Martial arts black belt Leroy Brangman this week blasted Bermuda Karate Institute (BKI) chief instructor Kristina Ingham for he called "outright favouritism'' towards her son Zenji Ingham during the recent Bermuda Open Karate Championships.

Brangman was awarded a close loss to Zenji in the final of heavyweight sparring in a match that had to be extended beyond regulation time. However he was adamant that this was only due to Kristina's intervention in favour of her son.

"I outright outclassed her son by a long shot and came first and then a couple of minutes after the fight was over she called me back into the ring, talking about she's taking my points from me under the grounds that I hit her son too hard,'' said Brangman, who had a weight advantage over Ingham.

"And then the whole crowd booed and people even started walking out, it looked real bad.'' Brangman said that his being `robbed' was mainly due to the fact that Ingham was the defending champion, adding that he held the title only because most of the top fighters from the Bermuda Martial Arts Society (BMAS) -- of which Brangman is a member -- do not take part in the BKI tournament.

He also pointed out that three of the four judges were students of Kristina, who acted as record-keeper and score-keeper.

However, Ingham flatly refuted Brangman's claims, saying that Brangman simply did not understand the rules of the tournament that favour technique over brute force.

"I didn't intervene, that was the decision of the referee. I clarified what the rules allow,'' said Ingham.

"In my opinion Mr Brangman should have been disqualified from the match earlier, because, apparently he is under the misconception that this is full contact. This is point karate, it's not full contact and participants are supposed to show a certain level, not only of technique, but of control, and this was definitely absent in the case of Mr Brangman.

"He got an informal warning -- which is of the discretion of the referee -- to begin with and then, I believe he lost on a foul because he didn't pay attention to that caution.

"It's not boxing. It's not full contact. It is point Karate, we want to avoid injuries and as far as showing any preference, my son was also disqualified from the final match against Zachary Nesbitt for -- not quite the same thing -- but disregarding the instructions of the referee.

"So I completely refute and deny what Mr Brangman said, there was no cheating or preference shown at all.'' She also promptly removed him from contention for a spot on the WKO Pan American Championships team to be hosted by BKI and the Bermuda Karate Organisation on the basis of a profane outburst by Brangman, which he admitted and apologised for to the audience, as well as his accusations of bias.

"I'm not going to have anybody on my team impune my integrity,'' said Ingham.