A team of 75 students from Texas Isshinryu Karate Kai brought home 125 trophies from the 2008 Traditional Martial Arts Winter Classic Tournament held recently in Denton.
The group competed in possibly Denton’s first-ever traditional martial arts tournament that attracted competitors from all over north Texas and Oklahoma.
Competitors also got to experience a seminar conducted by Hanshi William H. Duessel, a ninth degree black belt who received his black belt in Isshinryu personally from the founder, Master Tatsuo Shimabuku in 1964.
Hanshi Duessel, who is the highest-ranking black belt in the Isshinryu World Karate Association in the United States, demonstrated some basic techniques that are helpful to students of all styles in the martial arts as well as the proper way to execute kicks and some self-defense techniques he developed.
Texas Isshinryu Karate Kai, which has locations in Plano, Coppell, Denton, Flower Mound, Southlake and Wylie, hosted the tournament and seminar. Hanshi Duessel is the teacher of TIKK president and 8th degree black belt Kyoshi Robert Kristensen.
Following are the tournament results of students from TIKK’s Plano dojo:
Black Belt Divisions
Kata Kumite Weapons
Carol Gue 3rd 2nd 4th
Kent Kirkpatrick 2nd 1st ---
Advanced Divisions
Kata Kumite
Andrew Black 3rd 1st
Tracy Dickey 3rd 2nd
Taylor Casale 4th 2nd
Steve Kroll 3rd 2nd
Johannes Kroll 3rd 4thCaleb Stanley --- 4th
Intermediate Divisions
Kata Kumite
Maggie Butterfield 1st 4th
Beginner Divisions
Kata Kumite
Robert Casale 3rd 4th
For more information, call (972)315-1358 or visit www.txikk.com.




