Hawaiian native ready to succeed on mat

Three years ago, the future was bright for Eimi Kurita. As a 17-year-old, Kurita went to her first World Karate Federation World Championships in 2006 with the intention of getting experience.

"I didn't really go in like 'I want to win,' " she said. "It was more that it was going to be a good experience and to see where I was at."

Instead, she won a bronze medal in kata at the event in Tampere, Finland.

"It was kind of a surprise to me," Kurita said," but I went out there and did my best."

It seemed to be a promising start to a long career.

But just two years later, at the 2008 World Championships in Tokyo, Kurita nearly lost interest in the sport.

"I actually lost first round, so it was kind of a letdown," Kurita said. "It kind of (stunk) just because I trained so hard and my coaches put so much time and energy into helping me train and I felt really prepared and ready, but I guess I don't know what happened.

"I ended up losing 3-2 to Czech Republic. I had a hard pool so I guess you can't really help what the judges think. It was kind of hurtful at first, and it took a while to want to get back into training."

Fortunately for Kurita, she has been surrounded by some of the best in the business since she started karate at 6, and the future is still bright for the karateka from Honolulu, on the island of Oahu.

She trains at the distinguished International Karate Federation in Hawaii, where she has regularly worked with world champions, including her sensei, George Kotaka, and her idol, Elisa Au.

It was Kotaka and Au who inspired Kurita following her disappointing exit from the 2008 world championships and motivated her to stick with the sport.

Kotaka, in his final world championships, won the men's +65 kilogram division; Au finished second in the women's +60 kilogram division.

"That helped me bring my spirits up," Kurita said. "It wasn't the best experience for me, but in a way it was good and bad just to test my passion for karate. It made me realize how much I really love karate.

"I competed before them, so I was really down. And then the next day George ended up winning and Elisa ... finished second. For the past three years, George lost at the world championships, and he finally won again in Tokyo, so it kind of gave me hope that I can come back in 2010 and gave me hope that I can win the world championship, or place at least."

Kurita, now 20, wants to do more than just win one world championship, however. Her goal is to win a world championship in both kata and kumite. Kata is a discipline of the sport in which a solo competitor performs a well-choreographed series of moves. Kumite is a head-to-head sparring competition. 

Many consider it impossible to achieve such success in both styles, but the cheery Kurita says, "Why not?"

"I enjoy doing both so much," Kurita said. "And I mean just growing up we were made to do both, and I think it's kind of a waste just to stop training one when you can just do both."

Working to her advantage is that Kurita trains at IKF. Sensei Chuzo Kotaka, George's father, encourages all of IKF's karatekas to train in kata, kumite and kobudo, the latter of which involves weapons. It also doesn't hurt that IKF has produced more world champions than any other school in the United States and, according to some reports, the world.

"It's good because George Kotaka, he is a two-time world champion, so I know I'm getting the best training," Kurita said. "So I think mentally that helps me when I am competing because I know that I have the best training and I can do my best and perform my best. ... Also George's father, he is very old school, very traditional, but I think that really helps us too. Overall, it's just knowing that I'm training with the best."

Training different forms of the sport provides the perfect mix for Kurita.

"For me if I just train kata I get bored and I have to spar," she said. "It helps balance out my passion for both. It could just be me, but I just love doing both, so why not?"

And who says it has to be at the WKF World Championships?

In October, the International Olympic Committee will vote to add two sports to the program for the 2016 Olympics. Karate is one of seven sports vying for inclusion, and if it is selected, Kurita would be entering the prime of her career just in time.

"(It would be) like a dream come true," she said. "Just watching the Beijing Olympics last year and watching Michael Phelps, he's my favorite athlete, and the gymnastics girls, they are so young and compete at such a high level, and just being able to represent the USA in the Olympics would be like a dream come true."

Kurita, who was born in Guam and lived in Indonesia before moving to Hawaii, aspires to continue competing for at least another 10 years. When she's done, the karateka hopes to continue to teach karate while also pursing a career in massage.

"My dream is to have my own karate class or school and also have massage and karate to help out my students," Kurita said. "Massage is really good to know, especially for athletes because you work so hard and recovery is very important. So, hopefully, I will have a massage place and also a karate school."

If things go as planned, Kurita will begin massage classes in October.

"Ever since I was younger I enjoyed massaging people," she said. "And if I can help somebody, if I can massage them and make them feel better, that makes me happy."

And these days, the sport of karate makes her happy, too.

Story courtesy Red Line Editorial, Inc. Chrös McDougall is a freelance contributor for teamusa.org. This story was not subject to the approval of the United States Olympic Committee or any National Governing Bodies.