Incredible result for Sam Coxon Sensei at the JKS Continental Cup!
On Friday 1st September Sam Coxon, a Shotokan Karate student of Can Do Martial Arts in Abingdon, travelled to Hasselt, Belgium to compete in the JKS Continental Cup. The event would be held over 2 days and along with his fellow JKS England competitors the event attracted over 700 karate competitors from 20 countries. Over the two days of competition, competitors face-off in both Kata (karate forms) and Kumite (Points fighting) events. Sam had been selected by the JKS England coaches to compete in both the Team Kumite event and Individual Kumite event for his weight category.
On the Saturday the event held the team events and Sam joined 3 of his JKS England team mates to compete in the Team Kumite. “These events attract the best Karate competitors from each country so we knew ahead of time that it was going to be a tough event.” In the first round JKS England drew the strong team from JKS Scotland but after a back and forth battle Sam was able to get a win over their final competitor to secure England a place in the second round. JKS England then went on to beat France and Ireland to obtain their place in the final against Italy. JKS England went in strong and were able to dominate the fights against Italy winning each bout to secure the Gold medal and the title of Continental Champions.
The Sunday was the day of the individual events and Sam would be competing against competitors in the Individual +75kg weight category. The category had 10 countries putting in their best fighters battling for their spot on the podium. Through some tough early bouts Sam was able to win each round and once again find himself in the final but this time against a fellow team mate from JKS England. The England vs England final was one of the highlights of the day and Sam fought well but after a tough couple of days of competition was not able to hold on for the Gold and had to settle for a Silver medal position.
“The competition was a great experience” said Sam. “It has been a dream of mine to represent my country at an international event and to come away with a Gold and a Silver medal at a completion of this level is just amazing. Competition in Karate is a rough road and I have had to overcome a lot of disappointments and self-doubt to get to this level. I would not have been able to do this with the support and training I have received from Sensei Ben Richardson at the Can Do Martial Arts dojo in Abingdon, Oxfordshire. Sensei Ben has acted as a mentor to me and using his own experience in international competition he has guided me to achieve my goal. I own a lot to him and my training partners at Can Do Martial Arts.”
“Karate is a great sport and I would encourage everyone to give it a try.” With Karate now being selected as an Olympic Sport for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo you can expect to see the sport grow in popularity.