A TEAM of five males within the ages of 5 and 35 years old from the Harpy Eagles Martial Arts Academy recently returned to these shores from St Lucia, where they participated in a Martial Arts Festival at the Rex Hotel in Rodney Bay and clawed 16 medals, with 10 gold medals being among the nest.
According to a press release, the five-man team, which was headed by Sensei Troy Babb Sr, and included Lorazo Scott (5-6 years old), Romeo De Freitas (11-12 years old), Kemo Scott (11-12 years old advanced) and David Murray (18-34 years old), competed against other karatekas from England, Japan, Trinidad and Tobago, Martinique and the United States of America with distinction.
Five-year-old Scott clawed gold in the traditional kata, weapons and sparring categories, while De Freitas also copped three gold medals in the same areas as Scott, along with silver in the Sparring category.
Kemo Scott competed in the 11-12 Advanced Traditional kata, weapons and Sparring competitions and got two silvers and one bronze respectively, even as Murray who was a contender in the 18-34 years old category, managed to pick up a gold (traditional kata) and bronze in the weapons demonstration.
As is always customary with Babb whenever he leaves these shores to compete overseas, the 35-year-old sensei clawed gold in the traditional kata, weapons display and musical kata respectively, along with a first place trophy in the kumata display to go along with his silver medal in the self-defence category.
So dominating were the Harpy Eagles whose dojos will be offering free training sessions to the public for next month, that they received a special invitation to compete in the United States Karate Alliance 2010 National Tournament which is set to be held in Albuquerque, New Mexico from March 25 to 28, 2010.
Special thanks is being extended to the residence of Buxton and Beterverwagting, Director of Apex Academy Shazad Alli, Director of the National Sports Commission (NSC) Neil Kumar and the parents of the three students, without whom the successful trip would not have been possible.
For further information on the free training sessions, interested persons are asked to call 220-1606, 675-0625 or 696-2988 for further information.