Entries from May 2008
The Black Belt divisions are tough and the best martial arts athletes in the world show up at Padific Jewel Nationals which is a top NBL (National Black-Belt Legue) event making it one of the most highly credible events there is in the Sport Martial Arts world. There are a ton of tournements conducted by schools and small associations of schools where they declare their own world championships. However, the Pacific Jewel Nationals is not one of those.
So, let’s get down to business. The event spanned over two days, Friday and Saturday, May 9-10, 2008, in which competitors were eliminated from competition. This was not a small task as there were nine different rings in constant motion up until eight of them had to broke down for the Grand Championship on Saturday night. By the end of the eliminations Adam Jolly secured 1st Place in Black Belt Weapons. Of course he used his preferred weapon the Katana to slice through the competion.
Saturday night he competed against two other highly skilled competitors for the overall tournement Grand Champion position for the weapons.
New to the stage, Adam Jolly, had a restart with his sword routine but then nailed his second attempt.
The restart cost him a little bit and he tied for second with a very narrow margin between he and the first place competitor. Overall this was and outstanding performance as it was Adam’s first time attending the Pacific Jewel Nationals, it was great that he was able to bring home the Gold and perform so well in the Grand Champion runoff.
Eli Jolly competed at the Pacific Jewel Nationals as well and placed third in weapons for his under Black-Belt division. I don’t think it will be long before he has the opportunity to compete for a Grand Championship Position at a prestigious and credible tournament like this one was.
Congratulations to both Adam and Eli for their Karate Quest Excellence!
Categories: Out and About
Lots of people dream big. So few take action on those dreams. So, when McKenna heard about a competition from KickGen to win a chance to participate in the choreographed fight scenes of a motion picture she put something together and submit it by the March 31st deadline. She had some stiff competition to include some world champion martial artists and her very own brother, Adam Jolly, but took a chance anyway.
The movie’s director would only select two. One who was under 15 to play the role of a kid and another that was older to play the role of an adult attacker. When the reviews of the competition demos were completed and selections were made she placed second in the overall younger division. She did not get the coveted 1st place this time, but she demonstrated someone taking mass action to move toward her goal. That is one of the great things about the martial arts mindset and how leadership is taught through action at Karate Quest.
You would never know that she only just reached twelve years old when you see her on film or leading a class full of eager karate students and future leaders.
When you see McKenna give her a big Karate Quest Excellence high five!
Categories: Uncategorized
The Bandalan system of Doce Pares Eskrima was developed by Grandmaster Alfredo Bandalan through his studies with both Grandmaster Dionisio “Diony” Canete and Grandmaster Cacoy Canete. GM Bandalan studied Serrada Escrima with GM Angel cabales and Mike Inay. GM Bandalan teaches kenpo and has roots in the C.H.A. 3 kenpo system founded by Professor Marino Tiwanak, in Hawaii.
GM Bandalan is one of the founding members of WEKAF and he presented his system of Doce Pares and WEKAF sparring at Karate Quest, in Ferndale, Washington. There were three sessions; Friday, May 2nd (6:00 pm-8:00 pm), Saturday, May 3rd (10:00 am – noon & 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm). GM Bandalan was accompanied by Guro Loretta Fydrych, Sensei Felix Ordiniza, Tim Keating and current WEKAF world champion, Guro Anthony Ordiniza.
After the seminar, on Friday, GM Bandalan and his team gave a demonstration at the Kalahi Martial Arts Academy, operated by Master Lou M. Faralon, in Mt. Vernon, Washington. The demonstration was entertaining, dynamic, and informative.
GM Bandalan exhibited outstanding expertise in escrima and he has an infectious sense of humor. Our students had a great time learning from GM Bandalan. The response to the WEKAF style of sparring was very positive and we filmed all of the sparring matches. We look forward to having GM Bandalan come back to Karate Quest and thank him for spending time with us.
Respectfully,
Patrick Armijo
Categories: Inside The Studio · Modern Arnis
