Finally after almost three years preparation on my part - the Wado Cup World Championships were set to commence. The typhoon was approaching and the wind and rain had begun as we walked from the hotel to the train station. Before the Kata section of the tournament started, there was another ‘marching ceremony’ with all the country representatives and their coaches and more speeches. The bleechers were only half full and someone commented that many people were afraid to travel into Tokyo with the typhoon approaching.

The opening ceremony of the tournaments.
















It was hard to understand, but the organisers had divided the Kata matches into two separate areas. By sheer chance I am sure, all the Gaigin just happened to be in one arena while most of the Japanese and Asians were in the other. I was immediately wondering how that could be fair since the judges in one area might be scoring slightly higher than in the other which would mean that the criteria could be different between the two areas. Anyway, I did my best and warmed up sufficiently and performed my Kata much better than the previous day because my jet lag was gone.

In the second round, my score was tied with Mathew Soanes of England and so we had to perform a Kata of our choice to break the tie. My Jion was strong that day so I went through. Then in the quarter final round everyone thought I had won by a small margin but the decision went to a former All Japan Champion and World Champion. The English and Italian teams had been keeping score and complained to Iwasaki Sensei that something was wrong. Iwasaki Sensei protested and asked to see the score sheets which were duly offered up by the officials, but unfortunately, my European friends had not written anything down so the Chief Referee declared that the decision stood. Unfortunately, I lost and the Karate-Ka who went through to the finals eventually came third place. I was very disappointed to say the least, and sat for a long time in the foyer just looking out at the escalating wind and sheets of rain.

Noburo Sensei with me and one of the ladies from the French team.






















Later, I tried to forget about it by supporting the team Kumite matches of England and Italy and providing Fernando Palladino with a little shiatsu massage. There was some very spirited fighting between the USA and England and then Italy and Japan. Italy really impressed me with their fighting spirit. A lot of credit must go to Sensei Fernando Palladino who despite his 46 years was in flying-form and showed great capability against much younger opponents. He had to fight because they did not have enough fighters due to injuries the previous day. I wished that I could have helped but I was unwilling to risk further injury to my back. Eventually, Italy placed third in the team Kumite. Unfortunately, none of the Gaigin made it through the individual Kumite and were all eliminated early on. Scoring for us Europeans was extremely difficult and it seemed that we had to work extra hard for any scores awarded.

Afterwards, Sensei Iwasaki told me to dress quickly again because we were going for dinner with Noburo Suzuki Sensei and Takashima Sensei of the All Japan WKF Referee Council. Once again, I trailed behind with several bags and a sore back! Thankfully, the rain had stopped and the wind was dying down. It was only a short walk to the rather expensive looking traditional style Japanese restaurant where we sat in a little private room around a big table with our legs dangling into a shallow little pit underneath!

Then a big debate began about the quality of the judges and referees. It seems that Japan has the same problem in training and keeping a bank of experienced officials as we do in the West. Suzuki Sensei said that he was disappointed particularly with the Kata judging and also the emphasis on ‘power’ Kata and tension. But Takashima Sensei seemed to be very protective of the results and things became somewhat heated. Iwasaki Sensei and Takashima Sensei became very loud the more beer they drank and I became increasingly worried since I was seated between the two of them and it would have been difficult not to be dragged into something once it started. I did not relish the thoughts!

Noburo Suzuki Sensei calmed things down and everyone began to relax a bit. Before long, after several more Sopporo beers, all was forgotten and they were all joking and laughing together. Thankfully, the typhoon had passed by Tokyo and I noticed that the air had cooled down quite a lot as we walked Suzuki Sensei to the train station. Then Sensei Iwasaki and I travelled in silence to the hotel where we soaked ourselves quietly in that hot-tub contemplating the day’s events. I sank deeper into my pool of total disappointment.


next