What a fantastic array of Kyokushin Karate spirit. As most of you might already know, full contact karate is the absolute forte of our style. Back in the day when Sosai Masutatsu Oyama the creator of Kyokushin Karate was alive, Kyokushin is referred to as the 'Strongest Karate' in the world and in this day and age there is so many different martial arts styles out there that we as Kyokushin practitioners have to work three times as hard to up hold the reputation of the great founder of Kyokushin Karate. If you where present at this event, you would have witnessed the intensity of Kyokushin Karate at its BEST!
This was the first time we have held a one match challenge and this event is likened to K1 ring rules with three rounds and one minute rest in between the three bouts. The line up of opponents was exceptional. Prior to the tournament, all of our competitors had been training solidly for over three months. The build up to the event is always more nerve racking when you are performing in front of a large home crowd audience. Needless to say the expectation levels were also helping to amp up all the fighters.
With a team of five fit and focused competitors from DKNZ, we were quietly confident about our fighter's chances in the tournament. The calibre of their opponents' were exceptional and in one instance World Class. If our fighters thought they were in for a walk in the park then they had another thing coming. It was our honour and a privilege to host competitors who came from Enshin Karate, Go Ju Ryu Karate and Vale Tudo Martial Arts Clubs.
Our junior competitors kicked off the tournament with heaps of support and enthusiasm coming from their families. Many who came to watch the senior Full Contact fights were pleasantly surprised with the level of technical expertise and spirit exhibited by the juniors. These competitors ranged from three to 14 years of age.
RESULTS:
1st Jahmel Davies vs Apanui Skipper
1st Teina Skipper vs Tipene Clark
1st Jimi Edwards vs Kauri Davies
1st Premo Davies vs Horowhenua Skipper
1st Atawhai Edwards vs Olivia Wynn
Full Contact fighting is definitely not for everybody however it was really great to see our junior students giving their all in a supportive environment that focuses on honing their fighting skills.
The conclusion of the junior participants clearly had the audience thirsty for more. After a quick break Sempai John McDonald and Sensei Rod Ter Weidjen from Enshin Karate were first up. McDonald was put through his paces by Ter Weidjen. It wasn't until the second round that McDonald started to exert dominance over his opponent with some vicious knees to the ribs; an effective combination when he punched through any blocks that Ter Weidjen tried to counter with. His mixed skills of Kyokushin Karate and Muay Thai boxing is a lethal combination and McDonald used it with devastating effect. Although McDonald took out the fight, it was a closely fought fight.
McDonald is one of three from our Dojo who are representing New Zealand at Japan's World Kyokushin Karate International Tournament in November.
One fight in particular held the whole audience spellbound as our next fighter Stephen Williams fought well above his weight against an internationally experienced fighter from Go Ju Ryu; Tuari Dawson. Both fighters were unaware of who they were fighting until the actually day.
The first round started explosively with Dawson lashing out with two roundhouse kicks in succession to the head with the thought of ending the fight as soon as possible. Luckily for Williams he narrowly avoided being knocked out. Although starting pensively at first our inexperienced fighter initiated his own sequence of bombs, cracking both the inside and the outside of his opponent's thighs with amazing regularity.
Judges awarded the first round to Williams. During the second round Williams kept up the intensity with mainly thigh kicks and rips to the body. Dawson must have thought that he had taken enough punishment so he stepped his offensive up a gear. Nearing the end of that round Williams copped an illegal blow to the face knocking him to the mat.
The second round also went to Williams.
A more wary Williams stepped forward to meet Dawson on the mat. Unfortunately for Williams, he tried to maintain the intensity of the previous rounds but was not allowed to dictate that level of dominance again. He fell twice more due to two more blows to the face. The last one caused a deep cut that split his lip needing stitches ending the match prematurely. Suffice to say both competitors fought very well, upholding our reputation of staging very tough fights indeed. The judges unanimously awarded the fight to Williams.
The next fight saw Sempai Iain Gifford from Tauranga squaring up with a young up in coming fighter from DKNZ; Daniel Jensen. Jensen went into the match with a healthy respect for his opponent as Gifford had knocked out his last opponent with a knee to the face. Not to mention that Gifford also like the founder of Kyokushin Karate has an affinity with bulls. He is well known on the Bullfighting circuit around the country. The fighting was extremely tough and exacting so with three rounds on top of one another the audience were treated to some classic, good ole slugfest, with some awesome gedan mawashi to the thighs for good measure. Even though Jensen showed a lot of determination and guts Gifford showed why he is also joining Sempai John McDonald to Japan in November by taking out the match.
Another special mention concerns the last fight of the day with Korohere Ngapo, who was approached on the day to fill in for another fighter who couldn't make it. Ngapo showed quite clearly to his opponent that he wasn't standing in just to be his punching bag but was there to compete. Matariki worked the body the first round with no visible effect showing from Ngapo. His response was a typical Kyokushin one, which was to let loose with some cracking thigh kicks to his legs. In the second and last rounds Ngapo's confidence rose when he attempted a spinning reverse axe kick which partially connected. His punishing thigh kicks had completely negated his opponent's ability to get back into the match. This was reflected in the Judges awarding the fight to Ngapo. I must say that Ngapo surely embodies the Martial Arts spirit of, 'giving it a go', which is not easy as everyone knows.
RESULTS:
1st Sempai John McDonald vs Sensei Rod Ter Weidjen
1st Stephen Williams vs Tuari Dawson
1st Sempai Iain Gifford vs Daniel Jensen
1st Korohere Ngapo vs Matariki
