The Universal Martial Arts Hall of Fame tournament was Saturday, July 8, 2006, held at the North Sheraton Hotel in Houston, Texas. The event was sponsored by the UMAHoF board of directors and ran even more smoothly than it did last year. Competitors came from as far away as Ireland. Closer to home, some came from Florida. Some like myself were local.
However, the usual gang of karate followers were not there. They were in El Paso, Texas attending the Battle of the Champions.
This tournament definitely had its share of exciting events. World Champions David Johnson and Eric Cantu of K2 Karate were there along with a host of other champion competitors. The competition between Eric Cantu and Justin Searcy was truly the event to watch. In most of their events, they competed head to head against each other. Last time I checked, the event totals were just about even.
Then it was time to leave my karate friends and go home, but not before I thanked Grand Master Daryl K. Stewart and Professor Guerra and expressed my appreciation to Grand Master Ovid Rodriguez and Master Adam Guerra for hosting such a wonderful tournament and made sure to tell them what a great event it was again this year.
