We have just returned from Canada were we took part in the Sato cup which is the biggest tournament in north America.

Teams from USA, Portugal,Canada, and Japan to name just a few have always taken part in this event. This year Dave Wilkins senior squad coach for the England Kazoku Kai wanted to put a team in and put England on the map. This was decided in July 2006 so 3 members of my club and my self put there names forward to take part and one member of Dave's club and Dave made up our squad.From the Blue Dragon karate club TIM SMITH, CHRIS UNSWORTH, LEE SMITH, KEVIN GREENWOOD, from the Leicester karate club Sensei DAVE WILKINS AND MIKE HART.

The first thing we had to do was raise some money so we went for trying to get some sponsorship from some of the bars here in Tenerife. LINEKERS BAR in Las Americas said yes straight away so we were up and running then came the STAR OF INDIA restaurant in Los Christianos both businesses gave a good amount of cash.

I woud like to thank BO from Linekers bar and Gary from the Star of India without them it would of been a lot harder to get a team across to Canada. So if you are out in Tenerife or you live Here dont forget to use both Linekers for a good night out and the Star of India for the best Indian in town. Support them they both supported us. Also i would like to thank Chris and Lee for sorting and running the raffle they did which also raised a large amount of money, also Leicester karate club for the funds they raised and Martial art superstore for the track suits they supplied.In all we raised 1500 pounds. Funds raised payed for hotel rooms and the transport to and from airports in UK.

We arrived in Vancover on Wednesday 31st Jan 3 days before the competition to get used to the time difference and the weather (it was cold) early night on the Wednesday to get into Canada time (they are 8 hours behind us ). Thursday + Friday, 7am starts breakfast 1st then in the gym for two hours training then the rest of the day to relax and take in the sites. Saturday was another 7am start, off for breakfast then to the BCIT campus were the competition was held we had to register by 9am.There were 6 areas to be used not many competitions have that many areas going all at once.1st up for us was the team event we were up first against B.C. Canada. 1st fighting for us was Lee Smith he came out strong and fought a good strong fight to a 3 all draw. Next up was me (Tim Smith ) i was drawn against Canada's number one fighter (i get all the luck ) we came out and the kid showed his class he beat me 7points to 2 he sure knew how to get you to do what he wanted!. Next up was Chris Unsworth he came out and scored straight away but his opponent came straight back at him for a 3 points to 1 win. We fought again as a team for 3rd place and we took the bronze we all knew we could do better.Next up was Dave Wilkins in the Masters kata in which he took silver things started to look up and gave the squad the boost it needed.

Mike Hart, Lee Smith and Kevin Greenwood all took part in the kata competiton.But did not get placed which was a surprise because when Mike Hart did his 1st kata he completely out classed his opponent. Next up was the individual fighting events. Mike went 1st in the black belts under 80kg event this was mike's 1st time out in a fighting tournament. In the 1st round he got a bye Mike came out strong and held his opponent to a 3 points to nil win. His next fight he lost after a good fight 3points to 2. so he had to fight for 3rd place which he did with ease to take the bronze.

Next up was Kevin Greenwood (Turk) in the 1st kyu section ,Turk out classed anybody that stood in front of him to take our 1st gold of the day.Next up was me(Tim Smith) in the black belts over 80kgs,and guess what i got the Canadian champ again but this time we had a better fight but the champ beat me 8 points to 6, this put me in the fight off's for 3rd place. So all fired up and ready to go we came out to fight for 3rd place my opponent was from Japan this fight was over quickly i beat him 8 points to nil to take bronze in the over 80kg section.

Then came Lee Smith fighting in the 6th kyu to 2nd kyu section nobody could get near him he out classed his opponents and took the 2nd Gold medal of the day. I was up again in the open weight black belt category.

My 2nd fight was against 1 of the canadian team we fought for 3mins were he out pointed me by 1 point to put him in the final and me fighting for 3rd place. My opponent for 3rd place liked to fight rough and hard (which of course i was willing to oblige) he came straight out and stuck his thumb in my eye so it was game on! It was quite an even fight to begin with hard and dirty.( i must say what a great ref we had he saw we were willing to fight and let us get on with it ) The crowd got right behind me in this one (what a buzz i must say) as my opponent had put it on some of the others earlier and they had not put it back to him. After what seemed to be a very long 3 min i beat him 10 points to 7 to take the bronze. I really enjoyed the fight as hard as it was and with some hard hitting from both sides. As soon as it was over my opponent came over and said what a great fight and that was the best and hardest fight he had ever had and shook my hand. That i think sums up the whole day there JUST SOME GREAT SPORTSMENSHIP.

March 2007 will see a first visit to the Blue Dragon Karate Club of one of Taiji Kase´s senior students, Pascal Petrella 5th Dan from Germany. He will be joined by Dave Wilkins 5th Dan.

Much interest has already been shown from instructors and students from Spain, Belgium, Germany and the UK but there is always room for more!

For details of the course please click the following link:

Tenerife March 2007

From left to right

Dave Wilkins, Pascal Petrella
and Derek Ridgway