As someone who was never an avid fan of winter sports, I didn’t think that watching the Vancouver Winter Olympics would be all that fun – but I find myself biting my nails watching the game of Curling. Boy was I wrong. It has been a blast. Whether it is Curling, Snowboarding, Ski-cross, Ice Dance, or Hockey, the drama of competition is just as thrilling as any movie. There has been talk that Canada has failed because they couldn’t “own the podium”. There was a prediction to be the Vancouver Olympic leader in medals but it doesn’t seem to be going that way. We were fifth in Turin, Italy and the jump to number one seemed top be such a tall order. But is winning the most medals the only measure of success.

Already, there have been more viewers of these Olympics than there were of the Beijing games. Reports indicate that the Hudson Bay Company had predicted one million commemorative gloves sold throughout the games. They have already sold 3 million. Canada’s first gold medalist in a winter game took place right here on Canada’s soil and also for the first time, a woman of colour from Canada earned a medal in an Olympic winter event. In light of  these new benchmarks, to measure the success of these games for Canada only by the number of medals seems a little short sighted.

What are we to tell our athletes anyways. Aim for fourth. I think not. I can’t imagine an uber athlete like Joe Frazier entering a match without anything less than their best to win. Regardless of placement aiming to be the best only brings out the best. Canada brought out an attitude to deliver their “EH” game and not every match worked out that way – and you know what, that’s okay. I would rather we fail at coming first place rather than succeed in a quest of coming last. Losing is not so bad when you aim high.

Like much of our nation, I’ll be watching our athletes tonight in support of their efforts. We are all joined in one quest, the battle for the podium and digging for gold.

Go Canada Go!

I can’t believe it! I am sitting in the stands of the Budokan at the World Karate Tournament in Okinawa, Japan where over a thousand athletes have come to compete for the title of the world’s best in Okinawan Karate.  I came here, in part, to see some great kick @$$ Kata. I have always liked the way Okinawans perform kata. It is with pure unapologetic power. I participated in the world’s 12 years ago and since then, the top athletes have become younger with more energy and focus. This is a long way since the partying atmosphere in 1997. Karate as a sport has certainly changed. I am here to witness these great changes and should be totally ecstatic but part of me isn’t.

It’s August 14th, 2009 in Naha and just a few hours ago in Europe, the International Olympic Committee came to a decision to exclude Karate from the 2016 roster. Karate has been on the short list of becoming an Olympic sport for around a decade and it has just missed the mark again. This time however, Karate lost out to golf. GOLF! Can it be even considered a real sport? I just don’t get it. Practicing Karate at its most basic level requires no special clothing, equipment, or even a field. Therefore it has no economic barrier. Karate is even an organized sport in the Congo. Kripes, even the world’s most popular sport of football (soccer) requires at a least a ball! Golf requires acres of manicured grass and therefore has a greater economic barrier in less affluent countries. Golf also has equipment cost a far greater than Karate and is also far less organized at the amateur level.  Logistically, the same venue used for judo, wrestling, taekwondo, and boxing could be used for Karate and an Olympic champion can be determined in a couple of days. The same people who buy tickets for the existing combat sport would also support Karate.

I was so confident, I would have bet my last piece of sushi on earth that Karate would be the next Olympic sport. Thank goodness I didn’t make that bet! Instead, Olympic Karate supporters like me are eatin’ turf – again as it seems that missing out on the Olympics is par for the course for Karate. Four years ago, Karate had made the short list  to be included in 2008 but the IOC then chose not to accept any new sport for the London games. Only 2 sports were going to be chosen for 2016 its selection process had already put rugby in the top spot after the first vote. Karate and softball were battling for second place and required a second vote to seal the deal. Losing to softball would not be so bad since its a sport that is practiced by all ages and has no economic barriers. Maybe the golf camp thought so too because the hours between the first and second vote was just enough time for Tiger Woods to make an announcement that if golf was in the Olympics, he would participate thus knocking out both softball and Karate.

So here I am in the land where Karate was originated. The island of Okinawa, Japan. While here, I can’t wait to see my colleagues from Okinawa, India, Australia, Sri Lanka, and of course Canada compete to be the best. While the young athletes fine tune their kata, I’ll be partying and meeting new people all over the world. I’ve made new friends and topped up my passion for Karate. Okay, Karate didn’t make the Olympics but I still have my new friends and our athletes will still become better. Perhaps one these athletes will become our own Tiger Woods of Karate world one day. So while I’m a little bummed out I am mostly proud that Karate doesn’t need the Olympics to be among the most popular sports in the world. Long Live Karate!