InBrief 7 April 2011
Karate kids brings home bronze medals
By Campbell River Mirror
During his first trip to the karate nationals in 2009, Campbell River’s Kyell Erickson came home empty-handed.
However, the 15-year-old did leave with experience which proved invaluable on March 24-28, in St. Hyacinthe, Quebec, were he earned two bronze medals.
Competing in the cadet 14-15 advanced/black belt division, Erickson placed third in kumite (sparring) and helped Team B.C. to a bronze in team sparring.
Earning the two bronze was great for Erickson, but if he had placed first or second, he would have qualified for Team Canada which is heading to the Pan American Championships in Brazil in September.
Erickson started karate at the age of four at the Shito-ryu Club on 9th Avenue. The club is instructed by Roy Tippenhauer.
Kyell Erickson won a bronze medal in kumite at the nationals in Quebec.
steven-seagalSteven Seagal is grand marshal for Cave Creek’s Fiesta Days
By Philip Haldiman, The Arizona Republic
When Steven Seagal got word of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, it hit close to home.
The country has given him many things to be thankful for. He grew up in Japan and much of his time spent there has formed who he is now - he became an expert and teacher in martial arts, studied Eastern medicine and religion, and learned to play the guitar.
At one point he was one of the biggest action stars in the world, using those skills to fight bad guys on the silver screen. He’s released music CDs and played with B.B. King.
Currently he is starring in “Lawman,” in its second season on A&E shooting in Maricopa County, as a deputy sheriff under Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
His latest gig is grand marshal for the Fiesta Days Parade on Saturday in Cave Creek. The Republic interviewed Seagal via e-mail about his experiences in Japan and in the Valley:
Question: What were your first thoughts when you heard about the tragedy in Japan?
Answer: I have family, friends and students who live in Tokyo and the Sendai area that fortunately were safe after the devastation of the earthquake and tsunami, but I’m deeply saddened and shocked as we all were, and are, at the destruction of lives and property caused by this tremendous tragic event. I usually visit Japan once or twice a year, and I want to get there soon to visit my family and students.
Q: What were your experiences like there?
A: I was engulfed by Japan’s culture, and fell in love with its people, food, way of life, their discipline as well as their devotion to Budo, or the Martial Way.
Q: What part of Japan did you live in?
A: I was living and training in Osaka under one of the top masters of Aikido and calligraphy. It was there that I became fluent in Japanese as well as mastering the art of Aikido. I opened my own dojo in Japan.
Q: Why did you get involved in the martial arts?
A: Like most young people, I got involved in the martial arts to learn to protect myself and to become stronger and more confident, but I soon found that the martial arts also include healing as well as improving one’s spiritual strength and fortitude through rigorous, hard training that stays with you throughout your life.
Q: Do you teach Aikido as well?
A: Yes, but it does not matter what martial arts one studies, what matters is who the master is. Instead of spending 10 years learning a different style of fighting, spend 10 years finding the right teacher first.
Q: Why did you decide to get into law enforcement?
A: I believe it’s a good way to help people and make the world a better place.
Q: What’s it like working under Arpaio?
A: He’s not afraid to serve and protect the people and tell the truth. It’s been an honor to be able to get out and try and make Maricopa County a better and safer place.
Q: How did the title of grand marshal of the Fiesta Days Rodeo come to you?
A: One of my brothers (fellow co-worker) on the SWAT team asked me, and being that I love rodeos, I felt it would be a great event for me and my family to enjoy as well as a good way for me to serve the community on my down time.
Read more here
London 2012 - Sansum takes rapid rise in his stride
Growing up in Elgin as a youngster, Sansum split his time between kickboxing and karate and, with neither sport part of the Olympics, dreams of Games glory never entered his mind.
However, all that changed for the 24-year-old last summer when the Talent 2012 programme picked him out to make the switch to taekwondo and relocate to Manchester.
Sansum - who fights at -87kg - has taken to his new sport like a duck to water, winning medals at the Paris and US Open’s this season.
And after establishing himself as a frontrunner for Olympic selection, Sansum can’t wait to jet off to Korea for May’s World Championships.
“Everything is progressing well for London 2012 for me,” said Sansum.
“I came down to Manchester on the initiative and I think some people were for it and some were against it but I think it has gone pretty well for me so far.
“The first tournament I did was the Paris Open and I got a bronze medal there and then I got another medal in America at the US Open in Texas and then I started to think, ‘right, London 2012 can be a feasible goal’.
“I think the World Championships will be a key indicator to see who is the strongest in the weight so we have got a big training stint up to those in May and if I am picked there then hopefully London 2012 can be a reality.
“Although there a few A-class tournaments between this year and the back end of last year, the World Championships are the key decisive tournament to put you in good stead for a spot for the Olympic team.”
Before making his full-time switch to Manchester, Sansum, a former kick-boxing world champion, used to fight for the Sansum Black Belt Academy.
But after joining the world of taekwondo, Sansum admits his ‘old’ sporting career is now the last thing on his London 2012-dominated mind.
“London comes into my thinking a lot now,” added Sansum.
“Prior to the switch London had never really been something I thought about because karate or kick boxing weren’t an Olympic sport.
“So I didn’t grow up wanting to be an Olympian and it was never a feasible goal. Thinking that you can be a part of the team and be at London 2012 and standing up there in London would just be amazing.”
Hungary judoka Ungvari’s ‘B’ sample also positive
Ungvari’s samples were taken after he won gold in the 73-kilogram division at the World Cup in Budapest in February. The 22-year-old Hungarian also tested positive in January after a competition in Baku, Azerbaijan.
The association says it supports Ungvari’s innocence, adding that the judoka and his coach passed polygraph tests confirming the athlete’s claim that he ingested the illegal substances unknowingly.
Ungvari is a four-time national champion and bronze medalist at the 2010 European championships in Vienna. He is the first Hungarian judoka to fail a doping test.
Unstoppable judo star Guest is girl with the golden touch
THERE is just no stopping Kirsty Guest.
In judo circles, the Scunthorpe-born star is creating quite a name for herself.
After claiming gold at the Junior English Open in Crystal Palace, the women’s Under-78kg division fighter is adopting all the hallmarks of someone who is progressing at a quicker rate than even Sharon Rendle.
The latter, under the guidance of Kirsty’s current coach Terry Alltoft, famously won gold at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, adding to the gold she won at the World Championships the year before, a result she repeated in 1989.
Also boasting a gold in the European Championships in 1996, to compare any fighter to a judo great is high praise indeed.
But for Alltoft, it is a worthy comparison, and one which shines favourably on his latest 16-year-old talent.
“It is a good way of judging someone to compare them to Sharon,” said Alltoft, who has been coaching Judo from the Grimsby Judo Club for nearly 40 years.
“I have coached Sharon Rendle so I know what talent is needed at this kind of age.
“Kirsty is probably better than Sharon was at this age.
“Our club have produced about 40 international players and Kirsty is up there with them.
“At 16 a lot can happen with boyfriends and stuff like that, but at the moment I can’t fault the girl.
“I think Sharon won one national title by 18, but Kirsty has won three by 16.
“From the age of eight to 14 she got into the final of everything we put her in.
“There is no stopping her. She is one of my best players.”
Alltoft has been impressed most by the consistency of his protege, who has won the Junior Dutch Open and three national titles among a host of successes which has included representing Great Britain at European Cadet Championships.
“Everything we put her in she gets to the final,” he added.
“She is outstanding, she is so consistent – in the last four tournaments she has fought in she has earned three gold medals and a silver.
“She is 16 at the moment but most of the tournaments we put her in to are under-20 year old age groups.
“It is a girl fighting a woman.
“With that in mind, there is no limit to her.
“The London Olympics in 2012 will come too early for her but if she keeps progressing the way she is then she can make it for the next one in four years’ time.”
Inflicted with Asperger’s Syndrome, Round advances through judo
By Dave Dyer This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. The Eagle Tribune
NORTH ANDOVER — Chris Round admits that, at this point, his Olympic dream might be a stretch, but he has no thoughts of giving up on it just yet.
“Ever since I was a young kid, I wanted to make the U.S. Olympic (judo) team,” said Round, a Merrimack College junior from North Andover. “I know I probably won’t make it, but I’m not giving up and, if I don’t make it for next year, I’ll probably push for 2016.”
Round, who was a varsity wrestler for North Andover High School, has been trained out of Jimmy Pedro’s facility in Wakefield and competed since he was 12-years-old, and he’s enjoyed considerable success.
Back in 2007, Round was a bronze medalist at the high school nationals at 177 pounds and was crowned champion at the USJA nationals. He was seventh at 198 pounds in the U.S. Open in 2008, a bronze medalist at the President’s Cup in 2009 and placed fifth in the same tournament last year.
After the President’s Cup competition last year, he suffered a torn labrum in his shoulder and needed surgery in November. That kept him out of action for two months, but he came back last month by taking a silver medal at the Collegiate Judo nationals at 198 pounds.
Currently ranked ninth in the country at 178 pounds, Round would need to move up considerably in upcoming competition to make the Olympic team. It’s definitely a long shot.
“It’ll be tough because my shoulder isn’t quite back to where it was before and I train with the No. 1 guy in the country in my class, Travis Stevens, and I know how good he is,” said Round. “If we fought 100 times, I might win five times.”
Regardless, Round relishes the success he has enjoyed but, even more important, he knows that his participation in judo has meant far more to him than just an accumulation of trophies and medals.
Diagnosed at a young age with Asperger’s Syndrome, which is a condition that is associated with delay in the development of many basic social and physical skills, Round had all sorts of problems until he got involved with judo.
“I had a lot of trouble in school with my work and I had no coordination, so stamina ... nothing, until I started in judo,” said Round, who also trains in Brazilian jujutsu. “I wasn’t good in anything and it was pretty depressing.
“Judo brought everything together. After I got into it, I was able to focus on my studies until the point that now I’m in a pretty difficult major (biology, with a focus on ecology) and I went from the last person picked in gym to being a good athlete.
“My mother says that Jimmy (Pedro) was my first educator. Judo has done so much for me. I’ve traveled to Japan, Scotland, all over North America ... and just become a more complete person.”
Again, Round hasn’t given up on his Olympic dream yet and he’s training hard for the Senior National championships later this month, followed by this year’s President’s Cup and the U.S. Open, all with the goal of improving his ranking and possibly making the Olympic team.
“Even if I don’t make it, I won’t be disappointed as long as I know I’ve done everything I can to make it and I’ll still go cheer the team if I don’t make it. Judo has done so much for me and I don’t see myself giving up on it.”
Round of success
Chris Round’s greatest accomplishments in judo include:
- 2011 — National Collegiate championships silver medalist
- 2010 — Placed fifth at President’s Cup
- 2009 — President’s Cup bronze medalist
- 2008 — Placed seventh at U.S. Open
* 2007 — USJA Junior nationals champion; High School nationals bronze medalist
* Ended career in Juniors as the No. 2-ranked competitor in the country at 178 pounds.
LCSO’s Sergeant Folsom Wins Two Bronze Medals in Pan Am Games
LCSO’s Sergeant Larry Folsom recently won two bronze medals while competing in the 2011 Pan Am Games in Irvine, California. The Pan Am Games is an international competition hosting thousands of
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu competitors. Sgt. Folsom competed in the Pan Jiu-Jitsu Championships March 24- 27. He competed in the Purple Belt Medium/Heavy Division and in the Purple Belt Absolute Division. (The Absolute Division places all competitors in the same division regardless of weight.)
Sgt. Folsom has been competing in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu competitions in Florida and the Southeastern United States for over four years now. He has won over 30 medals in many competitions in both Judo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He is also a three-time gold medalist in the Florida Police and Fire Games.
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) is a martial art and combat sport that focuses on grappling or ground fighting with the goal of gaining a dominant position and using joint-locks and holds to force an opponent to submit. Sgt. Folsom competes as a member of the Alliance Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Team.
Comments