Who is the Champ?

This spring our club attended two tournaments labelled as the Provincial Championship. Each one is the premier event of different associations.

The one put on by our style association is logically known as the ISKF Provincial Championship. The other competition is called the Karate BC Provincial Championship.

The rules are a little different, but not such that an outsider would notice.

The difference is in scale. The ISKF event is only open to the 20 BC-based ISKF clubs. Assuming 30 members per club, this is only 600 people. Most people have no interest in competing, and the remainder are divided into divisions by gender, age, and belt rank.

The Karate BC event is open to 125 Karate BC clubs. Assuming the same club size, it means a pool of 3,750 people.

It would be nice if the ISKF clubs were also part of Karate BC. Most style associations do this, as Karate BC is recognized by Sport BC, and therefore by the Provincial Government. Its role is to unify the sport aspect of Karate.

Some of our ISKF clubs are also part of Karate BC. The five that are can have competitors taking part in both type of event. The other 15 clubs cannot.

Doing well in Karate BC can get one into Team BC, which means you compete at the National Level. Do well there, and international competition looms. This can lead to the World Championship put on by the World Karate Federation, which is the body recognized by the International Olympic Committee. If Karate becomes an Olympic sport, this group will be in charge of it around the world.

Not that I’m looking for an Olympic Gold.

Not yet.