Zanshin #31

anshin

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Newsletter of the Trinidad Karate Association (TKA)

Issue #31

APR - JUNE, 2017

Table of Content Message

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What is TKA

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Training Schedule

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Tournaments

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On the Road to Japan

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Featured Karateka Upcoming Tournaments

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Senseis Visit

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Editor Graphic Artist\Layout Proofreader

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- Simone Thorne Mora - Sean Powell - Sensei Richard Robertson

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Issue #31 APR - JUNE, 2017

Welcome to our 31st Edition We continue on the Way to Japan. This quarter represents the Newsletter’s fifth year in existence and continues to be a main source of information for friends and family of the TKA community.

Launched in March of 2012, the newsletter was a monthly publication for almost three years and then became a quarterly issue because of time constraints faced by the main publication team of Simone Thorne-Mora (Editor), Sean Powell(Graphic Artist) and Ritchie Richardson (Proof-reader) who have voluntarily given of their time and service to produce this magazine which has been circulated internationally via the Internet. Despite their very hectic schedules, they have continued to produce a high quality magazine which many other Karate Associations cannot boast of having.

So let us continue to support them by providing information, photos, news and even feed-back in the form of letters to the editor. The team always welcomes suggestions to improve the magazine. We are asking that you assist in disseminating it to your friends and family and coworkers. The newsletter is one medium that the TKA is using to promote the organization and its Karatekas, especially those who will be representing T and T in international competitions and who require corporate and other funding and sponsorship to continue their training. In this regard, each edition will continue to feature a potential Olympian as the TKA continues to make Trinidad and Tobago proud by participating in international tournaments and performing creditably whether they medal or not. So let us continue to support them.

OSS!!!

Shihan Wesley Dexter Shim Chairman & Chief Instructor TKA(IKD)

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What is the TKA? The Trinidad Karate Association or TKA is a non-profit organization which is currently one of the largest active organizations teaching traditional Japanese Shotokan karate in Trinidad and Tobago. Originally one club or dojo, the Association has grown with clubs and dojos established in different locations.

Training can now be sourced at:

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Training Schedules Day

Time

TORA Chinese Association St. Ann’s - (Adults and Juniors) Tuesdays

Thursday Saturdays

Rank - Belts Directors: Senseis Nigel Forde and John George Contact No: 680-5234

6.00 pm - 7.00 pm

Adults and Juniors - All ranks

7.00 pm - 8.00 pm

Brown and black belts - High performance (Shihan Shim)

8.00 pm - 9.00 pm

Adults-Brown and Black-Shihan Shim

6.00 pm - 7.00 pm

Adults and Juniors - All ranks

7.00 pm - 8:00 pm

Brown and black belts - High performance (Shihan Shim)

8.00 pm - 9.00 pm

Adults-Brown and Black-Shihan Shim

7.00 am - 9.00 am

Instructor Training

UWI Shotokan Club UWI, St. Augustine (Adults only)

President - Sapphire Lewis Chief Instructor - Shiraz Mohammed | Contact No.- 7502776

Mondays

5.00 pm – 6:00 pm

UWI SPEC- All ranks

Wednesday

6.00 pm – 7:30 pm

All Ranks - Cor. of El Dorado Rd. and Lukpat St., El Dorado

Friday

6.00 pm – 7.30 pm

All Ranks - Cor. of El Dorado Rd. and Lukpat St., El Dorado

Tobago Scarborough Secondary School

Director: Sensei Arthur Morris Contact No: 781-7371

Tuesdays

5.30 pm – 7:30 pm

Adults and Juniors - All Ranks

Thursday

5.30 pm – 7:30 pm

Adults and Juniors - All Ranks

Saturdays

9.30 pm – 12.00 noon

Adults and Juniors - All Ranks

TOBAGO SHOTOKAN SPIRIT WARRIORS (TSSW) Signal Hill Comprehensive School

Directors: Sensei Leo Grant and Fiona Grant Contact No: 343-9814

Tuesdays

5:00 pm - 6:15 pm

Juniors 5-11 yrs; white to green belts

Thursday

6:20 pm - 7:30 pm

Juniors & Adults; Ages 12 & up; and blue to black belts

ASGSKA Arima West & Sangre Grande Govt. Primary Schools

Director: Sempai Kelly Rechais Contact No: 724-1168

Monday

4:30 pm - 5:30 pm 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm

All Ranks/Ages Arima West Government Primary School

Tuesday

3.30 pm - 5.00 pm

All Ranks/Ages; Sangre Grande Government Primary School

KURO OBI Website: http://www.tamarajoseph.com

Directors: Sensei Tamara Joseph Contact No: 396-3229

Tuesdays

3:00 pm

Juniors - University School

Wednesdays

6:00 pm - 7:30 pm

All Ranks - Cor. of El Dorado Rd. and Lukpat St., El Dorado

Fridays

5:00 pm - 6:00 pm

Junior Beginners - Cor. of El Dorado Rd. and Lukpat St., El Dorado

Fridays

6:00 pm - 7:30 pm

Adults and Intermediate to Advance Juniors - Cor. of El Dorado Rd. and Lukpat St., El Dorado

You can view past editions for greater details on the TKA and our local affiliate, the Trinidad and Tobago Karate Union(TTKU) and our international affiliate, the International Karate Daigaku(IKD).

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TOURNAMENTS TAEKWONDO XX ANNUAL BATTLE OF THE ARTS OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP Taekwondo XX Annual Battle of the Arts Open Championship at the Eastern Regional Indoor Sports Complex held in April 8, 2017.

Congratulations to all those persons who participated, especially the juniors from the TKA Arima and Sangre Grande Shotokan Karate Academy under the direction of Sempai Kelly.

Students from Arima Shotokan

Academy

Congratulations also to Sensei Dominic Wilkes who also came second in men’s Kata, edged out by Zachary Alexander who beat him by half a point.

Dominic Wilkes

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Issue #31 APR - JUNE, 2017

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The TKA National Tournament was held on May 20, 2017 at the Tacarigua Sporting Complex.

Here are some memories:

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REGIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL TOURNAMENTS VENEZUELA CAMPEONATO CENTROAMERICANO Y DEL CARIBE DE KARATE 2017, CARACAS Dominic Wilkes and Chennise Charles of the TKA and Zachary Alexander represented T & T at the recently concluded Campeonato Centroamericano y del Caribe de Karate 2017, Caracas, Venezuela (Central American and Caribbean Karate Championships) which was held in March. Although they did not medal the experience proved to be invaluable by further exposing them to Venezuela. ise and Dominic on their way to enn Ch y, har Zac the level of international competition.

ROCKY MOUNTAIN INTERNATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP The 2017 Rocky Mountain International Championship and USA Karate National Qualifier was held on May 6-7, in Louisville, Colorado, USA. Chennise Charles won gold in kumite, beating several American women in their home territory and bronze in kata while Dominic Wilkes won bronze in kata. Congratulations to these guys.

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Dominic and Chennise

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Issue #31 APR - JUNE, 2017

UPCOMING INTERNATIONAL TOURNAMENTS The TKA continues to play a critical role in the Karate scene as many Karatekas being qualified by the Trinidad and Tobago Karate Union (TTKU) to represent Trinidad and Tobago in upcoming and highly recognized regional tournaments are members of the Association. These tournaments are all IOC approved and the TTKU is recognized by the Ministry of Sport in T & T as the national body for karate, as well as the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Recognition Committee(TTOC), and by extension, the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The TTKU is recognized by the TTOC and IOC by virtue of its membership in the Pan American Karate Federation(PKF), the regional body for the World Karate Federation(WKF) which is the only international organization for Karate that is recognized by the IOC. Some of these persons and tournaments are: Panamerican Karate Federation(PKF) • Dominic Wilkes (Kata and Kumite)-male Senior- 23rd t- 27th May, 2017 Curacao • Team Kata: Tamara Joseph, Natakki Hypolite and • Chennise Charles- Kata and KumiteNicole Lambie-female female • Tamara Joseph- Kata and Kumite- female Campeonato Iberoamericano de Karate • Team Kata: Tamara Joseph, Natakki 2017, Honduras Hypolite and Nicole Lambie-female • Chennise Charles ( Kata and Kumite)• Dominic Wilkes- Kata and Kumite-male female 3rd Caribbean Karate Federation, • Tamara Joseph (Kata and Kumite)-female Championship – Suriname, 11th – 17th • Dominic Wilkes (Kata and Kumite)-male July 2017 (PKF approved) • Michelle Lue Fatt (Kata) (Kumite)12-13- Curacao Open 15th-17th September, 2017 Curacao female • • • •

Roshelle Lue Fatt (Kumite) 12-13 female • Chennise Charles (Kata and Kumite)female Shedese Nicholson (Kata)14-15-female • Tamara Joseph (Kata and Kumite)-female Malaika Ali Kerr (Kata) 14-15-female Chennise Charles (Kata and Kumite)- • Dominic Wilkes(Kata and Kumite)-male female • Tamara Joseph (Kata and Kumite)-female

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ON THE ROAD TO JAPAN In the last edition we introduced Sensei Tamara Joseph, 4th Dan who was the TTKU nominee for Sportswoman of the Year award in Karate for 2016. Please visit Sensei Tamara’s webpage at http://www. tamarajoseph.com.

FEATURED KARATEKA A passionate and goal-oriented leader with demonstrated success in Shotokan Karate both locally and internationally, Chennise Charles (2nd Dan) was just five years old when she first started Karate. She discovered her passion for the sport at an early age earning skips at every Grading examination and received her black belt at just 10 years old. She has represented her country, Trinidad and Tobago, internationally in countries such as Japan, Greece, Curacao and the USA. She also started teaching at age 17 because of her love for children and her sport.

One of Sensei Charles’s fervent loves is that of teaching children with disabilities. In this regard, she has taught pupils ages 5-18 years karate and self-defence techniques at the School for Blind Children in Santa Cruz. She is desirous of continuing to give back to society with one of her main goals being to take abled-bodied and disabled Karate athletes to the Youth World Games 2018.

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Issue #31 APR - JUNE, 2017

A graduate of the UWI School of Business and Applied Studies (Roytec) and a holder of a Certificate from the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee in Sports Administration, Chennise has been nominated in the past by the Trinidad and Tobago Karate Union (TTKU) for the First Citizen Bank Sports Foundation Youth of the Year Award and Sportswoman of the Year Award. Currently, she holds the title of National Champion, Trinidad and Tobago in both Kata and Kumite in the Adult division, achieving her first goal for 2017. She also ended the year 2016 as champion at the Curacao International Open Tournament in the Adult Kumite Division and earned a silver medal in the Adult Kata Division, being the only athlete from Trinidad and Tobago to return home with two medals from that competition.

A member of the Trinidad Karate Association(TKA), at 23 years of age, she currently trains full time with Shihan Wesley Shim(8th Dan), Chief Instructor and Chairman of the TKA and Technical Director of the TTKU. Shihan Shim is helping her achieve other goals this year such as medalling in the World Karate Federation (WKF) Pan American Games 2017 which will be held in Curacao in May this year. A major long term goal for this young woman is the Tokyo Olympics Games 2020.

Her latest achievement was in May 2017 where she gained Gold in Kumite and Bronze in Kata at the Rocky Mountain International Championship and USA Karate National Qualifier, Colorado. She has also qualified to represent T and T in the 1st Panamerican senior championship in Curacao 2017(May 23-28, 2017), 3rd Caribbean Championships, Suriname (July 12-16, 2017), Ibeiro Americano Championship (August 2017) and Curacao Open(October 2017).

Ms. Charles recently launched her programme, “Girls a Fighting Chance” at the National Centre for Persons with Disabilities.” This project targets young females and involves visiting schools and giving presentations one and a half to two hours on self defence techniques using modified Karate techniques. The main objective of Giving Girls a Fighting Chance is to introduce girls and young women basic psychological and practical techniques of self-defence when faced with a personal attack. The seminars will not make the girls experts in self defence but will expose them to a few basic concepts of self-defence techniques used in Karate without the intimidation that can surround the sport.

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UPCOMING TOURNAMENTS MAY

JULY

23RD – 27TH MAY 2017 PKF SENIORS - CURACAO

3 - 10 JULY 2017 CAMP AND TOURNAMENT -SANTO DOMINGO

AUGUST 1ST WEEK IN AUGUST 2017 IBERO AMERICANO CHAMPIONSHIP - HONDURAS 21ST – 26TH AUGUST 2017 PKF JUNIORS IN BUENOS ARIES – ARGENTINA

SEPTEMBER 15TH-17TH SEPTEMBER 2017 CURACAO OPEN

OCTOBER 14TH OCTOBER 2017 TTKU INVITATIONAL

Please visit link for greater details on camp and tournament in Santo Domingo: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwugtYZqDbQ0aVluNGNwQzNTYXc/view?usp=drive_web

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Issue #30 JAN - MAR, 2017

SENSEIS VISIT Senseis Christian Godard, 6th Dan and Renée Kavahihan, 5th Dan from IKD, Quebec, Canada recently visited the island and facilitated special training sessions during the month of May.

Senseis Nigel, Godard and Renée in deep focus during Kata drills

Senseis Renée, Nicole and Cathy

KARATEKAS DO HAVE FUN

between all the intense training Karate practitioners do take time to have some fun. Here are students from UWI Shotokan Club celebrating their results from TKA’s March 2017 grading.

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Look out for our next edition in July to August 2017 where the focus will be on continuing in the PRO Karate Programme. Send comments, articles and pictures to kimoy2004@yahoo.com

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