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'(Posted
8:30 a.m., June 11)
Orléans
dojo wins bevy of medals at WKC karate championships
By
Fred Sherwin
Orléans Online
 |
|  Members
of the Elite Martial Arts and Fitness Centre on Trim Road won 12 medals including
six gold at the recent WKC Canadian Championships in Ottawa. Fred Sherwin/Photo
| |
The Elite
Martial Arts and Fitness Centre will be sending six of its members to the WKC
World Championships in Portugal next fall after the club picked up 12 medals at
the national championships in Ottawa earlier last month. Former
world champion Rebecca Shaffer led the way with a pair of gold medals in light
contact continuous fighting and points fighting in the 15- to 17-year-old age
group, Jim Campagna won gold in points fighting. Breanna Ouellette won gold in
Chinese-style kata and bronze in freestyle. Jesse Munro won gold in continuous
fighting and bronze in points fighting. And Adrian Maxwell-Campagna won gold in
Chinese-style forms. Other
medalists include, Tyler Greer, who won silver in point fighting in the
12
and under +50kg division; Katia Maxwell-Campagna won silver in Chinese-style kata
(12 and under); Danika Plouffe won bronze in point fighting in the 12 and under,
-40kg division; and Damian Moffatt won bronze in continuos fighting in the 13-
to 15-year-old, -55kg division. Three
of the Elite members will be trying to defend their current world titles in Dublin.
They are Rebecca Shaffer, who is the defending World Champion in continuos fighting;
Adrian Maxwell-Campagna, who is the reigning World Champion in Chinese-style kata;
and Breanna Ouellette who will be trying to win a gold medal in Chinese-style
kata in a different age group.after claiming the top prize in the 12-and-under
division last fall. Shaffer
will be competing in her sixth straight World Championship, but first as national
champion in points fighting since her very first trip to worlds in 2004 as a 12-year-old.
Despite winning three straight gold medals in continuous fighting, Shaffer has
been unable to return to form in points fighting until now, "This
was my goal to win both continuous fighting and points fighting, so I'm very happy,"
says Shaffer, who beat defeding Canadian and World Champion Jordan Ferguson three
timeson her way to winning the gold medal. It
was an up-and-down tournament for James Maxwell-Campagna who falied to medal in
hard style forms after winning a silver medal at both the Canadian and World Championships
last year. Rather than letting it get him down, he bounced back and won five fights
in a row to claim the gold medal in points sparring in the 65kg and under division
for boys 13 to 17. James
will be joined in Portugal by his younger brother Adrian, who is the defending
world champion in Chinese style forms in the 13- to 17-year-old division, and
his sister Katia who placed second in Chinese style forms in the 12-and-under
age group. With
10 members winning medals at the national championships, this is the biggest team
that Elite will be sending to a World Championship.with four or five in serious
contention for gold. Elite
Martial Arts and Fitness Centre owner Guy Ouellette, is understandably proud of
the dojo's continued success at the national and international level. "They
train and hard and they compete hard. They are a very focused group and I am proud
that they are representing this centre and Orléans in general," says Ouellette.
"They are fantastic ambassadors for their sport and for their community." To
learn more about the Elite Martial Arts and Fitness Centre visit www.orleansonline.ca/EliteMartialArts. '(This
story was made possible thanks to the generous support of our local
business partners.) Return
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