Congratulations to Randy for passing his brown belt and also congratulations to Mario and Andre for their black stripe.

On May 15th, Shihan Ray, Sensei JJ Nowlan, Sensei Melanie Tremblay, from NB and sensei Vittorio Russo from Montreal, took a team from Eastern Canada Kyokushin-Kan to the "US OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPS" hosted by Shihan Marty Petrovich. Dojos from Halifax, Barachois, Edmunston, Montreal and Moncton attended the event. Everyone had a great time at the tournament, and came back home with first, second and third place trophies, but the most important thing was that new friends were made, and got to have fun with old friends during the whole weekend. Eastern Canada Kyokushin-Kan would like to take this opportunity to thank our host Shihan Petrovich, and the USA Country Representative, Shihan Kenji Fujiwara and their whole team for inviting us to share this weekend with them, and for organising a great tournament. Shihan Ray would like to also thank all his instructors, students and parents who supported this event .

Team Canada in Japan, 2010 As you all know , a team of eight fighters from across Canada participated in the three “All Japan Championships” held on May 1st, 2nd and 3rd , at the Toda City Sport Center, in Japan.

On Saturday, Matthew Prosser , student of Sensei Moji Talebzadeh in Halifax, and Riley Bowes, of the Moncton dojo, both put on great fights in the All Japan Junior Tournament. On Sunday , Riley and Ryan Batke students of Shihan Diego Beltran from Winnipeg, and Sensei Sandrine Giguère from the Moncton dojo, also gave excellent performances in their bouts.

As for the adults, on Monday May 3rd, were held the All Japan Men Knockdown with traditional punching to the face competition and The Women Knockdown. Sensei Kersti Kass and Melanie Bowes demonstrated great heart and determination in their fights. As for Matthew Bowes, the only foreigner in his division, he placed 2nd in the under 72 KG category.

Shihan Ray Cormier was extremely pleased with the performances of each and every member of Team Canada, as they showed true Budo spirit and great sportsmanship and humility during the entire weekend. He would also like to offer many thanks to Kancho Royama for the invitation to the competitions, as well as to Sensei Koji and the Honbu Ushi Daeshis, for the help and the hospitality they extended to all the Team, especially sensei Kersti Kass who attended two classes at Honbu, and learned so much from all of them. We all look forward to go again in two years. Domo Arigato Gosai Masu!

Team Canada ready for Japan Championships. Shihan Ray Cormier, Branch Chief of Eastern Canada Kyokushin-Kan Karate, and his team are ready and eager to leave this coming Wednesday, for Saitama City Japan, where they will participate in three Championships over the weekend of May 1st and 2nd, and on Monday May 3rd. Riley Bowes, 12 yrs old after winning the Canadian a few weeks ago in Montréal, will be competing for the first time in the Junior Championship, where in 2008, over 1200 participants were registered. Sandrine Giguère 16 yrs old, will be the only one in North America to represent Canada for the 2nd time in Japan. Matt Bowes is one of the top eight fighters in his division in full contact traditional karate with punching to the face. Matt is also the only foreigner the lightweight category in the tournament. Matt won the Canadian Championship in Winnipeg in 2009. Kersti Kass who has won both Canadian and American titles, and fought in the World Cup in Hungary in 2009, will be fighting in the heavyweight division in Women Tournament, along with team mate Melanie Bowes who will compete in the lightweight division. This also a first for ACKK, as we have a father, mother and son competing in three tournaments and all three fighting for the first time in Japan.

These three days were very impressive. From Canada were Sensei Moji from Halifax, Sensei Bob and myself. There were 140 participants from 15 different countries, the biggest camp held to date. I would like to thank Kancho Royama, Fuku Kancho Hiroshige, all the members of the Technical committee for a fantastic learning experience that we lived through these three days. For myself, after witnessing the Japanese great techniques, I felt as if I were a white belt. And even after passing my godan test, I still feel like a beginner, compared to the knowledge of the Japanese. After being in Kyokushin for over 25 years, there were lots that I had never seen before. You can be sure that I will be returning as often as I can, and try to bring students with me to experience one of these great weekends. I am very pleased to be in the Kyokushin-Kan Organization under the direction of Kancho Royama.
OSU!