【時報訊】第21屆Shorin Ryn職業、業餘空手道大賽，六月十二日在聖路易Vashon高中體育館舉行，來自全美各地近200位選手參賽。今年首次將中國太極列入比賽項目，包括各級別陳式太極、楊氏太極等演練比賽。所有參賽選手中僅有一位華裔選手、15歲的趙瑋婷(Connie Zhao)參賽，獲得中級太極劍比賽之冠軍。
本屆空手道大賽之總冠軍為Jim McClung。
本屆空手道大賽主辦人為Lou Miller 和Mike Norvell，而促成將太極列入比賽項目的推手即為太極師父Herb Parran，他花了二個月的時間準備，聯繫本地區各太極團體，組織志工服務團，邀約太極裁判組，鼓勵太極選手參賽，功不可沒。
在空手道大賽中，應邀擔任太極裁判的有華裔高尚，朱明輝，律師Justin Meehan及聖路易大學高中退休教師LeRoy Alsup。
Shorin Ryn Pro-Am karate tournament includes Tai Chi
Violet Li - St. Louis Tai Chi ExaminerJune 16, 2010
More than 500 people, including 200 contestants gathered in the Vashon High School Gym, in St. Louis, Missouri, on the past Saturday for 21st Shorin Ryn Pro-Am Karate Tournament. Overall, it was a great tournament. The Taichi competition was a new addition and turned out to be very successful. The tournament organizers Lou Miller and Mike Norvell were very excited about the results and decided to include the Taichi competition in future tournaments.
What makes this Taichi tournament unique is how the local Taichi community came together under the leadership of Sifu Herb Parran. The Tournament organizers came to Sifu Parran about two months ago. Because of both his inexperience in organizing competitions and his humble personality, Sifu Parran contacted many local Taichi instructors one-on-one to solicit their support. He worked very hard and tried to enlist as many resources as he could to ensure that there would be a quality team of judges. He assembled a team of two dozen volunteers including nine judges Paul Reed, Justin Meehan, Alan Ludmer, Shang Gao, Larry Adams, Vince Carella, Richard Greeo, Patty Burkhalter, Ken Green (of Columbia, Missouri) and two head judges Ming Busalaki and LeRoy Alsup. He held a planning meeting in late April and a judge meeting in late May to set the rules for judging. He spent 60 hours in making numerous phone calls, emailed contacts, and put competition material together.
There were Taichi categories for both hand and weapons forms. There were categories for different skill levels but no gender nor age separation. The Champions for each category are the following:
Overall Grand ChampionJim McClung
Chen Style Taiji Beginner Form
1. Chris Rogers2. Alicia Michels3. Jaedon Deskins (10 years old)4. Marvin Robinson5. Alan Davidson
Chen Style Taiji Intermediated Form
1. Jeff Craddock2. Tina Malik3. Candace Holloway4. Connie Zhao (15 years old)
Chen Style Taiji Advance Form
1. Richard Wilson2. Carolina Sanchez3. Jim McClung
Other Style Taiji Beginner Form
1. Alicia Michels2. Alan Davidson3. Marvin Robinson4. Chris Rogers
Other Style Taiji Intermediate Form
1. Tina Malik2. Candace Holloway
Other Style Taiji Advanced Form
1. Jim McClung2. Carolina Sanchez
Yang Style Taiji Intermediate Form
1. J G Pendleton2. Brian Barnsley
Yang Style Advance Form
1. Nick Alsup (17 years old)2. John Gage
Taiji Straight Sword Intermediate
1. Candace Holloway2. Connie Zhao (15 years old)3. Nick Alsup (17 years old)4. John Gage
Taiji Straight Sword Advanced
1. Carolina Sanchez
Taiji Broad Sword Intermediated
1. Connie Zhao (15 years old)
Taiji Broad Sword Advance
1. Jim McClung
What most people did not realize is that Sifu Parran has been going through some hardships in his personal life in the past couple of months. However, with his integrity and devotion to the Taichi community, he worked extremely hard and put this competition together successfully. To a few who are aware his situation, Sifu Parran is a true Grand Champion.
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