At this weekend's Northern Open karate tournament, a world champion will be in the house.
Luis Plumacher, a Venezuelan who fought to gold at the 2004 worlds in Monterrey, Mexico, will be a special guest at the Saturday competition and will lead Sunday training sessions for karate practitioners of all ages. The Northern Open and followup clinics will take place at the College of New Caledonia.
Having the 34-year-old Plumacher in town represents a rare opportunity for the karate athletes who will get the chance to meet him and work with him.
"I've been at this for 25 years or something like that, and I met my first world champion last year, which was him," said tournament organizer Warren Grafton of the Nechako Karate Club. "So for people who could be in their first year of karate and will be at this tournament, they'll get to see their first world champion. It's like seeing a band live, versus on tape. The guy doesn't move like a human being. I'm kind of one of the few high-performance guys up here so people think that I'm talented but he'll make me look like a joke."
Grafton first met Plumacher while training in Calgary with members of Team Alberta, which consists largely of Venezuelan-born karatekas.
"They started bringing him over and then he decided he was going to move to Calgary, partially because of the (political and social) craziness in Venezuela," said Grafton, who holds a second-degree black belt. "So last time we were (in Calgary) I said, 'Hey, do you want to come to Prince George?' and he didn't say no."
Grafton extended the invitation in the fall of 2016 and Plumacher officially accepted it in February.
In 2004, Plumacher defeated Adam Kovacs of Hungary in the 65-kilogram division world final. Plumacher also claimed world silver in Finland in 2006. He spent a total of 10 years on the Venezuelan national team and was an eight-time Pan American champion.
According to Grafton, just watching Plumacher will be a valuable experience for those who get that privilege this weekend.
"Even if you're not learning specific things from him you just immediately realize that a body is capable of doing the things that he can do," Grafton said. "It's pretty inspiring. I know that sounds corny, but people definitely have a tendency to get up early and train the next morning after seeing him."
Close to 70 competitors from B.C. and Alberta have registered for the Northern Open. The action gets underway at 9 a.m. on Saturday and will go to 4 p.m. at the latest.
On Sunday, Plumacher will work with the youngest age groups from 9 a.m. to 10:15 a.m. Adults will get their turn from 10:30 a.m. to noon, and from noon to 1:15 p.m.
