Students Compete in Tournament
The Wah Lum Kung Fu of Concord Competition Team. In back row from left are Charles Coons, Julia Parmelee, Dylan Hentchel, and Evan Hughes. In front row from left are Tyler Sheffield, Narbey Derbekyan, Sifu Andrea Sheffield, katy Flagg and Lee Garafola.
Students from the Wah Lum Kung Fu of Concord school recently competed and performed in the Wah Lum Temple's 30th Anniversary Tournament and Exhibition held on Nov. 6 in Orlando FL. Wah Lum Kung Fu students and instructors from around the world went to Orlando in honor of Grandmaster Pui Chan's 30th anniversary of the completion of the only traditional Chinese martial arts temple in the United States. The weekend festivities included a day long tournament and a sold out evening exhibition on Saturday and an awards luncheon with premiere showing of a full length documentary of Master Chan's life on Sunday.
The tournament began with the Tai Chi and sparring competitions early in the morning and proceeded with the forms events - empty hand, weapons, and two person fighting sets - throughout the remainder of the day. Divisions were grouped by age, ability level, and gender. Medals were awarded for first through fourth place: Gold for first place, silver for second place, copper for third place, and onyx for fourth place.
Eight students from the Concord school competed in the various divisions. In the teenage, intermediate, empty hand form division, Tyler Sheffield earned third place and Dylan Hentchel earned fourth place. Julia Parmelee and Katy Flagg, both competing in the adult women's intermediate division, earned third place in the long weapon (stick) event and second place in the short weapon (butterfly knives) event, respectively. Lee Garafola placed second in the adult men's, intermediate level, empty hand event. First place gold medal winners were Narbey Derbekyan in the senior men's , intermediate, long weapon (stick) event and Evan Hughes in the adult men's advanced weapon's event (double broadswords). Hughes also earned two more fourth place medals, on in the advanced, empty hand form event and another with a fellow student, Lee Garafola, for their two man, empty hand, fighting set.
Five of the eight competitors from the Concord school also performed in the Saturday evening exhibition, with an exciting combination of a group long weapon form and an empty form fighting set.
"Of the students we brought down to this event, not one had any prior tournament experience, whereas over 90 percent of all other competitors there were seasoned veterans," said Sifu Andrea Sheffield, director and head instructor of the Wah Lum Concord school. "I think that our students did so well because they all went down there with the right attitude. They were simply proud and excited to take part, to be part of the Wah Lum system, to honor something they believe in, and just fully enjoy the experience. They worked very hard preparing for this, and it paid off."
The Wah Lum Kung Fu Temple, the headquarters of the Wah Lum Kung Fu System, ia year-round, live-in training facility that provides serious martial arts students with a place to train apart from the distractions and busyness of modern life. Go to www.wahlum.com for more information on the temple.