A counter punch to the face lands on her opponent out, winning Sara Noguera ’27, a Riordan freshman and karate practitioner, her second point, as well as 1st place in the National Karate Championships.
On Nov. 10, Sara and her twin brother, Collin Noguera ’27 traveled to Columbus, Ohio, to compete in the ISKF/US National Karate Championships.
Sara shared her thoughts of competing in such a big tournament, which includes over 100 people, from ages 7 to 65. “We were both nervous,” Sara said, “but we were also thinking of kumite [spar] and kata strategies. Basically, how to win.”
Kata is a choreographed form of kicking and punching.
Sara and Collin are twins who attend Riordan, both in the Biomed Program and members of The Crusader newspaper staff. In addition to their involvement at school, they also practice karate.
“Growing up, we have always done things together,” Sara added. “We both started karate when we were 5 years old and haven’t stopped since.”
Shotokan Karate is a martial art originating in Okinawa as a response to the Japanese banning the study of martial arts. The style of karate was named after the creator, Gichin Funakoshi, using his pen name Shoto. The tournament went on from Nov. 10-12, representing the shotokan style that both Sara and Collin have been practicing for the past decade.
The day after arriving, the events began, with Sara and Colin stepping into a competitive ring of opponents.
In the 14-15 advanced divisions, both Sara and Collin competed in kumite and kata. Representing the Northwest region of the U.S., they participated in individual demonstration, then a team demonstration, and finally, sparring.
Collin achieved the silver medal in his division, 2nd place for sparring. Sara received the gold medal for both Kumite and Kata, obtaining 1st place for each. Finally, for team demonstrations, they, alongside members of their dojo, collectively won 1st place as the Northwest division.
On the last day, Nov. 12, a closing ceremony ended the competition, celebrating each person’s efforts and accomplishments.
Both students discussed whether they would compete a step further above the national level of karate competition.
“Towards the end of next year, we will be competing at Nationals in Las Vegas and Internationals in London,” Collin replied. “For internationals, we may be competing with peoplefrom Australia, Mexico, Brazil, or even Germany.”
Armando Castillo, Spanish teacher shared his thoughts on the importance of highlighting extracurricular accomplishments saying, “It’s so important, it gives people inspiration that if they can do it then I can do it too . . . that’s why it’s so important.”
