Northland's D'Artagnan Gould was just one of eight of Whangārei's Miyagi Kan karate club members who travelled to Malaysia for the WGKF championships last month. Photo / John Stone
Northland's D'Artagnan Gould was just one of eight of Whangārei's Miyagi Kan karate club members who travelled to Malaysia for the WGKF championships last month. Photo / John Stone
Northland's karate talents have made an impact on the world stage, winning nine medals at the World Goju-Ryu Karate Federation championships in Malaysia last month.
The global competition, which was held from September 19-22, featured about 600 competitors from about 30 countries, including eight members from Whangārei's Miyagi Kan karateclub who took home four golds, two silvers and three bronzes.
Goju-Ryu is a style of karate which included two different disciplines, kata and kumite. Kata is where a competitor will perform a routine alone which is judged on technique and form. Kumite is where two competitors fight each other for two minutes or until one fighter has scored eight more points than their opponent. After two minutes, the winner is the fighter with the most points.
A varying number of points are awarded for different blows on different parts of the body. Penalties are also awarded if a blow is considered to be excessive contact or if a fighter violated any other rules such as leaving the eight metre by eight metre matted area and poor defence.
D'Artagnan Gould, 15, won two gold medals in the individual and team 14 to 15-year-old kumite divisions. Photo / John Stone
Fifteen-year-old Pompallier Catholic College student D'Artagnan Gould was the star of the show, taking home two golds in the individual kumite 14 to 15 years old, over 70 kilograms division and the team kumite 14 to 15 years old division alongside Paihia-based teammate Kingiteahuahu Tana, 14.
D'Artagnan Gould was working hard alongside coach Craig Nordstrand (left) to prepare for the World Karate Federation junior championships in Chile this month. Photo / John Stone
Gould took out the gold for male team kumite division in style after a dramatic pair of head kicks by Gould took him to an 8-nil win in the first 30 seconds of the finals. Gould took out the gold medal in his individual kumite with a dominant display, scoring a total of 44 points and only conceding four across five fights.
Northland's Imogen Ear, 15, was a crowd favourite as she went on to win gold in the 14 to 15 years old, over 54kg girls' division. About 500 people witnessed Ear convincingly beat her opponent from Portugal and take out the title.
Imogen Ear (left), seen here next to her father Mean, was fearless in her final where she won gold in the individual kumite 14 to 15-year-olds over 54 kilograms division. Photo / Supplied
Eleven-year-old Carter Hargreaves rounded out the gold medals with his win in the 10 to 11-year-old boys', over 36kg division. In his first international competition, Hargreaves suffered injuries late in the final but showed great determination to finish on top.
Hargreaves also won a bronze alongside Luke Hudson, 11, as the pair took third in the 10 to 11-year-old team kumite division. Thirteen-year-old Jack Hudson won bronze in the 12 to 13-year-old, over 50kgs individual kumite division, while nine-year-old Te Rauraha Paki won silver in the eight to nine-year-old boys', over 32kg division.
Karate coach Craig Nordstrand (back) stands with his young protégées (from left) D'Artagnan Gould, Kingiteahuahu Tana and Imogen Ear. Photo / Supplied
Northland's medal count was completed by club founder and coach Craig Nordstrand, 62, who competed in his first competition since 2007. Nordstrand earned a silver in the masters kata and a bronze in masters kumite.
"I thought I'd like to have a try but my body couldn't do what my mind wanted it to do, but I managed to get the two medals," Nordstrand said.
Golden Northland team Kingiteahuahu Tana (left) and D'Artagnan Gould share their success on the stage in Malaysia. Photo / Supplied
While he was proud of his own achievements, Nordstrand was ecstatic about the efforts of his students and said they had conducted themselves excellently including performing a haka in front of Malaysian royalty.
The New Zealand Karate team performing the haka to the Sultan of Malaysia after coming 5th in a tournament over there. Too much brothers!! 💪🏽💯
🎥: Lizzie Howard Millsteed
The journey for Gould and Tana was not over as the pair, along with Nordstrand, would be leaving on October 18 to compete in the World Karate Federation junior championships in Santiago, Chile.
Nordstrand said both fighters showed great potential and he hoped they would both succeed in Chile.
"The way [Gould] took apart his opponents [in Malaysia], I was very pleased because the level in the world championships is going to be much higher," he said.
"[Tana] knows that there's going to be some tough fights but he's had an amazing year."
Coach Nordstrand (left) stands with Northland's Te Rauraha Paki after he won silver in the eight to nine-year-old boys over 32kg division. Photo / Supplied
