Author: Sarah Flocken
Late last year, members of the Oxy Karate Club competed in the Te-Kenjutsu-Kan Karate-Do seventh Annual Adlawan-Cup Food Drive Karate Tournament at the Salgado Community Center in Santa Ana, CA. The tournament aimed to collect contributions for The WISEPlace, a women’s shelter in Anaheim, CA. At the philanthropic competition, members of the Oxy Karate Club asserted themselves as a team of skilled martial artists.
Students have participated in this karate tournament since its inception in 2003, with Jim Manson ’59 as one of the facilitators of the event at Oxy. The competitors from Oxy’s Karate Club – Amanda Leong (junior), Daniel Huang (senior), Elissa Kim (sophomore), Ellen Robertson (sophomore), Isaac Hale (junior), Josh Park (sophomore), Lorenzo Hidalgo (sophomore), Rhoelyn Cortez (junior) and Sylvia Chico – ranged in skill level from beginner (white to blue belts) to intermediate (purple to green belts) to advanced (brown to black belts).
Every competitor from Oxy placed in either kata (form) or kumite (sparring). “I think the fact that Oxy usually dominates the tournaments we attend really speaks to the quality of instruction we receive . . . Oxy is extremely fortunate to have both Soke Kubota and Sensei Victor as instructors,” Huang said.
The instructors of the Occidental Karate Club are Soke Takayuki Kubota and Sensei Victor Chico. Chico has been a black belt for more than 20 years, and Soke Kubota founded Gosoku Ryu – his own style of karate – and taught it to members of the club. Although competitors from Oxy did extremely well, taking home a total of 12 trophies, Chico said it’s not about coming out on top. “I remind students that the ultimate aim of Karate lies not in winning the fight, but rather in the perfection of the student’s character,” he said.
The club’s next tournament is later this month. In April, the club will venture to Las Vegas, Nevada for a four-day tournament.
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