Seiden Kai students fare well
CALEXICO — For a number of years Seiden Kai Karate has worked to qualify and send local children, teens and adults to the USA Karate National Championships.
This year, the National Championships were held in South Carolina with seven Seiden Kai members making the trip to the national stage.
The seven students varied in age from 10 to 40 years old and collectively returned home with five gold medals, one silver medal and two bronze medals.
Earning a pair of gold medals at the competition was Leonardo Castro. Castro, a 21-year-old brown belt, earned a gold medal in kobudo or weapons and a gold in kata or forms.
“I felt pretty proud of myself and happy,” Castro said. “We practice eight to 15 hours per week, so you sacrifice a lot of time away from family and friends, but in the end, it’s worth it.”
Castro attended his first national competition back in 2015, when he also earned two gold medals in kobudo and kata.
“It was different,” Castro said of the 2017 nationals experience. “I moved up to intermediate so it was more competitive and there was definitely a lot more adrenaline going.”
Similar to Castro, Zianya Louie also brought home a gold medal in kobudo from South Carolina.
The 14-year-old is already a black belt and has made about five consecutive trips to the national competition and has earned a gold medal at each of the events in kobudo.
This year, Louie competed in the elite division, which qualifies athletes for the USA National Team.
“It was a lot different from the previous years,” Louie said. “The competition was much tougher because everyone hopes to be on the national team.”
While Louie fell just short of qualifying for the national team in kata or forms, she said she enjoyed the overall experience of competing.
“I definitely want to continue giving it 100 percent so I can try and make the 2020 Olympics in Japan,” she said.
Julio Romero said he was also looking forward to next year’s competition as he too has dreams of competing for USA in the Olympics.
“This is my third year in a row going to nationals and it was definitely different than before,” Romero said.
Similar to his teammates, Romero also moved up in division competing in the elite black-belt group for his age and weight.
“I did a summer program at UCSD, so I didn’t get to train as much and that hurt a little bit,” Romero explained. “I finished fourth in kata, fifth in kobudo and made the top eight in fighting.”
Romero said although he didn’t medal at this specific national competition, he’s now more motivate for next year.
“I just have to work even harder if I want to be the best of the best,” he said.
“I enjoyed getting to know the other students and seeing how they train.” Zianya Louie Age 14 Experience Black belt
“I enjoyed competing and knowing that I need to work harder to be the best of the best.” Julio Romero Age 15 Experience Black belt
“I enjoyed being able travel and get more experience.” Leonardo Castro Age 21 Experience Brown belt