By: Justin Smulison
Though some students entered the competition with injuries and others left with some, their heads were held high as Ryan Portenoy, Adam Miles, Gabby Lussoro, Rebecca Resnick, Deborah Lewis and Scott Albarella all came out nationally ranked in different forms of karate and martial arts.
Sensei Adel Elbehiry has been training these students for years and took them to New Orleans in July for the National Karate Championships. He has stressed that karate is not solely about large competitions.
"I train them to be champions, but not necessarily with medals. It's about surviving and showing character before we go into the competition's rings," Elbehiry said.
The common consensus among many of the students runs along the same line of humility and self-discipline. Ryan Portenoy, 13, has been practicing karate for 10 years and was the 2003 National Champion of his age group. This year he demonstrated a threshold for pain and endurance after breaking his left little finger the months before the nationals. He said he the weeks leading up to the event were tedious.
"It was really frustrating because I had to train with my left hand tied behind my back," Portenoy said. "I wanted to go back in full form and I practiced six times a week for the month before nationals."
Scott Albarella, 15, has been in karate for seven years and said focusing his mind is the most important thing when competing. Albarella took first place in team fighting and in his overall weight class and third place in the fifteen open. He said it was great to win at this year's championships because it's part of what makes him return.
Five-time gold champion Adam Miles stands at less than five feet and took second place in team fighting. He said new competitors made this year's championship more difficult.
"In previous years I was up against the same kids, but this year there were different kids who were much bigger," said Miles, 11. "I'm not intimidated by them, though. Here I train against bigger kids all the time."
Another success story was 14-year-old Gabby Lussoro. Lussoro, who has been training for three years, took third place in both kata and fighting and, like Portenoy, had to fight through some pain.
"During the fighting competition I got a bruised rib. It was hard to breathe and standing up was hard enough," she said. "They offered me a chance to stop and I said no."
Lussoro was taken to a nearby hospital after the competition and did not suffer major injuries.
"Now that my ribs are better I'm going to train just as hard and I plan to go the Junior Olympics in Washington state," she said.
A trait shared between all Elbehiry's students is humility. Though all these young fighters can chop through wooden boards and move with precision, it hasn't gone to their heads. Most of them do not cite external mediums like kung-fu movies as influences, but rather the thrill of competition and the quest for improvement and discipline.
"We compete locally, nationally and internationally but an award is just material. For me they are champions before they get in the ring," Elbehiry said. "The student who can focus and commit - that's the real champion."
