{"id":37544,"date":"2026-01-29T15:55:46","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T20:55:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=37544"},"modified":"2026-01-29T15:56:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T20:56:12","slug":"shaolin-kickboxer-ron-piklas-preparing-for-world-junior-wushu-sanda-championships-in-tianjin-china","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/shaolin-kickboxer-ron-piklas-preparing-for-world-junior-wushu-sanda-championships-in-tianjin-china\/","title":{"rendered":"Shaolin kickboxer Ron Piklas preparing for World Junior Wushu Sanda Championships in Tianjin, China"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Ron Piklas had many reasons to celebrate on Saturday afternoon when we met at Shaolin Martial Arts with his coaching staff<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Dr. G.W. Williams Secondary School pre-IB student was not only celebrating his 16th trip around the sun, but he was looking forward to representing Canada and competing in Wushu Sanda at the 10th World Junior Wushu Championships in March in Tianjin, China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Piklas\u2019s instructor, Sport Aurora\u2019s 2025 Coach of the Year Rocco Colarossi, believes that Shaolin\u2019s most decorated student-athlete has the right stuff to succeed on the big stage in Tianjin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe\u2019s got a good head on his shoulders. Ron thinks under pressure really well. His ability to pivot under pressure is his best attribute as an athlete.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coach Colarossi also noted that Piklas will have ample opportunities to compete in this hemisphere as well in 2026 after he returns to Canada after the World Championships in March.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re looking at the Pan-Am Games in Argentina in October and the Bermuda Open in November.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When asked about his goals at the World Championships and all competitions this year, Piklas was succinct and confident in his response:  \u201cWin.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s evident that Piklas has made it his habit to win, based on his considerable accomplishments over the last three years. At the 2025 Ontario Championships held in Aurora at SARC\u2019s Desjardins Gym, Piklas captured the Gold Medal in Sanda\u2014a fusion of Kung Fu from China and North American kickboxing. Prior to his triumph on home turf, Piklas had become a multi-time Canadian Champion and Pan-Am Gold Medalist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shaolin\u2019s Grand Master and 9th degree Black Belt Tim Wakefield reflected on Piklas\u2019s modest beginnings at the Martial Arts Centre on Mary Street: \u201cHe started as an eight-year-old in the after-school program and this is what has happened.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shifu Tim emphasized that Piklas\u2019s impressive development as a kickboxer has coincided with the student-athlete\u2019s connection to the three pillars of Shaolin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s about the unity of Zen Philosophy and the Martial Arts\u2014the alignment of mind and body.  It\u2019s also about Martial Virtue of Wude where martial skills must be used for protection, not aggression; compassion and non-violence are emphasized.  Lastly, it\u2019s about self-perfection through rigorous practice.  Continuous, hard training leads to perseverance.\u201d   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Piklas\u2019s perseverance and kickboxing talents emerged as the most decorated Shaolin athlete at the 2023 Ontario Winter Games in Renfrew when he won two U12 gold medals in Sanda. In the same year, Piklas also won the Gold Medal in Traditional Form\u2014Hand and Weapon at the Pan-Am Centre in Markham.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Tiajin, which is located in the southwest corner of Beijing, Wakefield explained that Piklas will be competing in the \u201c15-17 Age Group in the 60 KG-and-under category. He\u2019ll be at the top of the category in weight. We try to keep him at the top of the weight class. The event is regulated by the IWF which is recognized by the IOC.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In light of this string of successes and his upcoming date with destiny in China, the articulate kickboxer noted that, \u201cThe training\u2019s getting real. We\u2019re training every day and it\u2019s more of a tailored program. While everybody in our class is doing their activities, I\u2019m doing my own thing including three rounds of five-minute skipping, three rounds of weighted shadow boxing with 2-3 pound weights, and I get a one-minute break between rounds. Then I join the rest of the class to do pad work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coach Colarossi added, \u201cWe do some extra skills work. We make sure he\u2019s good and sweaty at the end of the workout.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s evident that perspiration and inspiration are in a fine balance for Piklas, and his dedication to the workout of body and mind has led him to the pinnacle of international competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis will be my first out-of-country competition. For it to be an international championship is amazing. It feels unreal. It\u2019s been great to see the progress I\u2019ve made. Looking back, many don\u2019t stay in. Now that I\u2019m preparing for international competition, it\u2019s been satisfying to make the jumps in levels every year.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Piklas credited his jumps in levels to the coaching he has received from Wakefield and Colarossi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s top tier. They get into depth in everything. They provide examples and, during our drills on the bag, we go over the possibilities during competition. They ask me \u2018What if he does this?\u2019 and they show me how to avoid being trapped. We go over the pros and cons of techniques and mitigate the risks of getting into the pocket–they teach me about staying out of the Danger Zone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Piklas and Colarossi have GoFundMe pages to help defray the considerable costs of competing in the World Junior Wushu Championships in China. The top international event takes place over nine days.  If you\u2019d like to help this dynamic local student-athlete and his award-winning coach with their substantial international travel expenses, go to these links:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ron Piklas: gofund.me\/e808fc6c9<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coach Rocco Colarossi: gofund.me\/bdaca04d5<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Jim Stewart<\/strong><\/p>\n\r\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ron Piklas had many reasons to celebrate on Saturday afternoon when we met at Shaolin Martial Arts with his coaching staff The Dr. G.W. Williams Secondary School pre-IB student was not only celebrating his 16th trip around the sun, but he was looking forward to representing Canada and competing in Wushu Sanda at the 10th […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":37545,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[24,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37544","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-sports","category-sports"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/2026-01-29-04.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-9Ly","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-30 04:02:15","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37544","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37544"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37544\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37546,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37544\/revisions\/37546"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37545"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37544"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37544"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37544"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}