Hall of Fame

Monsieur Guy Chartrand - Volunteer

Congratulations Guy Chartrand!

Guy Chartrand is the model of commitment and volunteer work.

He has been practicing karate since 1986, is a 4^th dan, Jun-Shidoin, and NCCP 1 certified.

He is the instructor in charge of Wednesday and Friday morning adult classes.

Guy is committed to our athletes’ development and success. He was the president of the Competition Club for many years where his main responsibilities included managing the Club, supervising most of the fundraising activities and approaching local sponsors to support our various activities.

He is a director at Team Cama.

He also served as referee and volunteer at the provincial Karaté Québec association.

He is personally involved in all Karaté Cama activities.

Guy has made a great contribution to instilling a "sense of family” at Karaté Cama.

Sensei Marcel Guitard - Instructor

Congratulations Marcel Guitard!

Sensei Marcel started training in 1985. He is 4^th dan, Jun-Shidoin, and NCCP 1 certified.

He has been teaching karate five days a week for the past few years.

He is known for his instruction, which is based on discipline, respect and intensity.

He teaches the intermediate and regular classes in Angers and Buckingham and is in charge of the Papineauville dojo where three karatekas have earned black belt grades under him.

Marcel is a national level A kata and kumite referee and regularly takes part in Team Québec selections for the Canadian Championships.

The dojo has relied on Sensei Marcel throughout its expansion.

Sensei Chad Durocher - Instructor

Congratulations Chad Durocher!

Sensei Chad has been training since 1990. He is a black belt 3^rd dan, Jun-Shidoin, and NCCP 1 certified.

He has served as a level B provincial referee.

He has also been an instructor for the Buckingham group for several years and was in charge of junior orange belt groups and beginner level adults.

Chad is well known for his technical skills. His classes focus on essential information for the karateka’s development.

For many years, Chad has been actively involved in seminars, clinics, internships and summer training camps organized by the Chito-Ryu Association, which have enabled him to stay abreast of developments in the field of Chito-Ryu karate.

Sensei Sylvain Chartrand - Instructor

Congratulations Sylvain Chartrand!

Sensei Sylvain is a father and has been practicing karate since 1990. He is 3^rd dan, Jun-Shidoin, and NCCP level 1 certified.

He participated in the Canadian Championships held in Saint-Hyacinthe in 1998 and won the bronze medal in individual kumite in the men’s -65 kg category.

He is known for his cheerful disposition and plays the clown among the group of instructors.

He is also known for his fun-filled but disciplined classes. He is committed to the youth’s development and has taught beginner level karate in Angers for a number of years. He currently teaches the children’s blue and brown belt levels.

Sylvain is also a volunteer coach with Team Cama for the beginner and relay level athletes.

Nicole Poirier - Athlete

Congratulations Nicole Poirier!

Nicole Poirier was Karaté Cama’s first female premier champion.

Nicole has had a lot of success in open tournaments and became an elite Canadian karate athlete when she competed in the traditional circuit.

She has been a Canadian champion several times and the National Karate Association has named her Female Athlete of the Year twice.

She has been honoured with the National Athlete of the Year award twice at the Gala Loisirs Outaouais.

She won the bronze medal at the North American Cup held in Vancouver, a silver medal at the ITKF World Championships in Montreal, a gold and silver medal at the Pan-American Championships in Miami and a gold medal at the Pan-American Games in Argentina in 1995. She finished 5^th in the -60 kg category at the World Cup in Algeria and 5^th in team kumite at the World Championships held in Spain.   

During this period, she was the most performing female athlete in Canada.

She is the only Canadian female athlete to have won a gold medal in karate at the Pan-American games. She  is currently member of the BC coaching staff.

Monsieur Roch Laflamme - Athlete

Congratulations Roch Laflamme!

During his competitive career, Roch was well-liked by everyone and was very successful:

• In 10 appearances at the Canadian Championships, Roch won 24 medals, including 12 gold, 8 silver and 4 bronze;
• At the Pan-American Championships, Roch won 3 medals, including 1 silver and 2 bronze;
• At the World Championships of Francophone Cities in Luxemburg, he took home the silver medal in team kumite alongside teammates Stéphane Dubuc and Billyron Mallon;
• At the World Chito-Ryu Championships (the Soke Cup) in 1998, he won the gold medal in dojo team kumite alongside teammates Stéphane Dubuc, Marc Gauthier, Germain Bisson, Jean Quevillon and Steeven Cryans and the silver medal in national team kumite;
• At the World Championships in South Africa in 1996, he finished 5^th in kumite (-75kg);
• At the World Championships in Brazil in 1998, he finished 5^th in open weight.

Roch has received 4 awards during the National Karate Association’s Annual Awards Banquets:

• 1996/1997:         Senior Male Athlete of the Year (Best Performance of the Year)
• 1998:                    Senior Male Athlete of the Year
• 2000:                    Senior Male Athlete of the Year
• 2005:                    Senior Male Athlete of the Year

Thanks to his leadership, Roch was team captain of the Québec and Canada teams on several occasions.

Roch is currently a volunteer coach with Team Cama. He is currently associate coach with Team Québec.

Madame Btissama Essadiqi - Athlete

Congratulations Btissama Essadiqi!

During her competitive career, Btissama was a leading athlete on the national and international circuits where she won many medals, including:

• In 11 participations at the Canadian Championships, she won 34 medals, including 21 gold, 7 silver and 6 bronze;
• At the Pan-American Championships, she won 10 medals, including 2 gold, 4 silver and 4 bronze;
• Btissama represented Canada at the Pan-American Games in Winnipeg in 1999 where she won the bronze medal. In 2003, she represented Canada in the Dominican Republic and won the silver medal;
• In 3 participations at the Paris Open, she won 1 gold and 2 bronze medals. She won a silver medal at the Holland Open and at the Commonwealth Championships;
• At the World Championships in Germany in 2000, Btissama finished 5^th in team kumite;
• At the World Championships in Spain in 2002, she finished 5^th in individual kumite (-53kg).

Btissama was presented with 9 awards at the National Karate Association’s Annual Awards Banquets:

• 1996:                    Aktugawa Cup (sport-study trophy)
• 1998/1999:            Senior Female Athlete of the Year (Best Performance of the Year)
• 1998:                    Senior Female Athlete of the Year
• 1999/2000:            Senior Female Athlete of the Year (Best Performance of the Year)
• 1999:                    Best Sportsmanship
• 2000:                    Senior Female Athlete of the Year
• 2001:                    Senior Female Athlete of the Year
• 2001:                    Aktugawa Cup (sport-study trophy)
• 2002:                    Senior Female Athlete of the Year

Thanks to her leadership, Btissama was team captain for the Québec and Canad teams on a number of occasions.

She is a humble athlete and a shining model to all members of Karaté Cama.

On the academic front, Btissama has a degree in biochemistry from the University of Ottawa and a degree in medicine with a specialty in cardiology from the Université de Sherbrooke. She is currently a practicing cardiologist.

She serves as a volunteer coach with Team Cama. She is currently associate coach with Team Québec.

Jean Quevillon - Karateka

Congratulations Jean Quevillon!

Jean has been practicing karate since 1983 and was karateka par excellence during Karaté Cama’s first 15 years.

He is a black belt 4^th dan and level A provincial referee.

He was an instructor for 10 years after Karaté Cama’s establishment.

Jean is the epitome of discipline, respect, enthusiasm and training.

He was involved in Karaté Cama’s development right from the school’s inception and has been actively involved in the school’s growth.

Jean’s interest in karate has grown steadily and Chito-Ryu karate-do is now an integral part of his life.

His involvement and leadership role at Karaté Cama have made him a role model in traditional martial arts.

Jean is representative of the philosophy taught at Karaté Cama. He is a university graduate, takes part in provincial tournaments, is a former instructor and has been involved in the Competition Club and the Traditional Chito-Ryu Association of Québec.

Stéphane Dubuc - Athlete

Congratulations Stéphane Dubuc!

Stéphane started practicing karate in 1985 and was in the first Karaté Cama group. He went on to earn a black belt shodan. His outstanding performances include:

• On the circuit of the Fédération Québécoise de Karaté, he was a member of the Team Québec in 1992, 1993 and 1994. He took part in the Canadian Championships held in Charlottetown, Ottawa and Calgary. He won 5 medals in the three championships, including 4 gold and 1 bronze;
• He continued with the winning streak in the Karaté Québec circuit and was selected in Team Québec. He took part in the Canadian Championships held in Toronto 1996, Halifax in 1997 and Saint-Hyacinthe in 1998 and took home a total of 6 medals, including 2 gold, 1 silver and 3 bronze.

He also competed in the following international tournaments over the same period:

• In 1998, he was part of a large Karaté Cama delegation to the Soke Cup in Toronto. He won a silver medal in team kumite with the national team and a gold medal in the dojo team kumite with teammates Roch Laflamme, Marc Gauthier, Steeven Cryans, Jean Quevillon and Germain Bisson;
• He competed in the World Championships of Francophone Cities in Luxembourg and took home the gold medal;
• He won a bronze medal in kumite at the Pan-American Junior Championships held in Puerto Rico;
• He took home 2 bronze medals in the North American Cup held in Arizona;
• He was honoured by his municipality as the Male Athlete of the Year at the Gala Sportif et Culturel de Masson-Angers.

He was always committed to training and always devoted himself whole-heartedly.

He had a special style in competitions that always appealed to spectators.

Stéphane was fearless despite his 65 kg. His great talent was recognized when he was selected to represent Canada in team kumite at the 1998 World Championships.

He is jovial, always in a good mood and is well liked by all.

His intense dedication, determination during kumite and his great sense of humour contributed to the pleasure of training him.

Monsieur Jacques Robitaille - Karateka

Congratulations Jacques Robitaille!

Jacques started practicing karate at the age of 39 in September 1989.

He joined the karate world when he started accompanying his son Hugo to karate practice. Under the influence of Guy Chartrand, he decided to join the adult group and has continued practicing karate ever since.

He passed his shodan exam in 1997, his nidan in 1999, the jun-shidan instructor grade in April 2004, the sandan grade in December 2004 and the yondan grade in November 2009.

He is quite tough during training and always gives his best; he had a leg injury during a seminar with Sensei Noël Blais and took a blow to the face during his nidan exam.

Jacques is quite mild and understanding with his training partners and is always willing to lend a helping hand.

He also has a great sense of humour and he and his friend Guy always spice up classes with humour.

His smile and good humour are known to all the people around him.

Jacques is loyal and hard-working and takes part in all events. He is always ready to give a helping hand in organizing our various activities.

He is keenly committed to Karaté Cama and is a good representative of the dojo.

Jacques is currently instructor at the main dojo with the Wednesday and Friday morning classes.