As recipient of multiple “Tournament of the Year” Hall of Fame awards in the National Blackbelt League, this year's Pacific Jewel was primed to repeat. Third in the line-up of four events in the WESTPAC Conference, the Pacific Jewel once again provided an experienced and well trained staff to ensure the competitor friendly atmosphere it is known for. Noah and Deanna Bertsch, always the gracious hosts, gave true meaning to the words, “Mi Casa es Su Casa”.

Contemporary weapons, continuous and team sparring were clearly the divisions that added the spice to the evening's opening events. Spectators and competitors alike could hardly contain themselves as they voiced support for their favorite players. The junior weapons divisions were the first to add zing to the already sizzling night. The swordsmanship of a little firecracker named Tyler Weaver of Colorado, who did an amazing blindfolded sword form, and the flexibility and poise of petite Karina Hipolito of Utah, showcased the budding new talent. Jaime Nakamura of California, a seasoned player at nine years of age, managed to hold them off with his own strong techniques with the sword as he won the choreographed musical division. Tyler struck back with the win of the non-musical division over Jaime. Other junior open weapons division victors were two time winner Mia Caldwell, Thomas Fedorchik and Josue Guerrero, all of Texas and Josh Durbin of Colorado, Chris Martin of New Mexico, and Tanya Hunt, all the way from Florida.

Alchemy teammates Kevin Torres and Alex Sandoval won their junior fly and feather weight divisions. Erik Dorey of Oregon won the lightheavy division, while Naveed Kermaninejad of California overcame South Carolina’s Frankie Fernandez, in sudden death in the heavyweight division. Tough female fighter, Tracy Martinez of California, outscored her opponent, Marissa Mayer of Rhode Island.

Sweat, determination, and true grit best describes the adult continuous battles.  Respected fighters, Jason “J-Dog” Holmes and Marty Maye won their divisions. In a hard fought contest, Marlene Fargher of Oregon, who had taken time-off  from competition to have two children, dominated the female lightweight division.

Team sparring is always unpredictable, unforgiving, and a great catalyst for competition at its best. Junior female teams were up first.  We had seen the fierceness in these young women earlier, in the continuous events. It came down to Team MVP against Team Straight Up. These teams are no strangers to each other as they have battled-it-out before. Team MVP included Narda Beas, Alyse Lysgaard, and Tracy Martinez. Straight Up members were Michelle Sims, Colbey Northcutt, and Marissa Mayer. Team MVP held their own as they captured the win. Team MVP also claimed victory in the junior male team division. Colin Navickas, Frankie Fernandez, and Jake Lysgaard defeated the Langley team comprised of Jonathan Rios, Andre Parrott, and A.J. Maunder.

Saturday’s cloudy skies and occasional rain showers had no affect on the heat and intensity of competition.

Stealing the show this day would be Sage Northcutt and Tyler Weaver. They battled each other in nearly every forms division each had entered. Tyler won the 9 and under hard creative division and Korean forms, while Sage prevailed in the hard choreographed musical division. Michelle Sims of Utah, and California’s Jaime Nakamura, winners of the Japanese/Okinawan and Kenpo divisions, stopped the two from sweeping the younger forms divisions.

Rookie blackbelt competitor, Andrew Kowalewski of Idaho, surprised some of the more seasoned competitors in the 12 to 14 age group, winning both the hard creative and hard choreographed musical forms divisions.  Michelle Sims, also in her rookie blackbelt year, won both hard creative and hard choreographed musical forms divisions. Josh Durbin and Chris Martin shared wins in the 15 to 17 divisions, while Colbey Northcutt was as dominant as ever in the Japanese and Kenpo divisions.

As the decibel level climbed, one knew that the point sparring divisions had begun. Junior point sparring was featured on daytime’s center stage. Sage Northcutt again showed his prowess as he won the 9 and under division. Alex Sandoval, of Team Alchemy, defeated teammate, Kevin Torrez in the 10-11 division. Amanda Bogen of Washington, surprised Colbey Northcutt in the 11-12 female sparring event, with Alyse Lysgaard of Nevada winning her 13-14 division. Thirteen formidable young women battled for the 15-17 female division. Leanne Dumlao of California, was victorious over Marissa Mayer of Rhode Island. The battle for the 14-15 male point sparring was between two brothers Jamal and Jason Albini of California. Most of us couldn't tell them apart as their appearance and fighting style are similar. Jamal finally was able to overtake his brother just before time ran out, winning by two. This was sibling rivalry at its best.

 NIGHT TIME FINALS
A troupe of turtles opened up the Saturday night's finals. No, it wasn't the “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”, but it could have been. Eleven extreme Karate players, calling themselves the “Turtle Squad” soared and spiraled through the air as they took command of the stage drawing the audience into the energy. The atmosphere had been set, it would be an electrifying night.

The tricks continued as the junior choreographed musical forms grand was the first event. Competing were Sage Northcutt, Andrew Kowalewski, Chris Martin, and Michelle Sims. All gave strong performances, but the force of Martin's form gave him the title. Next, the adults would go at it. Jerico Catura had two chances for the win. His competitors were Melissa “Apple” Sioson, and Roark Hodson. Jerico claimed the grand championship with his non-musical form.

Two little guys from Utah fought in the junior continuous superfly division. Brady Childs narrowly defeated Robert Betten. In the lightweight division Josue Guerrero, of El Paso's Top Team, won over Team Langley’s Jeremy Butler. The light middle weight division saw Tyri Ferguson of Team Alchemy fighting Joshua Romero of Team Langley. Ferguson was up by one at the end of round one, but Team Langley would be victorious in this match, as Romero won 49 to 44. Local competitor, Michael Holstien of Medford, Oregon, beat Team Alchemy's Michael Hassey by two, capturing the middle weight title. Matthew Okada of California and Patrick Robertson of Chilliwack, Canada, gave the audience their money's worth as their match was one of the most intense battles of the night. Surprisingly, Okada was down by twelve at the break. His tenaciousness in the second round was rewarded as he won by the narrow margin of four points for the super heavyweight title. Last up in the continuous sparring matches was the female featherweight division. Colbey Northcutt, representing Team GOP, fought Madison Santos, Team CKD, from New Smyrna Beach, Florida.  Madison tried to keep up with Colbey, but Colbey's experience gave her the win.

As the audience was still in a fighting mode, the contenders for team sparring entered the stage. Team DDX faced the young GQ Sport Team. It was a close battle throughout. Team DDX was down by one at the end of the first round which saw Troy Whaley fight Sean Arceo. Ryan Gonzalez put DDX ahead by one as he fought Christopher Dasalla. Tim Gustavson used his age and experience to outscore GQ Sports’ Joshua May to give Team DDX the win by two.

As a special addition two junior point sparring contests were held for the finals were next. The larger, more experienced fighters won both of these matches as two Team MVP members, each won their matches by margins of five points. Frankie Fernandez, South Carolina, won over Andre Parrott of the Langley Team in the 12-13 division, and Jake Lysgaard defeated Justin Seneris of Team Pallen of California, in the 16-17 division.

Giving the audience a chance to catch their breath, Noah and Deanna Bertsch graced the stage and welcomed everyone. They took the opportunity to present their “Jewel” awards where they honor the hard workers behind the scenes that help to make their tournament successful. The Bertsch’s also have a tradition of presenting awards to an adult and junior blackbelt competitor whom they feel embody the qualities of a true and positive competitor. This year, the recipients were Troy Whaley and two juniors, Anthony King of Colorado, and Zachary Evens of Utah.

Junior choreographed weapons thrilled the audience as each competitor gave it their all. Thomas Fedorchik of Team Focus, and Mia Caldwell performed striking kama routines with their weapons spinning easily within their hands. But it was young Jaime Nakamura with his aggressive sword that set the stage ablaze. To the music from “The Last Samurai”, Jaime manipulated the sword as if he were performing with a bo. For his outstanding effort, Jaime was rewarded with his first grand championship at a national tournament.

Capitalizing on the energy of the juniors, the adults were not going to be “upstaged”.  Melissa Terpstra and Jerico Catura both performed with kama. Unfortunately for Catura, he mishandle one of the cycles but to his saving grace he had a second performance slot. Roark Hodson performed with his soft style long sword giving the spectators a sample of the diversity in the martial arts. Catura then came back strong, this time wielding a bo staff. It was a close contest as Catura won by a mere one hundredth of a point over Hodson.

Though some might say that traditional forms are not as exciting as the creative divisions, they certainly do not lack in drama. Such was the case this night for the three grand championship titles. On stage for the junior Japanese event were Michelle Sims, Colbey Northcutt, and Mikel Marcelino, representing Team Golden State. Many had thought that Marcelino would reign supreme, but an unexpected slip in his stance quelched his chances. Sims and Northcutt tied and the judges, with a show of hands, gave Northcutt the win.        

Kenny Lim electrified the audience as he performed his winning Japanese kata. Dallas Lawrence of Utah, Catura (yes, once again!), Terpstra and Brandon Bertsch also competed in the grands contest. It was a challenging battle with Lim the victor. 

In the last forms contest of the night, newly awarded blackbelt Tyler Weaver upset the favorites in the junior Korean forms grands, topping veterans Jordan Simon and Jake Lysgaard.

The tempo changed instantaneously as the competitors of the men's point sparring semifinals were called to enter the stage. Sean Arceo of Team GQ Sport, and Jason Holmes of Team GOP, fought hesitantly as they assessed each other's skills. They appeared evenly matched it this low scoring event. When time was called, Arceo was up 3 to 2.  Two mighty Goliaths would meet in the second match. The fire in Brandon Bertsch and Wade Taylor's eyes did not go unnoticed as they fiercely exchanged techniques. Many non-confirmation calls led Taylor to a 5 to 2 victory.

Lady DDX fighter, Jessica Covarrubias, faced the spirited Tamika Simmons of Team AKS. Powerful and fluent kicks left Covarrubias with a final win of 5 to 2 as DDX continued the sparring dominance.

Size would not be the determining factor of the men's final point sparring grandchampionship. Confidence would be. Arceo, the featherweight winner, versus Taylor, the light heavyweight winner. Shouting and cheering from the sidelines quickly besieged the ballroom. Some expected that Arceo would be quickly schooled by the towering Taylor. The undaunted Arceo exhibited a few skills that the older Taylor adeptly countered. Both fighters pushed themselves to the limit. After an exhausting two minutes, the score was tied at six all. A quick reverse punch by Arceo in sudden death, gave him the win and prize money.

The 2006 Pacific Jewel Nationals was over. The same excellence and commitment that distinguishes the “Jewel” as an award winning NBL National event also prevailed in competition. The “Jewel”, most assuredly, will continue to draw sport karate enthusiasts to the Northwest with its timely, efficient and competitor friendly atmosphere.