19th WKF World Karate Championships 2008 Full Results

Lawrence again (no, they haven't shipped me home.... yet...).

I took the liberty of scanning the complete results from all the divisions from the recent WKF World Karate Championships here in Tokyo, Japan.

***After you click on one selection below, then click on the button on the bottom right hand corner to expand***

Enjoy!

Kata - Individual Female
Kata - Individual Male
Kata - Team Female
Kata - Team Male
Kumite - Female -53kg
Kumite - Female -60kg
Kumite - Female +60kg
Kumite - Female Open
Kumite - Team Female
Kumite - Male -60kg
Kumite - Male -65kg
Kumite - Male -70kg
Kumite - Male -75kg
Kumite - Male -80kg
Kumite - Male +80kg
Kumite - Male Open
Kumite - Team Male

WKF World Karate Championships 2008 Day 2 Report

Richard here, blogging at almost midnight on day 2, which ran very smoothly, like a well-oiled machine, and one we can be all proud off if we one day make it into the Olympics. Sure, sure, there are things to improve, no doubt, but the athletes on the mats were truly incredible and respectful.

Here are the current results from day and and today.

While yesterday had the men (gold for France) and women's (gold for Japan) team kata finals, plus women's team kumite final (gold for Germany), today from 9am-3pm was men's team kumite continued on from yesterday, and then then individual kata. Today also saw the finals for individual kata for men (gold for Italy) and women (gold for Vietnam)and men's team kumite (gold for Turkey).

Quick impressions of today as I have to get up again in 6 hours!

Japanese male fighters were spirited, but they were unable to show a complete technique by using their whole body, it was more of just fast arms out of sync from their torso, so few points and the men's team was out by about the 3rd round.

Yesterday and today it was amazing to see how strict the ref's are with scoring points. If the full body is not used and the athlete doesn't retract the technique and be in an advantageous position afterwards, either a quick escape or an overwhelming move forward, there was no point given.

An IOC representative came this afternoon to watch the event and officially check on how things were running, so the head table was buzzing with instructions of how to tighten things up here and there.

Japan Men's Kata Team

I must say how hard everyone is working! Staff, officials, volunteers, high school students, media, everyone seems to be really involved. Sure some students are stuck sitting beside maybe a door to an empty hallway and looking a little bored, but as soon as I walk by I get a smile and I think that cheers us both up.

Oh, I was 'elevated' just a tad to work for Itaki Sensei as we were to help Mr. Estevan Perez and Kenji Sato by being available to take care of any concerns about the flow of the tournament and the set up of the tables and chairs, to just about anything that needed immediate attention.

So I got to, as politely as I could, be diplomatically direct when asking the refs not working to be seated, to clear the competition area, deal with lost equipment and people, take care of requests from Fuji TV the sponsor about how to interact with other camera crews, etc, etc. Actually as soon as I walked anywhere there was a thing needing some attention.

Pretty much I'm at the long elevated front table and everyone can see little old me, and for sure I'm on TV in the background trying to get non-essentional people waved out of the event!

To anyone and everyone who are there at the Nippon Budokan and I deal with, of course no hard feelings, I'm just doing my translating job and extras as I've been asked. Simply telling someone it is a 'WKF rule' seems to work like a charm. And there are so many charming people, from huge athletes who give me a smile while their sweating and crying after a loss, to the many volunteers and officials who wink at me or give me the thumbs up, thank you all.

Tomorrow Kenji is not around until 2 or 3 so I'm the guy on the spot, receiving instructions from Estevan and getting them out to the Japanese staff! Wish me luck! (I have to iron my shirt now and get some sleep!)

From now, only individual open and weight div kumite!

Richard

Sumo and Sightseeing...

Carl here...

Tuesday 23rd September was a national holiday, so Amy and I decided to do some sightseeing. The original plan was to visit Nikko, which is about 1 ½ to 2 hours north of Sugito by train. We agreed to get up very early to make the most of the day, we would be catching the train from Wado station at 7.00am.

7.00am came and went, and I was still in bed! Amy was wide awake and somewhat bemused at my morning of laziness. I dragged myself out of bed at 7.30am but we had missed our train. After breakfast we decided to go with plan B, if only we had one! We quickly decided to just head into Tokyo and see what mischief we could get up to.


Amy and I, in front of the Edo-Tokyo Museum


The day started out as per the plan with some sightseeing in Tokyo, we started with a visit to the Edo-Tokyo open air architectural museum. The building itself is hideous, it looks like a concrete oil rig (see photo), but inside is really cool. After buying your ticket (a very reasonable 600 yen!), you take the elevator up to the sixth floor which is one of two ‘permanent exhibit areas’. What greets you is a full size replica of the northern half of the original Nihonbashi (Literally – Japan Bridge), as you walk over the bridge you can look down to a number of full size replica buildings on the fifth floor. At the other side of the bridge you come across some large scale models of various parts of Tokyo. The details are very good; I liked the contrast between a Lord’s villa and an area of equal size which housed 1000 common folk.

We headed down to the fifth floor which continues from the Edo-period right through the industrial revolution, the great Kanto earthquake and of course, World War 2. There are lots of other exhibits worth seeing and there are lots of ‘hands-on’ things for children (or adults!) but I won’t spoil them for you, I would definitely recommend the museum.


These flags have the names of more famous Sumo guys
After the museum, we decided to go for a bit of a walk whilst we decided where to head next. We hadn’t walked very far when we started to get passed by a number of Sumo guys in full kimono. We walked a little further and realised that we were in the centre of ‘Sumo-town’ and the Edo-Tokyo museum is right next door to the National Sumo Arena (Ryogoku Kokugikan). There was nothing else for it, we quickly bought tickets and headed inside.

I sort of followed what was going on, with the help of our English handbook. Most of the bouts were the same; two guys would get up, bow to each other, throw chalk around and wrestle. The winner is the one who makes the other guy fall or touch the floor with anything other than his feet, or move / get pushed out of the roped off ring.


Opening Ceremony for the Makuuchi (Senior) division

In between each division, all the competitors would have a ceremonial entrance. They all walk in and form a circle in the ring looking towards the crowd, then they all turn 180 degrees lift their hands, do a bit of a clap and then walk off again.

Opening Ceremony for the Makuuchi (Senior) division

Some of the fights were really good, especially as the day wore on. The most enjoyable bout for me was between a huge guy that was three times the size of his opponent. It looked like the little guy was going to get squashed. When the fight started, the little guy shifted to the left as the big guy attacked. The little guy then simply unbalanced his larger opponent and the big guy crashed on his back to the floor. The crowd went wild! There were other good fights but that was the highlight for me.


One of the many fights in action

Today turned out to be day number 10 of this particular tournament and like all sumo tournaments, it lasts all day. We got there for about lunch time so we watched from the middle of the Jonokuchi (lowest rank) – Makushita (junior grade) category. Next came the Juryo (intermediate) and then the Makuuchi (senior division) event. The tournament finished with the yumitori-shiki or bow dance ceremony.


Here's Asashoru up against Ama on day 9 of the tournament

I really enjoyed watching the sumo live, it feels very different from watching it on TV. The crowd really get into it and you can’t help but get sucked in and you really enjoy yourself. I was particularly surprised at the skill of the wrestlers, they actually use techniques! I never saw the fascination with sumo but I think I’m now hooked, and we're already planning our next trip.

SHINJUKU

All photo's in this article have been taken from www.flickr.com

On Monday, Amy and I decided to head into Tokyo for some sightseeing. Here's how it went, with a little history thrown in for good measure!

In 1868 Emperor Meiji moved his capital from Kyoto to Edo, renaming in Tokyo (the Eastern Capital), Shinjuku became the railhead linking the city to Japan’s western provinces. Travellers would rest and refresh themselves for the final leg of their journey to the imperial palace. The popularity and importance of Shinjuku has not waned, and today 3 million commuters pass through Shinjuku Eki every day, making it the busiest station in Japan.



By day, Shinjuku Eki is a huge concentration of retail stores, malls and discounters of every description. By night, the area is an equally impressive collection of bars, parlours and restaurants – just about anything that amuses, arouses or intoxicates can be bought here, if you know where to look.

The main reason for me wanting to come to Shinjuku is the Skyscraper district. I know it's a little bit sad, but they are an impressive sign of what can be accomplished when you put your mind to it. The area also adds some definition to an otherwise un-defined Tokyo skyline.


Tokyo Tocho – Tokyo Metropolitan Government Office
Built by architect Kenzo Tange, this huge city hall complex was started in 1988 and was completed in 1991 at a staggering cost of 157 billion yen! That is roughly £780 million, that’s the same as some developed countries GDP.

The main building has 48 stories, and it splits on the 33rd floor into two towers. There are observation decks on the 45th floor of both towers and I’m told that on a clear day, you can see Mount Fuji. Unfortunately, it wasn't a clear day when we visited, BUT, we did take a photo of where Fuji should be!

We headed for the south tower, and had a short wait when we entered the building for the elevators to the observation decks, we also had to get our baggage searched. I must say that I was a little disappointed when we got to the 45th floor. The view was ok, but the visibility wasn't good enough to see any great distances. I think I was naively expecting something similar to the view from the 110 storey New York World Trade Centre which I visited before they were destroyed in 2001.

The floor had windows all the way around the outside to view the city, there was a small cafe in the middle and a tiny gift shop. There was also a small exhibition for Japan's bid for the next Olympics. After a while of looking at the city, and posing for a few pictures, we decided to join the huge queue to get back down to the ground floor.

Next, we decided to go to the Shinjuku Park Tower Building
for lunch. After a very nice curry from an Indian restaurant, we had a short walk back to the station, where we had a look around.

Subnade –the most extensive underground arcade in Tokyo
This place is full of shops and restaurants, all underground... I'm sure this is really impressive, it's certainly an impressive piece of engineering, and it is huge. But by the time we got here, I was tired and hungry, so we got some snacks and headed back home. Maybe next time we're coming through here I'll appreciate it a little more... maybe.

Carl