May 8, 2015
Kanto Qualifiers 2015
Tokyo high school Kanto region qualifiers were recently held at Seiritsu. The individuals were held on Wednesday, April 29th and the team divisions were held this past Sunday (the 3rd).
We didn’t manage to medal in any divisions for individuals. Everyone showed improvement but not enough to make it to the higher rounds. This was true for team kata as well. The boys’ team kata was considerably better but not worthy of any medals. The girls’ team kata was not bad. However, Kinjo’s team came out strong and pushed us to competing for fourth place. By the tiniest margin, despite a tie in the initial scores, we lost our way into Kanto. It was a devastating turn of events.
On the other hand, our teams did much better in kumite than last year. The boys won their first round but had to face Hozen in the second. Hozen’s team is very tough and they often beat Setagaya high school. Needless to say, we didn’t make it past the second round.
The girls won their first round of kumite and then lost to Nitsuru in the second but then they won their next round to claim third place. This means that they qualified for the Kanto tournament in June. It was a great way to get over the loss in kata.
There are only a few remaining weeks before Kanto and two of those have no club practice due to the term tests. The girls will have to find a way to make sure they are ready. Good luck!!
Brent Regan
Seiritsu International
Karate club coach