"Claim your FREE subscription to my "KarateTips" newsletter (a $69.95 value, yours free!)... ... And I'll send you 100's of ideas for improving your karate skills!" Simply enter your name and e-mail address below, and you will be subscribed INSTANTLY: Your First Name: Your Last Name: Your Primary E-mail Address: Important: I will never share your contact information with anyone. And you can unsubscribe at any time! Privacy policy.

-- Testimonials --

"I like your web site. Since I am a traditional Martial Artist it is nice to see the content... I think your web site is great for the beginner in martial arts and any new competitor to traditional Karate tournaments who wishes to improve. I hope you keep it up."

- Rodger Pyle
USANKF Team Coach

"I absolutely love the site and am so glad I found it after conducting endless searches for a decent and interesting site. The articles are great and I have already found someone who's training my style (Goju-Ryu) and is near to my grade, and we are chatting via e-mail. Thanks again."

- Fynn Robertson
Goju Ryu
South Africa

KOI World Cup & Training Camp - Moscow 2005

Since returning from Moscow, Russia in July many people have emailed me asking "What was it like?". To give you an idea of what both the KOI World Cup 14 and our experience in Moscow was all about, sit back, relax and I'll take you on a mystical journey through time and space...

After nearly 24 hours of travel from California, we finally arrived in Moscow, Russia. The jet lag was starting to kick into top gear and trying to get our bearings in a foreign land was nothing short of challenging...

But that's what makes for a great experience, right?

This was my 5th KOI World Cup & Training Camp and as always it was an incredible experience. With 31 countries and 530+ competitors in attendance, it was enough to draw the attention of hundreds of spectators and international television...

But first let me tell you a little about our experience of getting there...

Our plane touched down at Sheremetyevo 2 - one of Moscow's 3 international airports. A huge gray metropolis of planes and hangers, but surprisingly void of people when we arrived.

We were seated toward the rear of the plane and getting our group together for processing by customs and immigration took us a little longer than expected hence we were the last in line.

I've never been to Russia before although I've traveled to 18 other countries, and this time was the first time that I've felt so lost in a foreign land. No, not because it's illegal to take a GPS into the country, but partially because the language is just SO different.

I can speak enough French and Italian to hold a simple conversation, and know the very basics in a few other languages, but this Russian stuff - oh man. It took me a week or so just to get the yes/no/please/thank you down, by which time we were headed back to the USA.

Anyhow, back to the passport control line...

So there we were standing for approximately 45 minutes slowly making our way towards the robot-like employees of immigration control. Finally, our group was cleared and allowed to proceed to the baggage collection. We grabbed our stuff and exited the customs checkpoint at which time we were mobbed by shady taxi drivers trying to overcharge for a trip to our hotel.

Finally we booked a taxi that cost us about $45 to transfer us to our hotel - not too bad considering the first 3 guys wanted in excess of $100 USD. It's quite funny - many of them have laminated plastic cards with the prices to the most common hotels and tourist destination printed on it.

They like to point at this yellow card intensely as they say the price in broken English. Apparently this makes it "official and trustworthy"... I hate to think of how many unsuspecting tourists pay 3 times what we paid.

So for the next 35 minutes our driver navigated the traffic at speeds on par with the Space Shuttle on reentry to the Earth's atmosphere. I am amazed he was still alive based on the way he drove. Allowing only 3-4 feet between our taxi and the car in front for most of the time, dashing in and out of lanes like a pinball, riding the tram lanes and narrowly missing pedestrians... wow - we got our money's worth on that ride!

But as we came to realize over the next 10 days, the ONLY people in Moscow who are in a hurry are the TAXI DRIVERS. Everyone else seems to slither along as slowly as a snail on morphine.

A partial shot of Hotel Izmailovo. It's huge with over 8,000 rooms
and 5 buildings - it was built for the Olympics way back in 1980.
Check out the full pictures at the official web site

We were dropped off at the hotel reception of the GAMMA / DELTA building and followed the signs to the reception. Like I said, the Hotel Izmailovo is enormous - as was the wait in line. There were only 3 people in front of us, but one man from Kazakhstan was checking in his entire team of 15 or so. Each passport had to be checked and processed, room keys allocated, and paperwork stamped.

And just as we thought we were getting close, people would push in front and say something in Russian to the receptionist who would then disappear for 10 minutes. When she'd come back she'd shrug her shoulders and point in another direction.

Hmmm...

90 MINUTES LATER - yes, one and a half hours later - we finally get to the reception desk at which point we discovered that our booking number was NOT for THIS hotel, but for the adjacent one on the other side of the building!

Right there and then I was becoming pretty frustrated. With only a couple hours sleep and being overwhelmed with jet lag, I felt like I was about to pass out. And the background music wasn't helping - remember that theme song from Beverly Hills Cop by Axel F? It's EVERYWHERE!

After living in California for the last 3 years where it's almost illegal to even say the word "cigarette" or "smoke" let alone smoke indoors, we were in for quite a culture shock in Moscow. Every man and his dog constantly smokes and smokes ANYWHERE. You name it, they'll smoke in it!

Now if you like second hand smoke then it shouldn't be a problem, but if you prefer breathing CLEAN air instead then good luck with that!

Ok, ok, so you might be thinking that we had a terrible time in Russia?

Not at all - remember at this point we were jet lagged, tired, hungry and disoriented. But once we became accustomed to our surroundings and learned how the Russians do things, it was GREAT!

Many people have asked me since I've been home, "So what were the people like?". I love that question and I answer it the same way I answer it when people ask me "What are Americans like?", or "What are Australians like?"... to which I reply:

"People are people. You always get some lovely people, and you'll cross paths with those who wouldn't give you the time of day. It's how you PERCIEVE and REACT to people that often shapes your experience."

And again I found this to be true, but if you were to draw a general conclusion it would be "not in a hurry - taxi drivers excepted"...

So with us safely checked into our hotel, it was time to catch some ZZZZZs and get focused on our goals for the coming week of karate...

View from our hotel room on the 8th floor

First up was the training camp...

Quite simply it was awesome!

Three days of intense training and fun with some of the world's finest instructors headed by Shihan Tommy Morris (8th Dan, President of KOI and Chairman of the WKF Referee's Council). That's one of the great things in belonging to KOI - it's such a well established organization with great people. Plus it caters to the 4 major styles of karate as recognized by the WKF. Shotokan, Wado, Shito and Goju practitioners alike find excellent instructors to teach competitive kumite, kata, self defense and more...

KOI 14 Instructors from left to right, Jaap Smaal, Gina Ragazzo, Ricky Lim, Steven Morris,
Tommy Morris, Richard Callaghan, Loh Beng Hooi, Alister MacAlister, Marco Mazzanti

For students you can choose what you want to work on - whether it be kumite, shitei kata, style-specific kata, etc. and then split into those groups for your training session. Then later in the day if you've had enough kata, you can join the kumite group instead. It's up to you and it's really a lot of fun too.

Some students performing Seienchin

Plus instructors get their own "instructor course" in which they learn more advanced self defense, ju-jitsu, kata and things to bring home to their clubs around the globe.

My personal focus this year was kata. Since I was grading on the Wednesday I thought I should spend the course's 3 days brushing up on the advanced Shitoryu kata. It'd been 5 years since my Sandan grading way back in 2000, so it was just what I needed.

Students practicing Nipipo...

Although this year we only had a small team from the US attend, next year we hope with our increased memberships and other clubs from the United States joining Kobe Osaka we'll be right up there with the 6,000 Russian members... you gotta aim high right? =)

One of the great things about KOI is the family atmosphere. Since 1997 I've developed great friendships with people from all over the world. Here's a few snapshots of me with some friends from abroad...

with Fabio Meini (Italy)	with Gerry Hofs (Holland)
with Paul Lapsley (Scotland)	with Richard Callaghan - my sensei for 14 years from Australia.
with Gary Bohmer (Australia)	with Marco Mazzanti (Australia)
From left to right: Christina Stanley, Colby Matthews, Tommy Morris, Jason Stanley.

So after the 3 day gasshuku we had a day's rest and a chance to see a little more of Moscow besides the inside of the stadium.

First some pictures of Red Square...

	Wow - this place is HUGE! In the photo above that's Lenin's tomb in the smaller building in front of the Kremlin Wall. And no, not JOHN Lennon...
Now for some closer shots of the Kremlin...
	To quote the Lonely Planet Moscow Guide: "From here Ivan the Terrible watched Moscow burn, Lenin fashioned the dictatorship of the proletariat, Khrushchev fought the Cold War, Gorbachev unleashed perestroika (literally, 'restructuring'), and Yeltsin concocted the New Russia." If you were to write down the entire history of The Kremlin, it'd probably be about as long as the walk around the outer walls, which is about a 2.25km journey.
	Some more shots of Russian architecture, including our favorite restaurant (above) close to the Hotel Izmailovo.

After a day of exploring Moscow and riding the Russian subway (which is like stepping into a time machine and setting the year to 1945), Friday began the Kobe Osaka International World Cup #14. It was a huge competition spanning 3 days with over 530 competitors and 31 countries in attendance.

The KOI 14 World Cup Stage

The Opening Ceremony

The Competition Area

A rare shot of me (left) fighting European Team Kumite and
KOI Heavy Weight Champion, Shamil Magomedov (Russia).

Since my camera was stolen I really don't have too many action shots, but I think you get the idea. Yes - unfortunately it was taken at the competition - the only downside of our entire trip. And trying to file a Police Report for stolen goods is like pulling teeth...

(Special thanks to Colby Matthews for providing the photos you see on this page.)

Anyhow, the competition drew world class competitors from all over Europe, Asia, the Middle East, the South Pacific and of course the USA. It really was a top-level event with many international/European champions setting the standard. In a nutshell the Russians cleaned up with 29 gold, 23 silver and 37 bronze! Wow. For more information and the medals table you can click here.

The 10 days we were there seemed to vanish like a drop of water in a fry pan. It was an INCREDIBLE trip and a lot of fun. Perhaps I'll see you next year in Greece for KOI #15? It's going to be on the island of Evia - same location as in 2003.

I can hardly wait...

Until next time...

Stay safe, train hard.

Jason Stanley
4th dan Shitoryu
www.karatetips.com

P.S. If you're in the USA and interested in attending the KOI 15 next year and would like to be part of the US team, email me for more information.

P.P.S. If you were in Russia and have some photos, please send them to me and I'll add them to the page.