Karate kids excel in national tournament
Brown Belt athletes Miles Choromanski, Eliza Davis, Team Captain Ellen Riley, Ben Choromanski and Alex Pao stand behind the next generation of young competitors from Manhattan Beach Karate and Yoga. Photo by Nick Salcedo
Timing was everything for Manhattan Beach Karate and Yoga owner Nick Salcedo’s 19-member team that competed in the U.S. Junior Karate National Championships held at Loyola Marymount University.
Not only did 11 athletes take home medals from the competition that was part of the 51st Annual American Amateur Karate Federation (AAKF) Traditional Karate National Championships, but also three members captured gold.
“We have been planning for this event for many, many years,” Salcedo said. “The challenge was to time everyone to ‘peak performance.’ With the winding down of the school year, graduations and all the other activities our area children are involved in, this was the challenge. However, they all performed way beyond our expectations. Everyone was well prepared, they all performed at their peak. There is a high standard in South Bay academics and sports and this theme continued over to the team’s outstanding performance at Nationals. We have an extensive program built on experience.”
Ellen Riley scores against her Black Belt adversary from New York during the Junior National Championship helping the Mira Costa junior qualify for the World Championships. Photo by Lisa Silver
Competing in divisions based on age and karate rank, Eliza Davis, Team Co-Captain Max Sweeney and JJ Chaikovsky were gold medalists in their respective divisions.
Team Co-Captain Ellen Riley joined Michael Disser as silver medalists while Ben Choromanski, Miles Choromanski, Chloe Blakey, Nathan Blakey, Alex Beaudin and Luke Fratello earned silver medals.
Other team members included AJ Chaikovski, Sophis Dafesh, Roxanne Fusco, Ben Hacohen, Jordan Lopez, Alex Pao, Zach Pao and Lucas Sorensen.
With certain age requirements involved in the process, Riley qualified for the World Championships to be held at Lodz, Poland in October.
The tournament included four classes using a round-robin system and included Kata and Kumite disciplines. Kata is executed by a series of a variety of moves, with stepping and turning, while attempting to maintain perfect form. Kumite involves sparring against an adversary.
“The purpose of the competition is to teach and instill correct Budo values to growing and advancing children involved in Traditional Karate,” Salcedo explained. “Unlike other sports, the ultimate goal is the development of the character through the experience of both winning and losing.”
Budo values include: character development; honesty and integrity; spirit of hard work; respect and compassion for others, and sportsmanship.