The Steveston Karate Club thrived at home with some outstanding performances at the national championships, held last weekend at the Richmond Olympic Oval.
The local contingient was led by Toshi Uchiage who continued his amazing run at the nationals by winning the senior men's kata division. The 26-year-old, who is also an instructor at the Thompson Karate Club, scored a decisive 5-0 victory over his Ontario opponent in the final. Dating back to his days as a junior competitor, Toshi has won gold at the nationals 10 times.
As a junior, he captured the 14-and-15-year-old and 16-and-17-year-old divisions, then proceeded to win three more times at the 18-to-20-year-old level. The success carried over to the senior ranks where Toshi has been on top of the podium the last four years.
The previous record for most national title was five. In total, Toshi has won 15 gold medals at the Canadian championships.
Toshi also had the opportunity to watch his sisters Sumi and Hidemi compete in the women's senior final for the second straight year. Hidemi, who now competes for Alberta, defeated Sumi who was the 2011 champion.
The Uchiages are now preparing for the North American Cup and U.S. Open, slated for April 5-8 in Las Vegas. They also will be going to the Senior Pan American Championships in Managua, Nicaragua, May 29-June 3.
Other results included Steveston's Seiya Takeuchi winning bronze medal in the Kata individual male under 21. He was also fifth in the senior men's kata division.
The Steveston Karate Club has now won national titles for each of the last 20 years.
