Left to Right: Mr. Church and Mrs. Powell

Mr. Church is very excited to announce that Mrs. Powell has earned her 4th degree Black Belt.  This is a major honor to receive your 4th degree Black Belt from the American Tae Kwon Do Association, which is the largest martial art orginization in America.

Mrs. Powell tested for her 4th degree black belt on October 21st in Orlando, Florida.  Mrs. Powell has worked very hard with over 10 years of experience.  Her dedication to martial arts excellence has been an inspiration to all three academies.

Dr. Louis Levy, President of Valdosta State University, honored Performance Martial Arts by being a Guest Judge at their Black Belt Testing.  Four Junior Students testing for Black Belt demonstrated street-level self defense, traditional Taekwondo Forms, and their mastery of a variety of weapons and sparring techniques. More than 20 other Black Belts, age 10 to 70+, demonstrated their progress in the incremental steps toward their next belt rank, which is accomplished over several years of training.

Dr. Levy praised the students and Taekwondo school for their perseverance and discipline, attention to detail and hard work toward accomplishing a goal after years of training. He also noted that the same skills exhibited in the school will also ensure their success in elementary through high school, through their university careers and beyond, to what he was sure would be noteworthy careers.

Mr. Mitchell Church, owner and Chief Instructor of Performance Martial Arts, thanked Dr. Levy for his willingness to host Mr. Church’s first Multi-State Taekwondo Tournament in the VSU PE facility, January 14, 2012.

Dr. Levy stayed after testing to talk with individual students about his hometown of New Orleans, self defense, personal events and comical situations where martial arts training would have been useful. Students and staff thanked Dr. Levy for being a Guest Judge and invited him back to take classes.

Three other local martial artists find success at Top 10 World Championships

Mark Webb, Jennifer Powell, Ali Vialdores and Brittany Johnson, all of Performance Martial Arts in Valdosta, recently competed at the Top 10 World Championships in Little Rock, Ark. From left to right: Mark Webb, chief instructor Mitchell Church, Jennifer Powell and Ali Vialdores. Not pictured: Brittany Johnson.

Adam MacDonald The Valdosta Daily Times

VALDOSTA — VALDOSTA — Four members of Performance Martial Arts in Valdosta traveled to Little Rock, Ark. last week with the common goal of becoming a world champion in Taekwondo.

When the Top 10 World Championships were over, TitleTown had its newest champion in Ali Vialdores, a former Valdosta State football player who won the world championship for sparring in the men’s first-degree black belt division.

Last year, Vialdores entered the Top 10 World Championships ranked No. 1 in the world in sparring. However, it was his first trip to the World Championships, and the pressure of being the favorite and an injury led to a second-round exit.

Not this year.

Vialdores entered the Top 10 World Championships this year a little more under the radar, ranked fourth in the world in sparring, and he was determined to enjoy the moment this time around. He did, and it resulted in the first of what he hopes are many world championships.

“Everything slowed down,” Vialdores said about his final sparring match. “The first person to five wins, but if you haven’t made it there yet, they throw in a yellow bean bag to signal the match is over with. I remember that yellow bean bag took forever to land. You could hear the Chariots of Fire music playing. While it was taking forever, I looked at the score and realized I won.

“It all hit me. It was great.”

While Vialdores was the only member of Performance Martial Arts to claim a Top 10 World Championship this year, three of the school’s other members that competed exceeded or matched their world rankings.

Mark Webb, a former world champion who was ranked third in weapons, narrowly missed becoming the weapons world champion in the men’s fourth- and fifth-degree black belt division. He finished tied for second, then won the tie-breaker over last year’s champion.

Judges awarded Webb scores of eight, nine and eight, with nine being the highest score possible.

“I was thinking, ‘I just won this thing,’ because that’s a near impossible score,” Webb said.

However, one other participant registered scores of eight, nine and nine to win.

“Having been world champion before, there’s not as much joy in second,” Webb said. “I was pleased with how I did. I don’t feel like I was robbed or anything. I think most people out there are going for the gold medal, the one Mr. Vialdores has. So yes, it’s good to get second and be second in the world, but I wanted to win. I think it rubs off on you here in Valdosta.”

Jennifer Powell, who was ranked third in sparring in the women’s third- and fourth-degree black belt division, finished third in the world in sparring.

Ironically, Powell admits that she isn’t very fond of sparring and that she likes the forms competition much better.

“I am really good at protecting myself,” laughed Powell. “They have taught us that at this school. With all of the self-defense you learn, I think from a sparring standpoint, I’m more defensive. I can protect myself well, and find that open spot where there’s nothing else I can do but punch and kick.”

Powell is a multiple-time world champion, having previously won titles in first- and second-degree black belt competition. She said her goal is to win a world championship in every belt level. Next year could be her last chance to win as a third-degree, because she will be testing for her fourth-degree belt at the same tournament.

“I’ve never met three more determined people in my life than these people,” Performance Martial Arts chief instructor Mitchell Church said of Vialdores, Webb and Powell. “I’ve been around some of the best martial artists in the world, and I know a lot of good people, but these are very determined people.”

Performance Martial Arts’ other participant in the Top 10 World Championships was 13-year-old Brittany Johnson, a Valdosta Middle School student. She finished third in sparring in the girls’ second- and third-degree black belt division. She entered the competition ranked seventh.

Johnson is a straight-A student who runs track and plays on a travel basketball team.

“For her to have her hands in that many fires, and to still place third in the world (in the junior division), that’s pretty awesome,” Webb said.

Vialdores, Webb and Powell all agreed that the reason for their success is Church’s training.

“Usually about two or three weeks before Worlds, when you’re in the Top 10, Mr. Church starts really picking apart the things you need to fine tune,” Powell said. “He’s trained you all year to do as well as you can in the tournament, and then he takes those parts at the very end and says, ‘This little tweak is going to give you that extra edge.’”

Church shrugs it off.

“They’re being modest,” Church said. “I’m very fortunate to have students that train as hard as they do, and are that committed.”

“When you have people like these guys, I love these guys to death. They’re really good people. It’s easy to teach them when they want to learn. I learn from them, too. Every one of them is different. I wish every one of them could win a world championship, but realistically, they’re not. They’ll get it. Next year we’ll have more, I’m sure.”

The results of the Augusta tournament are:

4th and 5th Degree Black Belt Division:
Mark Webb – placed 2nd in Forms, Weapons, and Sparring

2nd and 3rd Degree Black Belt Division:
Jennifer Powell – placed 2nd in Forms, and 1st place in Weapons and Sparring
Jennifer Hardy – placed 3rd in Forms ,Weapons, and Sparring
Brittany Johnson – placed 1st in Weapons and Sparring

Color Belt Division:
Glen Sibley – placed 2nd in Forms, 1st in Weapons, and 3rd in Sparring
Tori Sibley – placed 3rd in Forms and Sparring, 2nd place in Weapons

The results are as follows:
2nd and 3rd Degree Black Belt Division
Jennifer Powell – 4th place in the Forms competition
Jennifer Hardy – 3rd place in Weapons and Sparring

Color Belt Division
Tori Sibley – 4th place in Weapons
Glen Sibley – 1st place in XMA Forms, XMA Weapons, Traditional Weapons competition; 2nd place in Creative Forms, Creative Weapons, and Traditional Forms competition

Pictured left to right:  Jennifer Hardy, Glen Sibley, Tori Sibley, and Jennifer Powell

Here are the results:
4th and 5th Degree Black Belt Division
Mark Webb – Triple Crown Victory,  1st place in Forms, Weapons,and Sparring

2nd and 3rd Degree Black Belt Division
Jennifer Powell – Triple Crown Victory,  1st place in Forms, Weapons,and Sparring
Jennifer Hardy – 2nd place in Forms, 1st place in Weapons, and 3rd place in Sparring
Brittany Johnson – Triple Crown Victory,  1st place in Forms, Weapons,and Sparring

1st Degree Black Belt Division
Ali Vialdores – 3rd place in Forms, 1st place in Sparring

Color Belt Division
Glen Sibley – Triple Crown Victory,  1st place in Forms, Weapons,and Sparring
Kameron Anderson – 1st place in Forms and Sparring, 2nd place in Weapons
Tori Sibley – 2nd place in Forms, Weapons, and Sparring
Paige Giddens – 1st place in Sparring

Chief Instructor, Mitchell Church, of Performance Martial Arts Academy announces that eleven of his students recently competed in the Atlanta Warrior Classic.? This is an American Taekwondo Association sanctioned event that draws martial artists from across the country.

Pictured left to right: (back row) Mr. Webb, Mr. Church, Mr. Sibley, (middle row) Ms. Hardy. Ms. Matthews, K. Anderson, B. Speldrick, K. Speldrick, (front row) A. Speldrick, T. Sibley. Not Available at time of Photo: Mrs. Powell, Ms. Johnson, Mr. Matthews, Mr. Validores, R. Spaulding, T. Ike

ATA Tournament Results as Follows:

Mark Webb, 4th degree black belt, took 1st place in Songahm Forms, 1st place in Songahm Weapons, and 2nd place in Sparring.
Jennifer Powell, 3rd degree black belt, took 1st place in Songahm Forms, 1st place in Songahm Weapons, and 2nd place in Sparring.
Jennifer Hardy, 2nd degree black belt, placed 2nd in Songahm Forms, and 2nd in Sparring.
Brittany Johnson, 2nd degree black belt, took 1st place in Songahm Weapons, and 1st place in Sparring.
Mizzani Matthews, 2nd degree black belt, took 2nd in Songahm Weapons.
Gary Matthews, 2nd degree black belt, Triple Crown Win, 1st in Songahm Forms, 1st in Songahm Weapons, and 1st in Sparring.
Ali Validores, 1st degree black belt, took 1st in Sparring, and 3rd in Songahm Forms.
Ryan Spaulding, 1st degree black belt, placed 4th in Songahm Weapons.
Tanner Ike, color belt, 2nd in Forms, 2nd in One-Step-Sparring.
Bubba Speldrick, color belt, and excellent job as a competitor in his first competition!
Kristen Speldrick, color belt, and excellent job as a competitor in her first competition!
Ashton Speldrick, color belt, and excellent job as a competitor in his first competition!
Kameron Anderson, color belt, took 1st place in Sparring, 2nd place in Songahm Forms, and 2nd place in Songahm Weapons.
Tori Sibley, color belt, took 1st place in Sparring, 2nd place in Creative Weapons, 3rd Place in Songahm Forms, and 2nd place in Songahm Weapons.
Glen Sibley, color belt, Competed in Seven events in one day! He took 1st place in XMA (Xtreme Martial Arts) Forms, 3rd Place in XMA Weapons, 2nd Place in Creative Forms, 3rd Place in Creative Weapons, 2nd Place in Songahm Forms, 1st Place in Songahm Weapons, and 1st place in Sparring.

Team Performance Members from ATA Fall Nationals. Front Row: R. Spaulding, T. Sibley, Middle Row: M. Matthews, J. Hardy, B. Johnson, Back Row: M. Webb, Mr. Church, G.Sibley, Absent from Picture: J. Powell, Mrs. Hodges, and C. Sprout

Mark Webb, 4th degree black belt, took 3rd place in Songahm Weapons.
Jennifer Powell, 3rd degree black belt, took 1st place in Songahm Forms, 1st place in Songahm Weapons and 2nd place in Sparring.
Mrs. Hodges, 2nd degree black belt, took 1st place 1st place in Songahm Forms, 1st place in Songahm Weapons, and 1st place in Sparring.
Jennifer Hardy, 2nd degree black belt, placed fourth in Songahm Forms.
Brittany Johnson, 2nd degree black belt, took 3rd place in Songahm Weapons.
Mizzani Matthews, 2nd degree black belt, took 1st in Sparring.
Ryan Spaulding, 1st degree black belt, had a strong showing, especially in sparring, at his 1st black belt competition!
Charlie Sprout, color belt, took 1st place in Songahm Forms, 2nd place in Songahm Weapons, and 1st place in sparring.
Tori Sibley, color belt, took 1st place in Songahm Forms, 1st place in Songahm Weapons, and 2nd place in Sparring.
Glen Sibley, color belt, took 2nd Place in XMA (Xtreme Martial Arts) Weapons, 2nd Place in Creative Weapons, 2nd Place in Songahm Forms, 1st Place in Songahm Weapons, and 3rd place in Sparring.

ATA Master Soon Ho Lee's Battle on the Beach 2009

A Great job by all the Performance Martial Arts Academy Students!