Mountain Academy of Martial Arts
By Imy Rich
The Mountain Academy of Martial Arts hosted our semi-annual Tae Kwon Do tournament at the Gilpin County Community Center on Saturday, April 27th. There was a large turn out with over 80 people watching, participating and volunteering. This year we were honored to have a new school join the festivities. Mr. Jesse Bernals’ Colorado Martial Arts Academy students were well-received by the other instructors and schools. Other schools participating included: Green Mountain Recreation Center with Master Bishop, Lakewood Link Recreation Center with Ms. Dafni, Evolution Martial Arts with Ms. Rains, Clear Creek and Gilpin County Recreation centers with Mr. Beasley and Mrs. Rich.
We started off with a short demonstration of skill and power. Beginning the demonstration 13 year old black belt, Nelson Longpearce, lifted a sledge hammer and broke two paving stones set on his father’s stomach, a test of trust and ability. The black belts did an assortment of complicated breaks on 1x12x8” boards, some with little surprises inside (confetti). Mrs. Schwettman broke four boards stacked on top of each other with an axe kick. Ms. Dafni did a beautiful bo staff form. Our only white belt, Joyce Jewell, involved in the demonstration showed a lot of trust in Ms. Dafni when she pulled out her sword and sliced though potatoes as Ms. Jewell held them in her hands. Young Ms. Erin Schwettman led several higher ranks in one of our forms, Echon shim bu. Mr. Schwettman and Mrs. Rich made a lot of noise doing some fancy moves with the escrima sticks.
Kinder Kickers
We started off the competition with the kinder kickers (4-6 year olds). The rankings were as follows: Obstacle course, 1st place: Erin Schwettman, 2nd place: Cecilia Vergano, 3rd place: Soren Stanton. Sumo wrestling was very exciting with Jaxon Skifstrom receiving 1st place, Cecilia Vergano, 2nd place, and Alexander Clelland came in 3rd.
Forms
All the other activities were open to all ages, so we grouped people together by age, size, rank and wisdom.
Forms, division 1: Erekle Kekelia, 1st place. Yeniah Wilmot, 2nd. Jaxon Skifstrom, 3rd.
Forms, division 2: Anthony Blozado, 1st place. Sydney Skifstrom, 2nd. Grason Rast, 3rd.
Forms, division 3: Jesse Greaves-Smith, 1st place. Jana Anderson, 2nd. Conner Sears, 3rd.
Forms, division 4: Soren Stanton, 1st place. Joyce Jewell, 2nd.
Forms, division 5: Evelyn Stanton, 1st place. Alexander Clelland, 2nd. Byron Crawford, 3rd.
Forms, division 6: Aiden Mary, 1st place. Darren Beck, 2nd. Marcus Johnson, 3rd.
Forms, division 7: Cecilia Vergano, 1st place. Erin Schwettman, 2nd. Kara Ryder, 3rd.
Forms, division 8: Logan Ryder, 1st place. Lacy Davis, 2nd. Gabby Ruiz, 3rd.
Forms, division 9: Brenden Davis, 1st place. Katy Brand, 2nd. Sophie Brand, 3rd.
Creative Forms
The next activity we judged was creative forms. Anyone can do anything they want. We encourage the students to use their imaginations and even come up with a name for it.
Creative forms, division 1: Darren Beck, 1st place. Evelyn Stanton, 2nd. Soren Stanton, 3rd.
Creative forms, division 2: Erin Schwettman, 1st place. Jaxon Skifstrom, 2nd. Kara Ryder, 3rd.
Creative forms, division 3: Betsy Schwettman received 1st place for her form she dedicated to black belt, Robert Lanterman, who passed away on March 9th of this year. Sydney Skifstrom, 2nd. Dillon Albritton, 3rd.
Weapons
Next our students got out their weapons. We saw so many beautiful weapon forms, done with cane, bo, and tonfas.
Weapons, division 1: Sydney Skifstrom, 1st place. Erekle Kekelia, 2nd. Erin Schwettman, 3rd.
Weapons, division 2: Jesse Greaves-Smith, 1st place. Betsy Schwettman, 2nd. Steve Schwettman, 3rd.
Creative Weapons
The creative weapons forms had only 1 participant, Sydney Skifstrom from the Green Mountain classes, who did a very artistic version of the tonfa form. Not only did she win 1st place, but because she was so brave she won best of show, which was a framed print of one of Grand Master John W. Rankins paintings. Sydney is someone that so many children look up to, and at the age of 10 years old, even adults look up to.
Sparring
Sparring is always an exciting event and only a few had their pride hurt.
Sparring, division 1: Evelyn Stanton, 1st place. Byron Crawford, 2nd. Alexander Clelland, 3rd.
Sparring, division 2: Katy Brand, 1st place. Logan Ryder, 2nd. Yeniah Wilmot, 3rd.
Sparring, division 3: Cecilia Vergano, 1st place. Kara Ryder, 2nd. Erin Schwettman, 3rd.
Sparring, division 4: Erekle Kekelia, 1st place. Gabby Ruiz, 2nd. Jaxon Skifstrom, 3rd.
Sparring, division 5: Lacy Davis, 1st place. Aiden Mary, 2nd. Marcus Johnson, 3rd.
Sparring, division 6: Grason Rast, 1st place. Anthony Blazado, 2nd. Sydney Skifstrom, 3rd.
Sparring, division 7: Connor Sears, 1st place. Steve Schwettman, 2nd. Betsy Schwettman, 3rd.
Black Belt Sparring
The most exciting activity of the afternoon was the black belt sparring. Even though Jesse Greaves-Smith is a red belt he was included in this group because of his height and abilities, which earned him 4th place. Matt Vergano, 1st place. Jana Anderson, 2nd. Chris Pearce, 3rd.
Breaking
The last competition of the evening was breaking. We use 1x12x8” pine boards. Some students choose to have the boards placed on bricks and some will ask to have it held.
Breaking, division 1: Brenden Davis, 1st place. Katy Brand, 2nd. Erekle Kekelia, 3rd.
Breaking, division 2: Aiden Mary, 1st place. Marcus Johnson, 2nd. Lacy Davis, 3rd.
Breaking, division 3: Connor Sears, 1st place. Steve Schwettman, 2nd. Betsy Schwettman, 3rd.
Breaking, division 4: Darren Beck, 1st place. Evelyn Stanton, 2nd. Joyce Jewell, 3rd.
Breaking, division 5: Sophie Brand, 1st place. Gabby Ruiz, 2nd. Kara Ryder, 3rd.
Breaking, division 6: Grason Rast, 1st place. Sydney Skifstrom, 2nd. Dillon Albritton, 3rd.
Honorable mention needs to go to: Kian Rast and Zionna Wilmot for participating, but not placing.
The Gilpin County Community Center was so kind to let us hold this amazing event. Everyone had a wonderful time.