World Championships – Performance Martial Arts Academy

Congratulations to all our Worlds Competitors AND WORLD CHAMPION!!!

Congratulations to Mr. Webb on his new World Championship Titles!!! He took first in Traditional Weapons, Creative Forms, and Extreme Forms!!! Way to go Mr. Webb!! Mr. Webb is a 9 time World Champion now!

Also competing for World Championship:

Ms. Powell – Competed for World Champ in forms and weapons. She placed 5th in forms and 4th in weapons. Wow!! What an amazing job Ms. Powell!! Ms. Powell is already a 4 time World Champ!

Kim Howell – Competed for World Champ in weapons and combat sparring. She finished up 8th in both weapons and combat sparring. First time competitor as well!!! Great job Mrs. Howell!!!

Duane Cunningham – Competed for World Champ in forms, weapons, sparring, AND combat weapons!! His first time competing and he got to compete in FOUR events!! He finished up with 6th in forms, 5th in weapons, 7th in sparring, 7th in combat sparring as well. Great job!!

To explain a bit more about Worlds: World Championships has competitors from all over the world, not just North America. But it’s limited to the 10 best in the world in each ring, in each event. To even make the Top 10 is an honor in itself, but to place at Worlds is phenomenal. That Saturday and Sunday is the Worlds Tournament that starts a new tournament season and resets points. Make sure to congratulate each of these competitors when you see them. This is a HUGE milestone in their Tae Kwon Do life. WAY TO GO GUYS!!!

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS!!!

After hours upon hours of HARD training every day, morning and evenings, Worlds is finally upon us!! Mr. Church would like to express how proud he is of all the accomplishments and all the dedication our students have shown thus far. Remember when you get to Worlds who we represent. You guys all look great!! Best of Luck to all our competitors!!!!!

World Championships Is Almost Here!!!

The biggest tournament of the year is almost upon us. For some students, this is what they have been working for all year: the chance to compete for that red lettered uniform and the title of world champion!! For others, this is a chance to get a jumpstart on the new tournament year. Taking first place at the Sunday competition is a huge headstart in points for the coming year. To those who have already secured State or District Championships, a big CONGRATULATIONS!! To all those competing at Worlds, Good Luck!! Keep training hard and keep striving to do better every day! You guys all look awesome!!

Vialdores wins sparring world championship

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

School Owner and Instructor Mitchell Church with Top Ten Finalist from Valdosta

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.”

In The News: Stauffer Receives High Honor

The Valdosta Daily Times
Scott Stauffer (left) was inducted as a Chief Master in the American Taekwondo Association in a ceremony at the Top 10 World Championships in Little Rock, Ark.

VALDOSTA — Scott Stauffer, formerly of Valdosta, was recently inducted as a Chief Master into the American Taekwondo Association.

The ceremony occurred at the 2010 World Championships and was made official by ninth degree black belt, Grandmaster Soon Ho Lee.

This is a high level of achievement and reflects Chief Master Stauffer’s dedication to teaching martial arts.

Stauffer taught in the Valdosta area for a total of 25 years before moving to Charleston, S.C. He is currently instructing children and adults in the pursuit of achieving their black belt degrees in taekwondo.

The process of reaching an eighth degree black belt and Chief Master reflects 38 years of commitment and training to the martial arts.

He is the seventh highest ranking individual in ATA.

ATA World Championships – Vialdores – Sparring Final Match

Mr. Ali Vialdores of Valdosta, Georgia’s Performance Martial Arts Academy , is shown here competing in his Final Match of sparring in the Mens 30-39 1st Degree Black Belts. During the 2010 Songahm Taekwondo World Championships, with competitors from over continents it was awesome.

Watch the other matches to see Mr. Ali Vialdores, reach his goal of being the New World Champion of Sparring.