The Shelby City Parks & Recreation Gym in beautiful Shelby, NC was home to the 30th ANNUAL  MID-CLEVELAND KARATE CHAMPIONSHIPS. Grand Master DONALD McCLUNEY and his wife CYNTHIA were the host for this wonderful event. This was my first appearance at this tournament and I enjoyed it tremendously.

One of the things I liked about this tournament is that there was an emphasis on keeping the rings going at all times with very little time between divisions. I HATE EMPTY RINGS, because that’s a sign that we will be at a tournament all day long. I must say that this tournament ran as smoothly as a Rolex watch and that is unusual for tournaments across the country. You don’t last 30 years running a tournament by putting out an inferior product.

Many of the region’s top competitors were in attendance including some amazing youth Under Belts. SARA CLINE of TEAM MVKC is a remarkable young lady with a lot of skills. She is so gifted she managed to win the Youth Under Belt Grand Championship, beating a large group of competitors aged 17 and under. That is quite a feat for an 8 yr old Intermediate competitor.

Recently I have noticed a shifting of the guard here in the Southeast Tournament circuits, Many new faces have been appearing while some of the seasoned veterans are taking a break from competition.

Another new face to the circuit is RANDALL DERRICK, a 12 year old student of MASTER GARY DILLINGHAM. RANDALL is just like any other kid at a karate tournament except he is paralyzed from the waist down due to botched up back surgery he had at age 5. He is an honor student and very popular among his classmates and his karate buddies. He is an inspiration to a lot of people. He seems to be a really great kid.

The Judging as usual was very good, and kudos to Action Magazine’s Georgia correspondent LIBBY WOOLARD for coming by to help Judge for the McCLUNEYS.

CHRIS URCINOLA did a great job in winning the 18-34 Black Belt Men’s Sparring Grand Championship. He beat some pretty impressive fighters and really showed me something.

Ageless JOEY SHIFLETT defeated DARRELL NORMAN to win the Black Belt Executive Men’s Sparring Grand Championship.

Overall this was one of the more enjoyable tournaments I’ve attended in the last few years. I encourage everyone to attend his 31st annual tournament next February.

Congratulations to Grand Master DONALD McCLUNEY and his wife CYNTHIA for their hard work and support for the other Promoters. The hard work certainly paid off as evidenced by the great support this tournament had. I certainly give this tournament a big THUMBS UP.

                  GRAND CHAMPIONS

17- Under Belt Kata                                       SARA CLINE
Adult Under Belt Kata                                    CHRIS WILKES
Jr. Black Belt Kata                                          GRISHA SMIRNOV
Adult Black Belt Kata                                     BRANDON BEACH
Adult Black Belt Sparring                               CHRIS URCINOLA
Adult Black Belt Executive Sparring                JOEY SHIFLETT