WAKO WORLD KICKBOXING CHAMPIONSHIP
November 22-30, 2009

CASK just returned from Treiste, ITALY where the 2nd WAKO World Amateur Championship was held. The first WAKO Championship was held in October in Villach, AUSTRIA with the K1, Low Kick and Light Contact disciplines. The second championship was for the semi-contact, forms/weapons and full contact disciplines.

Canada field a fairly young team of 12 athletes - 4 semi contact and 9 full contact. The competition was fierce with over 900 athletes representing 37 countries participating.

Our Canadian team had athletes representing Quebec, Ontario, Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. In the tatami sports divisions CASK had the following athletes representing Canada:

Stewart Wilkson, Marie Eve Decaire, Stephan Dube, and Danny Griffith

In the ring sports our athletes were:

Robbie Wiseman, Pat Carrol, Ryan Burgess, Theodora Pistolis, Brian Dickson, Ross Mylet, Marco Capobianco and McKenzie Wright


Stephan Dube and Danny Griffith represented Canada in the veteran's semi-contact divisions. Danny Griffith won a bronze medal in 79kgs and Stephan Dube won a gold medal in 74kg. Competing in Italy was a special experience for Danny Griffith from Quebec as he competed at the WAKO World Champions in Venice Italy back in 1991.

Semi-contact athlete Stewart Wilkson won his opening bout but lost a challenging second round bout. Marie Eve Decaire also won her opening round bout closing a tough bout in the second round. Marie Eve also entered the musical weapons division. She had a wonderful performance, and in many eyes was poised for a medal performance. Then tragically she droped her bo staff and was eliminated from the medals. The young tatmi athletes have major plans to return to the next WAKO Championship determined to medal.




The full contact divisions were very competitive. Canada had excellent performances from our full contact team. Theordora Pistolis, Robbie Wiseman, Ryan Burgess and Pat Carrol all had excellent first round bouts but were eliminated.

Three CASK athletes reached the quarter finals. Marco Capobianco (-71 kg) defeated his opening opponent from Austria by KO and then defeated Hungry by a unanimous decision. He lost a close decision in the quarter finals to Croatia to earn a 5th place finish. Ross Mylet (-60) defeated France in the opening round and then fell to Belgium in the second round. Brian Dickson (-63.5) defeated Spain in round one by TKO and then lost to Ukraine the second round. Both Mylet and Dickson also earned 5th place finishes.

The only Canadian medal in the full contact division went to McKenzie Wright (-48kg). She defeated #3 seed Bulgaria in the second round of competition. Then lost a close decision to Ukraine in the semi-finals. The semi-final bout was very close with the Ukraine winning by 2 points in the last round. The semi final bout earned McKenzie Wright a bronze medal for Canada.

The Canadian team enjoyed the experience in Italy. A special thanks goes out to team leader Jim Marinow and coaches Peter Gilpin and Muzammal Nawaz.

ONTARIO CUP JUNIOR/INTERMEDIATE CHAMPIONSHIP

CASK hosted its first all junior/intermediate tournament format event on November 7th in Burlington, Ontario. The CASK Board of Directors has made it a priority to encourage a greater emphasis on our younger athletes for the next few years. The Ontario Cup was the first competition for this focus.

Sixty-four athletes representing 17 clubs attended the event. Each of the CASK sport disciplines was represented: K-1 Rules, Kickboxing Rules, Full Contact Rules and Light Contact Rules. The competition demonstrated excellent performances from many of our young athletes.

The following clubs sent sizable teams: MAS Kickboxing, DeSantos Premiere MA, Golden Tiger Kung Fu, Point Blank Martial Arts, Impact Zone, Nomad Kickboxing, Pound for Pound, Iron Dragon Kung Fu, Wiseman's Kickboxing, Progressive Martial Arts, and the Bay Area Athletic Club.

There were some Excellent Performances in both tatami and ring sports and an exciting new future for our younger athletes in CASK! All Intermediate athlestes and a selected group of Junior B athletes have been selected for the 2010 Ontario Games to be held in the Muskokas in March. All clubs have been provided registration forms for all qualified athletes. The 2010 Games is a nationally televised, Ministry-sponsored multi-sport event. Over 1400 athletes representing various sports will participate in this wonderful event. CASK will select a few additional athletes for the event. If your club has athletes between the ages of 15-19 please contact the CASK office between December 7-11, to have your athlete considered for the additional spots.

WAKO World Championships

CASK fielded its first Thai boxing (K1 Rules), Kickboxing (Low Kick) and Continuous (Light Contact) national amateur team for the 2009 WAKO World Championship held in Villiach, AUSTRIA from October 19-25.

Team Canada was comprised of 20 athletes and a 3-person coaching staff. Team leader Jim Flood worked closely with National Team coaches Joey Del Reyes and Roger Lumyoung to coach our athletes. A special thanks to Gerald Ching and George Gillespie who attended the Championships in support of all our athletes.

Over 900 athletes from 56 countries were represented in Austria. The competition was very tough with many high-level athletes in each division. Canada fielded a young team - both in age and international experience. This was the first World Championships for every member of the Canadian Team!

The CASK Thai boxing committee and CASK Tatami Sport committee worked for many weeks preparing the athletes. Training camps were held, fitness testing protocols developed and specific requirements for athletes and their coaches were established throughout the year. The result of this work was evident as every Canadian athlete performed well. Although the outcome in the medal count was limited, an excellent long-term framework has now been developed that will increase our results in years to come.




There were some especially excellent performances from Adam Hensen, Jermaine Haughton, Sylwester Oranka, Joel Hollands and Jacqui Walters - who all won their opening round bouts. In very competitive divisions our athletes were eliminated before reaching the medal rounds.

Canada did however field one gold medal in the veteran male light contact category. Neil Bishop (ON) won the -91 kg division with wins over Ireland and England. Congratulations Neil on your exceptional performance!

While Canada did not bring back many medals, the young team realized the potential each athlete has to win at this pinnacle international event. Team spirits were high and all athletes have a great desire to return to the world stage in two years for the next World Championships.




A special thanks goes out to CASK Team Leader - Jim Flood (ON). Jim lead the 23-person Canadian delegation to a wonderful experience in Austria and is eager to continue his involvement with CASK for many years to come.

The second WAKO World Championships will be November 23-29 in ITALY. This edition of the World's is for the Full Contact and Semi Contact disciplines. Best wishes to the Canadian Team traveling to these games!

Canada's First Carded Athletes!

The Council of Amateur Sport Kickboxing has achieved something no other kickboxing body, association, or group has in the history of Canadian sport. CASK has provided carding status to a group of National Team Members! This is an tremendous step in the evolution of our sport as athletes are now being recognized financially for their contributions and achievements in the sport.

Nine athletes received funding to cover expenses for the WAKO World Championships to be held in the fall of this year. The K1/Low Kick/Light Contact Championships will be held in Austria, while the Kickboxing/Semi-contact/forms-weapon Championships will be held in Italy a month later.

All carded athletes received between $1500-$2000 each to cover their expenses on either trip. The carding process required registered CASK members on the National Team to apply for the carding positions offered by CASK. The application was reviewed by a Carding Committee based on criteria established by the CASK Board.

It should be noted that while achievements at the National Championships was a major requirement, participating in tournament format events, volunteering in any capacity at the National or Provincial levels, participating in conferences and seminars, taking coaching courses or official courses, attending training camps, and other ways of being involved in the association were given high consideration in the final selection.

The carded athletes for 2009 are as follows:

Theodora Pistolis - Hook Up Muay Thai
Adam Hensen - Phoenix Fight Club
Brian Dickson - Bay Area Athletic Club
Paulo Dultra - Kombat Arts
Christine Hackbart - TKO Fighting Arts
McKenzie Wright - Bay Area Athletic Club
Jacqui Walters - Hook Up Muay Thai
Ross Mylet - Bay Area Athletic Club
Robbie Wiseman - Wiseman's Kickboxing

Congratulations to the selected athletes, their clubs, and their coaches how supported their achievements in the sport. We at CASK hope that this is the first step in a bright future for our association and our athletes!

On June 20, CASK hosted the return of the CANADA CUP Continuous Sparring tournament. Continuous sparring - known as the WAKO 'Light-Contact' discipline - is a very popular form of competition for junior athletes.

With Thaiboxing and kickboxing sanctioned events being organized well across Canada, CASK has begun the development of a Tatami Sports division. The priority will be the establishment of a National presence for semi-contact (point sparring), light-contact (continuous point sparring), and musical weapons/forms competitions, training camps, and National teams.

Light contact competitions are tremendous opportunities for newer participants to compete in a safer environment as the contact level is controlled in each bout.

Many CASK Member clubs brought participants to the Canada Cup including - Point Blank, Bay Area Athletic Club, Impact Zone, Golden Tiger, Douvris, Nomad Kickboxing, and Round One.



The junior divisions had participants as young as 7 years old competing! Some athletes had 2-3 bouts (each 2 x 2 minute rounds) during the tournament. This provided great experience to many of our young participants.



The priority of the Canada Cup is on safe competition - but also in providing a fun and stress-free environment for participants to enjoy competition. By emphasising enjoyment in the sport - it is the goal of CASK that more younger participants will be interested in continuing in the competitive aspect of kickboxing/Thaiboxing.




The CANADA CUP had many clubs attend and participate that are not yet members of CASK. The Canada Cup also provided a tremendous opportunity for the wider martial arts industry to learn about the work of CASK and the benefits of membership with Canada's only National association that governs all ring and tatami sports.

One of the special guests at the Canada Cup was Canadian Martial Arts Icon - Veronica De Santos. Veronica has been involved in the martial arts for well over 30 years. Many in the world of sport karate consider her to be the top female athlete Canada has ever produced. Her sport resume is quite extensive:

2x National Karate Champion - 1982-1989
1988 World Kickboxing Championship Medalist
Member of the Atlantic World Karate Team
Member of the Canadian Natioanl Tae Kwon Do Team
Carded Athlete (Tae Kwon Do)

However Veroncia's accomplished go beyond the sport. She was the first women of color to open a martial arts school in Toronto. This club is now celebrating it's 20th anniversary.

Never to slow down she has now launched the first all Canadian Martial Arts magazine - KIAI. Veroncia has also joined CASK in the development of the Tatami Sports Division. An unstoppable force - Veronica joins Jim Flood in the development of another discipline within CASK.











The Canada Cup also hosted the first WAKO-CANADA Tatami Sports National Trials. CASK is the Canadian representative of WAKO (World All Styles Kickboxing Organization). WAKO is the international federation recognized by the IOC for all kickboxing disciplines.

CASK has been sanctioning Thaiboxing, Kickboxing (low kick and full contact) for the past 4 years. CASK will now also sanction semi-contact, light-contact, musical forms/weapons divisions as part of it's responsibilities with WAKO.

As this was the first WAKO tournament in Canada there was a modest turnout. However there were a number of top tatami sport athletes in attendance - many coming from Quebec.

Jim Flood is the current National Director for the Tatami Sports Disciplines. Working with him are Jeff Smith, Joe Osborne, Peter Gilpin and Veronica De Santos.

After a number of heated battles the final selection was made for the 2009 National Team. Details of division winners will be provided in the coming weeks.

The Annual CASK Awards banquet will be held on Sunday May 31st at the Burlington Holiday Inn Conference Center. The following awards are provided each year:

Athlete of the Year
Athlete with the Most Potential for 2009
Most Improved Athlete
Bout of the Year
Sportsmanship Award

Coach of the Year
Instructors of the Year
Competitive Club of the Year
Most Supportive Club of the Year


Official of the Year
Event Coordinator of the Year
Leadership Award
Sponsor Award

Nominations have been received for the above awards from our member clubs. All nominees are listed below:

Kickboxing

Male: Jessie Ronson, Ryan Burgess, Steve Scarfe, Micky Marshall, Brian Dickson, Rob Wiseman, Sandy Pembroke
Female: Danica Ellis, Theodora Pistiolis, Dagmar Grasser, Sarah Newman
Junior/Intermediate: Marco Capobianco, McKenzie Wright, Nick Orton, Ross Mylet, Martin Racine, Shayln Sulkey, Carley Fox, Jerrica Mitchell

Thai Boxing

Male: Adam Hensen, Chris Greig, Richardo Smith, Jeremy DiFranco, Patrick Pylik
Female: Christine Hackbart, Jacque Walters
Junior/Intermediate: Tyler Kennedy, Gage Miranda, Costa Knvorosta

Builder Awards

Coach: Joey Del Reyes, Roger Lumyoung, Paul White, Terry Sulkye, Insa Wolf , Brad Fowler
Official: Amanda Worhrlre, Steve Quan, Roger Lumyoung, Vic Provost
Leadership: Jim Flood, Jim Marinow, Dareen Wharrie
Club: Kombat Arts, Point Blank, Impact Zone, Terry's Golden Tiger, TKO, Team PEI Kickboxing

Please note: All nominees must RSVP by Thursday May 21. Tickets can be purchased by contacting the CASK office at nhq@kickboxingcanada.org or by calling 905-681-9815

CASK Administration