The Kentokukan karate school held a public jamboree in the Sun Youth gym.

A young Black Belt student demonstrating technique in self-defence in the Sun Youth gymnasium.

On October 15^th the Shorinjiryu Kentokukan Karatedo karate school held its junior jamboree which was open to the public in the Sun Youth gymnasium. The event was focused on demonstrating karate to children who may be interested in joining the Kentokukan karate school. By showcasing sparring between the Black Belt students as well as the instructors, the sparring was followed by a full session of karate practice to give the spectators an idea about what an average session would look like.

The practice focused primarily on perfecting skills, physical fitness and finally putting it to use against a padded instructor acting as an attacker, which is the part that the participants seemed to enjoy the most. Following the jamboree, Sun Youth provided everyone with a pizza lunch, which was nice way to end a morning full of action. Karate can offer anyone an opportunity to engage in extreme discipline, gain strength and coordination and finally learn self-defense skills that can save one’s life.

The Jamboree was a great warm up for the upcoming Kentokukan Fall Classic, which is an event where hundreds of kids from dojos across Quebec and Ontario gather to take part in a tournament for the benefit of Sun Youth’s Youth and Social Mentor’s Anti-Bullying and Conflict Resolution program. Last year, the tournament raised over $1,200 for the program. The idea behind the program is to place a Sun Youth Mentor in various elementary and high schools to work with the students on preventing and intervening in cases of bullying, taxing, intimidation and other conflicts. The Mentors are able to work directly with a given school’s staff to foster positive relationships where they can offer guidance to help develop extracurricular programs for students as well as prevention measures.

If anyone is interested in attending the Kentokukan Fall Classic, it will be held on November 19th, 2016 from 8:30 am – 4:30pm at LaurenHill High School’s Junior Campus, 2355 Rue Decelles, Saint-Laurent, QC, H4M 1C2. This tournament is also an opportunity to collect non-perishable food for Sun Youth. Anyone attending is encouraged to bring non-perishable items that will be distributed to those in need.