Bermuda martial artists impress overseas
Kaelin Cox produced a remarkable haul of medals at the International Wushu Festival & National Championship in Ontario at the weekend.
Cox captured gold medals in all three of the open Taolu disciplines he participated in, including southern fist, southern broadsword and southern staff.
“It was a good showing for myself and my team,” Cox told The Royal Gazette.
“Shout out to my coaches and my team who performed really well and thanks also to all those who supported us back home.”
Cox’s solid showing has boosted his confidence in preparation for the upcoming 17th World Wushu Championships in Brazil.
“I know what I need to work on going forward in my next training camp and these wins have given me motivation to keep training hard and do what I need to do,” he said.
Also doing the island proud at the Markham Pan Am Centre was Jashae Allen-LaMontagne, who secured gold medals in the Open Barehand and Traditional Long Weapons, as well as bronze in the Traditional Open Barehand and Traditional Short Weapons respectively.
“Overall, our team put on a really great performance at this tournament in Ontario and I think we represented Bermuda really well,” she said.
“It was an exciting event and it was really nice to see all the Wushu athletes from around the world doing their Wushu, Taolu and Sanda Kickboxing.
“I just want to give a huge thanks to our coaches at the Bermuda Sanshou Association and for all the support we have received from everybody back home in Bermuda for sure. We are all looking forward to what our team has in store for the future.”
Association president and head coach Garon Wilkinson was happy to see the local contingent thrive.
“I am really pleased with our team’s performance and I think our objectives were certainly met,” he said.
“We had very strong performances form Kaelin Cox and part of the reasoning for us attending this event was to get in some preparation for the 17th World Wushu Championships, which is being held in Brazil.
“Really happy to see Kaelin come out with three solid performances. He works with a number of coaches within our region and the feedback from them was very positive.”
Meanwhile, Bermuda athletes also held their own at the Jiu Jitsu World League Pan Americans held in Long Beach, California at the weekend, with Aaron Lugo Jr leading he charge by capturing the bronze medal in the Juvenile (17 and under) White Belt under-134lbs division.
Also flying the island’s flag at the Long Beach Arena was Cyril Whitter, who produced two dominant victories in the Masters 2 Blue Belt Male under 168lbs division before bowing out of the double elimination event after losing his fourth match on the mat.