Tsukii Junna has had an impressive karate career spanning almost two decades, including a bronze medal at the 2018 Asian Games, as well as gold medals at the 2022 World Championships and the 2019 Southeast Asian Games.
Goodbye karate, hello mixed martial arts.
Filipino-Japanese world champion Tsukii Junna is retiring from karate to embark on a new career in mixed martial arts (MMA), she announced in a social media post on Thursday, June 13.
Tsukii expressed his gratitude to all those who supported him during his remarkable 26-year career in karate, which included becoming the first Filipino gold medalist at the World Games and winning the Southeast Asian Games in 2019.
“Thank you for your continued warm support. I have decided to retire from my career as an active karate fighter after 26 years and switch to mixed martial arts,” said the 32-year-old.
“Although the setting will change, we will continue to do our best to excite everyone, so we hope you will continue to support us.”
A Filipino-Japanese athlete ended up with the silver medal in the women's 50 kg kumite gold medal match at the 32nd Southeast Asian Games held in Cambodia after a controversial match against Malaysia's C. Shahmalani.
After a hard-fought battle that ended in a 3–3 draw, three of the five judges voted for Sharmalarani, who won the gold medal and Tsukiyi ended up with the silver medal.
[ALSO READ: Junna Tsukii doesn’t hide disappointment over ‘unacceptable’ judges in SEA Games karate]
At the 19th Asian Games, she lost 2-3 to Cambodia's Srey Peer Chong in the women's 51 kg kumite competition and was eliminated in the round of 16.
The 32-year-old karateka reflected on his career and said he welcomed the opportunity to “start a new challenge.”
“I want to use what I learned so hard while traveling the world in my future life. I want to have more fun with everyone.”
“Above all, I think it's wrong to give up on challenges in life just because of age or what society thinks of you. Of course, there are many conflicts, but I believe there is a story that only I can write, so I will continue to forge ahead.”
Tsukii is scheduled to make her mixed martial arts debut on August 31st against fellow newcomer Ruka Sakamoto.
