National karate champ pumped for Pan-Am Games

BY FRED LAWRENCE

The Hants Journal

NovaNewsNow.com

One Windsor-area youth is well on his way to becoming a household name in karate clubs throughout the Americas.

Ian Armour was the youngest competitor at Karate Nationals held in St. John’s, Nfld. July 13-15 and he proved his mettle to become the reigning Canadian National Champion. Prior to this, Armour had won Gold in Cadet Men’s Division (16-17 years) in a tournament held July 12-14 in Richmond, B.C.

Armour has been involved in karate for the past nine years and has competed professionally for the past five years in tournaments across the country and in the United States. The mild-mannered 17-year-old may look like your average kid, but in the ring he has a talent afforded to only a few elite athletes.

Armour says his first competition held in Quebec was nerve-wracking. “I was scared to death. I was the youngest guy in the division and I didn’t win, but that’s when I knew this is what I want to do with my life. I always wanted to be like the ‘karate kid’ or something so it has been great so far.”

Since the early days of competition, Armour has chalked up an impressive number of wins. He has been on the Canadian Karate Team for the past three years, attending the Junior Pan-American Karate Championship in Uruguay in 2005 and in Curacao, Netherland Antilles in 2006.

This year Armour is in Quito, Ecuador for the Pan-American Games. They began Aug. 24 and finish Sept. 2., and he hopes to come back with a gold medal.

In order to get on the Canadian team, a competitor must get a medal at Nationals. Normally, gold and silver medal winners go provided they’re still in the same age and weight group at the time of the Pan-Am Games.

Nova Scotia gaining reputation for top competitors

Since Armour and his team’s winning streak started, his home province has gained a reputation for top-notch competitors.

“Before karate started getting big here, no one really knew where Nova Scotia was. But now when I say where I’m from it’s like, ‘Oh, I’ve heard of Nova Scotia; you guys have some great competitors,’ so it’s great to see that we’re getting recognized all over the place.”

Armour said Nova Scotia team members compete with a real ‘team spirit.’ “We get together whenever we can and in places like Ontario and Quebec, team members often live a long distance from each other. But here, we’re much closer and get to practice together a lot more, and that helps to keep us as a tight-knit group.”

Armour’s mother Karen is proud of her three children, all of whom are involved in karate. His younger brother Duncan is also a member of the Canadian Karate Team that recently won bronze in the team kumite.

Karen competes also at various levels and sees the positive side of the sport. “It’s a relatively inexpensive sport to be involved in and there’s not a lot of equipment necessary to compete. If you want to improve yourself, you just have to put in the effort and the rest will follow. I’m very proud of all my kids. Ian has really taken to karate and hopefully will continue to compete with his team, plus he gets to travel to some great places.”

Armour said, despite his youth, the karate experience has helped him to mature. “If you’re serious about karate, it’ll help mould your personality and you will be a better person because of it.

“It’s all about discipline and self-control, plus it teaches you about self-defence and other tools that will help in later life.”

Currently a brown belt, Armour said his goal is to get to the next level. “I’m going for the next level (black belt) and for the competitions, if I win, great. But I don’t plan on buying a new car with the proceeds or anything. I just want to be the best I can and if I have a good fight and win I’ll be happy. If I lose, I’ll still be okay because I’ll know I tried my best and that’s all that really matters.”