(Posted 8:30 a.m., Nov. 8)
Local dojo strikes gold at World Karate Council championships
By Fred Sherwin
Orléans Online

The Elite Martial Arts and Fitness Centre team of Adrian Maxwell-Campagna, Brianna Ouellette, Rebecca Shaffer, Jim Maxwell-Campagna and Jesse Munro (back) returned from the WKC World Championships with six medals including four gold. Fred Sherwin/Photo

The Elite Martial Arts and Fitness Centre in Orléans welcomed home four new world champions on Thursday after the club's best ever performance at the World Karate Council championships in Dublin, Ireland.

The club sent six of its members to the WKC's inaugural world championships and they returned with four gold, a silver and a bronze.

Twelve-year-old Brianna Ouellette led the medal haul with a pair of gold medals in traditional hard style kata and Chinese soft style forms.

As the reigning Canadian champion in Chinese soft style, Ouellette was considered one of the pre-tournament favourites, but the gold medal in traditional hard style came as a pleasant surprise considering she wasn't even supposed to compete in the event.

After winning the gold medal in hard style kata at the 2007 Canadian championships, Ouellette placed a disappointing fourth at the WKC Canadian championships last May. Because she failed to qualify for hard style, she concentrated all her preparation on soft style.

Ouellette was asked to compete in hard style after a fellow Team Canada member failed to make the trip.

The preliminarry round for both events took place on Sunday. Ouellette was shocked when she found out that she had quailifed in the top spot in both events. A position she managed to maintain in the finals.

"I thought I did bad in the preliminary round, but then I saw I scored a 56 and everybody else was in the 40s. I was pretty surprised," said Ouellette, who along with the other returning athletes, received a hero's welcome at the Trim Road dojo.

Of the six person contingent who made the trip to Ireland, four competed on the world stage for the first time including Jesse Munro who couldn't stop smiling during Thursday's reception, despite losing his one and only fight in the quarterfinals of the junior boys 17 and under continuous fighting event.

"I just took it as a learning experience knowing that I'll be coming back. Most of the guys there were black belts and I'm just a blue belt which is three levels down from a black belt. I thought I fought well enough to earn their respect," said Munro who can hardly wait to begin training again. "Seeing the other guys get their gold medals like Rebecca (Shaffer) has really given me a lot of motivation."

Brothers Adrian and Jim Maxwell-Campagna were also competing at the world championships for the first time. Younger brother Adrian won a gold medal in junior boys Chinese soft style forms, earning a high praise from one of the judges in the process.

"He said that it was one of the best routines he had seen all day and that if I had of competed in the adult division I probably would have won," said the 15-year-old gold medalist.

Although Jim Maxwell-Campagna fell short in his quest for a gold medal in traditional hard style forms, you wouldn't know it by the golden smile on his face. The 17-year-old's journey to the world championships almost ended before it even started when an accidental blow to the back of the head during last spring's Canadian championships sent him to hospital.

After debating whether or not to pull out of the competition, he decided to compete in hard style forms. Despite suffering from a sore neck and light-headedness he was able to place second and earned a spot on the national team.

"This is my gold," said Maxwell-Campagna showing off the silver medal."It was the most focused I've ever been in a competition. When I finished my routine I was actually shaking. I don't think i could have done anything better. I put everything I had into it."

As thrilled as Maxwell-Campagna and the other Elite members were with their performances, no one was more thrilled than Team Canada veteran Rebecca Shaffer.

Four years after claiming gold in light contact continuous fighting in the 13 and under age group at the 2005 WKA World Championships, Shaffer finally returned to the top of the podium thanks to a gold medal performance in the 17 and under division.

After squeaking out a unanimous decision over a British girl in the quarterfinals, the 16-year-old Shaffer fought what she describes as the best fight of her life in the semis to earn a berth in the final where she completely demolished her Scottish opponent.

"My second fight against the American girl was one of my best fights ever. I even had one of the judges come up to me and say that's the way continous fighting is supposed to be done," said Shaffer. "In the gold medal fight I was pretty nervous at first but I kept getting stronger as the fight went on, especially in the second round."

"Right after the referee raised my hand, I went nuts. I was running around laughing and crying. Everything I've done. Everything I've given up. All the hard work. It was all worth it."

During the medal ceremony, Shaffer had bronze medalist and fellow Team Canada member Sarah Rompht join her on the top of the podium for the playing of O Canada.

Elite Martial Arts and Fitness Centre owner Guy Ouellette says Shaffer's willingness to share the spotlight with her teammate was symbolic of national team's co.

"I'm super proud of the whole team. The respect they showed the sport. The respect they showed the flag. The respect they showed each other. it was very gratifying," said Ouellette, who is the head referree for WKC Canada and the head referee for continous fighting for the WKC internationally.

Besides the athletes, the Elite Martial Arts and Fitness Centre was also represented by two referees as Sensei Eric Gregory and Mario Malouin both paid their own way to Dublin to help out with the officiating.

The first ever WKC World Championships attracted 990 athletes from 10 different countries including Canada, the U.S.A, Scotland, England, Wales, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Italy, Belgium and Austria.

(Posted 8:30 a.m., Nov. 6)

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