POINT LOMA \u2013 Point Loma has a new addition to its growing number of successful sports franchises: a karate team celebrating a world championship.<\/p>\n
USA Freestyle Martial Arts<\/a> at 3760 Sports Arena Blvd. participated in the International Sports Karate Association<\/a> Tournament this summer in Orlando, Florida. The studio\u2019s youthful team became world champs in the tournament\u2019s demo-performance division.<\/p>\n That\u2019s no accident, pointed out Will Jackson, sensei for Team Freestyle, a part of the karate studio that does mixed martial arts for all ages.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is for everybody,\u201d said Jackson of their martial arts training. \u201cWe have classes from age 3 all the way to adults in their 70s who are training \u2014 the entire spectrum of the family.\u201d<\/p>\n Regarding competitions like the International Sports Karate Association Tournament, Jackson said that is truly an art form.<\/p>\n \u201cThousands of competitors from all over the world were there, separated by age and belt rank,\u201d he noted, adding that tournament competitors fight by weight and size.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat [USA Freestyle] wanted to develop was the performative aspect,\u201d Jackson said. \u201cYou would be surprised what these athletes can do, like being trained to flip backward over their heads while spinning and landing on their feet. Our capacity to do that better than everyone else is what makes us good.\u201d<\/p>\n Jackson talked about martial arts being beneficial for everyone. \u201cOur goal is to provide them a vehicle for growth, fitness, and personal development and self-defense for the entire spectrum \u2014 people just beginning up to world-class athletes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The objective at USA Freestyle is to keep members long-term, said Jackson, noting their studio wants all of their students to eventually earn their black belts.<\/p>\n The relationship between the karate teacher and the pupil is also unique, pointed out Jackson.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s different than a school relationship where (teachers) just get students for a year,\u201d he noted. \u201cOur goal is to get them from age 6 to 18, then send them off to college.\u201d<\/p>\n Jackson pointed out that martial arts themselves are very diverse.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are many different systems and styles; it\u2019s very niche,\u201d he said, adding that part of USA Freestyle\u2019s mission is to help students grow and mature as they progress in mastering karate.<\/p>\n \u201cKids come in here wanting to become a Ninja Turtle or Power Ranger or Marvel Superhero,\u201d he said. \u201cBut fundamentally, martial arts is a vehicle for personal development. Our goal is to transform students into productive members of society.\u201d<\/p>\n Discussing one of the major tenets of martial arts, Jackson said, \u201cIf you find yourself in a potentially self-defense situation, we teach the students how to manage their egos so they don\u2019t have to engage in self-defense if it\u2019s not necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n Jackson talked about how students progress through the various karate belt levels.<\/p>\n \u201cMost students start between ages 3 and 8, and every three months they\u2019ll test for a belt,\u201d he said. \u201cBy the time they are age 15 or 16, they should have accomplished all of the belts, more than a dozen.\u201d<\/p>\n READ NEXT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"POINT LOMA \u2013 Point Loma has a new addition to its growing number of successful sports franchises: a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":88235,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[6569,49232,3365,74,76,75,49233],"class_list":{"0":"post-88234","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-exclude-homepage","9":"tag-international-sports-karate-association-tournament","10":"tag-point-loma","11":"tag-san-diego","12":"tag-san-diego-headlines","13":"tag-san-diego-news","14":"tag-usa-freestyle-martial-arts"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88234","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88234"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88234\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/88235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}