Wow what an awesome BC Team Selections and Training! These kids are good. We were not that good in our time. The amount of Katas to make it to finals and the need of a bunkai for team kata is not something that existed in our time. Kumite requires an increase in athletic levels to be able to get additional points for takedowns and high kicks. We witnessed these abilities this weekend and the coaching team is pleased with the performance given by all athletes.
The coaching team wishes to extend their gratitude to the people behind the scene for the smooth running of Selections, which ended way ahead of schedule. Thank you to our tournament director Kurt Nordli and Chief Referee Andreas Kuntze, they were able to figure out a time schedule suitable to accommodate the increase of matches across several divisions and adapt the format to the need of the BC Squad. Selections use to run on one ring and this weekend we had three. This means more athletes, more officials and more coaches. Once again thank you Andreas and Kurt for all the behind the scenes work and adapting right away to the demands of the Karate BC Team program. Also, thank you to Dan Wallis, Cheryl Gray, Donna Gardecki and Paul Sexton. Your time and effort organizing and preparing this event is appreciated.
We are also thankful for our officials, who had to significantly increase in number to meet the needs of the competition. We invite all interested officials to come join the BC Team Training, which will be running in conjunction with an Officials clinic on January 10-11, 2015. This will give an opportunity for athletes and coaches to freshen up on WKF rules prior to attending Nationals a couple weeks later. Your support is greatly appreciated.
Lets get back to BC Team. The coaching staff expected to get a group of athletes beat up, tired and exhausted from the Selections the previous day. Well not at all, in fact training was intense but filled with an electric energy. We had a little demonstration done by Stephanie Zaborniak and Kalan Anglos. They both executed the same exercise with the same guidelines. Stefie is a -47kg in the 14/15 Girls division and Kalan is Men’s middle heavy weight fighter. Strike for strike, kiai for kiai and pretty much the same speed, fast! They displayed precision with good recovery and with ability to repeat without hesitation. Astonishing work.
This definitely shows that our grassroots are coming up strong and that Antonio Oliva Seba’s teaching for the past several years is starting to manifest itself. That being said, Sensei Oliva mentioned that this year’s BC Team training was one of the best and that athletes have made great progress in general and also demonstrated their understanding of his teachings. This is very good feedback considering the many years of “this is not a point!” “how can this be a point?” “this!” “no point!”.
I am including a few pictures from the first BC Team training where we invited Antonio Oliva Seba and Akira Fukuda. While Sensei Oliva taught the kumite portion, Sensei Fukuda taught kata, sport psychology and judo elements. This was a successful motivational training for a great start to the season. We are proud of you! GO BC!
Written and submitted by Team BC Head Coach, Nicole Poirier
To see more pictures please check out our FaceBook page.
