From Wednesday's Daily Press - 12/23/2015
Both Amadou Diallo and Austin Galeski found karate by accident.
For Diallo, it was four years ago when a flyer in his classroom led the middle schooler to seek out John Axsom’s dojo on Warwick Blvd.
“I had missed football season and was looking for something to do after school,” said the now 17-year old Warwick High junior.
For Galeski, the decision to join Axsom’s school was fueled by a different motive.
“He (Axsom) was my favorite teacher at Hines (Middle),” said the 18-year old, who just completed his first semester at Hampden-Sydney College after graduation from Menchville High last June. Laughing, Galeski adds, “In fact, he was the only “A” I got in seventh grade. The way he teaches connects with me. I had no interest in martial arts, but figured it would be a good way to stay connected. I started just to hang out with Axsom two or three nights a week.”
Regardless of their humble introductions to martial arts, the pair have become disciples of the discipline, and recently earned international acclaim as Diallo won a gold medal, and Galeski, a silver, at the United World Karate Championships, held in mid-October at the Bonifika Arena in Koper, Slovenia.
In all, the AAU/USA team, which consisted of 26 members, brought home 20 medals – 10 gold, four silver and six bronze. Diallo also won a bronze as part of a three-man team in team kumite.
It was Diallo’s gold medal performance that had sensei Axsom, a 5th degree black belt with twenty years of teaching experience, in awe.
“The person who wins (a bout) usually wins by half a point, or one point. Amadou blanked the national champion of Romania 6-0. It was the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen and I’ve been at this for a long time.”
However, the road to gold was not without its moments of doubt. Diallo competed in the 80-kilo Cadet (15-17 year old) division, and received a bye in the first round.
But, leading into the second round, before his opening match, Diallo got an eyeful of his first opponent.
“I remember telling my teammates – this guy is fast! I was scared to death,” said the first-degree black belt, who is eligible for his second-degree test next month. But, Axsom told me, “do what you did to get here.”
Even the teacher admitted, “Going in, that guy was better.”
But Diallo won his opening match, and with the second round out of the way, Diallo got an early jump on his semifinal round opponent, leading 4-1. But the lead was short lived, as his foe came back to tie the match and force a sudden death overtime.
How nerve wracking was the overtime? Says Axsom, “I was more nervous.” Fortunately, Diallo quickly scored the match ending point to earn a championship berth.
Galeski, who earlier in 2015 was the male karate recipient of the Joel Ferrell award at the AAU Junior Olympic Games for his athletic ability and sportsmanship, also faced adversity during his week in Slovenia.
Competing in kumite (sparring), Galeski was disqualified for an illegal move. While unintentional, the move did break the collarbone of his opponent.
“It took a big toll on me, because some people thought I had done it on purpose. But the coaches sat me down and told me to prepare for kata, because that would be all I was doing – so do my best,” said the second-degree black belt.
In fact, while Galeski had trained for weapons competition, there was no such event at Worlds. But kata (pronounced kaa taa), is a set of predetermined moves against invisible opponents. And while it resembles shadow boxing, kata requires precision, power, speed, timing, and as Axsom likes to point out, “even breathing is scored.”
In short, Galeski needed to develop a short memory and put his focus on the next event.
It was Galeski’s focus that led him to the medal stand, a skill that he learned from Axsom, but further honed while training on two separate weeklong occasions with a Grandmaster in Naha, Okinawa, Japan.
To accomplish such remarkable feats in a short time of training amazes the instructor.
“Most members of the national team started at eight to 10 years old,” noted Axsom. “Amadou and Austin started at about 13, so they had the least experience. When they made the (World) team – that was my gold medal. I thought that if we came back with one (medal), I would have been ecstatic. The fact that they came out with that many blew my mind. They just killed it.”
Added Diallo, “We were the rookies.”
Axsom was not the only person to take notice. Shortly after arriving back in the States, the Virginia AAU presented Amadou and Galeski with championship rings to denote their achievement. Thinking back of the experience, Diallo recalls, “Everybody was nice to me. And after winning the gold, other competitors came up and wanted pictures with me.”
Even Galeski found a positive aspect from his disqualification, getting the opportunity to communicate with the opponent whom he had injured, something Axsom called a “spirit of unity.”
While the Axsom Martial Arts team competes in four to six tournaments per year (mostly AAU and Junior Olympic matches), both Amadou and Galeski have qualified for the Junior World Championships, which will be held in Dublin, Ireland next June. While Amadou will surely compete, Galeski is less certain as his school schedule in Farmville has curtailed his ability to train.
“Fortunately, there is an aerobics room at Hampden-Sydney where a few of us can get in and workout two or three times a week. But I’m not able to train as much as I want. Maybe I’ll be able to find time when summer break starts in May.”
Axsom Martial Arts is located in the Warwick Village shopping center at 11006 Warwick Blvd. in Newport News. Their contact number is 223-9944.
No comments:
Post a Comment