July 1-2, 2023
SKA Midwest jiyu kumite practices and tournament were led by godan, Bobby Bird, leader of the Memphis Dojo and, as of today, our new Midwest Regional Manager (replacing Mike Lyon who’s been allowed to retire after more than 35 years in the position). SKA Members of all ranks were invited.
Bobby led an intense practice of his favorite jiyu-kumite drills Saturday morning from 9 to 11am. Then we enjoyed lunch at Lulu’s Thai Noodle Shop a short walk from the dojo.
From 2 to 4pm Saturday afternoon we worked on more drills, then broke into small groups where we rotated through each tournament position: fighter, corner judge, referee in order to practice each role. Finally, we held a tournament for white belts. Bobby refereed and black belts were corner judges. The winners were:
- Patrick Moeller (KC)
- Daniel Vasquez (KC)
- Sam Giuffre (UNL)
- Nick Tallmon (KC)
Second place winner, Daniel Vasquez, is a sous chef at the very popular Yard House restaurant in the heart of Kansas City’s entertainment district. The place was packed with a long wait, but Daniel phoned the manager and they had a table waiting for us when we walked in at 6pm. It’s great to have friends in high places (thank you, Daniel)!!
Sunday morning practice from 9am until around noon we made more combinations including foot sweeps.
Then we held the Midwest preliminary tournament to select up to four fighters who’ll be sent to compete at Nisei Week August 12 at the Terasaki Budokan in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles. It was VERY fun!
Black belt tournament results:
- Carl Johnson
- David Altman
- Mike Lyon
After the tournament results, David, Mike, and Bobby discussed the jiyu-kumite performance during the tournament as well as the jiyu-kumite tournament held during the special training in late may and decided to offer the four Midwest slots to Takamasa Morita (KC) and Jeff Salkas (Chicago) based on their special training performances and Brad Kindler (KC) and Jason Wright (Indianapolis) based on their performance at this tournament. We wanted to have participants from four different dojos. Unfortunately, neither Jeff Salkas nor Jason Wright were able to attend Nisei Week, so Paul Cepe (KC) accepted the invitation. Greg Tunink (UNL) had a minor foot surgery but agreed to fight if his foot is sufficiently healed.
Bobby did such a fantastic job as leader and head referee and showed an amazing set of jiyu-kumite drills and combinations that came almost exclusively from Empi, his favorite kata. It was such a great weekend and one of the most exhilarating in recent memory!