Just one hour southwest of Houston Texas is Angleton. A prosperous city nestled close to the Gulf of Mexico and a Mecca for the beach loving party types. The weather is typically mild and sunny and a prime destination for those going to the nearby Gulf resorts at Freeport Texas. One of the things about the Gulf of Mexico is its shear beauty. This is a great place for a karate tournament. A relaxed atmosphere is what gives this place its appeal, it must be the effect of the nearby ocean.
For several years Willie Galvan, a twenty time NBL world champion, has hosted the Ultimate Pro-Am karate tournament in Angleton Texas. This August 8th event was Texas AOK and SKIL AA rated. As a result it’s attendance has grown to the latest record number of competitors. Martial artist came from as far away as California and Las Vegas with world champion Donald Vickers, Jason Holmes and other sport karate champions competing, being spectators and officiating.
Texas AOK tournament rules require specific divisions be ran as part of there state circuit and the officials enforce this charter without exception. Luckily for me some new divisions in effect this year are of particular interest. Recently expanded junior black belt forms and sparring divisions give better opportunity for competition and eliminate those massive divisions that seem to take forever and drag a tournament down. Junior under black belt divisions were full and luckily great judges were on hand to expedite these big divisions.
Adult and junior black belt forms divisions were up. First on the card was 35 plus specialty were Johnnie Murphy was victorious with a dynamic open sword form. David Johnson ran his powerful musical staff form to win adult specialty. A showdown in black belt weapons between Andrew Carrasco, Johnnie Murphy, David Johnson and several others, ended up with Andrew Carrasco on top, Andrew also won the adult forms division .
Manuel Serrano won black belt soft forms and Courtney Allen took home the self defense championship. Johnnie Murphy was first in senior executive forms. Terese Pandolph won women’s black belt forms. Allen Oshea was the executive forms champion and running a strong Gaybeck, Margaret Beasly easily won the women’s executive forms division.
In junior black belt forms new stars rose to make their mark. The 14-15 forms champion was Kyle McLean who by the way took home 13 -17 years old black belt specialty. Sage Northcutt had his hands full in 12 and under black belt specialty, eking out a victory by the narrowest margin over top AOK champions Evelyn Mattes and Billy Proper.
Sage Northcutt was the decisive champion in 12 and under black belt forms. The team of Evelyn Mattes and Brian O’Grady ran their elegant and precise routine for a victory in team forms. David Johnson’s son, Zachary Johnson showed that karate runs in the family winning advanced 8-9 year old sparring.
Junior 16-17 years old forms championship had Erick Cantu pulling out the stops in his victory over Pablo Nunez and Gabriel Vargas. One of the most diverse junior black belt forms divisions was in 12 to 13 forms. Colbey Northcutt, Sister of Sage Northcutt and cover girl for one of the latest issues of Sport Karate International Magazine, ran a powerful traditional Japanese form called Gojushiho to defeat Brian O’Grady, Tyler Tuck, Valencia Price and Evelyn Mattes.
In adult black belt sparring Joe Gillam and Barry Benton were the last men standing in senior executive sparring. The fight was a close call but in the end Barry Benton pulled up first. Andrew Carrasco won men’s middle weight sparring and Jason Holmes pulled past Jamal Hassan for his victory in the men’s light weight division. Manual Serrano took home executive point sparring title. In the 35 plus point sparring division Norman Roberts ended up with a hard fight in the final match against Daniel Perez. Antonio Anderson was the men’s heavy weight sparring champion.
The point sparring grand championship was a series of fights to determine who was the man. The first fight was Jason Holmes against Antonio Anderson where Jason utilized his patented fast blitzes and great counter fighting tactics against the bigger Antonio Anderson. Jason ran down the clock in a classic hit and run tactical fight. Then Norman Roberts fought Andrew Carrasco to a draw by utilizing smart tactics and eliminating Andrew’s advantage in speed and dynamics with superior defensive actions. Norman cut off the ring and closed the distance with Andrew, extending his advantage. In the end Andrews sheer tenacity was not to be denied as he finally found a crack in Normans defensive posture to won the fight.
Last up was Jason Holmes and Andrew Carrasco for the money. Both fighters are prime examples of conditioned athletes. As the fight progressed Andrew appeared to have the upper hand with a slight lead. Then Jason launched his blitz combinations combined with this weird counter fight back kick. Andrew fell for it going after Jason with his usual aggressive forward power strikes and thrusting kick combinations. Jason apparently was ready for this and promptly evaded Andrews moves then launched over the top on the down side of Andrews kicks. Before Andrew caught on time ran out giving Jason Holmes the 2006 Ultimate Pro-Am men’s point sparring grand championship and taking home one hundred dollars.
The forms grand championship was a contest between Johnnie Murphy and David Johnson. Both ran staff forms with David being the judges choice and winning the Pro-Am forms grand championship sword. This wrapped up this years Ultimate Pro-Am and another successful tournament for Willie Galvan.
