Karate Nationals – if you haven’t gone, you should

This was my and Donald’s first time at the Karate Nationals and this year it  was held in Greenville, South Carolina.

Many of you, who read this blog, have experienced our local ISKC Karate tournaments and even though they are excellent, the Nationals are a whole different world.  The amount of competitors and the many different events made it one of the most interesting events that I been to yet.

I was fortunate to see many of my Sensei’s, some friends, along with my son compete in the style specific Shotokan kata division.  Seeing them compete and also seeing them cheer each other on, no matter who won, was inspirational to say the least.

My son competed in the Shotokan specific kata and open kata divisions and although he didn’t take a medal, he did good for his first time at a national event.  He ended up doing five katas in the open division and just barely missed placing but either way, he did the best katas that he ever did.  Sadly, both he and I were competing at the same time and I was unable to catch his open katas on video.

The highlight for me, was when Donald entered the Iaido division and took thrid place against many seasoned competitors who had national experience under their belts. Even though he has only been training in Iaido for 18 months, his kata was excellent and he made Sensei Cieplik proud.

I also entered the senior division in open kata and even though I didn’t place, I one my first round five flags to zero and lost my second round three flags to two against a very experienced Shito Ryu competitor who ended up taking bronze.  This was my first time doing Gojushiho Sho at a tournament and working on it for almost three years gave me more confidence than ever before.  I expected to have butterflies and a nervous stomach but I was calmer at this tournament than any of the 30 local tournaments that I have entered.

Overall this was a great experience.  All the people were very nice, the scenery on the trip there and back was awesome, especially the mountains, and the town of Greenville was extremely nice.

I want to thank my Sensei’s, Sensei Cieplik, Sensei Noia, Dr. Kathy Bailey, Sensei Plocharczyk and Sensei Gatch for preparing Donald and I for this tournament.  I would also like to thank my wife, Deneise and my son Donald for helping with the details on my kata and an extra thanks to Dr. Kathy Bailey for driving out to my house almost every weekend to help me fine tune my katas.

I am glad that I was able to experience Nationals and even though I am not sure when we will be able to go again, it was an expensive few days, I am hopeful that we will be able to do this again.

Below is the link to my original quick post that I typed after we came back:

2013-karate-nationals

I’ll start with the best news first!  My son Donald is now a Shodan.  After almost eight years of hard training, that he started when he was just a little boy, he took his Shodan test last Saturday and earned his black belt.

He spent the last six months, training in Karate class four days a week and lifting weights at least three days a week.  He looked different than ever before at his exam with a drive and focus that I never seen from him before.  I don’t think I could be any prouder of him than I am now!

I also took my exam last weekend and cleared my keri which makes me a full 1st Kyu.  I gave everything I had at my exam but I guess I still have some more things to improve before I catch up to my son.  I trained like an animal and had days where I still trained even though I could hardly walk some mornings but I know in the end, it will all be worth it.  Now I plan on training even harder over the next six months.

Either way, I am glad exams are over and now I hope to keep this blog up to date going forward again.  Also, did I mention how proud I am of my son?

Sorry about not having any class updates since Tuesday.  I caught some type of stomach virus and wasn’t able to take class on Thursday.

With that said, no better time than to the present to talk about this years Kick for Cures that my club is sponsoring.  This event helps sick or needy Karate students and their families along with many different charities.  Below is the post that I put on my website with a little more details about Kick for Cures.

If you are a student in the ISKC, please think about doing this event and if you cannot make it to the event, you can always sponsor someone else who is going.  Even if you sponsor someone with something as small as one dollar total, it goes a long way in helping those who really need it.

On October 25th my club, the ISKC, is sponsoring an event to help sick and needy families called Kick for Cures. The way it works, is we go to one of four locations and do 1000 kicks and punches. People sponsor us, either with a per kick donation or a flat amount.

I know that money is tight for everyone and my being out of work for over two years hasn’t left a lot of extra money for me to donate but I am giving as much as I can afford. If you sponsor a single $1.00 that would help these people in need and I am sure it would be greatly appreciated by them.

If you would like to sponsor me you can do so online at: Kick for Cures at events.org.

Below is more information about where your donation goes.

Where does the money go?

The money is allocated to 3 funds and 10 Charities that provide support and cure research:

+ Make A Wish
+ Cystic Fibrosis
+ Augie’s Quest
+ American Brain Tumor Association
+ Michael J. Fox Foundation
+ ISKC’s stricken families in need
+ Jennifer Malloy Scholarship Fund
+ Relay for Life
+ Autism Speaks
+ Bear Necessities

If you are in my club, I would like to personally ask you to come out and do this event and show your support not only for our club itself but for our instructors that share and teach us so many good things.

Information about the locations and times of the Kick for Cures event can be found at: Kick for Cures Info.

If you can show up to the event or donate, I would like to thank you in advance for doing so. Again, any little bit helps and even a $1.00 would be appreciated.

Thanks again.

Doug