Competitors show off martial arts skills at daylong exhibition

The 3½ hour drive from north central Indiana to Naperville was pretty awful, but nothing compared to the butterflies Ryan Lane felt minutes before his performance Sunday.

"You just kind of need to jump around and get ready to rock and roll," said the 16-year-old Mooresville, Ind., teen.

Lane and four of his martial arts teammates made the trip for the second consecutive year to perform at the Naperville Challenge, a daylong martial arts exhibition at Still Middle School in Aurora.

Roughly 200 competitors from the Chicago area, Indiana, Wisconsin and Iowa came to the challenge Sunday to compete in categories that allow them to demonstrate their skills in traditional martial arts, weapons use and more creative and performance-based acrobatics.

"It's a chance for these kids to come and show off to an audience everything they've been practicing," said John Sharkey, owner of the Naperville karate studio which organizes the event.

Proceeds and donated canned goods from Sunday's event were donated to Alicia's House, a south suburban food pantry.

Jake Greenburg, a 16-year-old junior from Waubonsie Valley High School, has been coming to the Sharkey studio since he was five years old. He spent the afternoon relaxing after his team finished its routine.

"I watched Power Rangers when I was a kid, and my parents decided I should probably find an outlet after they saw me trying to do what I saw on TV," Greenburg said. "That rush you get from going up and performing is unbelievable. It becomes something you crave after a while."