Trophy Day for Karate Kids

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

Karate mom Gracy Llana added more trophies to her growing collection last weekend, but more than the hardware what satisfied her most last Sunday was being able to watch her dojo “kids”compete—and win—at the International Martial Arts Council (IMAC) Open at Pan Pacific Park in Los Angeles.

Since she started taking karate lessons at Gerry Blanck’s Martial Arts Center about 17 months ago, Llana has entered numerous competitons and has never left empty-handed.

The 50-something blue belt took first place in Traditional Kata, Muiscal Kata,Weapons and Sparring and received a 9.98 score from one of the judges in a kata that she learned in less than a month thanks to her mentor and friend Tamar Springer, a longtime black belt and instructor at Blanck’s studio.

“I’m usually all by myself at these tournaments so it was great being able to see my fellow students compete this time,” Lllana said. “I’m so grateful for Tamar. I never could’ve learned that fast without her.”

Black belt Ben Zamel, a fifth-grader at Marquez Elementary, has been training at Blanck’s studio for seven years and took home first-place trophies in Traditional Forms and Traditional Weapons. “Sais are my favorite,”the 10-year-old said.

Taking third in Forms was 10-year-old blue belt Eden Savoian at Bay Laurel Elementary in Calabasas. “It was about as hard as I thought it would be,” she said.      

Seven-year-old yellow belt Ryder Factor, a first grader at Corpus Christi, was second in Sparring and third in Forms. “It was my first tournament but I wasn’t nervous, said Factor, who has trained with Blanck since he was 3.

Eight-year-old brown belt Grayson Heydenrich, now in third grade at St. Matthew’s, was first in Forms, second in Sparring: “It was easier than I thought. I like Forms best.” 

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