On March 4th
coaches, competitors, officials, parents and supporters gathered
once again at the Deerfoot Inn and Casino for the 2007 version of
the Calgary Cup. This year nearly 200 participants from 12 dojofs
came out from across western Canada to join in for an action
packed, exciting day that will soon not be forgotten.
An upbeat DVD with highlights
from last years tournament along with many historical Kyokushin
photographs marked the start of the day, and after the ceremonial
march in, a well executed version of the fighters oath and a
heartfelt opening speech by the tournament supreme judge the
competition was ready to begin.
The first divisions of the day
were the kata divisions. Competitors of all ages and levels
displayed there fine form, grace and power. For many of them it
was their first time ever performing something in front of a
crowd. Though not everyone walked away with one of the eye
catching trophies for this years event, all knew from the grins on
there faces that they were all victorious by being part of such a
special day and by the personal challenges in which they had
conquered.
Next up was the childrenfs
white belt non contact divisions. These divisions were added last
year to the program to allow 1st timers to also be
apart of the gbigh day. The spirit and cuteness displayed by these
youngsters was immensely enjoyed by all. Once the contact
divisions began for this age group many parents were amazed how
such cute, innocent little non contact creatures could turn
immediately into such fierce, effective little fighting tigers.
The childrenfs divisions were enjoyed by all.
The junior divisions and
preliminary rounds of the adult novice divisions ran next. It
often amazes me the quick transformation that takes place in such
a short amount of time. In a span of six years fighters often go
from participating in an innocent non contact division to
participating in open rules full knockdown open fighting. One case
saw a sixteen year old take on the open division for the first
time, and he placed 1st. Indeed impressive. It quickly
becomes apparent that the future is bright for Canadians on the
international stage.
After an awards presentation
and a group photo session for the morning portion of the program
the venue was quickly cleared and transformed into a professional
looking venue for the long awaited afternoon event.
As in the morning, competitors
marched in and the fighterfs oath was recited. The immediate aura
of the grand ballroom had changed, and now the pressure, tension,
nerves and seriousness of the competition was truly being felt by
all, a much different feeling that had been experience just 40
minutes prior. Immediately the competition began with the semi
finals of the adult novice divisions and the preliminary rounds of
the open divisions. Again the final four competitors in each of
the open divisions were required to perform tameshiwari.
Spectators watched in awe as they saw and heard the stacks of
boards being disintegrated by the powerful strikes of these finely
tuned athletes. The tameshiwari section is one of the dayfs
highlights.
Once the tameshiwari was
completed the finals for the advanced kata division began. The top
six competitors from the morning performed their katas displaying
the soft and graceful side of Kyokushin that is overlooked by a
day that is otherwise filled with harder fighting side of
Kyokushin. With finely timed, precision placed, perfected
techniques the katas performed were truly awesome. Indeed the
competitive side of the kata competition has reached a new level
at this tournament.
Next the finals of the adult
novice divisions and the semi finals of the open divisions were
fought. One highlighted match was a repeat of last years
Heavyweight final between reigning champion Nathan Howat of
Edmonton and Banfffs Daymon Miller. After an energy and
emotionally charged first round the officials decided that an
extension round was required. The two tacticians used all they had
in their arsenal trading power punches and swift kicks. In the end
Daymon Miller was awarded the decision and advanced to the finals.
All matches were exciting to observe and the technical level of
all competitors had increased from last year.
Just before the final open
matches of the day a demonstration was performed that attempted to
display all aspects of Kyokushin. It included the hard and soft
elements seen in Kyokushin kata and how they relate to the
self-defense and unique powerful breaking techniques that has made
Kyokushin famous. It was enjoyed by all and with the exciting
finals of the open divisions capped off another memorable
Kyokushin affair.
Once again thank you to all
that participated as either a contestant, official, volunteer,
observer or sponsor. It is because of all of your time and efforts
that made this day a great success. We look forward to seeing you
all once again in 2008.
OSU
Brad Gillespie
Official Calgary Cup 2007
Results
Kata (13 and under,
below blue belt)
-
1.Chelsea Mouwen
(Calgary)
-
2.Kristine Potter
(Calgary)
-
3.Jeremy Kapsha
(Rocky Mountain Dojo = RMD)
Kata (13 and under,
above blue belt)
-
1.Michele Murphy
(Calgary)
-
2.Brennan Weaver
(RMD)
-
3.Nik Mouwen
(Calgary)
Kata (14 and over,
below yellow belt)
-
1.Jordan
Giesinger (Calgary)
-
2.Gary Swift
(Calgary)
-
3.Wendy McBride (RMD)
Kata (14 and over,
above yellow belt)
-
1.Eileen Cohorst
(RMD)
-
2.Grayson Clague
(RMD)
-
3.Aimee
Ravenstein (RMD)
Non-Contact Kumite
(under 70 lbs)
-
1.Cory-Dale
Stevenson (Calgary)
-
2.Ben Fenton
(Calgary)
-
3.Brianne Dean
(Calgary) & Brady Klapak (Calgary)
Non-contact Kumite
(71 lbs and over)
-
1.Timothy
Atrazhev (Edmonton)
-
2.Raj Sundaram
(Calgary)
-
3.Emily Wingfield
(Calgary) & Sophia Habedus (Calgary)
Knockdown Kumite
(12 and under, under 60 lbs)
-
1.Lucas Fabbri
(Banff)
-
2.Fin Iles
(Banff)
-
3.Morgann Johnson
(RMD) & Tyler Correll (Banff)
Knockdown Kumite
(12 and under, 61-70 lbs)
-
1.Tyler Pecsi
(Banff)
-
2.Ricky Helfmann
(Calgary)
-
3.Kristine Potter
(Calgary) & Chelsea Mouwen (Calgary)
Knockdown Kumite
(12 and under, 71-80 lbs)
-
1.Wesley
Patterson (Banff)
-
2.Jessica Foster
(Cremona)
-
3.Atley OfNeill
(Banff) & Carson Sadler (RMD)
Knockdown Kumite
(12 and under, 81-99 lbs)
-
1.Seth Whalen (RMD)
-
2.Meghan Murphy
(Calgary)
-
3.Erika Potter
(Calgary) & Natasha Habedus (Calgary)
Knockdown Kumite
(12 and under, 100 lbs and over)
-
1.Michele Murphy
(Calgary)
-
2.Tachara
Larocque (Cremona)
-
3.Justin Brietzke
(Bearspaw) & Akari Otawa (Banff)
Knockdown Kumite
(Menfs 13/14 Lightweight)
-
1.Scott Potter
(Calgary)
-
2.Ethan
Arkinstall (RMD)
-
3.Dennis Dimond
(Calgary) & Kamen Proudfoot (Calgary)
Knockdown Kumite
(Menfs 13/14 Heavyweight)
-
1.Alex Helfmann
(Calgary)
-
2.Sheldon
Richardson (RMD)
-
3.Jesse Schmidt
(Calgary) & Peter Atrazhev (Edmonton)
Knockdown Kumite
(Menfs 15/16)
-
1.Dominic Furger
(Invermere)
-
2.Max Wong
(Calgary)
-
3.Sean Maddocks
(Calgary) & Cody Erikson (Banff)
Knockdown Kumite
(Senior men)
-
1.Gary Swift
(Calgary)
-
2.Trevor
Henderson (Cremona)
-
3.Doug Potter
(Calgary) & Dan Giesinger (Calgary)
Knockdown Kumite
(Women 17 and over Lightweight)
-
1.Eileen Kohorst
(RMD)
-
2.Lisa Crotty
(Banff)
-
3.Tracy Klettl (Cremona)
& Tresa Tocher (Cremona)
Knockdown Kumite
(Women 17 and over Heavyweight)
-
1.Asya Flaata (RMD)
-
2.Kaia Lange
(Calgary)
-
3.Lyndsey Heenan
(Banff) & Julie Pecsi (Banff)
Knockdown Kumite
(Men 17 and over Lightweight)
-
1.Adrian DiPaola
(Cremona)
-
2.Michale
Henderson (Cremona)
-
3.Darcy Levesque
(Calgary) & Hayden Strangward (Cremona)
Knockdown Kumite
(Men 17 and over Heavyweight)
-
1.Stian Lange
(Calgary)
-
2.Troy Pipella
(Calgary)
-
3.Ricardo Lacelle
(Penticton) & David Henderson (Cremona)
Knockdown Kumite
(Open men – lightweight)
-
1.Jordan Forget
(Calgary)
-
2.Albert Tio
(Vancouver)
-
3.Matt Stukenberg
(Parksville)
Knockdown Kumite
(Open men – Heavyweight)
-
1.Daymon Miller
(Banff)
-
2.Jeremiah Breeze
(Invermere)
-
3.Nathan Howatt
(Edmonton)
Spirit Award
Morning:
Max Wong (Calgary)
Spirit Award
Afternoon:
Daymon Miller (Banff)
Technical Award
Morning:
Seth Whalen (RMD)
Technical Award
Afternoon:
Jordan Forget
(Calgary)