Someone sent in this piece on the recent Day of Champions FMA event in Austin. “How do you describe an event that is so exciting that it barely leaves you time to breathe much less blink before something else happens? Two Title Belts, 17 Medals, $6,000 worth of prizes, eight sponsors, high impact action, the art of Kali to the max, pounding music.and the glory! This event could only be called “The Day of Champions.”
For the full writeup of this event click on READ MORE.
Fighters and audience members alike entered the gymnasium at Givens Recreation Center in Austin, Texas, to find it transformed into a martial arts arena. There were a few changes to the set up this time around. There was one ring set up in the middle of the floor, and around the ring were about 4 rows of seats for the audience members. Some of the audience was hesitant at first to be so close to the ring, but after the matches began, everyone was ready to join the front row action. In between matches, there were several prize drawings held for audience members that were present. Those prizes ranged from a free month at the Martial Way Academy, Cold Steel DVDs, Sjamboks, Recon 1 Folding Knives, and even Eskrima Sticks.
A total of 11 fighters were gathered at the beginning of the tournament to make sure everyone knew the rules and guidelines. The most important thing of course was to have fun, but the main rules as found on the website www.edgefighting.com were also laid out. The ring judge made it clear that this competition was not just to prove who was the better fighter, but above all, who was the better martial artist. This meant a total respect for the blade and the weapons represented. It was established that while the weapons were padded, the judges would look for the realistic amount of damage during these fights. With that, everyone could also stay friends at the end of the day.
The action was underway. at 11am sharp with the judges doing a rules demonstration for the audience. It was then time to let the bulls out of the pin and get the divisions started. The first two divisions of the day were Bladed Stick and Bladed Knife. These divisions are the most technical and take only the best to the top. Kristy Wilson would go all the way in Bladed Stick to win the division. She was definitely a crowd favorite as they watched in awe as she worked her way to 1st place. In Bladed Knife, Enrique Dryere would push his way all the way to the finals and then would have to defeat his friend and teammate to win first place.
With the technical divisions out of the way we moved into the Submission Divisions where the action and sweat really starts to pump. Each competitor would square off for three – one minute rounds to see who would advance to the next opponent. Roberto “the Machine” Vallarino would show his team and school proud with a great amount of drive as he continued to cut his way to the top and gain 1st Place in Submission Knife.
Just as expected the Submisson Stick Division would be where everyone was watching close. Not only to see who would get to the final three; but also because one of the final three would be awarded a Wild Card to fight for the Title Belt. Issa Kafena and Roberto Vallarino were already contenders so it would be a fight to see who would wrap up the division. In the finals we saw Roberto picking up 1st Place and Rocky Gonzalez in his first Stick Competition winning 2nd Place and the Wild Card for the Title Division.
Now one of the two biggest moments of the day would be who was going to win the belt! Issa and Rocky would both go first to see who would advance and compete against Roberto. This would lead Issa to advance and without wanting a break, Roberto walked to the ring and they got it on! At the end of this action we would see Roberto Vallarino crowned the new 2004 Stick Fighting Champion.
Next up would be our other biggest moment and most anticipated, the Open Weapons Division. This was great action because we would see knife and shield, stick and shield, stick and daggar and even double stick all square off to see who would be the very first Open Weapons Champion! In the finals we would see Rocky Gonzalez win 3rd Place with stick and daggar. This would give us another great Issa and Roberto match up with both wielding double stick and fighting for another belt! After a sudden death fourth round, today would definitely be the day of “the Machine”. Roberto would be also crowned the first ever Open Weapons Champion!
All in all it was an amazing day with all of the competitors showing great skill. All the judges cards would reflect that every match was a close call. Almost every match had a 2-1 ratio showing you just how good every one of the competitors were throughout the day. This on top of great sponsors like Cafe Java feeding us breakfast. ActionFlex supplying the weaponry. Cold Steel and Pointman Productions awarding the prizes. Austin Screen Printing for printing the competitors and staff t-shirts. Advocare for keeping the energy level and focus razor sharp. Finally Obee’s Sandwiches for a great lunch to finalize a great show. This was truly a Day of Champions.
Results from The Day of Champions were:
Bladed Stick Division:
1st Place – Kristy Wilson
2nd Place – Rocky Gonzalez
3rd Place – Enrique Dryere
4th Place – Issa Kafena
Bladed Knife Division:
1st Place – Enrique Dryere
2nd Place – Elio Botello
3rd Place – Roberto Vallarino
4th Place – Michael Mattingly
Submission Knife Division:
1st Place – Roberto Vallarino
2nd Place – Issa Kafena
3rd Place – Freddie Espiricueta
Submission Stick Division:
1st Place – Roberto Vallarino
2nd Place – Rocky Gonzalez
3rd Place – Freddie Espiricueta
New Stick Fighting Champion – Roberto Vallarino
Open Weapons Division:
1st Place – Roberto Vallarino
2nd Place – Issa Kafena
3rd Place – Rocky Gonzalez
New and First Time Open Weapons Champion – Roberto Vallarino
