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REPORT - 2nd Kyokushin Union World Cup Karate Championships Okinawa, Japan January 2008
The South African team that represented South Africa at the 2nd Kyokushin World Cup held in Okinawa on 19-20 January 2008 made a very favourable impression on the world karate stage. The team led by Shihan Bas van Stenis did their country proud with their efforts and conduct on and off the tatami (fighting floor).
On arrival, the 15th January, the South Africans in their smart national Protea colours were honoured by being greeted by the General Director of the All Japan Kyokushin Union himself, Shihan Shigeru Tabata. This is a far cry from the snobbism and arrogance sometimes displayed by leaders of other Kyokushin groups.
After resting for a full day after the 24 hour journey, we participated at a general training session at the Okinawa Honbu of Shihan Yasuhiro Shichinohe. This was the first time for some of our athletes, to be training in Japan. Okinawa is considered to be “spiritual home of karate” and it was inspirational to be training there.
We had a scare when Sempai Kieran realised he was 2kg overweight, which would have meant disqualification! Two days of fruit, running and a sauna did the trick and he came in at 400 gram under the 77.5 kg limit.
On Friday 18th Sensei Charmaine and I were lavishly wined and dined by the Kyokushin Union and formal introductions were made. I took the opportunity to re-unite with old karate friends some going back to the 1975 First World Tournament!
Saturday 19th January, the opening day of the tournament saw 161 competitors from 40 countries come together to do battle for the World Kyokushin Union Champions title. The tournament was held over 3 divisions Lightweight 67.5kg, middleweight 77.5kg and open weight.
From South Africa Sensei Hakeem Meyer was the first contestant up in the L/W division. His opponent was Lee Bennett from the UK. From the “hajime” Hakeem overwhelmed his opponent and for the first 1½ minutes was clearly in control. Inexplicably Hakeem got carried away and grabbed Bennett around the neck which resulted in an immediate Chui (warning) resulting in Hakeem losing his way and Bennett getting a close decision.
Sempai Kieran Crowe in the M/W division was up next, against the Japanese fighter Mamoru Kawamoto. A tentative Kieran soon got into his stride and displayed his powerful techniques against one of Japans top fighters, holding his own he gave Kawamoto a torrid time, but the 4 majority Japanese judges gave the fight to Kawamoto.
This decision, with some other questionable decisions, resulted that the deliberation committee of which I am a senior appointee, appealed to Tournament Executive committee to have a more equal distribution of referees e.g. two Japanese and two non-Japanese. This was accepted and the next day this was applied.
The final South African fighter was Sempai Lyle Abrahams in the open division. Lyle’s opponent was the Canadian fighter Florin Mihai. Lyle an experienced contestant gave as good as he received, but at the end the judges decision went to Mihai.
The tournament was well run and a compliment must be given to the organisers, especially to the board of the All Japan Kyokushin Union. At the general meeting the day after the tournament, various international issues were discussed and I was appointed regional representative of Africa, a title which should be rotated on a bi-annual basis. It was unanimously accepted that female karate-ka should take a bigger part in the affairs of the Kyokushin Union, especially in the field of refereeing, something which was woefully inadequate at this year’s tournament.
Our team minus Kieran and Keenan Crowe, who remained behind to train in Okinawa, returned safely to South Africa with everlasting memories of a wonderful world championship and fond memories of the hospitality of the Okinawan people.
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