Finally another big NASKA tournament has come to Texas. After a void of twelve years top world class competition from the North American Sport Karate Association has returned. The last NASKA event was held in 1995 by Al Garza in the massive Houston Astro Hall Exhibition Center next to the Astro Dome. It was called The Texas Challenge and was one of the biggest tournaments ever. Greg Beavers, the promoter of the Lone Star Open, has been trying to bring top NASKA world rated competition back to Texas for several years and finally this year he has been successful.
This August 28th and 29th tournament was held in the beautiful Austin Texas Grand Renaissance Hotel. A nine story atrium with a massive ballroom in the lower level. I think its important to reveal the beauty of such a venue because it points out the prestige of attending these events. All NASKA and most national sport karate events are in places like this to promote a higher level of the martial arts. Plus Austin Texas is a plus because there is so much to do. Austin is a city of mostly younger people with an average age of about twenty five years old. This is due to the large high tech industries and massive colleges in the city and surrounding area.
The first thing I noticed when I entered the Tournament on Friday night was the efficiency at which things were progressing. Many of the black belt divisions were packed with competitors from all over the United States and some from other countries. Extreme weapons, forms and some sparring divisions were in progress and many of the countries best sport karate champions were up. Normally describing a martial arts competition is more mundane but a big event like this is heaven for those seeking martial arts adventure. Larry Carnahan promoter of the Diamond Nationals and many of the nations top NASKA promoters were working this event.
The tournament started on time Saturday morning with many senior divisions running first. Senior grand champions were Andrew Cabilan who stole the show running away with both the senior weapons and senior forms grand championships.A whole throng of junior black belts were dueling it out for the top spots in the black belt divisions and a chance for a stage appearance later that night. Regina Thompson and Victoria Marcotto ended up on top of the women’s point sparring and a trip to the night time finals. Men’s sparring and forms produced some dual division champions with Ross Levine and Kevin Thompson winning their fight and forms divisions and both ending up in the night time finals. Despite large men’s and women’s black belt point sparring and forms divisions the whole Saturday runoffs ended by 4PM.
Later that night at 7:30 PM the finals started as promised. The night time show started with several demo team performances that included World Champion Larry Fields breaking routine. First up was 13 and under black belt weapons grand with Dayna Hour besting opponents Jacob Pinto, Jackson Rudolph and Sammy Smith, all winners of there divisions. Stephanie Figueroa was top champion in tht 14 to 17 years old weapons division and in the 18 over adult black belt weapons Jarrett Leiker, Bob Leiker’s son and a great weapons champion spanning two decades, had his hands full as Ross Levine, Marc Canonizado and Caitlin Dechelle went against him for the prize money. Caitlin Dechelle’s katana kata and Jarrett’s staff form were outstanding but it come down to Ross Levine and Marc Canonizadi with Marc Pulling ahead for the win.
It seams to me that each year these competitors get better with new boundaries emerging all the time. The open hand forms divisions are a classic example of this as the skill levels are constantly being raised. I remember when the misty kick first hit the scene and past great champions like Jimmy Pham, Adrian Ulanoff, Steve Terada and several others took the sport to new heights introducing Olympic level gymnastics movements into the whole thing. The tricksters evolved from this evolution in sport karate’s open hand competition and these kids are constantly breaking new ground.
The open hand forms were up next with Dayna Huor winning the 13 and under grand against Tyler weaver and Donavan Sheeham. Mican Karns was top champion in the 14 to 17 years old open hand forms division pulling out a narrow victory against competitors Sarah Calande, Lyle Montagna and Sammi Suddeth. Women’s Forms Champion was Caitlin Dechelle. Other women’s black belt grand competitors were Giselle, Becca Ross and Jennifer Espina. The men’s forms were up next as Marc Canonizadi, Scott Wu and William Hildieger all ran strikingly different types of forms. Scott Wu caught everybody’s eye with his powerful traditional form as William and Marc also ran contrasting styles but it was to be Marc Canonizado with his high flying open creative form taking home even more money as a dual forms grand winner.
Team sparring pitted some impressive groups of fighters against each other. In the junior black belt team sparring, Girls Team Red Tiger out of Dallas beat Team Fire Breathing Dragon out of Austin and Team Gypsy won the boys team sparring. Women’s Team Gypsy/GOP with Regina Thompson was the natural winner as Regina racked up the points in the fight against her opponent on Team Hill Country Karate, enabling Team Gypsy/GOP to have a comfortable lead for the win. The men’s team competition was a war as great fighters like Chance Turner of Team Gypsy want head to head against Ross Levine and Team Full Circle in the end it was to be Team Full Circle with overwhelming points for the win.
The senior point sparring grand pitted Kevin Thompson against Joe Gillum of Texas. This was a very close fight with a tit for tat back and forth lead. Joe was ahead when a couple of costly moves put Kevin Thompson in the lead for the win. Regina Thompson who usually way outclasses her opponents had her hands full as Victoria Marcotto actually got ahead of Regina. Then Regina poured on the gas and was on top as both great fighters pulled everything out of there arsenals. When time ran down Regina was ahead and took home big money for her effort. The final match of the finals was a showdown between Alex Lane from Orlando Florida against Ross Levine of Brooklyn New York. Alex was doing everything to overcome Ross’s momentum and the lead went back and forth. But end the end Ross was able to pull ahead for the win and take home the one thousand dollar grand championship money. This concluded what was a great weekend of martial arts.
