SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA HUMAN SERVICES AGENCY, ABILITYFIRST, AND ITS AFFILIATE MINDBODYSPIRIT DIRECT FIRST MARTIAL ARTS COMPETITION FOR DISABLED ATHLETES AT THE ARNOLD BATTLE OF COLUMBUS
EIGHT DISABLED COMPETITORS REPRESENT SOUTHLAND
April 11, 2002 à PASADENA, CA àMaster Joon Choi, a national martial arts director, invited AbilityFirst's affiliate MindBodySpirit to direct and take part in the first specially challenged martial arts divisions at the Arnold Fitness Weekend in Columbus, Ohio February 22-24, 2002 at the Greater Columbus Convention Center, which included the World Martial Arts Games and Asian Culture Fair. The event featured the Arnold Battle of Columbus (ABOC), which is a multinational world martial arts championship hosted by the World United Martial Arts Alliance and Grand Master Choi. The tournament offered championships with a true separation between different styles including Karate, Taekwon-do, Kung Fu, Ju-Jitsu, Kick Boxing and others.
New to the Battle of Columbus 2002 was an International Specially Challenged Martial Arts Championship for martial artists with disabilities. Martial Arts have been a component of this event for the last 4 years. Martial arts champions were crowned in team demonstration, synchronized forms and in individual competition involving sparring, form, weapons, breaking and self-defense.
Three days were set aside for the martial arts competition and conference, which featured a seminar led by MindBodySpirit on how to start a martial arts program for the specially challenged in local communities, how to fund the program and to obtain community support.
Members of the AbilityFirst/MindBodySpirit Team, coached by Anthony (Kyoshi) Marquez, who participated in the Ohio competition were:
Name City
1. Liz Robb,16 Pomona
2. Richard De La Rosa, 22 La Verne
3. Gail Geyer, 57 Pomona
4. Marco Medarno, 8 Glendora
5. Daniel Lee, 13 Claremont
6. Jvance Oliver, 17 Pomona
7. Breanna Weatherholt, 19 Rowland Heights
8. Tricia Kennedy, 33 Glendora
The team was assisted by MindBodySpirit instructors Yolanda Loera, Sachiko Marquez, Michael Velasquez and assistant Talia Nissimyan. Also, present in support of the team was MindBodySpirit Board of Directors Chair, Susan Galpert.
The participation of the AbilityFirst MindBodySpirit
team in the Columbus event was the outgrowth of the remarkable 1st Annual
International Specially Challenged Martial Arts Championship hosted by
AbilityFirst and MindBodySpirit in Pasadena, CA on October 20, 2001. This
tournament, the first of its kind, drew more than 70 competitors from all
over North
America.
Master Joon Choi, coordinator of the games in Columbus, attended the Pasadena event and was impressed with the display of talent from the disabled community. When Master Choi was conducting a search for a qualified leader to organize and direct the specially challenged category in the 2002 competition, after a blind karate champion inspired him to include people with disabilities in the competition, he chose MindBodySpirit and Kyoshi Marquez.
Every competitor in the specially challenged division
in Ohio won a gold medal in front of crowds of over 3,000 people. Arnold
Schwarzenegger personally presented the MindBodySpirit team with the Spirit
Award for their incredible and inspiring display of the I can and will
attitude that characterizes the team and serves as their team motto.
About AbilityFirst. AbilityFirst, formerly the Crippled Children's Society, is one of Southern California's largest and oldest nonprofit social service organizations. For people of all ages with physical and developmental disabilities, AbilityFirst operates a network of 22 community recreation centers, employment workshops, year-round camps, and residential housing facilities (group homes and apartments, for assisted and independent living, respectively) in the five-county Los Angeles area. Through these venues, its skilled, professional staff administers a wide variety of vocational, recreational and social service programs for thousands of participants. AbilityFirst is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities and the American Camping Association. All facilities are licensed by the California Department of Social Services.
About MindBodySpirit. MindBodySpirit specializes in providing innovative martial arts training to children and adults with physical, developmental and emotional special challenges, especially those within after-school programs in nine local communities in Southern California. The martial arts students routinely compete in local and national tournaments, including the USA National Karate-Do Federation National Karate Championships. They also perform frequently to the delight of audiences at meetings, conventions, and sports events. MindBodySpirit was co-founded by Stephanie Ivler, MindBodySpiritÇs Chief Operating Officer, a team coach, and Vice President of Strategic Operations for AbilityFirst. MindBodySpirit is also directed by co-founder Anthony (Kyoshi) Marquez, its Chief Technical Officer and the head coach for the MindBodySpirit team. Kyoshi Marquez also serves as Director of Specialized Recreation for AbilityFirst.
Please Click the links below for some great pictures of the event. Clicking will open pictures in a new window
Editors Note: Reach Out would
like to thank Steve Rosenthal for the great story. For more information
you can contact Mr. Rosenthal at: AbilityFirst c/o Director of Public Relations
Voice: 626-396-1010
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