MAC martial artists qualify for worlds
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The route to this year's WKC World Championships in Dublin, Ireland took a group of local martial artists from Martial Arts Canada through London, Ontario to the recent WKC Canadian championships in Ottawa.
Competing in the nation's capital, several MAC students qualified for the World Karate and Kickboxing Council 'worlds', Oct. 29-Nov. 5, in the Republic of Ireland's capital city.
Brown belt Josh Gedye, 16, finished second in 55kg continuous fighting. A 10-year martial arts veteran, but trying continuous fighting for the first time, Gedye was edged in his division gold-medal match.
"It was pretty intense," said Gedye, noting it was tied most of the match. "At the end I was getting pretty tired. He was doing more kicks and I was doing punches... and the kicks counted for more, point-wise."
Gedye said his goal over the next four months leading up to the World Championships is to train his abilities and have more combos.
"Instead of doing the same thing over and over again. It was close contact and I was punching to get him off, but I should have used more kicks."
Kristian VanLeeuwen, 16, also a brown belt, placed second in his 65kg continuous fighting division.
"I had just fought the one before, to figure out who would go on to the first-second place fight. They only give you a one minute break if you have to go back-to-back. So I had just finished my two minute (semifinal fight) and I had one minute before I had to go back in, and the guy I was fighting was completely rested. So he had a little bit of an endurance advantage over me."
A dominant fighter in his first semifinal match, VanLeeuwen ran out of gas in the final.
"It was close in the beginning, and then as it started going to the end it was getting close to the bottom of the tank. But it was pretty close."
VanLeeuwen said what excites him the most about the WKC Ireland championships was the international flavour.
"Just really excited to see everyone from all over the place come together, and just watch all the different stuff from different countries."
Gedye and VanLeeuwen, both new to continuous sparring, learned from the experience.
"I wasn't expecting to do as well as I did the first time (at the Ontario championships in London)," said VanLeeuwen. "Going into Nationals, I kind of knew more of what I was doing, so it went a lot better the second time around."
Brownsville's Isabella Conti, 15, a purple belt, was second in point sparring in Ottawa, qualifying for Ireland. Fourth and better qualified, and Conti had set that as her goal going into nationals.
"I enjoy it... love it," said Conti after competing at her first national 'tryout.' "I just wanted to see it, go for the experience, and got a medal. So pretty good."
A minor injury in her second fight on the first day did not set her back.
"So during one of my fights, a girl knocked my contact into my eyelid... and my eye started bleeding. It was pretty gross," Conti laughed.
In her final, Conti had a size disadvantage.
"The girl was a lot taller than me. She had really long legs and she kicked me the whole time. You can block it, and I was blocking it pretty good, but they kept getting by too. Enough for her to win."
Conti has not set any expectations going to Ireland.
"I actually don't know what I'm expecting. I just kind of hope for the best and go for it."
MAC's Jaylee Nolan, 11, a red belt, has been competing for the past three years.
"Last year I got to nationals and was an alternate (for worlds) in all my divisions, but no one got hurt."
This year, Nolan qualified three times in the 10-and-under division, finishing fourth in continuous sparring, fourth in traditional weapons and fourth in musical weapons.
Traditional bo is her favourite event, she said.
"It's focusing more on what you would do in real situations. In musical, you take some of the moves and make them 'different.'"
There were 21 competitors in Nolan's divisions, and the margin between fourth place and a medal was small.
"It was like 0.2 points in traditional," she noted, not disappointed to miss out medals. "No, I made it."
While training through the summer, her goal is to focus on stamina leading up to Ireland.
"It was my first time doing continuous. All of us kind of need to work on our cardio, because all of us basically did back-to-back rounds. So you're good the first round, then the second round in the last 30 seconds you're pretty out of breath."
Ashley Rosehart, 15, a brown belt, is a second alternate for Ireland, finishing sixth in traditional weapons - only 0.1 points from fifth.
"It's definitely a lot different from most of our tournaments," said Rosehart, recalling the national experience. "Other tournaments are by belt - at nationals you're all considered a black belt. So you have black belts to the lowest belt in the same division. It's definitely a lot more different."
Rosehart said she learned from Ottawa event.
"Definitely. I learned to do my best and not feel bad about how I'm doing. I know that I did my best and I'm proud of myself."
Rosehart plans to continue training through the summer as if she had qualified.
"As if I'm for sure going to Ireland, with the group, even if I don't make it. I want to be prepared for it."
Tanya Hamm, an orange belt competing a 35-plus women's division, is a first alternate in 65kg point sparring.
"I was lucky to be even allowed to go to this high of a tournament," said Hamm, with one year of martial arts experience.
"I said I want the experience. I'm never going to improve unless I compete against people who are above me, more skilled and tougher than myself. Learn from the best."
When it was all said done, Hamm said there were favourable comments from the judges and competitors.
"In the end we're all Team Canada, we're all there for the same purpose. I didn't win either fight, but I learned a lot."
As a team, Martial Arts Canada's WKC World qualifiers will be raising funds throughout the summer. They have a car wash planned at Upper Deck on July 16, a Karate-a-Thon at Beachfest in Port Burwell on the Civic Holiday Long Weekend, and they will sponsor a car in the Tillsonburg Fair's demo derby.
"I would say I'm very proud of our 32-member competition team," said MAC sensei Sara Ens, looking forward to a competition in July, "and the amount of training they do in addition to their regular classes."