On Saturday, December 3rd the annual Vancouver Cup was held at the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) in Burnaby BC. This year the tournament had over 100 entries and grew to 2 rings in the morning as it was the first year that children's kumite was added. This year Steve, Max, Rowan, Richard, Spencer, Rachel and myself attended the event. In the end Calgary members did a great job in both Kata and Kumite. Max, Rowan and Spencer took the top three spots in Teen Open Kata and Rachel placed third in Novice Teen kata. Our team also earned 1 first place and 2 second place finishes in kumite. More importantly everyone who attended the tournament gained experience and learned some extremely valuable lessons. Special mention goes out to Richard who unfortunately missed his kata division as he was looking after one of our team members who was injured in their kumite match. Throughout the year, the various dojos of the IKOK-C along with the IKOK-C itself, host a multitude of events for its members to participate. Whether young or old, new or seasoned members of the IKOK-C have well established events that present opportunities like no other. As always a very special thank you to Shihan Tatsuji Nakamura and his crew at Vancouver Kyokushin Karate for hosting another successful event. Your hard work and commitment to the students, the Vancouver Cup and other events in the IKOK-C is always appreciated. OSU!!! Brad Gillespie
