Originally found at www.sunnewspapers.net
Written by Lorraine Schneeberger

Sensei Paul Moon’s North Port Shotokankarate team recently was invited to a traditional Japanese karate tournament in Cape Coral. Entry was by invite only to traditional karate clubs, according to Soo Moon. North Port Shotokan, which trains at the Boys & Girls Club gym, is North Port’s longest-running martial arts school and has received awards from the AAU as one of the top 20 clubs in the USA, Soo said. For many, this was a first-time tournament. Six students competed for the first time after only three months of training, and five of them placed. One of them was the club’s youngest competitor, Krystiana Hibbins, 6, who took a bronze medal in kata.

The team brought home 34 medals — 12 gold, 10 silver and 12 bronze, and the teens were home in plenty of time for North Port High’s homecoming dance. In addition to Krystiana, the team consisted of Elmer Buckingham, E.J. Buckingham, Dylan Tambasco, Joshua Davis, Alan West, Austin Keene, Brandon Hayes, Brandon Bedwell, Robert Hibbins, Sheralyn Hibbins, Meagan McDonald, Raegan McDonald, Martina Vale, Andy Vale, Caroline Vale, Cynthia Nixon, Heather Deemer, Ashley Deemer, Ashley Lamb, Guy Guenther Jr., Guy Guenther Sr.and Margaret Ellison.

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 19th, 2009 at 3:09 pm and is filed under Karate. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.