Legendary 61-year old karate world champion in 10K Karate Clash for peace on the streets
Legendary 61-year old karate world champion in 10K Karate Clash for peace on the streets
The five times former world karate champion, Geoff Thompson, is coming out of retirement at 61 for what he says is a fight to save young lives. The chair of governors at the University of East London is to compete in the ‘10k Karate Clash’, the richest prize in traditional karate, in April.
The decision to return to competitive combat is because of what Mr Thompson describes as a ‘crisis on our streets’. In 2018, the Metropolitan Police investigated 135 homicides, 40 per cent of whom were men under-30. These deaths were heavily concentrated in the 15-24 age group, something which has continued to cause the karate legend great anguish.
The competition pits 32 men in a winner-takes-all series of clashes under World Karate Federation rules. The competition started in 2002 but stopped for 10 years in 2007.
In a wide-ranging interview with the organisers, Mr Thompson said, “I realised that fighting for the streets, rather than for me, was the greatest motivation I could have in pursuing excellence. So, this isn’t about me asking questions of myself and answering them. I still consider loss of life on the streets as unacceptable, and this my way of answering the issue. This is my way of bringing it back to the forum and bringing it to this generation. Ultimately I’m fighting on the square for those off the square.”
“This is my call to action to the martial arts community. We do face a crisis. If I was asking the martial arts community, it would be to give back two hours, and if we all did that, I think we could provide massive positivity of human spirit, and why can’t we go back to dominating the world in our respective combat sports?”
The project will be a family affair, with his wife Janice Argyle Thompson, who is also a former world karate champion, coaching her husband. She has set up a ‘Total Giving’ page, which pledges that all the money raised will be used for the social coaches leadership programme. Anyone who wishes to sponsor Mr Thompson can do so at Youth Charter Donations.