All it took was a simple hole in the wall for Caitlyn Sachkowski.
Sachkowski has been competing in karate for 14 years and holds a fourth-degree black belt.
Sachkowski returned from the International Karate Daigaku (IKD) World Cup in Georgetown, Guyana, South America with a pair of bronze medals in tow.
She says her start in the sport came after an interesting experience watching a movie with her siblings.
“Me and my sisters were watching The Karate Kid and I decided to be funny and kick the wall and I accidentally kicked a hole in the wall. So I thought ‘let’s go try karate’. I went and tried and I only wanted to make it up to purple belt but I just fell in love with it and so I kept going.”
Sachkowski took home bronze medals in both Kata and Kumite. Kata is where participants showcase form in an organized performance. Kumite is where participants will spar against another competitor.
Sachkowski had previously traveled to the IKD World Cup hosted in Barbados back in 2018, but never took home a medal.
She describes the experience in Guyana as something she will never forget.
“Once in a lifetime, I never thought I’d be the one traveling across the world to go compete in the karate tournament. “It’s just amazing, Just to think that out of everyone I got two bronze medals and the two things I did, I don’t even have words.”
Sachkowski was the only competitor from Saskatchewan to make the journey to South America. The majority of the Canadian contingent was based out of Ontario.
While in Guyana, Sachkowski says one of her favorite aspects of the competition was meeting fellow athletes from across the world and getting to know them.
It’s like we’re old friends when we meet, but we’ve never met each other before, but everyone’s so friendly until you’re fighting.”
