A competitior in the 'kata' rounds

¡ÈKarate is like hot water- you must keep heat under it to keep it boiling¡É. These words are of Gichin Funakoshi, the man who is credited with inventing modern karate and this ideal was shown to still be followed at this year¡Çs National Championships of the Japan Karate Association England. Held at the K2 Sports Centre in Crawley, over 200 of best karate practitioners competed against each other to become the Champions of 2010.

The day started with the preliminary rounds of ¡Ækata¡Ç. Competing in pairs, the karate students went thorough choreographed movements, defending and then attacking against imaginary opponents. Being judged on accuracy, speed, power and technique, the hundreds of competitors were slowly reduced through the quarter and semi -finals until only the best were left. The day then progressed on to the ¡Ækumite¡Ç or ¡Æfighting¡Ç sections. With it only taking one point to win, each bout was fast and explosive with the Judges looking for speed, agility and quick reflexes to decide the winner. Again, the eliminations brought the competition down to the finals.  With ages ranging from 8 years to over 60 years, the competitors all performed impressively.

After a short break, the Finalists, Referees and Time Keepers lined up to receive the loud applause of the spectators waiting eagerly in the stands. Acknowledging the Association¡Çs connection with Japan, everyone proudly stood for the Japanese and British National anthems. What followed was a show of karate excellence with the best of the best taking the gold, silver and bronze medals.

The long but very successful day culminated with Mr. Tsuchiya, the Deputy Director of the Japan Information and Culture Centre, presenting the Ambassadors Cup to the best Overall  Male, Jovan Masalunga, Female, Jana Sersnova and Juniors, Stanley Forbes and Marie Douillet. This Cup was inaugurated last year with the kind permission of The Japanese Ambassador Mr. Shin Ebihara,  who stated that he was very impressed that so many people in this country practice karate and through it develop the spirit of Japanese Budo, which promotes spiritual, moral and physical values.

The Japan Karate Association is the keeper of the ¡ÆShotokan¡Ç style of karate with a direct connection from Master Funakoshi to the Senior Instructors teaching today. With clubs throughout the country, JKA England works hard to uphold the best standards of karate by keeping very close links with Japan and constantly encouraging it¡Çs Instructors to develop their abilities. To find out more information about traditional Japanese karate please go to www.jka-england.org or email info@jka-england.org