(Aurora, CO) –Over 150 top martial artists from across the state competed in the Open Colorado Cup Tournament on Saturday, May 20, 2023. The event was held at the Warriors Martial Arts Academy in Aurora, CO.
Thanks to the competitors and special guests, the school’s owner, Master Kamil Latipov said, “We would like to thank everyone who came out to support our annual tournament. It was a great day of competition and fun for everyone involved. We would also like to thank our special guests for taking the time to attend. Your presence was greatly appreciated.”
The tournament featured events in Olympic Sparring, Grappling, Wrestling, Forms, Demo, and Board breaking. In the sparring competition, competitors were divided into weight classes and fought in a single-elimination format. The winners of each weight class advanced to the finals, where they competed for the overall championship.
In the forms competition, competitors performed a pre-determined set of movements in a set order. The judges scored the competitors on their accuracy, speed, and power. The winner of the forms competition was the competitor who received the highest score from the judges.
The board breaking competition was a crowd favorite. Competitors broke boards of various thicknesses with their hands, feet, and head. The winner of the board breaking competition was the competitor who broke the most boards in the shortest amount of time.
The demo team winners were the Academy of Life and Leadership Demo Team from Colorado Springs. The team performed a variety of martial arts techniques, including kicks, punches, throws, and blocks. The team’s performance was met with loud applause from the crowd.
The special guests at the tournament were world-renowned martial artists, 2000 Olympian and GM Sabumnim Barb Kunkel and Master Bill Pottle (Author). 2x World Champion Azam Khakirov 2nd degree black belt in BJJ, and coach Farhod Negmatov 2012 Oympian. The four masters gave demonstrations of their skills, and they also answered questions from the audience.
The 2023 Open Colorado Cup Tournament was a great success. The event was well-organized, and the competitors and spectators had a great time. The tournament was a great way to showcase the skills of the martial artists in the community, and it was also a great way to promote martial arts to the public.
Congratulations to Warriors Martial Arts and Eagle Martial Arts GTA for winning the championship second and third team standings, and a special congrats to Academy of Life and Leadership Taekwondo for taking first place!
Here are some additional details about the tournament:
• The tournament was open to martial artists of all ages and skill levels.
• Tajikistan national team members were participating at the tournament
• The athletes came from all over the state to compete with overall 16 teams.
• The tournament was sponsored by CEO of KAVKAZ EXPRESS Ruslan Shamanov
The Warriors Martial Arts tournament’s is an annual event that is held in May. The tournament is a great opportunity for martial artists to compete against each other and to improve their skills. The tournament is also a great way to promote martial arts to the community.
Participating team:
Warriors Martial Arts
Academy of Life and Leadership Taekwondo
GTA Eagle Martial Arts GTA
Universal Taekwondo
Han Lee’s Taekwondo Academy
ALL Citadel Martial Arts
Joe Shoemaker Warriors
Reunion TKD
Korean Academy of Taekwondo
NFT Team
MSU Denver Taekwondo
Zee’s Institute of Taekwondo
Tajikistan National Team
Farhorizon Martial Arts at Montessori del Mundo
Tiger Kims Taekwondo Academy
CVA Warriors MA
