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AGC JOURNAL 2018
7th World United
Karate Federation
World Karate
Championships,
Dundee, 2018
By Captain Karen Owen
Corporal David Johnston and myself formed part
of the Kenshin Karate Organisation Great Britain
Karate team and Scottish Karate team respectively
that travelled to Dundee, in June 2018, to compete
in the 7th World United Karate Federation World
Karate Championships.
Selected to Compete
David Johnston and myself also represent the Adjutant
General’s Corps, Army and United Kingdom Armed Forces
Karate teams. In 2017 David Johnston was selected to
compete for Scotland at the World Championships,
and after competing for England at World Level, I was
selected to represent Kenshin Karate Organisation Great
Britain, along with fi ve other members of the British
Army Karate Team.
Preparations Complete
After months of hard training and competing in
International, National and Army competitions, the
preparation was complete. David Johnston and I, along
with the other members of the Army Karate team were
ready to compete amongst the other 2,280 athletes, from
41 countries.
Dundee
On the 12 June 2018, we began our journeys to Dundee,
to compete on the biggest stage in World Karate. On
arrival, it was an early night ready for registration,
weigh in and coaching and competition briefs the next
day. This led to the commencement of the World Karate
Championships the following day.
Karen Owen and David Johnston with
their World Championship Medals
Competing Arrives
This was it. The fi rst day of competing had fi nally Next up was David Johnston, ready to compete in the
arrived. First up was Individual Kata, a series of moves
to simulate a fi ght. I achieved outstanding performances
during every round to make it to the fi nal. Competing a point. He then brushed himself down to prepare to
against a strong fi eld, I scored well in the Kata, winning
Bronze and bringing home the fi rst medal of the day for
Great Britain, the Adjutant General’s Corps and Army Goju Ryu Kata fi nal to be held on the Sunday.
Karate. What a great achievement.
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All Styles Kata. He impressed in every round against a
strong fi eld narrowly missing out on the fi nal by 0.1 of
compete in the Goju Ryu Kata; with some outstanding
performances he won each round to get through to the
More Events
With good results from the Kata, I moved
onto the individual Kumite event, the
Female Veterans Ippon Kumite. Confi dent
from my previous performance I continued
my momentum and fought extremely
well to reach the fi nal against Scotland. I
then fought to the end to win the Veterans
Ippon Kumite, and was crowned ‘World
Champion 2018’, the highest achievement
a KarateKa can achieve. What an
outstanding achievement bringing
home the Female Ippon Kumite ‘World
Champion’ title for Great Britain, the
Adjutant General’s Corps and Army Karate.
Friday 15 June 2018 saw the hosting of the
World Championships Opening Ceremony.
What a fabulous show ending with a
performance from the United Kingdom Foo
Fighters, a tribute band to the Foo Fighters.
Kata Finals
On Sunday, it was back to the Kata fi nals
with David Johnston competing in Goju
Ryu. The fi nal round was a draw between
him and the then current World Champion.
The tension grew as both karateka had
to perform another Kata. David Johnston
performed second and as the scores went Karen Owen
up, the arena erupted, as he had won the ‘World Champion’
World Title by 0.2 of a point, to be crowned holding the Union
Goju Ryu ‘World Champion 2018’. Another fl ag for Great
amazing achievement and another World Britain
Title to bring home for Scotland, the
Adjutant General’s Corps and Army Karate.
Team Kumite Events
That afternoon hosted the Team Kumite
events, where I was part of the three
person team representing Great Britain in
the Team Ippon Kumite, Ippon Rotation
Kumite and Veterans Sanbon Rotation
Kumite. The team had several impressive
victories earning us a place in each of the
fi nals, where we faced strong competition.
We fought extremely well and narrowly
lost out to bring home Bronze in each of
the events.
Impressive Achievements
Becoming Female Ippon Kumite ‘World
Champion’ and winning the World Bronze
in the Female Veterans Kata, with David
Johnston winning the Senior Male Goju
Ryu Kata ‘World Champion’ title was an
impressive achievement for us both. At
the end of the Championships it was an
impressive medal haul for the Great Britain
Team with three Gold, three Silvers and
thirteen Bronzes. The seven members of
the British Army Karate team contributed
three Gold’s, one Silver and seven Bronzes,
as well as securing the Female Ippon
Kumite World Championship title, the David Johnston
Male Ippon Kumite World Championship ‘World Champion’
title and the Male Goju Ryu Kata World on the Podium
Championship title.
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