Terrace Shogun dojo athletes have returned home happy from kickboxing provincials after all 12 of them qualified for nationals.
The World Kickboxing Confederation (WKC) provincials were held in Williams Lake, March 12.
Sensei Amber Pipe said she is very pleased with everyone’s performance and the tournament overall.
“We have good fighters, we cleaned house,” she said of the 18 gold, five silver and one bronze medal the team walked away with.
The Terrace fighters competed against around 120 fighters from Smithers, Williams Lake and Kamloops.
“They performed well, a lot of them have only been competing for a couple of months,” Pipe said.
She added that one great outcome from provincials was everyone qualifying to continue on.
Pipe feels this is due to the students' reaction to her request for more dedication.
“This year I have been a lot more strict on etiquette inside and outside the club,” Pipe said. “I think this is the difference from this year to last year.”
Pipe especially places an emphasis on under-age drinking, she feels dedication to the sport can be a way of providing younger students an alternate lifestyle.
“We had so much fun, I think over all it was the best trip we have ever gone on as a team,” Pipe said.
The club is set to go to WKC nationals in Ottawa this May.
This is the same path the Shogun dojo took last year, which led Pipe and two other students, Dalton Stanvick and Rajan Sangha, to WKC worlds in Albufeira, Portugal.