Sakura Kokumai: Primed To Be An Olympic Champion — The Bledsoe Show #117

Sakura Kokumai is training to become a karate World Champion and to represent USA in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Sakura started karate in Honolulu, Hawaii when she was 8 years old. She started competing internationally at 14, and represented the Jr. USA Karate Team for four years, winning the Jr. Pan American Championships 4 years in a row. Sakura is currently ranked number 5 in the world! Most recently she won Bronze at the World Championships held in Paris, France, Bronze at the Combat Games in St. Petersburg, Russia, and Gold at the Pan American Olympic festival. In this episode, we talk about Sakura's mindset, specifically the night before a tournament and walking into a tournament, the differences in feelings between winning as a 14 years old and having to win now, different Karate styles and all the meanings behind the kicks and movements and the story behind each one, her rituals to create a presence in martial arts, and much more. Enjoy! -Mike --------------------------------------------------- Show notes: https://shruggedcollective.com/tbs-kokumai --------------------------------------------------- Please support our partners! @bioptimizers: www.BiOptimizers.com/bledsoe "bledsoe" to save 20% @organifi - www.organifi.com/shrugged to save 20% @cateredfit - cateredfit.com "BLEDSOE25" to save 25% ► Travel thru Europe with us on the Shrugged Voyage, more info here: https://www.theshruggedvoyage.com/ ► What is the Shrugged Collective? Click below for more info: https://youtu.be/iUELlwmn57o ► Subscribe to Shrugged Collective's Channel Here http://bit.ly/BarbellShruggedSubscribe 📲 🎧 Listen to the audio version on the Apple Podcast App or Stitcher for Android Here- http://bit.ly/BarbellShruggedApple http://bit.ly/BarbellShruggedStitcher Shrugged Collective is a network of fitness, health and performance shows that help people achieve their physical and mental health goals. Usually in the gym, but outside as well. In 2012 they posted their first Barbell Shrugged podcast and have been putting out weekly free videos and podcasts ever since. Along the way we've created successful online coaching programs including The Shrugged Strength Challenge, The Muscle Gain Challenge, FLIGHT, Barbell Shredded, and Barbell Bikini. We're also dedicated to helping affiliate gym owners grow their businesses and better serve their members by providing owners tools and resources like the Barbell Business Podcast. Find Shrugged Collective and their flagship show Barbell Shrugged here: SUBSCRIBE ON ITUNES ► http://bit.ly/ShruggedCollectiveiTunes WEBSITE ► https://www.ShruggedCollective.com INSTAGRAM ► https://instagram.com/shruggedcollective FACEBOOK ► https://facebook.com/barbellshruggedpodcast TWITTER ► http://twitter.com/barbellshrugged