Cochrane’s Ippon Karate Dojo brought home a wave of success from the 2024 Karate Canada National Championships, held April 3–6 at the Richmond Olympic Oval in Vancouver, B.C.
“This is the 20th year that we’ve taken athletes to the national team, and this might have been one of our strongest years yet,” said Sensei Adam Wackerhsauser, head coach of Ippon. “Not only did we win five medals, but we also had four top-five performances. I was very, very pleased.”
Top results included:
- Vince Thottungal – Gold in U18 Men’s Kata
- Yuki McNeil, Vince Thottungal & Carter Dawood – Gold in Men’s Team Kata
- Yuki McNeil – Silver in Men’s Kata
- Brooklyn Carter – Silver in U21 Women’s Kata
- Indiana Carlyle-Byford – Bronze in Junior Women’s Kumite
- Carter Dawood – Top 5 in Men’s -67kg Kumite
- Piper Keegan – Top 5 in U18 Women’s Kumite & Kata
- Bella Mutagubya – Top 5 in U14 Women’s Kumite
Results from the event holds extra significance for the dojo, which is celebrating its 20 years of teaching traditional and competitive karate. Numerous young students have grown under the tutelage of Sensei Wackerhsauser and his wife Sensei Hidemi Uchiage over the years.
“One of the guys who's the team captain this year. I've been teaching since he was seven years old and he's 23 now,” he explained. “You feel such a deep connection with them that makes you nervous having them compete but so happy when you see them perform at their best.”
Karate Canada National Championships is the largest platform for competitive karate in the country. Wackerhsauser noted that even just qualifying is a big accomplishment.
“It's very difficult to even get to this level. they only take a few people per division per province and then the top two get selected to the national team.”
Wackerhsauser will be coaching the national team at the Pan-American Senior Karate Championships in Monterey, Mexico this May, with four his fighters representing Canada.
