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Caitlyn Sachkowski fell in love with martial arts after she watched the classic 1984 movie ‘The Karate Kid.’
She’s been competing in karate for 14 years, holding a fourth dan black belt.
Sachkowski just returned home to Prince Albert from South America after winning two bronze medals in the fourth International Karate Daigaku World Cup in Georgetown, Guyana.
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“Overall, the competition was really nice,” she told Evan Bray on the Evan Bray Show. “Everyone is friends going in, and then the match starts and you’re not friends, but once it’s over you’re friends again.”
The friendship doesn’t last long when competitors enter the floor. Sachkowski (left) is seen here hitting her opponent in the face. (Caitlyn Sachkowski/Submitted)
She said there is one main difference between training and competing – the power involved.
“People hit a little harder in competition than they do in class,” she said.
“Everyone is friends in class, so it’s hard to break that mentality.”
Sachkowski competed in Barbados back in 2018 but came home empty-handed after she was knocked out in the first round.
But that experience motivated her to return stronger and come home with a pair of medals this time around.
There were more than 300 competitors in the tournament, but only 10 in her category.
Sachkowski said her matches all went well.
“I had a pretty good match against someone from Trinidad and Tobago,” she said. “I was looking at her and she was sweating pretty hard, and I thought ‘I’m handling the heat a lot better than her so I might actually be able to win.’ And that’s how it turned out.”
Another victory for Sachkowski was making karate her full-time gig. She’s an instructor at the St. Michael’s School in Prince Albert.
“They kind of just asked me,” she said. “I always liked teaching and training. It just went hand in hand, helping other people.”
Now, she gets to teach children ages five to 13 all about the sport she loves so much.
“They start out as a 10th Kyu, so that’s like a white belt,” she said. “Then they can progress from there.”
When it comes to learning karate, Sachkowski said it’s a lot more than just self-defence, and teaches important personal and life skills as well. Sachkowski said she learned an important lesson from karate.
“I think just being calm in stressful situations,” she said. “I took that away. I think that’s really helpful.”
When Caitlyn Sachkowski watched ‘The Karate Kid’ with her sisters, she jokingly kicked the wall, leaving a hole in it. She’s been in love with the sport ever since. (Caitlyn Sachkowski/Submitted)
She said she plans to take a bit of a breather after her most recent venture, but will get back onto the competition floor soon.
“We’ll be having nationals coming up this year,” she said.
“I might go to that. We’ll see.”
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