Members of the Shotokan Karate Club competed in the East Coast Collegiate Tournament at Temple University in Philadelphia last Saturday, Jan. 27.
UR brought the most participants to the competition. Those who attended were freshman Michael Bavilacqua-Linn, sophomores Katie Lander and Rebecca Montange, junior Eric Hunter and graduate students Panos Mav-romatis, Jane Wesely and Shona Mookerjee.
Mavromatis placed first in Individual Kata intermediate division.
Lander and Hunter both made it past the elimination round for their division in the Individual Kata competition.
In the men?s Individual Kumite beginner division, Hunter placed second, while Mookerjee took second in the women?s Individual Kumite intermediate division. Mookerjee lost only to the National Collegiate Champion.
Mookerjee also competed in Team Kata with Lander and Montange. They earned third place. Mavromatis, Hunter and Bavilacqua-Linn participated in the exhibition round of the Team Kata.
?Everyone did very well,? Ellen Mahaffy said.?I?m very proud of everybody. Hard training and lots of focus pay off.?
Some of UR?s competitors eliminated high-ranked challengers.
Shotokan karate is a style of empty-handed self-defense rooted in Japan. Kata are traditional sequences of techniques and Kumite is a form of sparring.
It is a martial art that helps to develop character, strength, flexibility and concentration through training. The purpose of the Shotokan Karate Club is to teach traditional Shotokan karate to all interested members of the UR
community. The UR club has been training continuously for about 30 years.
?What makes me enjoy [competing] is to be absorbed in it ? not to worry about the people watching me,? graduate student Panos Mavromatis said. ?It was a major learning experience.?
The next tournament is being hosted by UR Saturday, Feb. 17 in the Louis Alexander Palestra. This is a chance for all those interested in martial arts to come see what it is all about.
The UR Shotokan Karate Club meets Mondays and Wednesdays from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. and Fridays from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.
Beginners are welcome! For more information contact Jason Hawke at jhawke@rochester.rr.com.
