Students from Arashi-Do Sylvan Lake attended a recent event called The Samurai Series, Feb. 24. This was the third event out of four in the series with the last event happening in Rocky Mountain House in May.
Up first in the six to seven-year-old karate division, Cassidy TK participated in her first tournament after only three weeks of training. She ended up with fourth place in both kata and sparring. Kata refers to a series of step and turn movements while staying in proper form.
Competing in his first event ever, Keyton Wynnyk took third place in kata and fourth place in sparring. Hudson TK placed fourth in both kata and sparring. In this division, perennial competitor Ethan Goyan took first place in kata, and second place in sparring.
Moving onto the eight to ten-year-old karate division Lincoln Cai placed third in kata, and fourth in sparring after less than a year of training. It was a busy day for Lincoln who then competed in Brazilian Jiujitsu, and after beating one of his classmates twice, took a third in both Gi and NoGi. According to his coach Ken Sumner, he had a slow start but came back strong.
Next was the 10 to 13-year-old karate division. This large division ended up with Issaac Snook, Ashlyn Goyan and Mikail TK all competing together. Unfortunately out of the nine competitors none of the competitors from Sylvan Lake made it to the podium.
The 14 to 16-year-old karate division was up next with Jonathon TK who ended up with fourth in both kata and sparring. Sumner said he did a “fantastic job” considering he had the least experience in the group.
In the adult black belt division Sensei Joey Spiller, instructor with Arashi-Do, took first place in kata, and a third place in sparring, losing the semi final match against Ayden Dahlms from Rocky Mountain House, a competitor looking for a spot on the Canadian National Team.
The Muay Thai competitors followed with Aden Perry competing for the first time.Fighting in the 4 to five-year-old division, he took third place with Sumner saying he did a “fantastic job.” Aden was busy, as he competed in the Mini Monkeys BJJ division. He took a fourth place in Gi, but was unable to compete in the NoGi due to the Muay Thai division.
The six to seven-year-old division was up next with a big number of students from Sylvan Lake. This nine person division ended up with Damian Crispin taking a second place. Emma Johnson, Bella TK, and Ryder Bush all ended up missing the podium ending in fourth place. Emma and Ryder had their first competitions and did a fantastic job competing and pushing themselves.
Glen Wilde competed in the Adult Muay Thai division. After two hard fights, Glen ended up taking a second place behind Jamie Hart from Rocky Mountain House.
Brazilian Jiujitsu was next in the competition. Ben Forrestall took a third place in Gi and third place in NoGi as well, defeating Sophia Macloud for the bronze medal in both divisions. Jaxson Bichel had a rough day being taken out soon.
“All three of these competitors worked hard for their first tournament and showed great heart and determination,” said Sumner.
Ryder Bush and Damian Crispin competed in the seven-year-old BJJ division after competing in Muay Thai. Ryder had some issues with nerves and ended up missing the podium with BJJ, Damian ended up in fourth for Gi, and then had a first place finish for NoGi after shaking off the cobwebs.
Nolan Bichel, whose brother competed earlier, competed in the nine to 10-year-old division. He lost in the bronze medal match to Lincoln Cai, one of his classmates. Sumner said both boys showed great heart and class in helping each other out.
Jadon Hewitt and Gage Russell competed in the 11 to 12 year old division. The two boys had extremely close matches that were hard fought, but Hewitt took first place in both Gi and NoGi, while Gage took third place in both. Gage then moved up to the 13 to 16 year old division and took a third place in Gi and a second place in NoGi against some tough competition.
Lastly in the Adult Brazilian Jiujitsu division, Ryan Green came in on short notice and took second place in Gi and NoGi. Dylan Smith competed and took fourth place in Gi, and then after shaking off the nerves took a third place in NoGi.
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