Tournaments are not often advertised to the public the way other sports are, for that reason you really have to know some one practicing some form of martial arts to know when there will be a tournament. This tournament was no different from all other over the years. Little to no advertisement in the media and mainly attended by former practitioners, and family of those participating. The best part of this tournament is the advancement of the younger fighters. Ive got to admit they astounded me by their level of fighting skills. It used to be not so long ago that yo u would expect a fight between children would be a matter of bouncing up and down and bumping into each other. It was entertaining to watch and often gave a good laugh. Not this year. the fighters of all ages had great skill, some more than others, executing perfect timing on point hits and dodging techniques.
Another new practice is the inclusion of sanshou fighting within the arena. Although the sanshou fighters fought each other instead of traditional fighters was welcomed since the rules of point fighting do not allow for the sanshou style of fighting and point system. The regular crowd were present and many of the same black belt fighters were in attendance. Sometimes it can become boring watching the same black belt fighters fight again and again, but they never dissapoint.
I am unsure of the amount of schools that participated in this years tournament but based on their fighting styles and katas performed I surmise that there were fighters from Goju Karate, Kung Fu, and Nisei goju karate.
I was told of this tournament a while back but was not invited as the official photographer, it was a friend that called me and asked if I was coming out to the tournament. After clearing my schedule I decided to make the trip and enjoy the tournament. Below is a slide show of the fighters that I was able to capture on digital sensor. Enjoy
Martial Arts in the Bahamas 