News

The new year has started off with a bang.

Jeff Bedard will serve as Secretary General for the USA Shito-Kai Group under chairmanship of Kyoshi Shoko Sato, WSKF pan-American Standing Director.

Monique Fields will serve as communications director under Vice-Chairman Daisuke Sato.

First order of business is to re-load the USA Shito-Kai website at: www.usashitokai.com.
Second is organization of a U.S. Team to attend the upcoming WSKF pan-Am Championship hosted by Shito-Kai Canada in August of 2012.

More about everything later....the season is under way and we have more immediate issues before us.

 

January 28, 2012

Coaches Jeff Bedard and Sensei Moe, accompanied by a fun group of parents. oversaw new and returning youth competitors at the KLS Annual Tournament in St. Louis, Missouri. Results were as expected.  Most everyone won or medaled in their kumite divisions.  Kata and basic placement were a little spotty with the first year players.

The meet ran pretty much on time, judging was OK for an inner club event.  No one got hurt. The event had about 100 players spread out among the age ranges.  Our returning kids got to knock off some ring rust.  And, the new players got their feet wet. The only negatives from a coaching view point were were 6 point matches and running time.  We prefer 90 second stop time and 8 point matches for the kids.

There were a couple of upsets in the 2 year player divisions - the most intriguing were Joe Effinger's.  Evidently Joe has gotten pretty good. He surprised everyone by dishing out several losses to more "prominent" players. As a coach, it was fun to watch a kid bloom right in front of you.

    

January 28, 2012    -   Karate Life Studios Karate Invitational
First Name	Last Name	Gender	Age	Division	Kihon	Kata	Kumite
Ellie	Anderson	F	5-7	Beginner	Top 8	3rd	1st
Chadney	Brown	F	8-10	Intermediate	2nd	1st	1st
Evan	Bulber	M	11-13	Intermediate	2nd	3rd	3rd
Andre	Campbell	M	8-10	Novice	Top 8	N/A	3rd
Joseph	Effinger	M	11-13	Novice	Top 8	Top 8	4th
Mackenzy	Fields	F	11-13	Intermediate	1st	2nd	1st
Tyler	Gannon	M	11-13	Intermediate	3rd	1st	5th
Brandon	Gee	M	11-13	Novice	3rd	1st	1st
Zachary	Jablonski	M	11-13	Novice	2nd	3rd	2nd
Bella	Medley	F	8-10	Novice	Top 8	Top 8	1st
Dylan	Melvin	M	8-10	Beginner	Top 8	Top 8	3rd
Tristan	Melvin	M	5-7	Beginner	Top 8	Top 8	1st
Nico	Perry	M	11-13	Novice	4th	2nd	5th
January	Probst	F	11-13	Novice	1st	4th	1st
Angelica	Reed	F	8-10	Beginner	Top 8	Top 8	1st
Garrett	Stone	M	11-13	Novice	Top 8	N/A	3rd
	Watson	m	11-13	Beginner	N/A	N/A	1st

 

 

Begin 2012

 

 

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

December 9-10, 2011 - Belleville, Illinois

                    Jeff Bedard and USA Karate Clubs will host USA National Karate Federation Technical Committee Chairman Jesse Canedo for a weekend seminar to include Kata and Kumite sessions. Canedo has produced many national and international champions over his 40 year carreer in Karate.  Canedo runs his own club in Palm Springs, California

November 5 - 6, 2011 - Miami, Florida

                    Luis Sanchez and the Florida Shito-Kai Group hosted the second annual Miami Tai-Kai Tournament.  The event included a special seminar marking the return of Kyoshi Shoko Sato's return to the United States, Shito-Kai Dan Examinations for USA Shito-Kai members, and a Tournament. 

                    Saturday evening, November 5th,  USA Karate Club president Jeff Bedard (former executive director of the USA Shito-Kai)  and Monique Fields of USA Karate Clubs, Inc. attended a meeting for USA Shito-Kai club owners chaired by Daisuke Sato of Houston, Texas.  In attendance was Kyoshi Shoko Sato and other chief instructors from USA Shito-Kai member clubs.  Members addressed issues relating to association operations, annual budgets, and testing requirements.  Additionally, Bedard was asked to assist in re-organizing some of the operational systems to improve communication between member clubs, improve administrative function, and create a new web presence.

                    PKF Referee Eduardo Riveros acted as Chief Referee for the tournament, with Bedard and Fields refereeing rings #1 and  #2  respectively during the tournament held Sunday, November 6th.  The competition featured youth and adult players from the U.S., Venezuela, Peru, and Mexico.

August 5, 2011 - Gaithersburg, Maryland

                    Frank Pugarita of Gaithersburg, Maryland hosted a meeting of the USA Shito-Kai Board of Directors at his facility on Friday August 5th.  The meeting was attended by; Frank Pugarita, Jeff Bedard, Monique Fields, Oswaldo Portillo, Gino Alfonso, Anthony Haliwell, Julio Rosa, Gustavo Alfonso, and David Abraham.

                    Discussions included issues relating to club membership, passbooks, website development, and dan examinations.  The results of said meeting will be posted on the new version of usashitokai.com in coming weeks.

July 14-17, 2011 - Arlington, Texas

                     USA Karate members attended the USA National Karate Federation championships.

After long discussions with USA-NKF president John DiPasquale and new USA-NKF Technical Director Jesse Canedo - USA Karate Clubs members participated in the first Jr. Dan examinations held by the federation.

Results:

                    Turner Clark            15        2nd Dan
                    Elyse Bedard          12        1st Dan
                    Sarozjani Hunter     12        1st Dan
                    Gabriel Hall             12        Shodan-ho

 

June 27- July 1 - Belleville, Illinois

                    USA Karate Clubs hosted its 5th annual Gold Medal Sports Camp.  Special guest coach was USA Team Member Brian Mertel of Chicago, Illinois.  Athletes spent five days doing three a day practices which included physical conditioning, technical improvement, and sport kumite training.  This annual event is an important element of seasonal training in preparation for the national tournament.