Karatedo Shitokai New Zealand

 

 

This years event included a significant number of new clubs and talent attending and competing with some very good karateka coming through. This could be due to Karate now being included as an official Olympic sport, but either way it was great to see.

 

There were two areas that I particularly noticed in this years competition, first that the execution of kata techniques were fast, snappy and precise. The second was that there seemed to be a significant amount of pauses being inserted into the Katas. At times it seemed that there were more pauses than the actual flow of movement. It will be interesting to see if that trend continues.

 

As for this year, the kata being preferred seemed to be mostly Kururunfa, Seipai, Kosukundai. All of these when done well is a pleasure to watch, likewise any of the Heians in development grades if executed properly.