聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 Six members of the Moose Mountain Wado Kai Karate Club-Senseis Quinn Brown and Savanna Bryce-and Ethan Anderson, Marlee Cormier, Payton Humphries and Nathen Schmidt are representing Saskatchewan at the Karate Canada Nationals in Vancouver, January 29-31.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Along with the honour of being selected for the Saskatchewan Provincial Karate Team, the group are part of the first-ever team from the province to compete at the championship.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淲e're all super-excited, and so are our Senseis (Kevin Dyck, Jayson Humphries, Cara McNair and visiting Sensei Darren Humphries of Calgary),鈥� says Schmidt, 15, who has earned his blue belt. 鈥淭hey've worked 110 percent to get us prepared.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淏ut as the first team going to nationals from this province, there's kind of pressure, too,鈥� continues Schmidt. 鈥淵ou want to make Saskatchewan look good.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Part of the Moose Mountain squad's preparation includes intense training sessions-including during聽 Christmas holidays-in a gym set up in Sensei Jayson Humphries' garage.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淭hey're a great group of kids,鈥� says Jayson. 鈥淭hey're well-deserving and they've never had an opportunity to compete before in an open-style martial arts competition, and it can open up the opportunity to be seen by scouts for the Olympic team.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淚n our garage, we've set up mats, some kicking dummies and different things. They can come in at their leisure and train.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淚n Vancouver, they're competing under WKA (World Karate Association) rules, which are totally different. For example, our kids are used to cement floors and in Vancouver, they'll be competing on mats, so that's what they're practicing on.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淭here's also a pretty big rule book they have to study during a pretty short period of time,鈥� adds Jayson.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The door to Nationals first opened in November 2015, at the Moose Mountain Wado Kai Karate club's 30th anniversary tournament in Carlyle.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淪ensei Heather Fidyk was there from Calgary,鈥� says Sensei and black belt, Quinn Brown, 19. 鈥淪he put a few of us in a group and started naming the people she would like to see at the tryouts for the provincial team. The tryouts in Yorkton were on December 5- only a couple of weeks away-and we really had a short time to prepare ourselves both mentally and physically.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淏ut there really wasn't much time to get nervous,鈥� adds Brown. 鈥淎nd although the competition is tough, karate is a friendly art and if you make it that far, they want you to succeed and qualify for nationals.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淏ut there still is that mental shift you have to make. I felt like I had a really strong tryout in Yorkton, but at the same time, it's tough and you have to be very diligent and committed to practicing.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Everyone competing in Yorkton for a spot on the provincial squad was judged on two elements of karate: kata and kumite.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Kata is a sequence of choreographed movements performed individually and kumite is the part of the sport in which an individual trains against an adversary.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Fifteen-year-old blue belt Ethan Anderson says, 鈥淚'm a little more confident in kumite, so I usually practice my katas as a warm-up. It keeps my mind off everything else.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淭hat's what I did in Yorkton,鈥� says Anderson. 鈥淏oth Nathen (Schmidt) and I have done karate for two years. We also do ju-jitsu. It takes some discipline to adjust to a different sport and different rules.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 聽Brown belt Marlee Cormier, 16, says 鈥淚聽 just went in there and tried to do my best. I've been in karate since I was 10-years-old and I never really wanted to stop. I liked it all along.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淚 never thought of being on a provincial team, but now that I have the opportunity, I'm going to try my hardest and go to Nationals and do the best I can.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淲hen Mr. D. (Kevin Dyck) texted us and told us we all made the provincial team, I felt really good about it.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Payton Humphries, 15-who currently holds a blue belt- agrees. 鈥淚 went into it confident, but I got nervous amd messed up my kata. We were still in Yorkton when my dad (Jayson Humphries) came outside and said, 'Hey, everybody from Carlyle made it.' That was great.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淚 hope to go to Vancouver to compete and give my best,鈥� adds Payton. 鈥淎nd I hope to learn a lot, work on myself, improve my skill set and make some new friends.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淚 was swamped with schoolwork during the tryouts in Yorkton,鈥� says University of Regina聽 student-and black belt-Sensei Savanna Bryce, 20. 鈥淏ut I can thank my family for encouraging me to try out.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淲e'll all be training as much as we can before nationals, but you get what you put in,鈥� adds Bryce. 鈥淎nd I'm privileged to have my family and my karate family behind me-we all are.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Although the six competitors' schedules mean they train individually for the most part, they are unanimous in their praise of and gratitude for their senseis-Kevin Dyck, Jayson Humphries, Cara McNair and visiting Sensei Darren Humphries of Calgary.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淗onestly, none of us would have this opportunity if it weren't for our senseis,鈥� says Payton, and her teammates agree.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Sensei Darren Humphries says: 鈥淪ix kids from rural Saskatchewan-and from this club-are heading to Nationals, which is a real indication of what's happening here.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淚 couldn't be prouder of this club and everyone in it.鈥�
