Local sensei earns silver

Paul Atkin, sensei at Kelowna Karate & Fitness, placed second at the inaugural Canada Open Karate Championships in Richmond earlier this month — receiving a silver medal in the elite men’s black belt heavyweight division.

“Fantastic event held by my close friend Richard Mosdell with Kenzen Karate. Truly was a great experience to see all the countries, and competitors coming together to do what their passionate about,” Atkin said of his final competition before heading to the worlds. Many competitors attended the Canada Open event with the ultimate goal of representing their countries at the 2020 Olympics in Japan.

“Such a nice surprise to see Fumio Demura Sensei, who was the inspiration for Mr. Miyagi from the Karate Kids movies, which all of us know and remember. I was astonished to see he recognized me from when I won his event in Las Vegas in 2006. Wonderful to see he is still promoting karate abroad,” Atkin added.

Photo contributed Richard Mosdell (event organizer), from left, Djida Abdoulaye, Paul Atkin (owner and head instructor of Kelowna Karate & Fitness) and Curtis Mayes pose together at the recent Canada Open Karate Championships in Richmond.