Rhane Daly Stevens, a student at École secondaire publique Odyssée, competed at the World Karate and Kickboxing Commission (WKC) Canadian National Championships this past weekend in Ottawa.
Daly Stevens competed in the 13-14 year old boys category clinched a silver medal in the Continuous Sparring division (-50kg weight class), a bronze medal in the Point Sparring division, and another bronze medal in the Classical Kata division.
Although this was Daly Stevens's sixth time qualifying for Nationals, it was Rhane's first podium finish in a kata division.
Competitors in the Classical Kata division perform the time-honoured patterns of recognized Karate systems from Japan, competitors must perform a recognized unaltered/unmodified Japanese kata, no additions or deletions of movements are allowed.
Competitors who qualify at the provincials are invited to attend the WKC Canadian National Championships.
The top four competitors in each division at the National Championships are eligible to attend the WKC World Championships being held in November of this year in Dublin, Ireland.
Daly Stevens earned his black belt (shodan) in Shotokan Karate in 2013. Rhane currently practices karate at 3 Fires Martial Arts Academy in North Bay under Shihan Darrell Couchie, and trains and conducts conditioning at Action's School of Fitness & Arts with Corey Jackson . Furthermore Rhane continues to train and fight with the Douvris Martial Arts competitive team from Ottawa, led by Master John Douvris, and was selected this year for competitive sponsorship by the National Martial Arts Circuit. (NMAC)
Daly Stevens earned the opportunity to join the 100-plus members of Team Canada in facing competition from around the world, with last year's event attracting competitors from over 15 countries.
The worlds tournament not only provides an opportunity to face international competition, but the six-day event also includes seminars and the chance to see other people train and compare techniques.
Daly Stevens continues to train hard and feels honoured to have the opportunity to represent Canada at the Worlds in November.
