It was a 1-2 punch for Jarvis Thompson at the 30th annual Canadian Kyokushin Karate Championship last weekend in Vancouver.
The owner and head instructor of the Prince George Kyokushin Karate dojo placed first in the black belt men's kata division while his former student Brad Cromwell was second.
"It's a testament to the training that we've done over the years that has obviously been quality training," said Thompson. "We're doing something right if myself and my student place first and second. It motivates me to train my other students even harder so we can do even better in the years to come."
Kata is a performance based discipline where the competitors are judged. There were 10 competitors in Thompson's category with about 200 people participating overall from children to seniors.
Two other karate students whom Thompson has helped coached also placed in their events. Mark Fonda of Dawson Creek was third in the senior men's full contact knockdown division while his Dawson Creek teammate Tanner Berge was third in the lightweight knockdown Q-ranked division.
It was Thompson's first time competing at the Canadian championship and his positive experience has made him determined to return, bringing a larger group from Prince George with him next time.
"I'm certainly going to work on them that's for sure, canvassing them and encouraging them that they will do well if they wish to compete," said Thompson. "I'm definitely going to try and get a bigger turnout next time."
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