World Cup

In the old days, the big Japan Karate Association event was called the All-Japan Championships. As the sport spread around the world this didn't make much sense. There was the multi-association World Championship ( WKF ), but nothing specific to the JKA.

As a result, a world event was created called the Gichin Funakoshi Cup. This year it is the 12th such tournament and is being held in Thailand.

A friend of mine is there right now as part of Team Canada. His name is Don Sharp. He is also the head of the JKA in our province. He won the Gichin Funakoshi Cup back in the 1990's.

In the Team Fighting event, Canada got a bye, and in the second round faced Britain. The Canadian won the first match, and my friend Don was up next. His wife was there and reported back to Don's friends and students back home;

The fight began well - Sensei and Richard were well matched. Sensei got the first point, energizing the whole team as well as all the Canadian Team supporters and spectators. There were several good skirmishes, and the fight was getting close to the final 30 seconds when Richard threw a face level round house kick that connected hard and knocked Sensei Sharp unconscious for several minutes. It was a difficult (and very scary) moment for all of us.

Turns out it was a serious concussion, and some hospital time was involved. Don's participation this year ended abruptly. Canada went on the take the Silver, losing only to Japan.

It is easy to forget that Karate is a contact sport.

Things happen in life, and Karate is part of life.