The House of Kenpo karate school attended the 2016 Tiger Balm Internationals, March 19-20 in Vancouver.
Jonathan Woodhall represented Team Kenpo at this year’s event, competing in two black belt divisions, and returned with two gold medals and the Grand Championship trophy.
Woodhall joined the dojo in 2003 and started competing in 2004. To date Woodhall has won eight gold medals, two silver and three bronze in addition to two Grand Championship trophies at a variety of tournaments.
“Jon has devoted a lot of extra hours to training for this tournament, practising his technique, fine-tuning his timing and incorporating power with speed to produce a well-balanced kata, executing fierce strength and poise,” Sensei Don Roe said. Roe and Woodhall dedicated extra training over more than four months to prepare for this competition.
The pattern demonstrated in Woodhall’s hand set represents practical self-defence applications based on an attack from multiple opponents from various angles: each offence movement is met by a specific counter to neutralize each of the attackers.
In the weapons division, Woodhall performed a spear set, which required a great deal of circular movements that included stabbing as well as slashing movements, in addition to aerial kicks and tumbling with a weapon, once again eliminating all opponents.
The Kenpo dojo in Comox has been competing since 2000 at several tournaments such as the Tiger Balm Internationals and the Canadian-American Championships as well as the Island Open Championship and the Coastal Martial Arts Open.
All told, Roe’s students have won an impressive 80 gold, 77 silver and 56 bronze medals, making a grand total of 213 in addition to seven Grand Champion trophies.
For further information regarding private instruction in Kenpo karate or kickboxing classes contact Sensei Roe at 250-339-5992 or visit www.houseofkenpokarate.com.