Our Town Inagi 2020: Taigo Suto, Kanami Matsuo

Advancement in National Competitions

Mr. Sudou (2nd year at Inagi Dai 2 Junior High School) and Mr. Matsuo (1st year at the same school), who attend the "Seidenryu Karate Do Nakamura Dojo" in Hirao, participated in the "13th JKJO All Japan Junior Karate Championship" held in November. Mr. Sudou won first place in the boys' category for 2nd and 3rd year middle school students over 57 kilograms, while Mr. Matsuo achieved second place in the girls' category for 1st year middle school students under 43 kilograms, earning excellent results.
This tournament is the highest level junior competition where athletes who have won various selection tournaments can participate. Additionally, this year's tournament saw a record number of 1,601 athletes competing, making it an intense event.

Usually, in addition to training at the dojo, Mr. Sudou practices at home under the guidance of his family, while Mr. Matsuo belongs to the track and field club and is dedicated to balancing both karate and track in his daily training.
The two shared their thoughts on karate: "The sense of achievement when results come out in competitions is what I love about karate (Mr. Sudou)" and "The charm of karate is that you can become stronger through your own efforts, not just talent. My motto is to enjoy both karate and track (Mr. Matsuo)."
Karate was adopted as an additional event in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, marking the first time karate has become an Olympic sport.
The karate that will be held at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics is traditional karate, which competes in kata and point sparring, and is different from the full-contact karate that the two practice, which involves striking the opponent.
However, the number of karate practitioners and enthusiasts worldwide is significant, and further development is expected through the Olympics.

Finally, I asked about their future goals. "I was able to win the tournament, which was my biggest goal. Now that I have won, I cannot afford to lose in the future. I want to work hard in practice so that I can win again next year (Mr. Sudou)." "I was able to reach the finals, but I am frustrated that I could not win. I want to build on this result for next year so that I can win (Mr. Matsuo)." They shared their passionate thoughts for the next tournament right away.
Let's support the two of them as they vow to make further leaps forward.