February 2001 Newsletter

In This Newsletter:
New Year kicks off a successful year
PAL Tournament brings 17 more victories
Kick A Thon Raises $1,700 for St. Judes Childrens Hospital
Renshi Anne Inducted into another Hall of Fame
2001 Action Martial Arts Magazine inducts Renshi Anne for "Dedication to Martial Arts"
New Year Kicks off a Huge Success!
PAL Tournament Results
The Pal tournament in Jacksonville on February 10th was a true success. Not only because of the 17 trophies we brought home, but also because of the strong support we received from our families and friends. Each student did their personal best! The list below gives the standings of what happened.
Black Belt Ms. Lisa stood 10 feet tall in her 5'4 frame as she competed for the first with the black belt men to place third in Kata and 1st place in Womens Black Belt fighting. She represented well, beating the Division Champ from years past, and had the crowd cheering for her. That a girl "Road Dawg"! Then the focus switched to Head Kelegion Kai Buffy "The Buffamatic" as she did her personal best in Weapons placing 1st. This was her first time competing since recently earning her red belt and competing against black belt-purple belt women. She also placed first in Kata and came in 2nd in fighting. Her kias were piercing and powerful at an all time high. Way to go Buffy! Next the kids performed.
Tyler performed his new kata, Poddicun 1, for the first time, and placed 3rd in a new division of Green Belt 9-10 year olds and 1st place in Fighting. Although Tyler is only 8 now he chose to go up in his division since he will be nine soon. His battle was tough and we all were proud to see him press past the personal injury he shook off and take the 1st place. Philip did very well in his first tournament ever and almost came in 3rd. He fought so well we consider him a champion in the making! Then Mandy (Buzzsaw-Chainsaw's daughter) and Chris mesmerized the judges with a great Kata and Fighting performance Mandy taking 1st in Kata and 3rd in Fighting and Chris taking 1st in Fighting and 2nd in Kata. This was Chris's first top placement ever, and it was hard to tell who was prouder: him or his mom. Mandy showed the heart of a tiger in the ring against guys a foot taller. And as for short kids, Little Dylan came in with his great smile and fantastic energy to show everyone how much fun fighting in tournaments really can be. Although he did not get a trophy he won a lot of hearts that day. Way to go kids! Then it was back to the adults.
"Chainsaw" Kelegion Kai Debbie performed Poddicun 1 for the first time. Her stances were awesome, and she came within a tenth of a point of taking 2nd, bringing home a third place trophy and having fought a hard battle in fighting in her new division as a green belt. Although she and Black Belt Mr. Anthony (who fought in heavy weight men division) both felt under the weather, they represented well by showing us that you can press through your challenging days when you are feeling less than your best and still do the job you came to do. Way to inspire us all you are truly warriors! Our quiet little Kelegion Kai Liz exploded into the ring fantastically performing Heian 5 and taking first place in a new division for her. In fighting she held her composure together so well she looked like she was having fun and executed a plan to give the other ladies in her division a tough run for their trophy. She made them earn every point they got. We give her the biggest compliment for stepping up and doing something that we all know was very tough for her to do. Then came the fun part as we watched our girl Kelegion Kai Cathy, "the Tenderizer", win 3rd in Kata and 2nd in fighting against the men in her new division as greenbelt. The men, at first, did not seem to like the fact that a women was in their ring but after watching her perform and after receiving a backfist and reverse punch from her, they knew she was all about business-not just a pretty face. And then Kelegion Kai Matt, "the grim reaper", who had nothing but Kung Fu in his division, went out and showed them that big things come in small packages as he held his own against what we learned has a much different idea of where the point areas are. He still came in 3rd and gave such a great show of warriorship that even the kung fu people were complimenting him. We all laughed at learning where the kidneys are actually located (inside joke). Just remember to find out what the judges in YOUR RING are calling a point before you fight- not just what we understand the rules to be. Always be a professional in and out of the ring. Never display a fatheaded or mean attitude. We are there to learn and have fun whether we bring home a trophy or not. It was a great learning experience for us all. Much thanks to the family members and friends who filmed and kept score and help ensure the wellbeing and happiness of our competitors. And as always a big thanks to Grand Master for teaching us so well in his seminars about competing.

Back to top
KICK A THON 2001
Kickathon Winners: Lisa, Dylan, Buffy, and Shyam
Kickathon Winners (l-r): Lisa Roddenberry, Dylan Bozeman, Elizabeth Carlton, Shyam Lakshmin
With 22 kickers and a long list of sponsors we helped raise over $1,700 for St. Judes Childrens Hospital Research in 15 minutes of kicking time performing an amazing 26,205 kicks. This charity means a lot to us since we have 4 families in our dojo that have been to St. Judes or one of their affiliates and 6 families in Leon County who receive assistance from St. Judes. Our Gold Medal Winner AGAIN this year and placing 2nd in his division was Dylan Bozeman raising $520 for St. Judes and kicking a total of 832 kicks. The Overall Grand Champion and 1st Place Winner in her division and Bronze Medal kicker raising $125 was Black Belt Lisa Roddenberry with 2,164 kicks. The Child Grand Champion and 1st Place in his division was Philip Kawell with 1,463 kicks who won a nice scooter among other prizes. The Silver Medal Winner and 1st Place in her division was Kelegion Kai Buffy Carlton with 1,966 kicks and raising $260. The Bronze Medal was earned by Shyam Lakshim who raised $131 and also won 1st Place in his division. The youngest competitors were friends, Brittney Roddenberry and Abby Clayton who are 3 years old and kicked a total of 487 times as they held hands laughed and played. Brittney is the daughter of our Instructor Black Belt Lisa and the sister of our two time 2000 Tournament Division Champion Tyler Clayton. A complete list of all the winners listed by the amount of kicks they did are listed below. ALPHA UPKUDO is a family and christian based martial arts dojo and we support each other in every event we do. That's the secret of our success. Please support these businesses who helped make this event a true success. Their names are listed after the kickers. A big thankyou to Kelegion Kai Liz Sexton and Black Belt Lisa Roddenberry who helped me coordinate the event. It takes an incredible amount of time and energy to make an event successful. So thank you Liz and Lisa again for your help.
Medal Name Place/Division # Kicks $ Raised
Bronze 1. Lisa Roddenberry 1st Place 25-30 Grand Champion 2,164 $125
Silver 2. Buffy Carlton 1st Place 18-24 Women 1,966 260
Bronze 3. Shyam Lakshmin 1st Place 18-24 Men 1,913 131
4. Anthony Reeves 1st Place 31-up Men 1,900 100
5. Debbie Tully 2nd Place Women 25-30 1,841 35
6. Liz Sexton 2nd Place Women 18-24 1,809 38
7. Barbara McGlamory 1st Place 13-17 Teen Women 1,580 10
8. Philip Kawell 1st Place 9-12 Boys Grand Champ 1,463 35
9. Dillon Hardy 1st Place 13-17 Teen Men 1,332 40
10. Tyler Clayton 1st Place 8-10 Boys 1,323 35
11. Autumn Spell 1st Place 9-10 Girls 1,275 20
12. Matt Sexton 2nd Place 18-24 Men 1,221 35.10
13. Cathy Varriale 1st Place 31- up Women 1,205 35
Gold 14. Dylan Bozeman 2nd Place Boys 6-8 832 520+
15. Stephen Tully 3rd Place Boys 6-8 831 5
16. Jessy Clayton 1st Place 5 and Under 827 35
17. John Combs 2nd Place 9-12 661 35
18. Matt Combs 3rd Place 9-12 652 35
19. Jordan Dalton 4th Place 6-8 584 20
20. McKenzie Spell 2nd Place 5 & under 331 20
21. Brittney Roddenberry 3rd Place 5 & under 267 10
22. Abby Clayton 4th Place 5 & under 220 35

SPONSORS
Kris Spell June and Randy Bozeman
Alpha Adv. & Displays (Lisa- Matt-Renshi)
Walmart (Danny)
Salty Dawg
Tallahassee Engraving
Chuck E Cheese
Oshmans
Coke
Quality Water
No Limits Clothing
Papa Johns
Publix
Fun Station
Century Martial Arts
Asian World 		Featherlite Displays
Play It Again Sports
Sam Goody
Universal Studios (Buffy)
Nova Laser Light
Christian Bookstore
Tallahassee Sportsplex
Sonia Clark TC & Melody McGuire (Dillon)
Clothesline
AMC Theatres
Tantalizing Tans
Wakulla Basketball
Akom Financial
Team Toyota

Back to top
RENSHI GETS INDUCTED INTO HALL OF FAME
A group of family and friends went with Renshi to Atlantic City, New Jersey on January 20,2001 to watch Renshi receive her third Hall of Fame Award . This time the award was given to her by the Action Martial Arts Magazine for "Dedication to Martial Arts" by the board of Grand Masters and Publishers of the Magazine. The event to place at the Tropicana Casino with over 1,400 attending. Renshi was one of the few women of the 300 receipients to receive an award. A female grand master from China and actress Cynthia Rothrock were also two women inducted. The night before the event, Renshi went to the Ultimate Fighting Matches while the others visited the Casino. Grand Master Jurg Ziegler sat with Renshi and explained some of the the moves the fighters were doing by contrast of the Asian fight matches . It is so different than the tournaments we train for but one can appreciate the training it takes to participate in such an event. The day before the event, there was approximately 14 seminars given the by Grand Masters from all over the world and approximately 10 movie stars with tables at the tradeshow. At the wine and cheese party, Renshi had a chance to tell others about our school here in Tallahassee and our Grand Master Baker's system of UPKUDO.

"To all my students...It is a great honor to be inducted and involved with wonderful Instructors, Masters and Grand Masters from many systems. We can all learn from each other. Special thanks to you all who had you not been under my instruction for training, I could not have received this award. It is because you have done so well and want to learn and given me the opportunity to share my knowledge that I got the award in the first place. I share the awards with all with you. But most of all thank you Grand Master Baker for taking the time to teach me the great art of UPKUDO you developed. You are truly the greatest teacher anyone could ever have and the most inspirational man I know."

Thank you Kelegion Kai Matt for holding down the fort for me and Lisa while we were at this event.

Back to top