The Salt City Internationals is unique because of the special divisions offered for all belt levels. There was something a little different going on in each ring including flag sparring, a breaking contest, stick fighting and even grappling as well as first time competitor divisions. It seemed as if everyone went home with a gleeful smile and a trophy or medal.

Promoters Darren and Rebekah Cox provided a central computer system where results were being entered throughout the day in each ring. The scorekeepers worked tirelessly, their nimble fingers typing up a storm, to keep up with the results. The Salt City Internationals also offered many grand championships for underbelt competitors with awards of beautiful handcrafted swords. The finals were PACKED with people. It was literally standing room only and everyone was excited to see the fights and performances that would determine the champions from the event. The finals continued the Salt City’s theme of providing fun and entertainment for everyone by including the league required grand championship divisions and selected junior continuous sparring fights.

Contemporary Championships
The contemporary forms and weapons competition included flips, tricks and acrobatic kicking by the men, women and kids finalists. The kicks of Texas’ Mia Caldwell took her to the winner’s circle this evening in youth choreographed musical forms. She defeated Sage Northcutt, Andrew Kowalewski and Carlos Salazar for the win. Landyn Platt, Jordan Simon and Jamie Nakamura went head to head in the junior choreographed weapons championship. Nakamura who hails from Sasaki Kenpo of California has improved tremendously over the past year and his efforts paid off as his sword routine proved the judges’ favorite. Joshua Durbin of Colorado was unstoppable and $1000 richer by the end of the evening.

Durbin defeated Ashley Davies, Rommel Gargoles and Shelly Michalshek in the adult contemporary forms championship. That earned him the first half of the money. Davis and Gargoles challenged Durbin again in the adult contemporary weapons competition but Durbin’s bo reigned superior again as he walked away with the other $500.

Continuous Sparring
The audience was able to witness three energetic continuous sparring matches during the finals. Cole Butler and Chris Glanden were the tiny fighters in the youth flyweight division. The two didn’t seem to have an off-button as they exchanged blows left and right. In the end, it was Colorado’s Butler with a narrow 43-41 win. It was quite a contrast when Charlie Davidson and Joey DaCunha, the superheavy weight fighters, entered the ring. From the word go, Davidson and DaCunha were dishing out brutal blows to each other, at times with one or the other taking dives off the stage. When the bell rang, it was DaCunha of Ontario, Canada with the win this evening 60 to 57. The final continuous match was between Ashlee Grant and Ayla Mason for the girls’ featherweight division where Grant pulled off a 59-54 win. She hails from the Bay Area in California.

Traditional Championships
Kevin Houser of New Jersey was the man when it came to the traditional championships for juniors. His precise techniques and straight up kicks won both the junior Japanese AND junior Korean championship. Sage Northcutt and Matt Vassar were his challengers for Japanese while Michele Sims and Mike Spizzucco were his opponents in the Korean competition. Johnnie Murphy of Houston, Texas made sure that the younger competitors remember his name in traditional competition as his traditional bo form brought him a grand champion title. He defeated Ashley Davies and Rommel Gargoles in the adult traditional forms and weapons competition.

Sparring
According to NBL rules for men’s team sparring, fighters must fight by order of weight with the lightest fighter up first. For Team Ocean’s Eleven, that meant that Jack Felton, a middleweight fighter by trade, was the team’s heaviest fighter. The remaining two on the squad were Jerry Ryan and Manny Garcia. Ocean’s Eleven faced DDX’s line up of Troy Whaley, Matthew Okada and Jordan Pallen. In round one, Whaley kept DDX up by a point with a 5-4 win over Ryan. Okada matched up well against Garcia’s speed and ax kicks. At the end of round two, Ocean’s Eleven was up by a mere point. The final match pitted Jack Felton, the young upstart, against Jordan Pallen–the new hero for those in their mid-30s. Pallen, who is just getting back into sparring competition after years off, held his own against Felton, exchanging points and staying close. In the end, Ocean’s Eleven walked away the win with a 18-15 score.

Shaana Morris and Tracey Martinez, both of California, made sure to keep everyone on the edge off heir seats for the women’s sparring grand championships. With only 16 seconds remaining in the match, the two were tied 4-4 and the score remained tied as time ran out. In overtime it was Martinez who moved first and scored to take her first grand championship title.

Mike Pustyak continued in the zone as he defeated Troy Whaley in the first semi-final round for the men’s sparring grand championship. The super heavyweight winner, Ahmad Rice, bowed out due to injury leaving Jack Felton and Pustyak as the final two fighters. As Felton and Pustyak bowed in, Felton was envisioning using the prize money for his planned snowboarding trip the next day while Pustyak was riding high from his success throughout the day so far. The two went at it with Felton getting a good 7-3 lead with thirty seconds left in the match. Then Felton got careless and Pustyak got creative as Pustyak scored with a three-point spin kick to pull within one point. Felton played it cool and scored a quick point off the line to get up by two points and then backed off to protect his lead until time ran out. Felton’s strategy worked as the match ended 8-6 and Felton started off the 2007 NBL season as the first grand champion of the year.