West Island Karate Video Archives

As you may have heard by now, Kancho Yoshikazu Matsushima (9th Dan), President of I.K.O. Matsushima, will be making the long trip from Japan to attend the 2010 Matsushima Canadian Championships on May 29th!  Not only will he be honouring us with his presence at our annual tournament, but he will also be holding a seminar for students of all ages and levels the next day (Sunday, May 30th).  This is an opportunity that you absolutely won't want to miss (click here for details)!  What's it like to train with Kancho?  Well this video might give you an idea.  This footage was taken in November of 2008, when a small team from West Island Karate made the trip to Japan to support Sempai Alex as she competed at the 3rd I.K.O. Matsushima World Open.  The day after the tournament, Sensei John, Sempai Alex, Sempai Louise, Em and Susie joined well over 200 other karateka (99% of them black belts) to train with Kancho Matsushima.  Joining Kancho at the front of the gymnasium were Hanshi John Taylor (9th Dan) of Australia, Shihan-Cho Gary Viccars (7th Dan) of Australia, and Shihan Roman Szyrajew (7th Dan) of Canada.  There were so many high ranking black belts in attendance that Sensei John was relegated to the 4th row!  We were also happy to see many other friends of West Island Karate there that day (Sensei Paul, Sempai Natasha, Sensei Ron Auclair, and Shihan Marc Van Walleghem just to name a few...you'll see them all in this video if you watch carefully.  The sight of all those karateka training together with Kancho was truly awe-inspiring.  Enjoy.

The 2010 MATSUSHIMA CANADIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS (taking place May 29th) is destined to be another exceptional edition of our annual tournament.  Last year, we hosted some 280 junior competitors as well as 28 knockdown fighters in our inaugural full contact competition.  More remarkably, the participants represented 26 different dojos(!), many of them from other karate organizations than our own.  As a result, the level of competition was extremely high - an ideal environment for both the participants and spectators.  Among our Guests of Honour last year was Hanshi John Taylor (9th Dan) of Australia, Vice-President of I.K.O. Matsushima.  This year, we have the great pleasure of welcoming Kancho Yoshikazu Matsushima (9th Dan) of Japan, President of I.K.O. Matsushima!  Not only will he be honouring us with his presence at our tournament, but Kancho Matsushima will also hold a seminar the next day (May 30th) which is open to karateka of all ages and levels from any dojo of any affiliation (click here for details).  In addition, Shihan Roman Szyrajew (7th Dan), Canadian Branch Chief and North American Chairman of I.K.O. Matsushima will also be in attendance as a Guest of Honour.  His support of West Island Karate's annual tournament is always welcome and very much appreciated.  So register early and don't miss out (the registration deadline is May 21st).  The 2010 Matsushima Canadian Championships is truly going to be special.  Osu! 

Sensei discovered this hilarious video, and after watching it myself, I couldn't resist posting it on our site!  It's a music video by a new band called "No More Kings" featuring their debut single "Sweep The Leg" (great tune by the way).  The title of the song comes from a climactic line delivered by villain Sensei John Kreese in "The Karate Kid", one of Sensei's favourite movies (and I suspect a favourite of many karateka).  This video is essentially a tribute to and a parody of that classic martial arts movie.  Best of all, it features many of the original cast members (although you might have to rent the movie to figure out who's who :-))!  Chalk full of surreptitious references to "The Karate Kid", this video requires multiple viewings to catch them all.  Good luck and enjoy (and if you figure out who the pizza guy is, please let this clueless webmaster know....many thanks :-)).  Have a super 2010!  Osu!