Sunday, February 04, 2007
Karate group to hold tour for sick member
THE traditional form of karate that won for the country a bronze in the last Asian Games will be shown in a tournament being firmed up by the reorganized Japan Karate Association-Orient (JKA-O) based at the YMCA of Baguio.
"It will be a tournament for a cause," said fourth-dan blackbelt Edgar Kapawen Sr., chief instructor of JKA-O in Northern Luzon affiliated with the World Traditional Karate Federation.
Lawyer Jesse Lacsigen, newly inducted president of the chapter, said the tournament is set this summer under the direction of first dan and Assistant Benguet Provincial Prosecutor William Bacoling.
Proceeds from the tournament will be for a pioneer member of JKA who is undergoing treatment for a serious ailment.
Lacsigen led the new officers who were sworn in by Representative Mauricio Domogan on January 27 at the Lions Clubhouse along Governor Pack Road.
With him are Engineer Charles Sokoken - vice president, Architect Benedict Odsey - secretary, Joseph Culallad - treasurer, Darrow Odsey - auditor, Josie Digma - assistant auditor, and Kevin Garcia - press relations officer.
Domogan noted the contribution of JKA to the promotion of sports, saying "we need this kind of activity that you are doing so our youth can veer away from vices".
National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Regional Director Ric Pangan, a founding member of the chapter, traced the history of the traditional karate in the country to the early 1960s when he started training under Master Kunio Sasaki, the JKA's permanent representative to the Philippines.
Also gracing the occasion was businessman and chess player Roger Garcia, who, like Pangan, took his blackbelt under Sasaki.
Bacoling reported the promotion last year of 14 students to first dan blackbelt.
The shotokan (knife-hand) style of traditional karate espoused by JKA was developed by Gishin Funakoshi, the Okinawa-based master who is acknowledged as the founder of modern karate.
Among the JKA's present masters is fourth dan blackbelt Julian Chees who now heads over 50 schools in Southern Germany. Chees, the 1993 world champion in kata (form), earned the distinction of being the only non-German to be drafted to the German national team.
A native of Maligcong, Bontoc, Mountain Province, Chees studied under Kapawen at the YMCA of Baguio and later under Sasaki. (RD)For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star General Santos. (February 4, 2007 issue)
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