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Friday April 5, 2002
What started out as a disaster wound up being one
of the most fun shows so far this year. We began with plenty of
volunteers to put on a kung fu and wushu exhibition for the Highland Senior
Center. Things were looking grand until just days before, when,
abruptly, half the team realized that the first day of competition for the
USKA National Championships was Friday -- THAT evening -- and not the
Saturday morning they had expected, Suddenly, half our demonstration
team -- the senior half -- couldn't make it for the show.
But, it got worse. Hours before the
show, several of the Steel Phoenix members that were left called to say they
were ill and wouldn't make it to the show. Yikes!
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Still, junior though they may be, the rest of
the group understood the meaning of the word "team". At the last
moment, they brainstormed together, dredged old routines out of memory,
crammed for the parts usually played by senior members, and put together a
kung fu and wushu exhibition that won raves from the seniors -- and had a
blast doing it. |
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Even Sifu got into the act, passing the
microphone to Dorothy Stender (Announcer-in-Training), so that she could
stand in as the naughty monk for the drunken lion dance. State Champion
Iwin White, playing the back part of our lion, Li, couldn't resist taking a
peek a Sifu's antics. |
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We had just enough team members present to
perform the dragon dance. |
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Lillie Vosa
was our emergency stand-in monk for the choy ching.
As you can probably guess from the number of
times he appears in these photos, generously provided by Lydia Obrist, Program Coordinator for the Highland Senior
Activities Center, the ever photogenic Iwin White was extremely
popular. Now, if only we could teach him how to get both
arms in his uniform! |
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After the show, the seniors graciously provided the
team with an Asian-themed repast. And a week later, the Program
Coordinator for the Highland Senior Center called again, full of praise.
"Your show is all the seniors have talked about!" Would we do
another show next year -- they had plans to accommodate an even larger
audience?
Like this team would ever pass up a chance at
almond cookies! See you next year!
PS. Special in-joke: Iwin the exchange
student . . .
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Friday-Saturday April 5-6, 2002
The United States Karate Association National
Championships were held here in Albuquerque at the Marriott Hotel, and
Martial Artistry was there to represent kung fu and wushu. And were we
ever lonely as the only Chinese stylists in the sea of karate and tae kwon
do competitors!
Sigh. But I guess you can't blame the
rest of the wushu and kung fu schools, when so often when we ask what we can
do to improve our scores we get such pearls from the mouths of the hard
style judges as: "I don't know. You looked perfect to me, but I don't
know anything about your style, so I just gave you a low score."
Gee, that sounds fair . . . |
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Anywho, the first evening was weapons competition, and, wushu providing a
myriad from which to choose, Martial Artistry students excelled in this
division. James Cole, at left, competed with the double headed spear and
was awarded 3rd Place in Weapons. |
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State Champion Monique Cordova also competed in weapons with Si Yun
Shuangtou Qiang, or Four Cloud Double Headed Spear. Ms. Cordova
won the Reserve National title in the weapons division. |
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Father (right) and son (far right) wushu students Paul and Kris Klarer gave
both tournaments a shot. Both competed in weapons with the beginner's warfan set, He Shan, and in open hand with the beginner's set Kung
Lik Kuen, or Power |
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Fist Form. They did very well in the Friday Last Minute Qualifiers,
Kris winning 2nd Place in both Forms and Weapons, and Paul winning 1st in
both Forms and Weapons. You gotta admit -- they sure were consistent! |
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State Champion Toby Baca (left) competed in weapons with a nunchuck form he
made up himself. At right, Amir Shirkhorshidian begins a Nanquan,
or Southern Boxing, routine. |
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National Champion Chris Baca opens his tiger/snake
combined animal routine. The slippery surface gave the kung fu
stylists some serious difficulties with rolls such as those used in Tiger
forms . . . |
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State Champion Iwin White performs the i-bei, an opening
move that emphasizes breath control in Xiao Kai Men, or Little Open
Gate, a beginning Northern Shaolin form. |
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Paul Klarer prepares to step back into steal stance to meet an attack from
behind in Kung Lik Kuen a popular classical kung fu set. |
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State Champion Toby Baca lands his tornado kick in horse stance with a
high-low block in Kung Lik Kuen. |
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Albert Vera displays the loving cup he won at the
last minute qualifying tournament on Friday morning, where he was awarded
2nd in Forms and 2nd in Weapons. |
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State Champion Iwin White circles to gain an
advantage in the point sparring division. |
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Chris Baca was decidedly our big winner for the
day, claiming the National Championship in weapons competition. He
came within a hair's breadth of the Grand Championship for weapons as well.
Approaching the judge who gave him the deciding low score, Chris asked what
he could do to improve. And what was the reply? That his
weapon was inferior to the brittle hard style staves of his karate and
tae kwon do competitors! Although we
teach our students to graciously accept criticism and never argue with the
judges, sometimes, one just can't resist educating the ignorant and blindly
opinionated. Chris looked the judge calmly in the eye, and invited him
to pick up any of his "superior" hard style staves. "We can strike the
staves against each other, and let's just see which one breaks
first," suggested Chris. |
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Oddly, the judge declined. Perhaps he was
less ignorant than prejudiced? Hmmm...
But don't take our word for it. What does
"Cold Steel", maker of high end performance weaponry have to say about
white wax wood staves?
"The wood from White Wax Wood saplings has
been prized in China for thousands of years. It is an ideal material
from which to fashion staffs, spear shafts and sticks, because it is tough,
hard and flexible and can absorb shock without breaking (we were skeptical
about this wood's reported virtues until extreme impact testing revealed how
durable this Wax Wood really is)."
The good news is that several judges took
Chris aside and suggested that he had been robbed. It's not a Grand
Champion trophy, but it's nice to know there are some folks out there with
integrity and an open mind. |
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All-in-all, Martial Artistry did rather admirably. The results of the
Friday morning Last Minute Qualifying Tournament, in no particular order,
were: Albert Vera
2nd
Place in Weapons
2nd
Place in Forms
Kris Klarer
2nd Place in Weapons
2nd Place in Forms
Paul Klarer
1st Place in Weapons
1st Place in Forms |
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Results of the Friday evening and Saturday USKA National
Championships -- again, in no particular order -- were:
Chris Baca
National Champion in Weapons
4th Place in Fighting
4th Place in Team Forms
Monique Cordova
Reserve National Champion in Weapons
Place in Forms
Place in Sparring
4th Place in Team Forms
(pictured above is Reserve National Champion Monique
Cordova, and at right James Cole) |
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Paul Klarer
4th Place in Weapons
4th Place in Forms
Kris Klarer
Competed in Weapons and forms -- didn't place but learned a lot and is
anxious to try again. Now THAT'S the spirit!
James Cole
3rd Place in Weapons
4th Place in Team Forms |
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Iwin White
Place Forms
Place Weapons
Place Sparring
Jonah Donnarumma
Place Forms
Place Weapons
Place Sparring
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Albert Vera
Place Forms
Place Weapons
Toby Baca III
Place Forms
Place Weapons
Place Sparring
NOTE: Blank placings will be filled in
as students report their winnings . . . |
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Questions? Comments?
Email Martial Artistry
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