Axsom's Army Finishes Out 2020 Virtually

We have fallen woefully behind on updates from the Axsom dojo. In fact, Sensei "Moose," as he is affectionately called, just sent a fourth one today. So, we're going to dedicate the month of July as Martial Arts Month here at VPS. It will be a good month to promote the dojo as McGrath Educational will be posting a big announcement on July 15, and hopefully steering extra traffic to Virginia Peninsula Sports.

Here's how Axsom's Army ended the 2020 campaign, as reported by the good Sensei himself.

As a result of Covid19, the 2020 AAU National Championships and Team Trials were cancelled. They were supposed to take place in July and then in October of 2020 at the ESPN Wild World of Sports in Orlando, FL. Despite the cancellation, the AAU organized a Virtual Online National Championships where competitors and coaches could video submit entries for the following categories: Kata (Empty Hand Forms), Kobudo (Weapons Forms), Team Kata, Family Kata, and Team Kobudo. Our dojo competed in this first ever virtual national championships, and below are the results of our competitors hardwork and determination. Our dojo fielded four Teams for Team Kata.

TEAM Kata:

18-34 year olds Will Whitaker, Austin Galeski, and Shaun Coles (SILVER Medal/Cup); Ryan Sigsbee, Anna Deller, and Jabari Smith (GOLD Medal/Cup); 15-16 year olds Brett Fallen, Alex Tomaino, and Braeden Monroe; Miranda ChellisMartinez, Daniela Chellis Martinez, and Maimouna Ouattara; 13-14 year olds Hunter Feicht, Matthew Thomas, and Joe Fuscia (GOLD Medal/Cup); 9-10 year olds Conner Strickland, Amari Mathews, and Jalyn Wilks (Bronze Medal/Cup).

Kata Results:

18-34 year old Male - Austin Galeski (Bronze Medal)

15-16 year old Male - Alex Tomaino (Silver Medal); Brett Fallen (Bronze Medal)

5-6 year old Male - Daniel Carney (Bronze Medal)

Kobudo Results:

18-34 year old Male LONG Kobudo Advance (Bo and Eaku) - Austin Galeski (Silver Medal); Will Whitaker (Bronze Medal)

18-34 year old Male SHORT Kobudo Advance (Sai, Tonfa, Kama, Nunchaku) - Austin Galeski (Bronze Medal)

18-34 year old Female LONG Kobudo Advance - Jessica Sigsbee (Bronze Medal)

18-34 year old Female SHORT Kobudo Advance - Jessica Sigsbee (Silver Medal)

15-16 year old Male Novice - Brett Fallen (Silver Medal); Alex Tomaino (Bronze Medal)

13-14 year old Male Intermediate - Joe Fuscia (Bronze Medal)

11-12 year old Male Beginner - Ryan Wartell (GOLD Medal)

9-10 year old Male Beginner - Moustapha Ouattara (Bronze Medal)

9-10 year old Female Beginner - Coley Carney (Bronze Medal) 

7-8 year Female old Beginner - Shianne Medlin (GOLD Medal)

5-6 year old Male Beginner - Daniel Carney (GOLD Medal)

In total, our dojo had 23 total competitors compete. Not everyone medaled. The dojo brought home a total of 30 Medals for team and individual events.