June 2, 2018
On Saturday June 2nd the 2018 CanAm Championships were held. The tournament brought competitors and spectators from across Canada and the USA as well as a team from Japan to the beautiful town of Oakville, nearly filling the 1,000-seat venue. Special guest included First Grand Master Rhee Ki Ha from Glasgow, Scotland and GM Paul Cutler from Belfast, Northern Ireland. The cheers from the crowd were most notable whenever there was a final match between the USA and Canada, each country encouraging their country’s competitor.
The tournament started with an opening ceremony that was culminated with some inspirational words from FGMR as we celebrated his 80th birthday with a cake and the singing of Happy Birthday by the entire stadium. The was also a moment of silence in honour of the General Choi Hong Hi who would have been 100 this year. The tournament was highlighted by a fiercely competitive Black Belt division consisting of over 90 participants, many of whom had international experience competing in previous World Championships. St. John’s, Newfoundland was also chosen as the host for the 2019 CanAm Championships.
