WKA Florida World Championships 2008 Day 1

Hello all!! Well the Opening Ceremonies and Day 1 of Eliminations/Competition are complete for this year's 2008 World Karate Championships. While we were indoors for the majority of the day, residents of Orlando, Florida were enjoying sunny, 80+ degree temperatures. The week-long competition, which is being held at Disneyland's Wide World of Sports complex, is an amazing venue. We are all very impressed with all that 'Disneyland' has done for the athletes and this year's World Championships.....even Mickey Mouse showed up at our Opening Ceremonies!

Enough of the 'chit chat'......I know everyone is anxious to hear how our students are doing in their competitions!

Alexa Littleton started our Team's first day of competition with two great performances in her weapons (Alexa competes with the Bo Staff) divisions. She is currently seeded 'first place' in both of those divisions and will be competing for Gold later in the week. She's very excited and pleased with her performances thus far. Way to go Alexa!

Katie Reid fought amazing in her Women's 18-34 years, -55 kg 'light contact' kickboxing division. Katie came so close to getting into the finals; in her final match, Katie fought World Champion Victoria Marcotte with alot of heart and really pressed Victoria in the final seconds of the match. Katie finished up the day with a well-earned bronze medal. We are very excited for her and very proud of the way she competed.

Florence Enns also had a good day today in the Women's Veteran's +35 years, +60 kg 'light contact' kickboxing division. Florence had a tough match against a competitor from Ireland who had amazing kicks. Florence kept pressing forward and fought her way to a Bronze medal. Way to go Florence!

Gilles Doiron had some amazing fights in his -70 kg 'light contact' kickboxing division. Gilles fought with alot of precision and speed and threw some pretty amazing 2 point head kicks which really put him ahead of his competitors. Gilles will be fighting for Gold later on in the week. We'll be cheering you on all the way Gilles!

Sempai Jeff Muir will also be going for Gold later this week in his Men's Veteran's +35 years, -85 kg 'light contact' kickboxing division. Sempai Jeff tired out his competitors by keeping constant pressure on them throughout each and every round. Sempai Jeff was clearly the 'best conditioned' athlete in his division. Way to go Sempai!

Our final student going for Gold later this week is Junior Black Belt Mitchell Triplett. Mitchell competed in the boy's 12 and under, -45 kg point fighting division today. Mitchell battled a few injuries over the past month or so, but nothing seemed to bother him today! Mitchell also competed on our Junior boy's point fighting Team.....they all fought amazing and will also be going for Gold this week as well. Way to go Mitchell. We look forward to your Team Fight and your individual Gold medal match on Thursday!

Sempai Shannon Grace, Sempai Stephanie Jones, Sempai Al Triplett and Sempai Murray Schumacher all had great fights today as well. We are proud of each and every one of you!

Tuesday's elimination competition day should be a long day as well. We are looking at close to 12 hours of competition!! We're very excited for all of our students (15 students from Bernardo Karate competing this year) and all of our members on Team Canada.

Team Canada has the largest number of competitors this year with Team England having the second most and Team Germany the third. We'll try to keep you posted on the medal counts as we go throughout the week. All finals (Gold Medal matches) will be completed on Thursday and Friday.

I have updated a few pictures from the Opening ceremonies and today's day of eliminations, which can be found on our website in our 'member's only' photo gallery. Please keep in mind our pictures are under copyright protection and cannot be copied or reproduced without explicit written approval. Thanks for your cooperation! I was unable to get any pictures of our Women fighters because I was in their rings coaching for most of the day. There are still quite a few pictures from Gilles Doiron's fights and some fun shots of our students and coaches. I hope you enjoy them. I'll be updating more pictures throughout the week.

That's all for today! Have to get some shut-eye and get ready for tomorrow's events.

Hope there's no snow in London!

Sempai Tammy Bernardo