Naperville youth wins title second year in a row
The American Karate Association is proud to announce the 2011 Warrior Cup World Champions.
They are:
- Junior Forms Division Warrior Cup World Champion for a second year in a row, Micah Karns, representing Sharkey's Karate Studio and Team AKA in Naperville. Micah is ranked No. 1 on the worldwide NASKA (North American Sport Karate Association) circuit in Boys Youth Musical Forms, Boys Youth Extreme Forms, Boys Youth Extreme Weapons and second in the world for Boys Youth Traditional Forms.
- Junior Weapons Division Warrior Cup World Champion is Micayla Johnson representing Change the Game from Boca Raton, Fla. Micayla is ranked No. 1 on the worldwide NASKA circuit in Girls Youth Creative Weapons and Girls Youth Musical Weapons.
- Five-time Men's Sparring (18-29 yrs) Division Warrior Cup World Champion is Ross Levine of Team Full Circle from Jacksonville, Fla. The only other five time world champion record holder is Canadian Bo Master Michael Bernardo. Congratulations to Ross Levine. Ross is ranked No. 1 on the worldwide NASKA circuit in Adult Men's Heavyweight Fighting and Adult Men's Hard Creative Non-Bladed Weapons.
- Adult Forms (18-29 yrs) Division Warrior Cup World Champion is Jarrett Leiker of Team AmeriKick from Marlton, N.J. Jarrett is ranked No. 1 on the worldwide NASKA circuit in Adult Men's Traditional Korean Forms and in Adult Men's Hard Traditional Non Bladed Weapons.
- Adult Weapons (18-29 yrs) Division Warrior Cup World Champion is Kalman Csoka representing Team Paul Mitchell from Los Angeles, Calif. Kalman is known for his tremendous control wielding two swords and gravity defying tricks. Kalman is ranked No. 1 on the worldwide NASKA circuit in Adult Men's Musical Weapons, Adult Men's Hard Creative Bladed Weapons and Adult Men's Hard Traditional Bladed Weapons.
Other noteworthy championship winners were Team Paul Michell's Caitlin Dechelle and Marc Canonizado for a Synchronized Team Demonstration and Team Infinity for Team Demo divisions. Adult Female Sparring (18-29) Champion is Chelsea Nash of Team Paul Mitchell from Los Angeles, Cali. Chelsea is ranked No. 1 on the worldwide NASKA circuit in Adult Women's Lightweight Fighting.
The AKA – Bluegrass Grand Nationals is a 5A rated tournament by the North American Sport Karate Association – one of seven 5A rated world events for 2011. For more information about upcoming events, visit www.akakarate.com.
The A.K.A. Grand Nationals tournament was started back in 1964 under the late Grandmaster Ernest Lieb introducing America to sport martial arts. The main focus was to promote camaraderie and healthy competition through the martial arts. In 1973 Master John Sharkey took over as the tournament promoter and has ran the tournament ever since.
The tournament has seen many famous competitors through out the years with notable celebrities such as Taylor Lautner , Chuck Norris, Cynthia Rothrock, Arlene Limas, Michael Chaturatabut, and Matthew Mullins, just to name a few. What really makes this tournament standout amongst all others is its world renowned Warrior Cup. Considered the “Oscar” of martial art tournament trophies, the Warrior Cup stands about 4'6” in height and 3' in width and weighs in at 40 lbs.
Now entering its 46th year, this historical tournament still strives and maintains its original purpose of providing a creative outlet for those who participate in the martial arts, via national quality sport martial arts, allowing them to meet, greet, learn and compete with their peers nationwide as well as well as worldwide. This championship event offers a diversity of cultures as reflected by the individual participants from all regions and ethnic groups across the country and the world. These participants will have the opportunity to showcase their talents, attend seminars and learn new techniques by participation in individual and team events.
In the past three and a half years many significant changes have occurred. In 2007, The A.K.A. Grand Nationals placed itself within the North American Sport Karate Association circuit earning its top rated sanctioning available. This is one of the top sport karate circuits in the world bringing forth great talents from all over the North American continent and other countries such as England, Ireland, and Italy. In 2008, the A.K.A. Grand Nationals merged itself with the Bluegrass Nationals, another long running tournament of over 24 years, to form a top rated tournament which was voted the #1 tournament in America by Black Belt Magazine.
The AKA is located in Naperville. For more information about the AKA, visit the website at www.akakarate.com or contact John Sharkey, president of the AKA, at sharkey100@aol.com.