We are back, we are getting over our jet lag, and we are patting ourselves on the back for a job well done. This was our first year traveling with Team Douvris as part of the larger Team Canada to compete at the WKC World Championships in Dublin. It was scary, nerve-wracking, wonderful, fun and exhausting all at the same time. And we’d do it again in a heartbeat.

We competed as hard as we could, and so did all our teammates. Not everyone earned a medal, but everyone learned good lessons. And just the experience of competing at this level, side by side with the best karate athletes in the world, was a winning feature of our week in Dublin.

“For me it was an excellent learning experience,” said Catherine, 10, who like her friend Alejandro Miguelez did not earn a medal but gave it their all. “I know what I need to work on now…”

It was a great thrill to watch and cheer on our teammates as they competed. The camaraderie and great team spirit made the week something even more special than it already was. And the memory of seeing some of our friends and training partners become world champions mere feet away from us will stay with us and inspire us to train even harder to become better and achieve better results next time.

Our dojo’s student creed starts with “My goal is to become the best person I can be. I will achieve this objective by disciplining my body and my mind, working to overcome obstacles that hinder my positive growth.” Our week in Dublin has crystallized that student creed and made it more real than it ever was.

We are proud of what we’ve accomplished so far, and we are inspired and keen to continue improving ourselves. We hope to see everyone again in Orlando next year.

We want to congratulate our medalists:

Point fighting bronze medalists:
Niko Couture, Malik Thomas, Katarina Tessier, Zoë Houle, Nathan Gourde, Taylor Bearss, Justine Sénéchal, Nico Campagna, Anna Bélanger and Brigitte Pellerin.

Point fighting silver medalists:
Martina Couture (2), Ben Clarke, Sébastien Bélanger, Will Carr, and Hannah Morrier.

Point fighting gold medalists:
Anna Bélanger, Jevon Rudder, Robbie Lavoie and Patrick Gourde.

Continuous fighting bronze medalist:
Nathan Gourde.

Continuous fighting silver medalists:
Sébastien Bélanger, Will Carr, and Patrick Gourde.

Team point fighting bronze medalists:
Robbie Hughes, Sébastien Bélanger and Zach Cassidy.

Team point fighting silver medalists:
Martina Couture, Anna Bélanger, Brigitte Pellerin, Nico Campagna, Ben Clarke and Sierra Vergette.

Team point fighting gold medalists:
Cody Diesbourg, Robbie Lavoie, David Patenaude and Hannah Morrier.

Team continuous fighting gold medalist:
Will Carr.

Forms bronze medalists:
Malik Thomas (creative weapons), Robbie Hughes (creative weapons, musical weapons) and Niko Couture (freestyle kata).

Forms silver medalists:
Megan Bowman (freestyle kata, Chinese kata, hardstyle kata, classical kata), Will Carr (Chinese kata) and Brigitte Pellerin (traditional kata).

Forms gold medalists:
Malik Thomas (classical kata), Ben Clarke (creative weapons), Megan Bowman (Korean kata).