Well, it’s finally here!

The 2010 Saskatchewan Provincial Wado-Kai Tournament begins tomorrow night with a group workout.

The workout begins at 7:00 p.m. (arrive early) at the Carlyle High School (a.k.a. – G.F. Kells High School) and will be led by Sensei Ron Mattie (8th Dan) – SWKKF Chief Instructor and coach of the Canadian National Wado-Kai Team. It promises to be a great workout!

The tournament portion of the weekend begins on Saturday morning with registration beginning at 9:00 a.m. and the Black Belt competition beginning at 10:00 a.m.

While at the tournament, be sure to check out the prize table for some fun and interesting prizes; T-Shirts will be for sale with a great new design; and make sure you don’t miss out on our 25th Anniversary Draw for an iPod Touch!

For our local members, be sure to introduce yourself to a visitor from another community and welcome them to our dojo and tournament.

For visiting karateka who may be reading this blog… Welcome to Carlyle! We wish you the best of luck at the tournament and a pleasant stay in our community. We’re glad you chose to attend our tournament and hope that you learn much and make some new friends.

More tournament information is found in earlier posts below this.

Good luck, everyone!

Here is a link to the 2010 TOURNAMENT REGISTRATION FORM. The form is also available in the “downloads” area of this site.

2010 Tournament Registration Form

Anyone attending is encouraged to complete this form and bring it with you to the tournament to avoid delays at the registration table.

The following is a link to download the tournament newsletter which contains a tentative schedule of events at the tournament. Remember, all times are approximate. You should be ready for your events at least 20 minutes ahead of the scheduled time.

2010 Tournament Newsletter

Regular classes this week!

Our 25th PROVINCIAL Wado-Kai Karate Tournament is next weekend – Friday, November 26 and Saturday, November 27, 2010!

Here is a tentative schedule of events. These times may change if divisions run fast so you MUST be early for your division.

Friday, November 26
Workout with Sensei Ron Mattie, Welland Ontario. Sensei Ron is the trainer of our National Wado-Kai team.
7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. COST: $15.00 per person

Saturday, November 27
Tournament at Carlyle High School
COST: $15.00 (attend workout and tournament then cost is reduced to $25.00 total)
FAMILY RATE: Pay for first 2 competitors

Schedule – Tentative – be ready early!

(Student division usually compete first, then adult divisions)
9:00 a.m. – Black Belt Meeting
9:00-9:45 a.m. – Registration (all clubs are encouraged to pre-register – form will be posted in “Downloads” section soon)
10:00 a.m. – Black Belt competition (Shodan, Nidan)
11:00 a.m. – Just for Kicks (Ages 5, 6, and 7)
12:30 p.m. – White Belts
1:30 p.m. – Yellow Belts
2:30 p.m. – Orange Belts
3:30 p.m. – Black Belt (Sandan & Up) Kumite Competition and demonstration of top Kata winners
4:00 p.m. – Green, Blue Belts
5:00 p.m. – Brown Belts

We still need help with score-keeping or time-keeping. These are not difficult jobs and are very easy to understand. 2 or 3 volunteers for each table would be great. There will be 3 rings going at once.

Members of Moose Mountain Karate are also asked to bring a small gift/toy for a gift table. Tickets for these items will be sold throughout the day and a draw will be made later in the afternoon. Items can be brought to class and given to Senseis Joan or Cara.

People will also be needed to spell off other members at the prize table and the equipment table. At the tournament, feel free to go up and just offer to give them a break!

More to come!

… until our tournament!

We still need some volunteers to help out with various things during the tournament. Sensei Cara has been working hard to get people in place to “organize” some of the various aspects of the tournament. Now those organizers will be asking for volunteers to fill out the duty list. None of the work is difficult and, “… many hands make light work!” If we all pitch in and so something, then no ONE person has to do EVERYTHING!

We spent some time going over “tournament etiquette” this week so be sure to take a few moments and just “step through” your tournament kata or imaginary kumite. If you can, try running through your tournament kata everyday so that you are completely familiar with it on the day of the tournament. Nerves can sneak up on anyone and suddenly, when you’re supposed to be doing a stellar Pinan Nidan, you find yourself two steps into Pinan Shodan!

Remember to schedule time to attend the workout on Friday, November 26.

The senseis will continue to talk about the tournament at our regular classes. See you on Tuesday!

We have a new Sensei!!!!

Congratulations to Sensei Cara McNair who achieved the rank of Shodan (1st degree black belt) on the weekend!!

We are so proud of you, Sensei. We knew you could do it!!

As the club begins to prepare for the Provincial Wado-Kai tournament, we need to turn to our members for help to make it a success.

We need to set up volunteers for certain aspects of the tournament. Some areas are:
1. Canteen
2. Kitchen
3. Prize Table
4. Score Keeping
5. T-Shirts…
and others.

All of these jobs are important to the success of OUR tournament. There are participants here from Saskatchewan, Alberta, and Manitoba. We enjoy a reputation of putting on a 1st class event and we know we can keep that expectation high.

“Many hands make light work!” so let’s all jump in a help out. If you’re interested in helping but have no preference for which area then just let a sensei know at next week’s workout that you will help wherever you are needed.

Lots of great work last night after a tough warm-up!! Way to go, everyone! See you next week.

Despite the weather, we still had a good turn-out of people for last night’s workout. Close to 20 “Just for Kicks”, and more than 20 juniors and adults braved the treacherous weather and made it to the dojo. Thanks to everyone for coming. It was a good workout.

Now that November is here, thoughts around the dojo will turn towards preparing for our tournament.

Each year, Moose Mountain Wado-Kai hosts the Saskatchewan Provincial Wado-Kai Karate Tournament. The tournament is held at G.F. Kells High School in Carlyle on Saturday, November 27. A Workout is also held on Friday, November 26. The workout is led by some of the highest ranking Senseis in the country and, to some anyway, is the most important part of the tournament weekend. Even if you are unable or tentative about attending the actual tournament, you really should try to attend the workout on the Friday night. The workout is open to all belt levels and offers a great opportunity for growth as a karateka (karate student).

Participating in the tournament, at all age/skill levels, is also a tremendous opportunity for growth. Despite being a “competition”, there is a tremendous sense of support and encouragement between ALL of the participants. Many of us have found that we have developed a group of “Tournament Buddies”. These are fellow students, most often at your same belt rank, with whom you strike up a friendship that grows as you meet again in following tournaments. A friendly sense of competition grows and the tournaments become more fun as you meet more people.

The senseis will have much to say as they continue their hard work with us in preparation for the tournament. Keep working. See you at the next workout.

Well, it looks like winter has found us… at least for today!!

Regular class is still on for today!

The senseis want to remind everyone that it is always smarter to stay safe than to put yourself at risk… especially when it comes to driving! If you don’t feel comfortable driving to today’s workout, then don’t feel guilty for not attending. Today’s workout is being viewed as “Optional” due to the weather conditions.

If you don’t make it to the workout, you could still practice your techniques at home!

We’re back to regular karate classes again.

Just a reminder to those of you who might be interested… the Redvers Karate Club has begun having classes on Monday nights at the Redvers Activity Centre.

CONGRATULATIONS! to Sensei Andrew for competing in his first ever cage match on the weekend. Sensei scored a nice takedown but ended up losing the match to a strong arm bar. Great job, Sensei! We know you learned a great deal and will be even tougher in your next match.

See you on Tuesday!

We’re back to regular classes next week. So we’ll see everone out on Tuesday, October 26.

If you are interested in some of the early history of karate, there’s a link posted on the “Downloads” page here. It’s a short e-book and a free download.

For those interested, remember the Thursday night workout at the Built for Life gym here in Carlyle at 7:00 p.m.