BIRK MADSEN: MEDAL OF BRAVERY

          On May 22, 2001, while honeymooning in Costa Rica, Birk Madsen prevented further injury to his wife following a swarming attack by five teenage robbers on bikes, two of whom were armed with guns.  The couple were out for an early evening stroll near their hotel when they were suddenly surrounded by the gang.  Shots were fired during the struggle that ensued and Mr. Madsen was struck in the face with a pistol and fell to the ground.  Meanwhile, his wife had escaped into the traffic for help but was seriously wounded when one of the thieves fired in her direction.  Determined to save his wife from further harm, Mr. Madsen tackled the thief and wrestled his pistol away.  Brandishing the assailant's gun, he then grabbed hold on a bicycle to shield himself from the criminals until they finally abandoned their attack and fled.  Mr. Madsen then jumped with his wife into one of the cars that had stopped and brought her to a hospital for emergency care.  

            Thus, Birk Madsen was awarded by the Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson, Governor General of Canada for the Medal of Bravery for his act of of heroism.  Also, Birk Madsen is a member of the Abbotsford Gima-HA Shoto Ryu Karate Club.  

NEW BC TEAM COACH GHOLAM REZA SALMANI, 5 DAN JK

       It was the Canadian ambassador to the United Arab Emirates that stopped Gholam Reza Salmani, godan, from going to the U.S. and what has become the American’s loss is today the provincial team’s gain. He has now been appointed BC Team Coach.  Achieving his shodan in 1977, he continued his studies to reach his present 5^th Dan rank in 1995. Also, he was a member of the Iran National Team from 1985, who had won a full contact Gulf Championship in 1986.  In addition, he coached the UAE all-style team to 25 medal successes over seven years, all in prestigous international events including the First Arab Olympics in 1997.

       His personal successes include reaching the semi-finals of the 1990 JKA World Shoto Cup in Dubai, teaching 45 students when he was a green belt and being on the Technical Committee for Shotokan in Gilan Province, Iran and President of the Anzali City Karate Association. He established the UAE Karate Association, then after discussions with WUKO (now WKF), established the UAE Karate Federation.  His famous quote is “Martial art is like an ocean with no beach. Even a big important ship such as the Titanic sunk because of a relatively small flaw.

KBC MEMBERS MEDAL AT TENRI CITY, JAPAN TOURNAMENT

      A Junior Budo (Martial Arts) Tournament was held in Tenri City, Japan, on July 31^st.    There were Judo, Kendo and Karate Events.  The only division for Karate was Kumite (sparring).  After the Opening Ceremonies, the Karate events started at Tenri High School’s Gym, which held six rings.  It was over 35 degrees in the gym.  In the nine-year-old division, 64 participants were present from Northern Hokkaido to Southern Okinawa.  Hironori Imata Uchiage from the Steveston Karate Club entered this division and won.  His sister Sumi Uchiage entered the 15-year-old division and received 3^rd place.

      During the lunch break, Miss Eri Fujioka, the Women’s Open Weight World Champion, Yuko Okuda, the University Open Weight World Champion and Mr. Kenichi Imai, the World Cup Kumite Gold Medallist, put on a demonstration.  They are all Tenri University graduates.  Sensei Uchiage was the Coach of Tenri University before coming to Canada.

Click here for a list of pictures.