BANFF – The fighting spirit resonated in young members of Banff Kyokushin Karate (BKK) during a local full contact tournament.
Fists were thrown with determination and knees and kicks crash landed on flesh with velocity at the seventh Banff Kyokushin Karate Championships on Saturday (Dec. 7) at Banff Elementary School, where BKK welcomed western Canada clubs in full contact, non-contact and kata events.
Wearing protective head, foot and hand gear, Banff’s Gabe Murray fought three times to claim silver in the 13-14 boys knockdown tournament. The 14-year-old said he kept his foot on the pedal each time he stepped on the mat for his bouts ranging from 90 seconds to two minutes.
#Banff’s Gabe Murray, red, fights for gold in the 13-14 boys knockdown at the Banff #Kyokushin #Karate Championships. pic.twitter.com/m0xNAUNvqk
— Jordan Small (@jordiesmall) December 7, 2019
“I just wanted to keep going ‘cause in previous years I’ve definitely pulled back a lot more,” said Murray, 14. “I’ve gotten quite a bit bigger since last year and I decided best not to put that to waste and I wanted to really push it this year and I think it paid off, honestly.”
Murray focused solely on the knockdown tournament and ended up going toe-to-toe with eventual winner Leo Jensen of Calgary in a hard-fought final match.
The local fighter aggressively pursued his opponent with leg kicks, knowing full well Jensen’s strength lies in his punishing kicks. Murray stayed true to his strategy, but brutal body kicks winded him a bit and he was unable to defeat Jensen, who also won the tournament's adult technical award.
“I do think we had a quite well fought fight and I’m quite proud of it,” Murray said.
#Banff’s Francois Labelle, red, fights for bronze in the men’s 18+ knockdown at the Banff #Kyokushin #Karate Championships. pic.twitter.com/o2TsxZOMTG
— Jordan Small (@jordiesmall) December 7, 2019
Banff’s Nadia Scurfield finished third in the 15-17 girls knockdown division after her single bout against Alyssa Bobye of Calgary. As the smaller competitor, Scurfield relied on technical fighting to push back when the bigger fighter crowded her.
“It’s really hard to get up in front of there,” said Scurfield, 15. “A lot of the times, once you get up on the mat, a lot of things that you practiced in the dojo almost seem to disappear from your head and I felt I stayed in the zone and I was really proud of myself.”
Her main goal in the 90-second bout was to utilize a push and attack, a new rule added this year, which she accomplished.
“My proudest thing is I did get a successful push followed by a kick, which moved my opponent back quite a lot,” Scurfield said. “I was really proud of myself; I didn’t give up and I managed to circle a lot and I didn’t back up as much as in previous years.”
The BKK tournament also featured kata, showcasing choreographed fighting movements, which is part of the Kyokushin martial art that places an emphasis on realistic fighting.
Those who entered performed two katas, which made things more difficult during the learning process and in front of the judges, said Scurfield.
“I was proud of how I performed in the second one, I thought my moves were really snappy and I presented myself how I wanted to,” she said.
Kyokushin clubs from Edmonton, Calgary and British Columbia competed in the one-day local championships, and BKK head instructor Daymon Miller was pleased with how his club performed.
“It always makes me proud to see when we have a membership of 50 or so people and they're competing and holding their own on the mats with anyone,” Miller said.
Local standout results:
Emily Palmer finished in second in the non-contact U12 division, second in the knockdown division and her kata team, consisting of Logan Penner and George Yoshikawa finished in second place. In the end, Palmer won the tournament’s Youth Spirit Award for challenging herself in many categories.
“Emily entered every division possible in the morning and so for me and the other officials that was a sign of Osu no Seishin, perseverance through adversity,” Miller said.
In U12 knockdown, George Yoshikawa was second in 50 pounds and under; Milan Leblanc was third in 51-60 lbs.; Fergus Langer MacIntosh was third in 61-70 lbs. and 71-80 lbs.; Finn Shackelton was second in 71-80 lbs.; Maya Daniel was first in 91-100 lbs. and Leya Daniel was third.
In open men knockdown, Francois Labelle finished fourth.
In U12 non-contact, Ocean Reid finished first in 50 lbs. and under, Gaku Itoh was second, George Yoshikawa was third and Pomelie Leblanc was fourth; Igor Smith and Dylan Parney tied for third in 51-60 lbs.; Xavier Pace finished first in 61-70 lbs., Grace Mayberry-Hjeertas was second, Fergus Langer MacIntosh came in third and Logan Penner was fourth. For 17+, Kevin Palmer finished second.
In kata, Finn Shackelton finished in third in U12 white/orange belt; Kevin Palmer finished third in white/orange belt; Leya Daniel was third in U12 blue belt; Maya Daniel was first in U12 yellow belt; and Daiki Uda finished second in yellow belt.
In team kata, the Banff team of Finn Shackelton, Grace Mayberry-Hjeertas and Fergus Langer MacIntosh finished first.
For full results, visit banffkyokushin.com.
