The 2008 nationals just took place this past week in New Brunswick.

It's now been 2 years since I left the karate world. My last official competition was in the fall of 2006 when I competed in Japan for the SKIF World Championships. In terms of the WKF/NKA circuit, my last competition was the 2006 National Championships in Newfoundland.

Karate has been a part of my life ever since I could walk. Since I was 14, the Ontario Karate team has been like my extended family that I would see 4-5 times a year, culminating in a week-long bash that is the National Championships. I miss my karate family. I also miss the rest of my karate family that spans the whole country. I've made so many great friends from the rest of the country over the 8 years that I competed at nationals and the two times I competed at the pan-american championships in Venezuela and Chile.

2 years ago I made the difficult decision of ending my karate career. Or rather, putting it on hold. I hadn't trained at all during my 5 years in university and I was having the time of my life and karate just wasn't a priority. Simply travelling to Toronto 4 times a year for the provincial meets was a hassle for me. Between not wanting to embarrass myself with my slowly deteriorating karate skills and wanting to give the younger up-and-coming stars an open road, I stopped competing.

I think it was the right decision but now that I am done school I feel it was such a big part of my life that I should give it another chance. For the last few months I've been thinking about returning to the karate world. Since the 2nd week of May I've been doing intense physical training with Mariano and I'm already in the best physical condition I've ever been in my life after 7 weeks.

Tonight I had a moment. I saw pictures of all my old karate teammates on the podium. They are cleaning up. The young kids that used to look up to me have far surpassed anything I ever accomplished and have more than filled my shoes. I am so proud of them. Trevor Sheppard, whom I have so much respect for, finally took the national title for Men's Kata. He has deserved it for so many years now and he finally did it. I'd like to think Arjun and I are his biggest fans.

This moment reaffirmed my desire to return to the karate world and compete at the national championships in 2010. I want to medal for Men's Individual Kata. I want to perform the best Shotokan katas that have ever been performed at the Canadian National Karate Championships.

I have a a year and a few months before I need to begin competing at the provincial level to qualify for the provincial team and I have roughly 2 years before the 2010 nationals.

Two years to get bigger, stronger, faster, jump higher, and more flexible.

Two years to hone my art.

The journey begins.