March 1, 2011
WKA Nationals Gives Amateurs a "Fighting" Chance
HAMPTON, Va. - The World Kickboxing Association (WKA)
Nationals were held on February 18-20 at the Hampton
Coliseum. The event was held as part of the Hampton Sports
Festival. Amateur competitors from different parts of the
country came to compete and make a name for themselves in
muay Thai and mixed martial arts. Smaller tournaments were
also held for Brazilian jiu-jitsu and submission wrestling
competitors.
The
WKA Nationals are known to many
as the proving ground for up-and-coming amateur fighters.
At stake was the right to represent the United States at
the WKA World Championships in Germany.
The new two day
format for the tournament events facilitated a successful
operation of the large brackets for each
martial arts
discipline. The majority of the muay Thai and mixed
martial arts finals were held on Sunday. The Brazilian
jiu-jitsu and submission wrestling divisions were
completed on Saturday. The event was headlined by seminars
by Rob "The Dutchman" Kaman and Roberto "The Spider"
Traven.
One of the teams from the DC metro
area included Nakapan and Melanie Phungephorn's BETA
Academy, which produced six gold medals, four silvers, and
two bronze medals. The Team Lloyd Irvin representative
academy in NW Washington, D.C. was composed significantly
of novice division fighters, and had only been established
two and a half years ago.
Good sportsmanship was
displayed throughout the event, however, the seriousness
of the competition was evident during Carlos Lopez' (MASE
Training) match with Alaa Ismail (Sitan Gym). During the
match, the Sitan Gym coaches became vociferous with
remarks that Lopez was overqualified for the beginner
division. Team MASE Training led by Scott Howard felt that
they stayed within the guidelines of the beginner division
and wanted to be cautious about entering a tournament they
had not attended in five years.
In
the absolute division of the Brazilian jiu-jitsu
tournament, MMA fighter LeVon Maynard (purple belt) of
Global Martial Arts Academy defeated Kris Moe (blue belt)
of Linxx Academy to win gold in the open. An exhibition
match with purple belt Rachel Demara (Evolve Academy) was
held with a novice Brazilian jiu-jitsu practioner to give
the new grappler an opportunity to compete with someone
closer to her weight class. Kris Moe, who went on to win
two golds and two silver medals on the day, said of the
grappling event that "we all had a chance to compete with
new guys, not just the same guys from the same local
schools."
Goodwill was also displayed at the
tournament. Hiro Perera of Fairfax Jiu Jitsu (Herndon,
Va.) was called by his muay Thai associates in Pittsburgh
and helped the team prepare for the fights. While helping
his associates at the event, they were approached by an
independent fighter who had no one to corner him. They
went on to assist the fighter by providing their support
as corner men during the fight.
-Article courtesy
of
MMAinDC.com
Click here for more articles from
MMAinDC.com on the tournament.
