Something funny happend on the way to the 19-34 year-old gold medal in Men’s Advanced Kumite. The final match was between 52 year-old Jimmie Sornito and 40 year-old Tyrone Bowens, with Tyrone winning for USA Karate. Next year, we’re going to bring a calculator and calculate all the ages between 19 and 34, but intuition informs me that neither 40 nor 52 fits. This was, by the way, the second time Tyrone beat a (mostly) younger group for the gold.

Where were the younger black belts? Mostly, both men and women, working as judges and at the scoring table. Go figure.

USA Karate had a lot of young gold medal winners and a few older ones:

For Kata:
Sean Gay-Luiye, 6 & under, Male Beginner; Andres Ruiz, 7 & 8, Male Novice; Michael Hewitt, 9 & 10 Male Beginner; Mohammed Sheikh, 15 & 16, Male Beginner; Sara Mar, 17 & 18, Female Advanced; Rebekah Demirel, 35 & up, Female Novice Kata.

For Kumite:
Tavin Peterson, 7 & 8, Male Novice; Thomas Marbut, 11 & 12, Male Novice; Anel Ruiz, 17 & 18, Female Advanced; Jeff Owens, 35 & up, Male Novice; Irwin Batara, 35 & up, Male Advanced.

Irwin Batara won his first Outstanding Athlete award for a USA Karate-sponsored tournament, for the 35 and up, Male Advanced.

Linda Knapp was back with her camera and posted photos from the tournament. At her website, click on Our Spring 2011 Tourn for this tournament’s photos.

Also, see Leigh’s photos on the USA Karate Academy Facebook page.

Complete tournament results.

Yes, we did have a tournament and there were results. We had to make a few corrections before posting. The following are highlights of USA Karate athletes:

Alyssa Korth won golds in Kata (forms), Kumite (sparring), and Kobudo (weapons) — the first two in 11-12 Female Intermediate, and the last in 9-12 Female Intermediate/Advanced.

Leigh Gardner repeated last spring’s goldmining. She took firsts in 35 & up Female Intermediate/Advanced Kobudo, and Kata, and won a close (so I was told) sparring match over Peggy Chelgren to take the gold medal in the 35 & up Advanced Female Kumite.

Additional golds won by USA Karate athletes included Victor De Armas (6 & under M/F Novice Kata), Seamus McArthur (7 & 8 M Beginner Kata), Morgan Owens (7 & 8 F Beginner/Novice Kata), Anthony Vallejo (11 & 12 M Beginner Kata), Dolan Edney (15 & 16 M Intermediate/Advanced Kata), and Jack Chelgren (17 & 18 M Advanced Kumite).

Don’t try this at home

Pop quiz: Which young 20s out-of-shape male was ahead 5 to 3 over last year’s 19-34 M Advanced Kumite winner, in the final minute (out of three), and was carrying two jogais (out-of-ring penalties), and had to dance on the tightrope to avoid a third (and disqualifying) jogai?

(A) Chris
(B) Justin

If you answered “A,” you are right. If you answered “B,” you are also right. If you answered, “Stupid Gary forgot (C) All of the above,” then you were paying way too much attention to the match and not nearly enough to thumbing out messages to your Facebook Friends. Justin did not survive the tiptoe and was disqualified, while Chris avoided his third Jogai and avenged last spring’s loss to Dan Nicholson to win the gold.

Does this mean that, if you’re too busy-to-train because you’re working, going to school, or thumbing out messages to your Facebook Friends, you can waltz in and win maybe the most competitive event at the tournament? Apparently — if you are in your early 20s and started your martial arts training during the ride in with the stork (Justin), or just after waving farewell to your kindergarten teacher (Chris), and you are a super-athlete, and no other top competitor is in great shape. Otherwise…

Old Friends

After a two-year absence, former USA Karate members, Tyrone, Tailon, and Teilan Bowens showed at the tournament. Tyrone competed in the 19-34 M Advanced Kumite, though he’s a couple of years older than 34, while his sons were a huge help in working the scorekeeping tables. Tony Wilson returned after a long absence to help as a Center Official. Emily and Bria came down from Western to help officiate.

Missing in Action

Abby was off competing in an international tournament. Tanya was busy willing her new house to completion. Jon, Sarah, and Denise were still on a double-secret assignment in Hawaii. Pete was vacationing in Bermuda. (I hope he knew that it rains there, too.) The Lisantis moved to the Midwest. (I hope that they knew that is snows there all winter.)

The Peter Principle

Shihan assigned me to coordinate the scoring table volunteers, whereas I promptly lectured a nearly completely inexperienced crew on last year’s and no longer current scoring rules. Luckily, no one listens to me. Also lucky, was Kate keeping an eye out for experienced help and hustling them over to me. At the beginning of the tournament, we had only three or four scorekeepers who knew what they were doing. Thanks to those such as Anel, who did all the scorekeeping for a ring without accepting a single break. And thanks to young people who pick up skills, quickly. By the end of the tournament, we had a bunch of competent scorekeepers.

Thanks to Shihan Joni and Coach Alan, the athletes, and volunteers for another great tournament.

That’s what I saw through my keyhole. Please add additional (or contradicting) observations in comments, below.

Complete Tournament Results

Eleven-year-old Alyssa Korth won 3 golds at Nationals held in Albany, NY. She competed in the Novice division and won gold in Kobudo (weapons), Kumite (sparring), and Kata. Fifteen-year-old Lauren Crane competed in the Intermediate division and took golds in Kobudo and Kata, and a silver in Kumite. Sixteen-year-old Abby Knapp competed in the Advanced division and took a silver in Kobudo and a 4th in Kata.