Karate World Championships Postponed by Earthquake
May 13, 2016. 12:34 pm.
Duncan Bigg
The Chito-ryu Karate World Championships (Soke Cup) has been postponed as a result of the recent earthquakes in Kumamoto, Japan.
Pictured: The devastation caused by the April, 2016 earthquakes in Japan.
Kumamoto, Japan, is the home or Chito-ryu Karate with it International headquarters (Sohonbu) based there.
The Kumamoto earthquake struck on April 16, beneath Kumamoto city, in the Kyushu Region, Japan. It was preceded by a foreshock earthquake on April 14, 2016.
The earthquakes killed at least 49 people and injured around 3,000 others.
Severe damage occurred in Kumamoto will numerous structures collapsing and catching fire.
More than 44,000 people had been evacuated from their homes due to the disaster, many won’t return until their homes are reconstructed.
The Chito- ryu World champions (Soke Cup) are held every three years in different countries around the world. This year it was to be held in Kumamoto, in mid- August. It is expected that the tournament will be postponed to a time to be determined next year.
A lot of other permanent Karate schools (dojos) in the region have also been damaged, and Japanese competitors have few places to train as many of the community centres are now being used to accommodate the homeless.
There are concerns that the headquarters (Sohonbu) of Chito-ryu Karate, which was damaged in the earthquake, will never be rebuilt.
Sensei Martin Phillips, who operates Sunshine Coast Karate, said “the news was devastating, and very sad for the Chito-ryu community as a whole, with many International students having visited and trained at the home of Chito-ryu karate in Kumamoto.”
Pictured: Matt Stevenson, Jim Morehead, Deb Woodhouse and Sensei Martin Phillips discussing the Kumamoto earthquake.
Sensei Martin Phillips said it is personally very devastating as he had visited and trained in Kumamoto many times in last 20 years.
“I have friends that have been left homeless, at least in the short term, fortunately all are safe and none were not injured in the disaster,” he said.
“While I have experienced many tremors while living in that region of Japan, you never expect a major earthquake to happen,” he said.
“It is unfortunate for the Australian competitors who were in the process of making final preparations for the tournament, and who have trained so hard for the last 18 months,” he said.
“Local competitors have not just lost an opportunity to represent their country this year, there are also associated financial costs for Karate families,” he said.
“Most competitors quickly got over their initial disappointment, with their hearts going out to those impacted in Japan,” he said.
Unfortunately some Australian representatives will miss out on this once in a life time opportunity, as a result of an expected minimum 12 month postponement of the tournament.
“ While there is some disappointment, most competitors are still training hard and have readjusting their goals and many feel that it is a great opportunity for them to improve and be more competitive next year,” he said.
He believes it will bring the International Chito-ryu community even closer together and stronger for the future.
Pictured: Australia Chito-ryu Karate representatives (Bailey Keefe, Sam Hurt, Renee Saunders and Jack Graeme) back at training for the postponed World championships to be held in Kumamoto, Japan, in 2017.
Deb Woodhouse, (featuring in the video below), who was chosen to represent Australia in the over 60 women’s division, said the earthquake changes nothing with regard to her personal goals to represent her country.
“I feel devastated for the people of Kumamoto and the Chito-ryu family in general, particularly, that the Headquarters (Sohonbu) is damaged and may never to be repaired,” she said.
“That’s the home of our style of karate, all that history, and I may never get to see it, now.” she said.
“While tragic, I also feel it is test, it won’t stop Chito-ryu Karate, if anything, it has inspired me to train even harder,” she said
“The club will do some fundraising to rebuild the Sohonbu [Headquarters], but just the fact that we continue to do Chito-ryu is a great support for our Karate family in Japan,” she said.
Deb Woodhouse’s story is featured in the following video as she prepares to compete at the Chito-ryu Karate World championships that was to be held in Kumamoto, Japan in August 2016.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8YGnVQnIB4
Highlights from the previous Chito-ryu Karate world champions (Soke Cup) in Hong Kong in 2013.
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