Czechoslovakia trip for Karate player

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 6, Issue 268, 20 December 1988, Page 16

Czechoslovakia trip for Karate player

Waimarino Karate exponent Charles Mareikura and his wife Agnes recently returned from a trip to Czechoslovakia. Charles was among a contingent of mostly black belt New Zealand karate players who attended an international tournament there. They also visited New York, Los Angeles and a number of other places on their 25 day trip. The tournament was for the Bohemia Crystal Cup and attracted players from most European countries a s well as from several others. Charles said he was impressed by the number of spectators at the tournament. He said there were between eight and ten thousand as well as the national television station. Competition was very sharp, said Charles, with a number of very big people. Because of the standard he said they were pleased that the New Zealand A team gained fourth place. He said what the Kiwi's lacked in speed and technique they made up for with aggression. Charles' A team fought a German team and beat them but lost to a Slovak team. He said some of them where six feet eight inches tall, meaning

they had a big advantage with reach. He said their fighting was very orthodox and systematic. The New Zealanders were invited to tour Yugoslavia. Italy and France after competing in the tournament, which Charles said was a very promising proposal. He said while that invitation wasn't taken up other European tours are likely.

"They are real boors, they lack charm," said Charles. "Though when we met the Karate people we thought maybe there are nice people." Before the tournament the group spent a week in New York training and competing in local tournaments. He said when they first got there they weren't impressed with the New Yorkers.

In contrast the Czeches were very pleasant despite the language barrier, h e said. The country is way behind the western world in terms o f amenities said Charles. The hotel they stayed at was very basic, though rated as a five star hotel, and they saw queues at almost every shop. The range of goods Was limited also. he said.

Despite those drawbacks the country was refreshing, said Charles. One of the highlights of the visit for them was putting on an aerobics display, said Charles. He said the Czeches had never seen men teaching aerobics before. "They seemed to enjoy it," said Charles.