Upcoming Events and News for World Class Karate

October 19 (Tues) and October 20 (Wed) at this dojo! - Master Shiina from JKA Headquarters, 7th Dan JKA and multi-time former All-Japan and World Kata and Kumite Champion, will be visiting us.

August 19th - 22nd - Koyo Camp in Ottawa - DOJO CLOSED
Special guest - Master Tanaka from JKA Headquarters in Japan
You can access downloadable versions of the information and registration package at Koyo Camp.

From Aug 19th to 22nd, twenty of us from our dojo participated in the annual Koyo Camp in Ottawa with guest Instructor, Master Masahiko Tanaka, 8th Dan JKA. The classes were divided in two with the Instructor classes being taught by Master Tanaka and the Non-Instructor classes by Master Minoru Saeki, 7th Dan JKA and head of the Canada JKA Karate Federation. The classes were extremely intense and full of amazing technical instruction with both Masters giving amazing jaw-dropping demonstrations!

Also during the same weekend, The Canada JKA Karate Federation held their annual National Tournament. The participants from our dojo were: Senseis Ray and Stan Tio, Ignacio Gamsawen, Eric Leung (who unfortunately was unable to compete due to injury sustained during training), Colin Chin, Sofia Mojica, Danny Pointon, Matthias Ramirez-Motta, and Maresha Pharmoo (who at 17 years old, competed against the adult ladies. Also from our dojo, Senseis Eddie Leung, and Paul Wentzell, both volunteered as judges at the tournament. Here are the results from our dojo participants:

Ray Tio (1st Kata, 2nd Kumite)
Stan Tio (1st Kumite, 2nd Kata)
Colin Chin (3rd Kata, 3rd Kumite)
Ignacio Gamsawen (4th Kata)
Sofia Mojica (3rd Kata, 3rd Kumite)
Maresha Pharmoo (4th Kata, 4th Kumite)

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July 24th - Sensei Ray Tio will be conducting a seminar from 11:30am - 1:00 pm at the TNT School of Martial Arts (JKA of Alliston, Ontario) www.tntmartialarts.ca

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May 30th - Ontario JKA Provincial Tournament at St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Brampton, On. Click here for the results!

Once again the CJKF Provincial Tournament was a tremendous success! Over 200 competitors competed, over 30 more than last year. It is great to see that the number of tournament competitors, as well as the CJKF organization in general is growing more and more every year. Our dojo performed extremely well this year garnering a total of 37 medals! Congratulations Team!

A very special "Thank You" goes out to Sensei Ed Leung and his wife Sempai Marie Leung for their incredible contribution in organizing this tournament year after year. As the numbers get bigger, so does the workload and we could not do it without them. Amazing Karate Spirit!!! Oss!!!

Also, a special "Thank You" goes out to all the volunteers that helped out. We really appreciate all your efforts, especially with the unfortunate delay we had in the morning when the custodian did not show up to open the doors. Even with the delay we managed to stay organized and finished on time.

This quote is from Sensei Eddie: "I can't thank Troy and Kevin from the Mississauga dojo enough for saving us from a total disaster, and I want to thank you all for pulling together and making this a successful event. Please extend my thanks to all of the volunteers from your dojos"

May 29th - Dan (black belt) Graded at our dojo with Saeki Sensei - Grading up to Sandan (Third degree blackbelt)

     Congratulations to Kamar Abdur-Rashid and Ehab Bhadawy for achieving the rank of JKA Shodan (1st Degree Blackbelt).

     We would like to Thank Saeki Sensei for visiting our dojo once again and conducting two great seminars, and dan grading. The seminars were very
     technical ,specifically in the kumite aspect. Very insightful and great drills!

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April 24th - Master Imura from JKA Headquarters in Japan conducted seminars at our dojo

Click here to view images!

On Saturday April 24th, The JKA of Mississauga (World Class Karate) had the honour of hosting seminars conducted by Master Imura, 7th Dan JKA (Japan Headquarters) , and assisted by Master Saeki, 7th Dan JKA (CJKF Chief Instructor). Expected to attend this event was approximately 50 people, but instead the end total of participants was 70 people! What an amazing turnout! The large crowd, although a little crammed, were not at all disappointed. Master Imura displayed amazing agility, flexibility and technical prowess. It was another amazing display of karate spirit!

Thank you to Saeki Sensei, and Roy Chin-Fee (CJKF Chair) for organizing this for us. We also got final confirmation that another great JKA Headquarters Instructor, Master Shiina, 7th Dan JKA and multi-time former All-Japan and World Kata and Kumite Champion, will be visiting us in October of this year. The exact week is still to be finalized.

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JKA International Training Camp was in Ottawa from August 20th - 23rd 2009 in Ottawa
Click here for images

On the weekend of August 21-23 2009, twenty of our dojo members travelled to Ottawa to attend the JKA International Gasshuku (Training Camp). This marked the first time four Masters from JKA Headquarters visited Canada at one time. The four Guest Instructors from the JKA Headquarters in Japan were: Master Ueki, Master Tanaka, Master Osaka, and Master Kobayashi. Approximately 300 Karatekas attended the camp. The training was amazing and watching these Masters demonstrate techniques was even more awe-inspiring. Training with these Masters further proved to us that The JKA is by far the most prestigious Karate Organization in the world. It is obvious that these Masters train every single day and constantly work to improve and strengthen the teachings started by Master Funakoshi. What's even more impressive is seeing that the JKA is constantly bringing in younger Masters every year for visits. These young Masters of Karate train and teach 365 days a year in Japan. They also study Karate full-time, and this is obviously shown when they instruct and demonstrate. This is very promising for our youngsters and for the future growth of JKA Karate throughout world.

Many members from our dojo passed Dan Exams as well as Qualifications Exams. Congratulations to the following people from our dojo:

Dan Exam Results

Ray Tio - Godan (5th Dan)
Stan Tio - Godan (5th Dan)

Sofia Mojica - Yondan (4th Dan)

Marie Leung - Sandan (3rd Dan)
Mike Lucas - Sandan (3rd Dan)
Tony Sabatini - Sandan (3rd Dan)

Instructor/Judges/Examiner Results

Ed Leung - C Instructor, B Judge (previously attained), D Examiner
Paul Wentzell - D Instructor, D Judge
Ray Tio - D Instructor, D Judge
Stan Tio - D Instructor, D Judge
Eric Leung - D Instructor, D Judge
Chris Klym - D Instructor, D Judge

I also wanted to congratulate our newest blackbelts who passed their Shodan (1st Dan) Exams back in May 2009 with Master Saeki:

Wendy Morrow
Timothy Setiadi
Ryan Weller

Saeki Sensei Seminar, Dan Grading, and
World Championship Qualification Tournament
Click here for the details

This past weekend was a huge success! We had approximately 75 people take part in the seminars conducted by Saeki Sensei at our dojo and the feedback was excellent. We have been very lucky to have Saeki Sensei from Ottawa, and Nemoto Sensei from Japan visit and conduct seminars at our dojo in the last two months. Thank you very much to both Saeki Sensei as well as the Chairman of the CJKF, Roy Chin-Fee for organizing this for us. This past Saturday, the dan grading (Ist Dan and 2nd Dan) proceeded the seminars. I am very pleased to announce that all the examinees from our dojo passed their Blackbelt exams "with flying colours". A special "Thank You" goes out to all our dojo Instructors: Sensei Eddie, Sensei Stan, Sensei Paul, Sempai Chris, Sempai Sofia, Sempai Troy, Sempai Hiran, Sempai Marie, and our blackbelt students who all helped make this possible, especially Sensei Eddie who volunteered many hours after Saturday and Sunday classes to specifically help our examinees. Here are our new Blackbelt Students:

Troy MacLean (now an official JKA Shodan)
Raafat Elfeky (Shodan)
Shrima Ramkumar (Shodan)
Rudy Gautam (Shodan)
Atul Gautam (Shodan)
Morgan Sanchez (Shodan)
Dindyal Naipaul (Shodan)

Also, Saeki Sensei announced the approval from Japan to all the ISKF to JKA Dan transfers for the following people from our dojo:

Paul Wentzell (Godan)
Cyrus Ryan (Yondan)
Hiran Mistry (Shodan)

This past Sunday, The CJKF National Team members from our dojo took part in the Gichin Funakoshi World Tournament Trials to produce the Canadian National Team to go to Japan in 2009. The top four winners in each individual event are guaranteed a spot on the team as well as the Team Kata winners. I am very pleased to announce that the following from our dojo will be going to Japan!

Ray Tio (1st in Individual Kata, 1st in Team Kata)
Stan Tio (2nd in Individual Kata, 2nd in Individual Kumite, 1st in Team Kata)
Ignacio Gamsawen (1st in Team Kata, 5th in Individual Kata)
Eric Leung (1st in Individual Kumite, 3rd in Individual Kata)
Sofia Mojica (2nd in Individual Kumite)

A huge "Congratulations!!!" goes out to all our new Blackbelts and our Canadian Team members. Also, another special "Thank You" to all those from our dojo who helped volunteer and cheer us on at the tournament, specifically Sensei Eddie Leung and Sempai Marie Leung who again selflessly volunteered their time to dual-handidly organize the tournament. It was an amazing display of karate spirit this weekend. Let's continue this for 2009!