When you travel to any sports tournament, you want to do well. After all, it's not cheap to travel from Yellowknife to anywhere.
Matthew Bui, though, did well enough that he came home sporting some new neckware.
Bui is the owner of a gold medal after winning the novice division in shindo (three-foot staff) at the South Calgary Wado Kai Karate Tournament this past weekend. He won the medal performing a kata (forms) known as Seishan No Shindo.
James McCarthy/NNSL photo
Bui said he had been working on that particular kata for about six months and he was confident he would perform it well in competition.
“I was the highest rank (belt) there,” he said. “My brother (Luke Bui) was only a white stripe and the rest were beginners.”
Little brother just missed out on a medal in the same competition as he finished fourth.
Luke Bui said it was disappointing to miss out on a medal but seeing his brother win was a good feeling.
As for Matthew, he said the kata he performed is actually a different one than what he's supposed to be doing and that all has to do with the colour stripe he has.
“For my rank, it's supposed to be Kushanku No Shindo but right now, I'm green stripe so not yet,” he said.
The pair also competed in regular kata with no staff and kumite (sparring). Matthew, who competed in open contact, finished fourth in his division.
Luke admitted he didn't do well in his division, which was closed contact, meaning no shots above the shoulders.
The brothers were representing the Yellowknife Wado Kai Karate Club at the tournament.
Sensei Patrick Clancy, who runs the club with Sensei Masayi Koyanagi, said the South Calgary karate tournament is one of the biggest in Canada.
“The Shintani National Tournament in Ontario is probably the biggest one but this one is certainly one of the bigger ones out there,” he said.
As for the brothers doing shindo, Clancy said it was something he hoped they would do at the tournament.
“I recommended to their mother that they sign up for it,” he said. “Some clubs don't practice shindo but Matthew has been practising three times a week and we're lucky that he did.”
This was the first tournament the brothers had entered and the hopes were high that they would simply do well, he added.
“When you walk into a large tournament like this one, it can be a tough go,” he said. “I'm proud of both of them and we're all glad Matthew came home with a medal. Winning was secondary because it was all about going down and doing their best. If they won, great and if they didn't, that's fine.”