 As the plane touched down I found myself breathing a sigh of relief. I hate flying and these days it’s almost more hassle than its worth. You’ll notice I said almost. Heading for Acapulco, Mexico however made it all worthwhile. After 911 many aberrant requirements were heaped on us for safety. My personal favorite is the shoe thing. But at least you’re safe and it still beats driving.
Acapulco has been continually inhabited for over two thousand years. Artifacts from its occupants can be found that date back over three millennia. The word Acapulco comes from the Nahuatl Indian word meaning “plane of dense reeds.” The Nahuatl Indians inhabited the territory before the Aztecs. Hernando Cortes conquered the Aztecs and Acapulco became the possession of the Spanish who ruled until Mexican independence in the 1800’s.
Originally a relative obscure place, Acapulco was a trading route from the American colonies to the Orient. In 1920 under the direction of Miguel Aleman Valdes, Acapulco was transformed into a prime tourist destination for European’s and Americans and has remained an exotic vacation destination.
The Mexican Open’s promoter is Luis Jimenez. No stranger to competition, he is also one of the top competitors in sport karate today. His marriage to Dawn Kabela united two championship teams into a powerful force in sport karate. This September 1st and 2nd event was NBL Pan-Am National sanctioned so many US competitors attended since it was held over the Labor Day holiday giving players a great vacation in an exotic place.
Arriving at the Crown Plaza hotel I was instantly surrounded by Aztec ambience. The hotel was constructed to resemble an Aztec pyramid. A beautiful place, open in its design and radiating an exotic charm. The tournament was held in the main ballroom that overlooked the horseshoe bay of Acapulco. The view was breathtaking and the facility was designed to let in all the sunlight. As people checked in I could tell this was going to be another big Latin event. The teams from other countries gave an Olympic atmosphere to the event.
The tournament got under way Friday at 5:00 PM. The first division was adult blackbelt traditional weapons. Johnnie Murphy, a good friend of mine, won the division. As the night progressed on, it was apparent that the usual champions were on top of things. Corky Sikes won contemporary weapons. Edgar Cordova, dressed as the Grim Reaper, led to the demise of all competition in adult choreographed weapons. Junior contemporary weapons champions Jacob Holguin, Jordan Simon and Brittan Kabela were in top form winning in large divisions. Some other champions of the night were Justin Lewis, Sage Northcutt, Mia Caldwell, Marco Villanueva, Jonathan Tale, Bear Loebe and Colbey Northcutt.
Friday’s competition ended with just enough time to change clothes and head down to The Hard Rock Cafe where many of the competitors ended up before their stint at the local discos.
Saturday morning was a mix of mostly traditional forms and some contemporary forms. Dann Baker, the oldest competing NBL world champion, ran Kempo/Polynesian forms were he was easily twenty years older than the next youngest competitor. Julio Domingo pulled ahead of the crowd for the win in that division. Baker won 45 and over traditional forms. Keith Weston of Canada ran a perfect Siochen form in a large adult Japanese Okinawan division for the victory. Daniela Barrientos, Balam Najera, Edgar Cordova, Osiris Mendez, Colbey Northcutt, Sage Northcutt, Gene Middleton, Sergio Calva and Johnnie Murphy were some of the day’s winners who were on there way to the nighttime finals.
Point sparring ran last with junior blackbelt divisions at the forefront. Many USA fighters including James Davidson, Charlie Davidson, Ryan George, Colby Northcutt, Sage Northcutt, Zachary Blundell, Joshua Romero, and CJ Corbin found themselves champions. Senior fighter David Coppock was unstoppable as he fought his way through the adult super heavy weight and senior super heavy weight divisions.
Team GOP had their hands full with co mpetition from Team Schumann, Team Techno and others in adult blackbelt sparring. One of the best point sparring divisions was men’s light middle weight. A large division culminated with a tactical battle between Jason Holmes of the USA and Christian Flores of Guatemala. The fight went back and forth with Flores adapting to Holmes’ blitz combinations and able to turn the fight around with a narrow victory sending him to the Finals stage.
Nighttime in Acapulco is certainly the place to be for a great time. The Crown Plaza Hotel was top on my list for entertainment and competition. Luis Jimenez and Dawn Jimenez were on hand to fire off a hot night of competition. Allen Torres of New York directed this world class event with an eye for fixing problems before they happened. Friendly, accommodating and making every effort for this tournament to be successful, Torrres is to be congratulated for his work. The finals started off with a demonstration of the championship team form division from Edgar Cordova and Corky Sikes.
First up in the nighttime finals were junior contemporary forms. Marco Villanueva, Justin Lewis and Mia Caldwell competed for the title with Lewis ending up on top in a close competition. Then USA’s Bear Loebe and Guatemala’s Jonathan Tale had a showdown for the adult contemporary forms grand championship with Loebe being the judge’s choice for champion.
A series of junior continuous sparring matches were up that culminated in a knock-down drag-out fight between CJ Corbin and Alex Lopez. This contest was a war with both fighters off the stage several times and being warned for excessive contact. In the end CJ Corbin was declared the winner.
Team GOP and Team Schumann went at it for the men’s team sparring title. Team GOP had world champions Chris Gallio, Bryan Young and Roberto Torres. Team Schumann consisted of Edgar Cordova, Christian Flores and Andreas Garcia. An exciting contest with each fighter utilizing his own unique arsenal of techniques. This was USA verses Guatemala and as could be expected with two large teams, controversy emerged as part of the strategy. Both coaches were using everything possible for there guys. As the final seconds ran down the electricity in the room was tremendous. The fight finalized with Team Schumann winning by a narrow margin. It was certainly one of the highlights of the nighttime finals.
Jordan Simon pulled ahead in junior musical weapons with a victory over Jacob Holguin and Brittan Kabela. I would have had Kabela in a tie with Jordan until his bo came out of his hand near the end of the form. This seams to be a curse with him this year. Corky Sikes was unstoppable in adult contemporary weapons. His bo staff form has to be one of the fastest and most dynamic ever. But Corky, please buy yourself a new uniform top. That one looks like the battle flag of Dixie after Vicksburg!
Junior Japanese and Okinawa forms grand championship was up next. Sergio Calva managed to pull ahead of Gene Middleton and Balam Najera for place first. This was followed by the adult traditional forms and weapons grand championship. That included Keith Weston, Edgar Cordova, Osiris Mendez, Daniela Barrientos, Julio Domingo and Johnnie Murphy. After the final competitor finished Keith Weston was ahead and taking home the money. Gene Middleton of Georgia came back in the junior Korean forms grand championship and took home the top spot. Juan Carlos Garcia was victorious over Sage and Colbey Northcutt in the junior Kenpo forms grand championship.
Women’s point sparring grands followed with Regena Thompson in first place. Last up was the men’s point sparring grand championships.With ensuing eliminations of Americans Bryan Young, Roberto Torres and David Coppock; Christian Perez of Schumann’s Kenpo in Mexico City and Gabriel Escalante of Ki Sports in Mexico City were left for the coveted men’s title.
Tension in the atmosphere for this last fight was thick enough to cut with a knife. Loud chanting from both represented team members and their supporters filled the room. You could tell this was going to be exciting. The fighters started off testing each other. Escalante moved with fluidity as Flores used his ring savvy to exert dominance over Escalante. Escalante blitzed Christian clashing on and off the stage several times. Meanwhile the crowd was going crazy. The fight went back and forth as each pulled out their best techniques in an attempt to overcome the other. In a sudden and final burst of energy Flores pulled ahead as time ran out making him the 4th Mexican Open men’s point sparring grand champion.
The event ended proving its first class stature having players from many countries vying for seeding for the NBL World Games in December.
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