The mystical setting of the Kumite Classic also seemed to conjure up some long lost competitors who have been away from the national competition scene for quite some time. People did a double-take as Kyle Gray, Willie Hicks and Nate Windsor entered the arena to compete; the later two sporting Team Victory uniforms. Hicks has been absent from competition for almost a year and Windsor has been in school for even longer. The time-off was not wasted as both Hicks and Windsor won their individual point sparring divisions and moved into the grand championships at the event. Gray won his Korean forms division and was in the finals as well.

The yellow and black color scheme of the tournament led to a unique and picturesque backdrop for the event finals. Visual effects were everywhere with special lighting, Asian lettering and the tournament logo proudly displayed. This all combined to make the competitors excited about their chance on stage and the audience ready to watch the action.

The junior contemporary competitors in forms and weapons defied gravity with no strings attached as they put on their performances in the grand championship finals. The south was well represented with Gene Middleton and Kristi Corbitt from Georgia and Adam Lewis of Virginia in the mix. However, it was Michigan’s Daniel Pitlock who was the high-flying superstar in the youth contemporary forms championship. He even received a perfect 10 from one judge to make his win even more memorable.

In a magic show, a sword is used to slice a volunteer into pieces. At the Kumite Classic, the sword of Taylor Pruitt sliced its way through her challengers: Gene Middleton and Josh Bailey. Middleton gave Pruitt the biggest challenge since they tied after their first performance but the judges ended up awarding the championship title to Pruitt.

Eric Wilson made all of his competition simply disappear in the adult contemporary championships. He won every men’s division he entered. In the contemporary forms championships, his only competition was Melissa “Apple” Sioson. Sioson stumbled in her performance but Wilson still refused to tone it down, exhibiting a solid performance that earned two 10s from the judges as well as the win. Wilson also swept all of the adult contemporary weapons divisions and was the only player still attendance to compete in the grands. He ended up performing a demonstration routine much to the delight of the audience before accepting his award.

When you think of traditional forms in the NBL, icons such as Keith Weston, Pete Daypuck and the new champion from 2005, Cody Hackman, run through your mind. All three of these men competed at the Kumite Classic. However, it was no illusion when the diminutive Andrew Cabilan emerged as the winner in both the men’s Japanese forms division and the men’s Korean division. In doing so, Cabilan earned himself a chance on stage. Cabilan was still floating on the clouds when he competed in the adult traditional grand championships along with Mike Pustyak, Melissa Sioson and Keith Weston, the traditional weapons winner. Weston got his revenge by performing a perfect oar routine that earned an amazing five 10s from the judging panel.

Canadian Maxime Tcherner has magically gotten much bigger after his many years competing in the NBL and his Japanese performance has gotten proportionately better as well. Tcherner’s routine defeated Colbey Northcutt of Texas and Kristi Corbitt for the youth Japanese forms grands. Kevin Houser of Philadelphia, representing Team Bourelly ONE, didn’t have far to go for the tournament and his trip was worth it as he won the youth Korean grands with Colbey Northcutt and Kyle Gray in the runner-up positions.

The word “Kumite” means sparring in Japanese&Mac226; and the tournament did not disappoint in that aspect. There was crazy magic in the air when the fighters came to the stage. But was it really magic? It all seemed very, very real! The NBL national tournament circuit finals are some of the very few that put junior fighters on stage utilizing the final rounds of selected continuous matches. At the Kumite Classic, seven matches were fought in the finals. Joey DaCunha successfully defended his 2005 world heavyweight title against CJ Corbin and Ali Viola took a win from Nicole Kukieza after Kukieza drew blood. Marissa Mayer made the transition from point sparring to continuous with a win over her teammate Jamie Delaive. Gene Middleton was able to take home a title with a 46-39 win over Billy Deitz. Robert Turner won a close one over Michael Curry 128-121 to win the lightweight division. Patrick Wilkens defeated Brice Ferguson in the light middleweight competition, but big brother Benjamin Ferguson dominated his match against Derek Pannell for a momentous win.

Exciting fighting came from the adult individual and team sparring matches in the finals. In the women’s finals, Marielle Elliott brought Team Victory its first championship when she defeated Shelly Walrath of Awesome TKD with a 10-4 win.

It wasn’t all just point and continuous fighting in the finals. Instructor and student, Pete Daypuck and Cody Hackman both made it to the final round of the traditional Kumite division. In this style of fighting there is no headgear and only cloth padding for knuckles and feet and the competitors are expected to hit with power and focus in order to get an elusive point. In year’s past, we’ve seen noses broken and lots of pain in this division. The friendship between Hackman and Daypuck was tested as they exchanged blows. In the end, it was Daypuck with the win and the bond between the two was unbroken.

Men’s team fighting was a blur of activity with points going back and forth and a lot of ego in the air. The new Team Victory line up of Willie Hicks, Jack Felton and Hugh Brown faced a hybrid Team Straight Up consisting of Shane Baker, Joey Greenhalgh and Trevor Nash. With the exception of Greenhalgh and Brown, it was like an NBL junior boys division moved up into the adults. Hicks, Felton, Baker and Nash had all met before in one event or another as juniors and now they were all grown up and on the big kid stage. After the first two rounds with Baker facing Hicks and Felton facing Greenhalgh, Victory had a healthy 14-10 lead. Down four points, Nash had his work cut out for him as he took on Hugh Brown in a high-spirited battle. What does Nash do when he is down and needs points? He goes crazy! Nash seemed to throw and land every technique in the book, plus a couple of made up ones and all seemed to score as Nash finished the round with an 11-3 win, giving Straight Up a 21-17 comeback win in exciting fashion.

Despite the seemingly magical force driving Nash in the team sparring finals, he just couldn’t get those powers working in the men’s individual point sparring finals when he met up with Jack Felton in the final round. Felton had defeated teammate Willie Hicks and then Matt Miller of Team BOSS to make it to the final round. Nash won a close match against Nate Windsor to advance.

In their match up, Felton relied on his basic reverse punches, side kicks and blitzes to take an early lead and keep it against Nash. Although Nash worked his moves and was even awarded a point when Felton stepped out of the ring, he was unable to make the same dreamlike comeback that he had mounted in team sparring and earlier against Windsor. In the end, Felton won the grand championship with a 6-4 score and was lifted onto the shoulders of his excited Team Victory.

With the conclusion of the men’s sparring grand championship, the sparkle of magic from the event was still in the air as the excited spectators and competitors gathered together at the after-party to relive the excitement of the event.