2008 All Japan Championships

2008-11-02 09:09:11

On November 2nd, Makoto Taniguchi became the 2008 All Japan open champion by defeating Zahari Damyanov from Bulgaria in the final. Makoto went on attack form the start, attacking Zahari's left leg aggresively with gedan mawashii geris. Zahari's left leg appeared injured and he attempted to evade Makoto's kicks, but it wasn't enough as Makoto worked hard with explosive hand and leg combinations to win by decision in one round.

It may have been a completely different result if Zahari hadn't been so injured. Up until the final, Zahari displayed an outstanding performance with his jodan hiza geri, knocking out Tatsuya Murata who placed 8th at last years world champs in the quarter finals. In the semi-final, he won with a wazari against Kentaro Tanaka when he stunned him with another jodan hiza geri. He was starting to appear as the dominant fighter of the day and possibly the champion until he faced Makoto's relentless low thigh kicks in the final. Zahari has had a very successful year, winning the North American championships in New York and as the super-heavyweight runner up at the All Japan weight catergory tournament in June.
Makoto Taniguchi had an impressive build up to the final, a heavyweight at 178cm and 100kg with plenty of stamina, he displayed speed and power with aggressive attacks to drive his opponents back. He didn`t give his opponents much space as he kept the pressure on them the whole time through the fights. Although he didn't compete in the All Japan weight catergory tournament held in June, he was a member of Team Japan at the International Team tournament held in May in Russia. He had three fights resulting in three draws.

Third and fourth: Kentaro Tanaka was given third place after Hiroyuki Kitachi withdrew from the fight off for third place after the doctor recommended that he shouldn't fight due to his sustained injuries. Hiroyuki a veteran at 36 years old and in his 12th All Japan did well to defeat Makoto Akaishi, the 2008 Japan super-heavyweight champion in the quarter finals. However, It was the second time Kentaro Tanaka lost by wazari in two consecutive All Japans; in 2006 to a jodan mawashii and this time to a jodan hiza geri, both from foreign competitors.

Two time consecutive champion Yoshiaki Uchida didn't compete this year. Yoshiaki Uchida is on a break from competitive Karate. Although he continues to instruct at a dojo in Kyoto while he is working , he hasn't competed since least years World Championships. He recently attended the Kyokushin festival held every year in Kyoto to assist with judging.


Osu
Hugo Sensei

from www.kyokushinnews.com