Filcan kid from Surrey wins gold in Karate tournament

An 8-year-old girl from Surrey won two gold medals during the 2014 Goju Ryu Karate Friendship Tournament held last Nov. 30, in Richmond, B.C.

Tiffany Jiloca bagged her first gold medal in the eight to 15-year-old girls individual Kihon Ido event. She bested 10 other players on her group and advanced to compete with the winners from three other groups. Tiffany eventually advanced to the finals and earned the nod of the three judges.

Kihon Ido is a demonstration of the basic punches, stances and blocks by forward and backward movements.

Tiffany, a Grade 3 student from Our Lady of Good Counsel School in Surrey, won her second gold medal in the 16-year-old and below girls individual kata event. She performed the “haiku ichi” kata and beat 14 other players.

The “kata” or form is a choreographed series of movements demonstrating various techniques such as blocks, punches, kicks and strikes. Tiffany maintained her balance while executing the various techniques with the right speed and power that made all the judges unanimously ruled on her favour.

The Iloilo City-born girl who moved with her parents to Vancouver while she was only 1½ years old, also competed in three other events.

She competed in the 8-15-year-old girls kumite (sparring), boys and girls ki-ai open category, and fast punch events.

It was her first time to participate in a karate tournament since she started to practice karate last May 2014.

Tiffany was one of the five Filipino-Canadians who joined the annual tournament. The tournament organized by the Ku Yu Kai Karate Club was participated in by close to 100 players from various Ku Yu Kai clubs in Surrey, Richmond, Marpole, False Creek and Thunderbird community centres.