Date: December 6th & 7th, 2024
Place: Greenfield Park, Quebec, Canada
Organizer: Canada Branch (Branch Chiefs Alain Bordeleau & Normand Bordeleau)
On Friday December 6th, ten karatekas from the Greenfield Park Dojo were present for their grading; SoniaMina for 3 rd Dan, Yuri Stoliarov for 3 rd Dan, Dominic Ménard for 2 nd Dan, Rayan Benlaik, Rémi Hocine,Éric Pelletier, Katy Lavertu, Daniel Bihari, Diana Bihari Keanu Jarraya, and Steve Li, all for the 1 st Dan.
Also, 10 karatekas from the Longueuil Dojo were also present for their grading; Cindy Charbonneau,Geoffrey Fielden-Briggs, Eliott Gélinas, Romy Longpré, Nathaniel Boulianne, Robin Lafortune, Jean-François Cadieux, Adam Azouaou, for their 1 st Dan and Michaël Bilodeau-Desmarais for the 2nd Dan.
Also, Sensei Christian Ouellet, was present. The karatekas began their Dan grading by performing their katas and they all successfully completed the breaking with the hands and feet. The grading exam started at 8:00 pm and ended at 10:00 pm. The twenty karatekas were well prepared and executed their katas with precision, low positions, strength and energy.
The belt examination continued Saturday December 7th with a rigorous and demanding training; cardiovascular training, push-ups, sit-ups, blocks, various sequences of kicks, the Gohon Geri and upper body attacks, which was then followed with the Idogeiko Shugi, Idogeiko combinations, Idogeiko Sokugi and the San-bon-kumite. Finally, the most demanding part of the grading started, the combat portion. The combats are always a huge challenge; however, the students did their best to succeeded. More than 97 karatekas, were present to encourage the candidates who were passing their belts. Parents and friends attended the event to encourage the candidates. The two candidates; Sonia Mina and Yuri Stoliarov who were passing their 3 rd Dan completed 30 combats, Dominic Ménard and Michael Bilodeau-Desmarais completed 20 combats for their 2 nd Dan. In addition, the candidates who were passing their 1 st Dan completed 15 combats.
At the end of the day, everybody was exhausted, but happy and proud. What more is there to say, only that the twenty karatekas surpassed themselves and were able to demonstrate their perseverance and courage. Moreover, we are very proud of their accomplishment.
Please note: We would also like to mention that Sensei Christine Jagucki, from the Greenfield Park Dojo and Sensei Marie-Josée Tremblay from the Longueuil Dojo, were also present at the Black belt grading exam.
Best regards,Sensei Christine Jagucki and Shihan Alain Bordeleau
