RESULTS FOR THE MAS OYAMA'S MEMORIAL CUP 2000
Written by Angel Carrasco: This is my personal view
as a spectator and I must add that it is not my intention to offend anyone
involved on the referees. I just want to be able to express my own
opinion (wrong or right) from how I see it.
It was an exciting Tournament. Many competitors from
different countries got together to compete. There were many
top representatives of the IKO 3 present. The tournament was under
the supervision of Kancho Matsushima from Japan, who also was in charge of
the seminars given on Sunday for black belts and colors belts. The
competitors showed excellent technique and spirit in this competition.
There were high caliber competitors from Europe and also from Canada and
USA. In the Men's light weight division, the team from Spain brought
the European 1999 Champion, Pep Llorens, who knocked down his
first and second opponents, amazed the spectators with his style of
fighting. Unfortunately due to a controversial decision ( this is my
personal opinion as spectator), he lost his third fight and did not
progress to the finals, however he will be remembered as one the best
fighters of this tournament. Also the fighter from Belgium Gabor
Biro, shows tremendous spirit with his fighting. Tony Pizzi from
Canada was another great fighter with great talent and strong technique,
he lost in the finals with the Belgium Gabor Biro, who took first place in
this light weight division.
In the Middle weight division, Sensei Joe Addesso, a
fighter with a large experience in International events and
giving a good exhibition of his talent, he found his way up to the final,
where he faced, Mitsuki Tagawa from Japan. Sensei Addesso
defeated Mitsuki Tagawa in a clear decision, taking first place
in the Men Middle weight division.
In the Heavy Weight division, Miguel Bascon from Spain
showed excellent spirit in combat, he advanced to the finals in a fierce
fights, overtaking his first two opponents. Unfortunately he got to
the finals with many injuries from the first fight and lost against a more
fresh fighter, Mike Wynn from the USA, who took the first place in this
division.
The Junior Division also has very good and talented
fighters, they all fought very hard and showed great spirit, and
very good technique. It is clear that the Juniors are getting better each
year and it will be even more exciting to see them when they reach the age
to fight in the adult division.
In the Woman division we also had the chance to see
excellent fights. In the women light weight division, Elena Galasso from
Canada showed the true spirit of fighting, she faced top fighters, like
the competitor from Spain Anna Marin, who lost against Elena Galasso in a
fierce fight which went to overtime. And in the finals Elena Galasso faced
an experienced, and excellent fighter from Belgium, Peggy Groesserr, and
lost in a difficult decision. At the end Peggy Groesser who also defeated
a good fighter from the USA, Alicia Lewis in the preliminaries, was the
one who took first place in this Division.
In the Women's heavy weight division, Nancy Cantini from
Canada defeated Anna Albert from the USA., taking first place in this
division.
Also as part of the program, Shihan Roman Szyrajew, and
his student, Francois Oimet, gave an excellent demonstration of
Tameshiwari (breaking), and self defense. Shihan Roman showing his well
know expertise on Tameshiwari, broke with one blow, simultaneously 2
baseball bats with his shin. He also broke a Baseball bat with his elbow (Hiji),
and with knife hand (Shuto). Mr. Francois Oimet, give a demonstration of
courage and determination when he did the brick breaking demonstration
using his elbow and fist.
On Sunday morning was the Seminar for black belts, and
color belts in the afternoon. Kancho Matsushima, who was giving the
seminar gave a quick review of the basic (Kihon), and we also review all
the Pinan, in Futsu (normal), Ura, and Tate. Sensei Bill Dufour was
promoted to Sandan in this seminar. Congratulations to him on his new
grade which reflects his effort on pursuing and promoting Kyokushin
Karate. Also the following students from Sensei Johns Adams from the
United States were given their Black Belts certificates from Kancho
Matsushima. Tim Faasuamalie and Ian Quitadamo were promoted to Nidan.
Collin Smith and Ben Hill were promoted to Shodan. Congratulations to all
of them.
Thank you to Shihan Roman Szyrajew and Sensei Joe
Addesso for having this high quality International Tournament, it was
really a great weekend. I am very grateful to Shihan Roman and Sensei
Addesso for their hospitality and attention giving to me during the time I
spent in Montreal. OSU!
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