Brownwood News – Local martial artists, representing RLS Hapkido Self Defense, once again win top honors competing in the 2017 Wild Wild West Karate and Breaking Championships. This yearly martial arts competition was held April 14th and 15th at the Abilene Convention Center. A few hundred martial artists and competition teams from all over the state of Texas and even a few participants from the state Mississippi attended this two day event.
Assistant instructor, Michael Spratt, who has won previous year’s heavy weight sparring championships, coached and prepared this year’s team for the competition.
Pictured from left to right are Julia James, Niko Kamitchis, Caitlin Alexander, and Kye Payne.
Julia James, a student at Howard Payne University, won two 3rd place awards in continuous and point sparring.
Niko Kamitchis, from Brownwood High, won 1st place point sparring and 3rd place in continuous sparring.
Caitlin Alexander, also from Howard Payne University, won 1st place point sparring and 3rd place continuous sparring.
Kye Payne, from Brownwood High, won 1st place point sparring and 1st place continuous sparring.
The Wild Wild West Karate and Breaking Championships for 2017 is “A” rated by the Amateur Organization of Karate (AOK), which is the oldest open sport karate tournament sanctioning organization in the state of Texas. The tournament is also “AA” rated by the American Black Belt Championship and Scholarship Series.
Robert Spratt is Founder and Chief Instructor of RLS Hapkido Self Defense, which is one of a few programs offered at the Brownwood Fitness Center. It is an eclectic style of martial arts, which combines traditional Korean Hapkido with modern realistic self defense techniques, subject control and use of force applications.
