Karate, a highly eclectic martial art was put on its toes and on glorified display at the Malaysia Koshiki Open Championships 2017 on December 17 at SJK(C) Bercham, Ipoh. The championships were led by Shihan Neoh Then Hock, the Chief Technical Director for the Malaysian Koshiki Organisation who is a 6th Dan Black Belt holder in the discipline. The organising committee was headed by Lim Huey Shan (JKKK Kampung Bercham Chairman) with Tuan Mozakir Bin Buyong Mokhtar, the Deputy Director of Perak Department of Youth & Sports presented the prizes.
Karate is a traditional form of Japanese Martial Art that incorporates three phases of training such as the kihon (basic), kata (pattern) and kumite (sparring). A practitioner of Karate is known as a Karateka; all aiming to achieve the highest rank possible via examinations that gauge how competent they are in their training and beyond.
There were numerous international teams (7 countries) that participated in this tournament – namely, Malaysia, Australia, Indonesia, Japan, Algeria, India and Pakistan. However, this wasn’t just a clash of fists amongst practitioners of Karate alone; it was a friendly scrap that involved several other martial arts that provided much challenge to each style.
“We have the strongest support from the international teams” said Then Hock, “They are willing to travel very long hours all the way to support our small organisation and tournament.” As a matter of fact, not only were the fighters from all around the globe, the officials were as well; the arbitrator was from Japan, the judges were from Indonesia and the referee from Malaysia.
Some of the different martial art stylists utilized their unique, discipline-specific techniques in Tae Kwon Do, Kyokushin Karate and Muay Thai against opponents of almost completely different skill-sets.
“The Malaysian Koshiki Federation has a long, rich history of running successful regional, national and international level Koshiki tournaments,” said Professor Scott A. Brown, an 8th Dan Black Belt in Shorinjiryu Karate. “Our future lies in nurturing junior competition in a safe and secure environment.”
The gold medalists for each category (from Girls Under 10 to Men below 86KG) were Tee Rui Han, Soo Kai Yan, Yunis Ho Yi Nee, Cheah Siao Quen, Tadasuke Jinnouchi, Lew Jun Ye, Bryan Yong Jun Wai, Teh Ee Wen, Tri Baskoro, Sim Sang Mitchell, Mohd Azul Ezwan Bin Mohd Asri and Grant Brechney.
Our very own Perak Koshiki Karatedo Association won 6 gold medals and champion trophies by Karatekas Tee Rui Han, Soo Kai Yan, Yunis Ho Yi Nee, Lew Jun Ye, Teh Ee Wen and Sim Sang Mitchell. A further 2 silver and 5 bronze medals were won by the Perak team as well.
Jack Foo
