United States Breaking Association Update By Drew Serrano |
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Dear USBA Members and Associates, The last few months have been very busy for the United States Breaking Association and it's members. There have been some great events in June and July, there have been some records set, and the upcoming year has many events in the works. This update contains: USBA Shirts and more... Certificates for the USBA Worlds and Internationals News from the Battle of Columbus News from the US Open News from Black Belt Magazine's 1st Annual Festival of the Martial Arts A new World Record for most boards broken in one minute A 30 second record for bending rebar...with his neck! The upcoming North American ISKA and USBA Breaking Championships early 2006 The USBA US East Coast Breaking Championships held at the Atlantic City Grand Internationals a.. We have set up a store at CafePress which features various shirts and sweatshirts displaying the United States Breaking Association logo. We will also be adding new products in the coming months. The products are good quality and ship directly to your door. There are various types of payment options. Please visit http://www.cafepress.com/usba and take a look. a.. The Battle of Columbus Martial Arts World Games were held June 17-18 at the Greater Columbus Convention Center in Columbus, OH. The event is in it's 29th year and always has a good turnout with competitors from across the globe. Grandmaster Joon P. Choi is the promoter and is fortunate to have a team of loyal and talented event organizers as well as discipline leaders. The tournament offers competition in everything; Tae Kwon Do, Tang Soo Do, Grappling, Combative Sports Weaponry, and of course Breaking. This years event was the host to the USBA International Breaking Championships. We saw a great display from the opening ceremonies to the end of competition. USBA members from Bergamo's Team Schick Quattro were part of the opening ceremonies performing a breaking demonstration through stacks of concrete. The demonstration was a prelude to the competition later that day and left the audience wanting more. As the breaking competition drew near, crowds gathered around the breaking rings to be part of the spectacle. We had some great competitors of all ages, sizes, ranks, and genders. We saw some new faces, as well as the seasoned breaking competitor. The 12 and under divisions are always a crowd favorite. The focus and determination in some of the kids on hand was tremendous! It was also great to see a good number of female competitors out there giving their all. The complete results can be found on the USBA website at http://www.usba.biz/TourneyEvent.aspx?TRNY=52 . New USBA member Diana Bernhardt placed a respectable 3rd in Freestyle Creative Board Breaking. The most patio blocks broken was 14 out of 16 by Heavyweight USBA member Clinton Murphy with an overhand elbow. This tournament offered a "Best of The Best" trophy for Creative Open Breaking. The Best of The Best winner was USBA member Fernando Camareno followed closely by USBA member Peter DeMarco in 2nd, and Zoran Ivezic in 3rd. USBA ring coordinator Daniele Pierce was on hand to keep everything running smoothly. a.. The 2005 US Open World Martial Arts Championships was the host to The USBA United States Breaking Championships. It was the first time ever that the US Open offered divisions in breaking to competitors under Black Belt and to Black Belts who were not pre-qualified for the ISKA Breaking Championships which were held the following day. I am proud to say that the USBA was responsible for opening this whole new range of breaking divisions with the help of ISKA Breaking Director Chris Lee. We worked very hard to become part of this event, as it is one of the largest and well-known events on the circuit. We were overwhelmed by the great turnout and talent that was displayed, and so was the crowd of spectators that surrounded the breaking rings. Some of the highlights were: Anthony Chung breaking 9 out of 10 in the Power Concrete Elbow division; USBA members Karen Smith and Susan Yeoman dominating the Female divisions in Speed, Power, and Creative; and Mitt Lenix reaching 8'10" in the High Kick division followed closely by USBA member Jonathan Mathers at almost 8'. It was also great to see Canadian USBA members Doug Job and Ed McLachlin make the trip to FL for the competition. Doug had a great break through 10 boards in the Power Wood Elbow division. See http://www.usba.biz/TourneyEvent.aspx?TRNY=54 for the complete results. The USBA was also able to arrange for the winners of Creative Open, and Power Concrete Light and Heavy weight to be seeded for the ISKA World Breaking Championships which were held the following day and are televised on ESPN2 each year. It was a great opportunity for competitors to have a chance to be featured on the telecast which is a closed competition. Congratulations to Mitt Lenix, Kenny Kaiser, and Anthony Chung who won those seeds and may be seen on this year's ESPN2 broadcast. Other USBA members who may be on this year's broadcast, sometime in October, are: USBA co-founders Ralph Bergamo (winning the Power Kick Wood division) and Drew Serrano, Clinton Murphy (who won the Heavyweight Power Concrete division), Fernando Camareno (currently the top rated competitor on the USBA circuit), Vincent Milo, Larry Fields, Fred Lasala, Peter DeMarco and Colin Thompson. The USBA is currently negotiating with ISKA to hold more USBA/ISKA combined breaking events so keep your eyes open! a.. Black Belt Magazine's 1st Annual Festival of the Martial Arts was a great event and drew Martial Artists from around the World. There was so much going on during the 3 day event, July 29-31, that it was almost impossible to see everything. There were demonstrations, seminars, and lectures by some of the top names in the Martial Arts World today. USBA members Bergamo's Team Schick Quattro were invited to the event to perform a breaking demonstration on Universal City Walk and teach a seminar on the mainstage. The breaking demonstration drew a crowd of thousands at Universal City Walk, which is a major tourist attraction in the area. The team displayed breaks through concrete, wood, bats, and coconuts, and feats of focus such as bending rebar with their throat. It was all topped off with a new World Record by USBA member Leif Becker for the most boards broken in one minute. He blew away the previous record, which he had tied, of 415 boards by breaking an amazing 487 boards in one minute with time to spare. The record was sanctioned by both the USBA and ISKA. The team was also featured on "Good Morning LA" on Friday and Sunday to promote the Festival. It was a great opportunity to get the USBA name out to so many people. A special congratulations to USBA member Rachelle Lagnado, show manager for Black Belt Magazine, for putting together a great event! a.. USBA member Leif Becker, of Bergamo's Team Schick Quattro, set a new World Record on Saturday, July 30, by breaking 487 boards in one minute. The previous record held by both Leif and Mike Reeves was 415 boards (Leif tied the record on National TV on "Late Night with David Lettermen" in May 2004). This was Leif's 4th attempt at the record. Congratulations to Leif on such a grand accomplishment! We will soon have a page on the website dedicated to World Records. a.. USBA member Fernando Camareno, currently the top rated USBA competitor, set a new record in August by bending 33, 3/8" X 10' rebars with the front of his neck in 30 seconds. This feat requires great focus and 'KI'. Fernando, of Bergamo's Team Schick Quattro, has been building up to a World Record attempt set for some time early next year. a.. The North American ISKA and USBA Breaking Championships have been moved to early 2006, either January or February. The tournament was originally scheduled for October of this year. This event will be a combined USBA/ISKA event similar to what was run at the US Open. There are many plans in the works to get more television exposure on ESPN2 and possibly Black Belt Television for future breaking events. We are hoping that this will be one of those events. a.. The USBA US East Coast Breaking Championships will be held at the Atlantic City Grand Internationals in Atlantic City, NJ, February 17-19, 2006. This is set to be a huge event with competition in TKD, Karate, Combative Sports Weaponry, Breaking, Grappling, and Kick Boxing. The event will be held at The Atlantic City Convention Center minutes from the Atlantic City Strip. With numerous hotels and sights to see, this will make a great weekend trip for anyone who can attend. There will be more than 40 possible breaking divisions to compete in everything from Creative Wood Breaking to Power Wood Breaking to Power Concrete Breaking to High and Long Jump. And as always, USBA sanctioned events offer divisions for all ages, ranks, and genders. Even if you have never competed in breaking before, we invite you to give it a try. Visit the ACGI website at http://www.battleattheboardwalk.com/frontpage.html for more information. Please visit the website as we will be adding and changing things in the near future. Once again, thank you for being a part of the USBA family and bringing the World of Breaking to the next level. Drew Serrano ects2000@adelphia.net www.USBA.biz |
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