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Local youths to representU.S. in Budapest tourney The News-Enterprise Thursday, September 30, 1999 By PATR1 Sports Writer
Sensei ‘John Harris goal for his martial arts school is to have his students be the best they can possibly be.
The three local youths are students at the Harris Martial Arts School in Elizabethtown and will represent their country in the Junior Budo Cup Karate Tournament in Budapest Hungary, this December.
"This is fantastic," Harris said. That's what we all work for, to get our students to be the best they can be and advance far into this tournament".
Success in big tournaments is something Moritz, 14, Sarnantha 10 and Tracy Law, 12, all have in common. During the Junior Olympics in Cleveland, in August, Moritz placed fifth in Kumite, while Tracy Law won a silver medal in kata and Samantha Law won bronze in Kobudo, Kata and Kumite.
In July, during the AAU National Championships in Orlando, Fla., Tracy Law was first in Kata and Moritz was second in Kumite competition. Samantha Law was third in her events.
The trio’s performance in those two tournaments earned them an invitation to join the U.S. National Karate Team to compete in the Junior Budo Cup in their age divisions, the highest level of competition for competitors under the age of 16. "I,m a little nervous about competing in the tournament. It’s such big event," said Moritz, a freshman at Central Hardin who started practicing martial arts with his father. "But I’ve been working hard to get there and I’m going to keep working hard so that I’m at my best by the time of the tournament. The trio will compete in two events, Kata and Kumite. Kata is a form of floor exercise where the athletes must complete at least four of 22 different routines. Points are awarded based on technique. Kumite is the fighting portion of the competition. In Junior competition the combatants are only allowed to strike the midsection and points are given for technique and hits. The three will compete with about 50 other Americans on the national team from all over the country. The tournament starts Dec. 1 and continues through Dec. 6. Harris likes his students’ chances. "All three of them have been working really hard to get ready and I think they have great potential to do very well," Harris said. "I wouldn’t be surprised if one or all of them come home with a medal." To help with the cost of the trip, Moritz’s father, Michael Moritz Sr., started a fund. All donations to the United States National Karate Team Fund at Republic Bank and Trust will be used for the cost of sending the three on their way to represent the United States. |
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With Michael Moritz Jr., Samantha
and Tracy Law that goal has been realized.