2006 Victoria’s Best Karate Tournament

Most people are unaware of the latest union of two great champions. Dawn Kabela and Luis Jamenez were married earlier in 2006. This marriage united a powerful Mexican dynasty with one of the biggest karate schools in central south Texas. Last year it was just Dawn Kabela’s Victoria’s Best karate tournament but this year Luis Jamenez could be seen running around handling all the details while his new bride sat and did as much as possible. Dawn Kabela Jamenez recently gave birth to a beautiful daughter. Just weeks earlier she was in the hospital having a baby. The stress of having a child showed up in the form of fatigue on both Luis and Dawns faces.

Luckily there was good support by many in the NBL cowboy conference. Cindy Gallio, promoter of the Battle On The Beach in Corpus Christy was on hand with most of Team GOP to helped run and make this tournament successful. Other National Teams on hand were Team K2, Team Focus, Team VKA, Larry Fields AMA national team from Abilene Texas and some of the top players from Mexico’s Team Tekno.

The event was held on Saturday August 12th at the spacious Victoria Community Center. This event was NBL and SKIL rated. Many Cowboy conference regulars were in attendance along with renowned officials such as Darrell Stewart and Gary Lee. Weapons forms ran during the first part of the event. Some of the best Juniors and adults in the Pan-Am National conference and the Texas AOK vied for a chance to win a first place and be seen on www.texas-sport-karete.com . This new web site covers tournaments and provides news and video coverage for the Texas, Louisiana, Southwest US and Latin countries such as Guatemala and Mexico.

Junior black belt champion’s Marco Villanueva, Clarissa Villanueva, Sage Northcutt, Colbey Northcutt and Jacob Holguin cleaned up with multiple championships in weapons, forms and sparring. Other Junior black belt champions were Renato Deleon, Jonathan Garcia, Joseph Pruiett, Garrett Lee, Brittan Kabella and Corwin Kershaw. Junior black belt fighters included James Davidson, Charlie Davidson, Zack Blundell, Ryan George, Beau Burns, Miguel Soto and some already mentioned competitors.

Adult multiple division champions were Chad Cannon, Johnnie Murphy, Dorathy Ramon and Luis Jamenez. Tough competition was the rule in adult black belt sparring as eminent fighters energized the event with their intensity and skill. With most of the world class Team GOP and Team FOCUS battling it out in a symphony of dynamic fights. Ronald George, Sean Roberts, Derrick Wilson, Roberto Torres, Jason Holmes, Norman Roberts, Ruben Gonzelaz, Michael Deleon, Regina Thompson and David Wiemken were just some of the featured fighters who can be seen on www.texas-sport-karate.com .

In the grand championships for junior contemporary forms, Jacob Holguin, Marco Villanueva and Clarissa Villanueva were winners. Garrett Lee took home the junior traditional forms grand championship with his patented version of the Japanese form sienchin. Chad Cannon took home the adult contemporary forms grand championship and Johnnie Murphy won the traditional forms grand championship.

The adult men’s black belt sparring grand championship came down to Luis Jamenez and Chris Gallio. The fight went back and forth with it mainly being a draw until the very last seconds when Chris Gallio pulled ahead launching a back fist blitz that opened Luis up for a the deciding point and a win for Chris Gallio. Regina Thompson was the women’s black belt sparring grand champion. Ronald George fought his way to the top spot in the men’s executive black belt grand championship.