Karate

This month, the GKR (Karate) World Cup, a biennial event held either in the UK, USA, Australia or New Zealand was held at the State Sports Centre at Homebush.

James Cox (Year 12) had previously qualified for a spot on the Australian team in both the Kumite (fighting) and Kata (movement sequence). James performed very well in the Kata and, with some very strong competition, was placed 5th in his division.

In the Kumite (fighting), James had to contest four bouts. He won his first two bouts pretty quickly, but lost the 3rd to a very strong competitor from Australia who went on to win the gold. This meant he had to win his 4th bout to get the bronze. He was fighting strongly and after dodging a head-shot, the opponent's arm brushed James eye-lid and knocked out his contact lens. No harm done, but now James was fighting blind. Valiantly, he fought on and landed another few good punches, but narrowly lost that bout and missed out on the bronze. However, he's now ranked 4th in his division worldwide.

James is extremely happy to have qualified to compete in his first international competition and is determined to compete in 2015.