Ten members of Life's Ultimate Martial Arts Academy will represent Maysville and the U.S. team at the world championships in Japan this fall.
On August 9th, Team LUMA will begin their journey to Japan, the birthplace of karate, experiencing the temples of Kyoto and training in Okinawa before heading to Fukuoka for the Japan Bogu Karate-do Association tournament.
“We have seven guys that qualify, 10 to be exact, and seven of those guys will be selected to the U.S. national team and will represent the United States,” said Adams Snipes, general manager and professor at LUMA Academy.
He said there are competitive teams and anyone who wants to compete has to attend the course.
“These are the fundamentals, this is our strategy, this is what we do in the arena, what we do to appeal to the judges what they're looking for. There's a lot that goes into it – stance, power, speed, accuracy,” Snipes said.
He said the academy is large and competes in several competitions, including regional, state, national and even international level competitions, such as one in Cancun, Mexico, where Snipes' team represented the United States.
When asked about the process of coming to Japan, Snipes replied, “It's really a lot of hard work and everything, just working your way up from the local, state level, national and then obviously the international level. Some kids have been training for years to get to this level.”
The trip was organised to allow the children to see training by the “founder” of the martial art, he said.
“There will be training at several temples by descendants of Gichin Funakoshi, the founder of authentic karate,” Snipes said.
He said France and Italy, along with several other countries, have been invited to the tournament, totalling about 148. Snipes noted that it won't be known which countries will be invited until the tournament begins.
Snipes said it was in March or April that people who qualified found out they had received all of the benefits, including some of the full number of people who qualified.
“They will also be competing in different aspects of martial arts, so they will be doing kata, weapons, sparring and so on,” Snipes said.
He said when it comes to the tournament, they won't know when the competition will take place until they get there and will just have to sit back and wait for the divisions to be announced.
“We use it as a training tool as well. We look at how the guy competes. They have the intensity, they do these things, so make sure they go out there and perform,” Snipes said.
He said the contest will take place in a large convention center and will be a day-long event.
Coach Snipes noted the team's excitement and predicted that it will only grow once they arrive in Japan and begin training.
Snipes said LUMA Academy has been in operation for 26 years and has produced about 30 state-level competitors, 14 national-level competitors and six world championships.
“It's been great to see the kids grow up, and honestly, not just the kids but the adults too, that have really worked their way up to that level, because you don't hear a lot of stories like that in your little hometown,” Snipes said.
He said it's all down to the hard work of the students and coaching staff, which includes eight coaches and eight assistant coaches who help them.
Snipes' wife said that as a coach, he cheers on his students, but the students also cheer on their coach.
“We're competing representing the United States and Maysville, Kentucky, so obviously as coaches we want to bring home a gold medal,” Snipes said.
He said he and his wife want to make Maysville proud and that they are proud to be part of the U.S. team.
Snipes said there were about 900-plus competitors when he went to Cancun and his team brought home both a silver and a bronze medal.
“That experience is really what we're hoping for, for them to grow in their martial arts journey because everybody's on a different path, and just come back better and train with what they learned and what they can do to get better next year,” Snipes said.
He said that in competitions, more traditional rules must be followed, with Snipes saying, “The difference between the traditional division and the open division is that in the open division, flares are allowed, so students throw things and do somersaults and catch them behind their backs.”
Snipes said they will need to adopt a different approach to training. It's a work in progress, but he's hopeful it will work out, he said.
In Japan, martial arts are taught in schools, so Snipes' students compete against people who practice 20 to 30 hours a week, and he noted that there are kids at LUMA who do the same.
“We have kids in this country that are competing in non-traditional sports that you hear about a lot. There are sports that kids have worked hard for and, to be honest, just like any other sport, they need to be encouraged. They've been working for years. It's not a three-month season, it's a year-round effort that they've worked every week to get to a certain level of competition and do their best,” Snipes said.
They are also given tasks such as helping neighbours, helping around the house and keeping the rooms tidy, he said.
Snipes said he gave students an assignment to leave encouraging notes in shopping carts at Walmart that read things like, “You're beautiful” and “Stay positive.” They were giving back to the community, he said.
“We just want to let you know that we don't have people sitting on benches here, we have kids in wheelchairs, we have students with spina bifida, Down syndrome. We had a kid with no legs, no arms, half a hand, and he was an amazing kid,” Snipes said.
Snipes said kids often find a place at the academy because martial arts isn't just about fighting, it's also a life skill, which he said is his main focus and goal.
“We're very proud of our students, our players and our coaches, they absolutely make the academy what it is today, we really do, without the students we wouldn't be here,” Snipes said.
LUMA Academy is raising funds for the trip. Snipes said the academy will be holding an asphalt yard sale and vendor sale on July 20 starting at 9 a.m.
