Sport
11 April, 2024
Martial artists boost individual medal tallies
Red Dragon Martial Arts school made an impressive start to the International Sport Karate Association (ISKA) Queensland series, in the lead-up to Easter.
There were medals galore as 14 competitors from the Morayfeld-based martial arts school took part in round one of the ISKA Queensland series, held at Southport State High School.
Among more than 100 competitors from around the state, Red Dragon Martial Arts had athletes in a variety of ages, skills and events.
Events included Creative Forms, Creative Weapons, Extreme Forms, Extreme Weapons, Clash Sparring, Point Sparring, Kick Light Sparring, Team Sparring, Sumo, Flag Karate, Sword Combat, Traditional Forms, Traditional Weapons, Tornado Kicks, and Tricking.
The youngest of the Red Dragon Martial Arts athletes was five-year-old Heather Betty, who gained one first placing and two third placings.
After achieving three gold, three silver and three bronze medals at the ISKA NSW Open earlier in the month, Charlie Bale achieved five first placings, two second placings and a third placing at the Southport-based venue.
Lyric Van Der Kolk earned five first placings while Kelly Bodsworth earned four, and Athena Ayres earned three firsts as well as two seconds.
Adam Mason gained three firsts and a third, while Arryn Cox claimed two firsts and a second.
Dan Rasmussen achieved two top placings while Thor Hartshorn and Piper Van Der Kolk had one first, one second and one third placing each.
Jemma Bodsworth and Imogen Betty each had a first placing, while Imogen also had a second placing.
Kaiden Buck’s best placing was second, while he also finished third on three occasions. Leo Betty narrowly missed out on a medal, as he did very well in his first tournament.
Red Dragon Martial Arts owner Brett Fenton said he was particularly pleased with the results and efforts, while it was great to take a large team to the tournament.
He said it was the first time that most of the 14 athletes had competed in the ISKA Queensland series.
“Most students competing train more than three days per week in a multitude of martial arts styles,” he said.
“A lot do private lessons which helps them hone their skills for competition.”
Round two will be at the Morayfield Sport and Events Centre on July 7.
