As the plane touched down I found myself breathing a sigh of relief. I hate flying and these days it’s almost more hassle than its worth. You’ll notice I said almost. I suppose it’s were your going that makes any trip worth the effort and Acapulco is worth the effort. After 911 many aberrant requirements were heaped on us due to terrorist threats. My personal favorite is the shoe thing. However the latest castigation placed on us at the airport has only exacerbated the situation. At least you’re safe and the guy next to you is probably not a terrorist.
Acapulco has been continually inhabited for over two thousand years. Artifacts from its inhabitants can be found that date back over three millennia. The word Acapulco comes from the Nahuati Indian word meaning “plane of dense reeds.” The Nahuati Indians inhabited the place before the Aztec’s. Then later Cortes conquered the Aztec’s and Acapulco became the possession of the Spanish who ruled until Mexican independence.
A relative obscure place, Acapulco was a trading route from American colonies to the Orient. In 1920 under the direction of Miguel Aleman Valdes, Acapulco was built into a prime tourist destination for European’s and has remained an exotic vacation destination until today.
It has also attracted the best martial artist in the world for the last decade. Several promoters have had tournaments there over the years and all were successful.
This years 4th Mexican Open’s promoter was Luis Jimenez. No stranger to competition he is also one of the top competitors in sport karate today. His Marriage to Dawn Kabela united two championship teams into a powerful force in sport karate. This September 1st and 2nd event was NBL Pan-Am National and SKIL rated. Many USA competitors attended because of its relationship to the American Labor Day holiday and an opportunity for a great vacation in an exotic place.
Arriving at the Crown Plaza hotel I was instantly surrounded by Aztec ambience. The hotel was constructed to resemble an Aztec pyramid. A beautiful place, open in its design and radiating an exotic charm. The tournament was held in the main ballroom that overlooked that bay of Acapulco. The view was breathtaking and let light in to fill the place with sunlight. As people checked in I could tell this was going to be another big Latin event. The teams from other countries gave an Olympic atmosphere to the event. Many of the top competitors from the National Black Belt League were present.
The tournament got under way Friday at 5:00 PM. The first division was Adult Black belt Traditional weapons. Johnnie Murphy, a good friend of mine, won the division. As the night progressed it was apparent that the usual champions were on top of things. Corky Sikes won contemporary weapons. Edgar Cordova, dressed as the Grim Reaper, which led to the demise of all competition in adult choreographed weapons. Junior contemporary weapons champions Jacob Holguin, Jordan Simon and Britan Kabela were in top form winning out in large divisions. Some other champions of the night were Justin Lewis, Sage Northcutt, Mia Caldwell, Marco Villanueva, Jonathan Tale, Bear Loebe and Colbey Northcutt.
Continuous sparring divisions that would not on stage Saturday concluded Friday night with some horrific battles. The men’s continuous sparring matched top competitors and the result was awesome competition. These Latin fighters don’t hold back leading to exciting sparring competition. One of my favorite idiosyncrasies emanated from the sound machine for adult contemporary musical forms. Where periodic spurts of comical sounds tormented all competitors. Tinny cartoon sounding glitches highlighted this boom box from the devil. These are a few of my favorite things that give a tournament its flavor.
Luckily we were in Acapulco were weird things can go unnoticed and even be somewhat normal. Friday’s competition ended with just enough time to change clothes and head down to The Hard Rock Café where many of the competitors ended up before their stint at the local discos. www.texas-sport-karate.com, www.sportmartialarts.com and Sport Karate International Magazine were on hand doing videos, stories and taking pictures.
Jumping from bed late on Saturday morning, I was horrified at the thought of missing the action. I rushed through my usual morning rituals, dressed and ran out of breath downstairs only to find everyone else doing the same thing. Upon my arrival I found the tired looking staff that always seemed to keep a smile on there face, patiently waiting for competition to start.
Saturday morning was a mix of mostly traditional forms and some contemporary forms. Dann Baker, the oldest competing NBL world champion ran Kempo/Polynesian forms were he was easily twenty years older than the next youngest competitor. Julio Domingo pulled ahead of the crowd for the win in Kempo/Polynesian. Dann won 45 plus Traditional forms. Kieth Weston ran a perfect Siochen form in a large adult Japanese Okinawa division for his victory. Daniela Barrientos, Johnnie Murphy, Edgar Cordova, Osiris Mendez, Colbey Northcutt, Sage Northcutt, Gene Middleton, Sergio Calva and Balam Najera were some of the day’s winners who were on there way to the nighttime finals.
Point sparring ran last with junior black belt divisions at the forefront. Many USA fighters like James Davidson, Charlie Davidson, Ryan George, Colby Northcutt, Sage Northcutt, Zachary Blundell, Joshua Romero, and CJ Corbin found themselves champions and going to the nighttime finals. Senior fighter David Coppock was unstoppable as he fought his way through the adult super heavy weight and senior 35 plus super heavy weight divisions for his trip to the finals.
Team GOP had there hands full with the competition from Team Schumann, Team Techno and others in adult black belt sparring. In the end top competitors like Roberto Torres, Bryan Young and Gabriel Escalante won their trip to the nighttime finals. One of the best point sparring divisions was men’s light middle weight. A large division culminated with a tactical battle between Jason Holmes and Christian Flores. The fight went back and forth with Christian adapting to Jason’s blitz combinations and able to turn the fight around with a narrow victory for his trip to the stage.
Nighttime in Acapulco is certainly the place to be for a great time. The Crown Plaza Hotel was top on my list for entertainment and competition. Luis Jimenez and Dawn Jimenez were on hand to fire off a hot night of competition. Allen Torres directed this world class event with an eye for the competitor’s edge. Friendly, Accommodating and making every effort for this tournament to be successful, Allen is to be congratulated for his work. The finals started off with a demonstration of the championship team form from Edgar Cordova and Corky Sikes.
First up in the nighttime finals were junior contemporary forms. Marco Villanueva, Justin Lewis and Mia Caldwell competed for the junior contemporary forms grand with Justin ending up on top in a close competition. Then USA’s Bear Loebe and Guatemala’s Jonathan Tale had a showdown for the adult contemporary forms grand championship with bear Loebe being the judge’s choice for champion. A series of junior continuous sparring matches were up that culminated in a knockdown drag out fight between CJ Corbin and Alex Lopez. This contest was a war with both fighters off the stage several times and being warned for excessive contact. In the end CJ Corbin was the man.
Adult team point sparring was finalized at the Friday nights runoffs. Team GOP and Team Schumann went at it. Team GOP had world champions Chris Gallio, Bryan Young and Roberto Torres. Team Schumann consisted of Edgar Cordova, Christian Flores and Andreas Garcia. An exciting contest with each fighter utilizing his own arsenal of techniques. This was USA verses Guatemala and as could be expected with two large teams, controversy emerged as part of the strategy. Both coaches were using every thing possible for there guys. As the final seconds ran down the electricity in the room was dithyrambic. The fight finalized with Team Schumann winning by a narrow margin and certainly one of the highlights of the nighttime finals.
Jordan Simon pulled ahead in the junior musical weapons with his victory over Jacob Holguin and Britan Kabella. I would have had Brittan in a tie with Jordan until his bo came out of his hand near the end of the form. Corky Sikes was unstoppable in Adult contemporary weapons. His bo staff form has to be one of the fastest and most dynamic ever. But Corky, please buy yourself a new uniform top. That one looks like the battle flag of Dixie after Vicksburg.
Junior Japanese and Okinawa forms grand championship was up next. Sergio Calva managed to pull ahead of Gene Middleton and Balam Najera for place first. This was followed by the adult traditional forms and weapons grand championship. Johnnie Murphy, Edgar Cordova, Osiris Mendez, Daniela Barrientos, Julio Domingo and Kieth Weston performed some of the best forms ever. All wanted the prestige of this win because all are basically traditional stylist and traditional forms was their thing. After the final competitor finished Kieth Weston was ahead and taking home the money. Gene Middleton came back in the junior Korean forms grand championship and took home the top spot.
Juan Carlos Garcia was victorious over Sage and Colbey Northcutt in the junior Kempo Polynesian forms grand championship. Women’s point sparring grand’s followed with Regina Thompson in first place. Last up was the men’s point sparring grand championships. First runoff in the men’s point sparring grand championship was a fight between Gabriel Escalante and Bryan Young. A fight that was full of tactical moves. Both fighters were capable, skilled and apparently highly motivated. Bryan pulled everything out of his arsenal only to lose in a controversial decision to Gabriel Escalante. I can say Gabriel was no pushover and in all fairness he was the judge’s choice in a close fight. Then Senior David Coppock, winner of the men’s super heavy weight division won the next fight advancing him closer to the final fight for the money.
Roberto Torres took on Christian Flores in a fight that was reminiscent of a fight earlier in the day with Jason Holmes. Points went back and forth with Roberto and his speed paying dividends as he capitalized on Christian’s openings. Then just as in the earlier fight, Christian was able to came back and adapted to Roberto’s momentum pulling him back on top and running out time for another victory. Big David Coppock tried to blow past Gabriel Escalante but was stopped by the much younger Escalante’s dynamic speed and in another great contest Escanante went on to the final fight with Christian Flores.
Tension in the atmosphere for this last fight was thick enough to cut with a knife. Loud chanting from both represented team members and their supporters filled the room. You could tell this was going to be exciting. The fighters started off with a series of feeling out moves. Escalante moved with fluidity as Christian used his ring savvy to exert dominance over Escalante. Escalante rushed Christian clashing on and off the stage. Meanwhile the crowed was going crazy. Again the fight went back and forth as each pulled out their best techniques in an attempt to overcome the other. Then in a sudden and final burst of energy Christian pulled ahead as time ran out making him the 4th Mexican Open men’s point sparring grand champion.
This was a first class international tournament with players from many countries vying for seeding at the NBL World Games in December. Allen Torres and Luis Jimenez are to be congratulated for putting together a world class event and Boice Lydell for sanctioning The 4th Mexican Open.
