May 21, 2005

Tournament Review by R. J. Bishop

The 2005 Carolina Martial Arts Open was held in beautiful Irmo, SC. Irmo is a suburb of Columbia, SC.

The Carolina Martial Arts Open is in only its 2nd year of operation has again proven to me and the 300+ competitors that it may be the finest small/medium tournament in the Southeast. It was definitely BIGGER & BETTER then last year’s. Attendance almost tripled from last year. Promoter Brian Pena’s goal is to eventually to put on the perfect tournament. It’s nice to see that he is not a promoter set in the old ways. I’m glad to see that he is daring enough to try something new.

Brian Pena is an NBL World Champion and well traveled competitor. He has seen his fair share of good and bad tournaments. He has picked up a wealth of knowledge from these tournaments.

All the Judges were seated in the Black Belt meeting 45 minutes prior to the start of the tournament. They were all pre-assigned weeks in advanced and along with the Scorekeepers they were all ready and in position 15 minutes prior to the start of the tournament. I must commend Brian Pena for his choices in scorekeepers; they were all very pleasant, intelligent, attractive ladies.

Some of the Southeast’s best judges were in attendance, to include: Doug Armstrong, Joey & JuLayne Shiflett, Kenny Green, Corey Waiters, William Reed, Donald McCluney, Tyrone Tablada, Ryan Freeman, and Maine import Mike Clark.

Top national and regional competition teams in attendance included: Team EWO of Lynchburg, VA, Strike Force of Jessup, GA, Team Jade Tigers of Waynesboro, GA, Team MVKC of Hickory, NC, Team RKA of Waxhaw, NC, Team FX of Greensboro, NC, and TEAM AKERU of Columbia, SC. All the teams put out awesome performances, but Strike Force really kicked that day. Kristin Tupper, and Jared “My name is not Elvis” Pressley won Underbelt Grand Championships and their instructor Corky Sikes won the Black Belt Traditional Forms/Weapons Grand Championship.

The tournament started on time. We were all delighted to hear Team FX’s Winter Mize sing the National Anthem. Winter is a very talented Jr. Black Belt competitor with a Golden voice. It was also Winter’s 13th Birthday.

All these top competitors were not only here to attend a great tournament, but were hoping to go home with some of the $1,200.00 Grand Championship prize money. All the Black Belts Grand Champions each took home $200.00, while the Under Belt Grand Champions took home $100.00 each. Not often do you see that kind of Under Belt Grand Championship money handed out.

The competition was fierce in most all divisions. In the 12-13 yr old girls Advanced division it was a tough three way battle between Team FX’s Winter Mize, Team Karate World’s Shawna Coady, and Team Strike Force’s Kristin Tupper. All three girls are very gifted and competitive. They were evenly matched and I’m sure the Judges had a hard time choosing a winner.

One amusing event happened during the course of the tournament. In the 18+ BB Open Weapons division World Champion Corky Sikes was cruising along with his flashy Bo form. All of a sudden the Bo slips out of his hands on falls to the floor. The next thing you know is that he runs to the back of the ring and grabs his sword and continues to slice and dice through the routine. Everyone got a good chuckle, especially the Judges. Nice try, but the Judges were too smart to fall for that old trick.

Dr. Germon Miller of Team Akeru impressed many that afternoon by knocking off many of the best southeast Black Belts. She is in incredible shape for a woman of her age. She is known as “Mama G” by her students and is a very well liked and respected member of the Martial Arts. Her Akeru African Martial Arts students are very gifted too. “Mama G” won a Carolina Martial Arts Open Grand Championship for the 2nd year in row.

The husband/wife team of Joey & JuLayne Shiflett continued their winning ways as they both won Fighting Grands. JuLayne had no problems disposing of her opponents. Joey also had it easy until he reached the finals of the Men’s Executive BB Fighting Grands, his Larry Dillingham. Last year these two warriors faced each other in the Executive Fighting Grands at the Mt. View Open. That fight was a classic that went into overtime and ended in controversy with Dillingham winning 5-4.

This year’s battle was another classic between two of the greatest fighters the South has ever produced. What a war! It was Déjà vu all over again. Both fighters were tied 4-4 going into overtime; the 1st person to score would win. The contact was very close each time and points were given both ways to each competitor thus forcing another tie 5-5. The same thing happened several more times forcing the fight to go to 8-8. Both men seemed frustrated that they could not put the other one away. Finally Shiflett scored the tie breaking point to give him the win and the Men’s Executive Fighting Grand Championship.

Overall I really enjoyed myself, and I believed everyone else did too. This should be THE MODEL tournament for other promoters to copy. This is clearly the best small/medium tournament I have attended since moving to the Southeast. Next year Brian Pena will be moving the tournament to the SC State Fairgrounds and the 40,000 sq ft Cantey Building in downtown Columbia.

Brian Pena would like to humbly thank each and every competitor, judge, scorekeeper, spectator and volunteer for attending and making the Carolina Martial Arts Open such a huge success.