Kyokushin Karate of Los Angeles held its inaugural Rensei tournament on June 5 at its West. L.A. dojo.
Competitors from as young as six years old to adults took part in the event that featured kata forms and kumite matches.
The special Best Spirit prize was awarded to Wayne Smith of the Orange County dojo. Originally entered into the Senior division, he competed against fighters half his age due to lack of older entrants.
KATA
Kata Youth Beginner 6-11yr
1. Ami Kimoto (West LA)
2. Kirapat Boonpipat (WLA)
3. Makoto Ishimaru (Orange County)
Kata Youth Intermediate 6-8yr
1. Hiroto Iko (Torrance)
2. Yuta Murayoshi (WLA)
3. Kaito Iko (Torrance)
Kata Youth Intermediate 9-11yr
1. Milano Takemoto (WLA)
2. Rocco Chen (Nevada)
3. Mark Tam (NV)
Kata Youth Advanced 11yr
1. Nalu Kawaguchi (WLA)
2. Rafu Egashira (WLA)
3. Haru Saito (Torrance)
Kata Youth Advanced 13-16yr
1. Napili Yoshida (WLA)
2. Kai Kumagai (WLA)
3. Kota Murayoshi (WLA)
Kata Adult Beginners
1. Gustavo Hidalgo (Los Angeles)
Kata Adult Intermediate
1. Sendo Tran (OC)
Kata Adult Advanced
1. Miho Tago (WLA)
2. Emily Chiba (LA)
3. Sarah Watanabe (Torrance)
Kata Senior Advanced
1. Naoko Tago (WLA)
2. Nariko Watanabe (Torrance)
3. Wayne Smith (OC)
KUMITE
Boys 6yr
1. Fuma Sato (WLA)
2. Kailu Kawaguchi (WLA)
3. Kaito Iko (Torrance)
4. Yuma Takeshita (WLA)
Boys 7-8yr
1. Yuta Murayoshi (WLA)
2. Rai Huddleston (LA)
3. Kyle Tsuchida (Torrance)
4. Hiroto Iko (Torrance)
Girls 8yr
1. Ami Kimoto (WLA)
2. Marina Takemoto (WLA)
3. Layla Fukuda (WLA)
Girls 9yr
1. Erika Sukhasyan (WLA)
2. Milano Takemoto (WLA)
Boys 10yr
1. Zachary Tam (NV)
2. Chet Gallagher (LA)
4. Makoto Ishimaru (NV)
4. Koutaro Noda (OC)
Two 4th-place finishers due to no 3rd–place match.
Boys 9-10yr Heavyweight
1. Hins Fang (LA)
2. Kotaro Kaneko (WLA)
3. Rocco Chen (NV)
4. Caden Jones (WLA)
Boys 11-12yr
1. Louie Sanders (WLA)
2. George Sukhasyan (WLA)
3. Nalu Kawaguchi (WLA)
4. Haru Saito (Torrance)
Kumite Girls Exhibition Match
Aoi Shiramizu (Torrance)
Poppy Hill (OC)
Kumite Boys Exhibition Match
Yudai Kamiya (Torrance)
Kota Murayoshi (WLA)
Boys 16-17yr
1. Jun Khan (WLA)
2. Aidan Callas (NV)
Women
1. Emily Chiba (LA)
2. Yuri Fukuda (Torrance)
Men’s Lightweight
1. Sendo Tran (OC)
2. Changyu Wu (WLA)
Men’s Heavyweight
1. Koorosh Evagee (WLA)
2. Graham Southern (WLA)
3. Milton Mills (WLA)
4. Wayne Smith (OC)
Best Spirit Prize
Wayne Smith (OC)
Photos courtesy Kyokushin Karate of Los Angeles