matches (both fighters were from N.Y), I managed to win by decision and advanced to the top 4.

Haoyin also won the first match by decision and advanced to the quarter final. That's where he met Senpai Masa who is one of the top L.A. fighters and has much more experience than him. The bout kept in close quarter fighting, both delivering strong uppercuts and low kicks. then fight went to the extension where Senpai Masa's technique landed more clearly. It was a very close fight. Although he lost, Haoyin should be praised for his courage as this was only his third tournament and he has already experienced an international event such as the US Weight Category.

In the semi final match, I faced against a fighter from N.Y. dojo. He is a graduate of Honbu's Uchideshi (Tokyo Headquarters in-house students). Before this event, I had never fought with a Japanese fighter in a tournament. So, I wanted to fight with him at the moment I saw the tournament draw. His techniques were solid and strong throughout the match. I gave it everything I had. Even though I lost the match by decision, I learned a lot of things from fighting against one of the top Japanese fighters. Both my weaknesses and improvements were revealed after the match, and now I know what I have to work on for next tournaments in line.

The forth match I fought was for the third-place. Before the match my legs are badly injured. So I decided to use only punches. the opponent was from N.Y. dojo. In this fight, I managed to keep punching his stomach and finally won by decision.

After the awards ceremony, I was fortunate to see Kancho Matsui in person for the first time. Kancho shook hands with me and was very kind to take a photo with me. Kancho gave me very encouraging words which will keep me motivated to train even harder.

I could also meet many other people at the Sayonara Party. Shihan Gorai from N.Y., Shihan Yasuda, and Shihan Tanaka from Japan. and all other fighters from all over the North America. Creating friendships with new Kyokushin students and senseis became a big part of this trip as well.

I would like to express my gratitude to Shihan Stuart Corrigal and IKOK-Canada for allowing me to participate in the event. I would also like to thank Sensei Tats and Vancouver Kyokushin Karate members for giving me their solid support as always. Special thanks goes to Sensei Patrick of Manhattan Beach Dojo for providing us with an accommodation during the trip. Finally, I would like to thank Sensei Taku Nakasaka and the L.A. dojo members for their hard work towards holding this wonderful event.

This tournament gave me a lot of new subjects that I had to work on. I will keep training hard to improve myself in the next Tournament.
OSU!!


Michi Nagase

Vancouver Kyokushin Karate
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Photo Gallery

Tournament Banners

Michi and Haoyin before the event

Hoayin's second fight against Masa from LA

Michi lost at the semi final match to Nakakuki from NY

Michi's second match

Michi with Kancho Matsui at the awards ceremony

Kancho Seminar at the los Angels Dojo in Little Tokyo