LUMA to compete for Team U.S.A. in Japan

10 members of Life’s Ultimate Martial Arts Academy will compete and represent Maysville and the United States team at the World Championship in Japan this fall.

On Aug. 9, Team LUMA will begin its journey to Japan, the birthplace of karate, and experience temples in Kyoto and training in Okinawa before traveling to Fukuoka for the Nihon Bogu Karate-Do Association Tournament.

General manager and professor of the LUMA Academy Adams Snipes stated, “We had seven that qualified, well 10 that actually qualified, seven of them is going, seven qualified on the U.S. national team to represent the United States of America.”

He said there is a competition team where those who want to compete have to join that course.

“Here’s the fundamentals, here’s our strategies, here’s what we’re doing to you know work the arena and to work the judges what they’re looking for, stances, power speed, accuracy there’s a lot that goes into it,” Snipes stated.

He said it is a big academy and has been to several tournaments including some at the regional, state, national and international level, such as a tournament in Cancun, Mexico. Snipes’ team represented the U.S. there.

When asked what the process was getting to Japan, Snipes stated, “A lot of hard work and everything so really so just working your way up to, to regionals, state-level some nationals and of course international levels so some of these kids they’ve been training for you know years to make it to this level.”

He said the trip was made to let the kids see training from the “founders” of martial arts.

“We have a couple of trainings at some temples that’s going to go on over there from descendants of the founder of, of actual karate, which was Gichin Funakoshi,” Snipes stated.

He said France and Italy along with several other countries, totaling about 148 countries, were invited to the competition. Snipes noted they will not know which will be there until they get to the competition.

It was in March/April that those who qualified found out they had qualified including a couple of qualifiers in everything, according to Snipes.

“They’ll be competing in different aspects of martial arts too so they’ll be doing forms, weaponry, sparring, and things like that,” Snipes stated.

He said, regarding the tournament, they will not know when they will compete until they get there and will have to sit and wait to have a division called.

“We use that as a training tool as well you know we’ll look at this person see how they’re competing they have the intensity, they’re doing this so make sure you get out there and you perform,” Snipes stated.

He said the competition will go on for one day, as it is in a big convention center.

Snipes noted the team’s anticipation, expecting it to set in once they land in Japan and have done some training.

Snipes said the LUMA Academy has been in operation for 26 years and has had almost 30 state-level competitors, 14 national-level competitors and six world championships.

“It’s amazing, I mean to watch the kids how they’ve grown. Honestly and not just kids but adults, you know we have some adults that’s going too that’s actually worked that way up to that level because you know you don’t, you don’t hear a lot about that from small hometowns you know,” Snipes stated.

He said it is the hard work both the students and coaches put in. This includes eight coaches and eight assistant coaches who help.

Snipes’ wife stated, as a coach, you are cheering them on but the students are also cheering the coaches on as well.

“We’re going to compete we are going to represent the United States and Maysville, Kentucky so we naturally want to bring home the gold, you know, as a coach,” Snipes stated.

He stated with his wife they also want to make Maysville proud. They are proud to be on the U.S. team.

When they went to Cancun, Snipes stated there were around 900 or more competitors and his team brought back both silver and bronze.

“The experience is really what we’re hoping for, for them to just grow in their journey of the martial arts because everybody has a different journey, just to get better and come back and you know just kind of train with what we’ve learned and what can we do next year to get better,” Snipes stated.

For the competition he said they have to follow more traditional rules and Snipes stated, “The difference between traditional and open division is open division, we allow flare so we have students that they’re tossing things they’re doing flips and catching behind.”

He said they had to adapt different methods for their training. Snipes noted this is a work in progress but hopes that things work out well.

In Japan, martial arts is taught in the school system so Snipes’ students will go against people who train around 20 to 30 hours a week. Snipes noted there are kids at LUMA who work just as much.

“We have kids that you know is non-traditional sports that you hear a lot about here and that there’s sports here that kids have worked so hard on that really they need to be uplifted just the same as any other sport to be honest with you because they are. They’ve worked, you know, years. It hasn’t been a season for three months, you know they’ve worked every week all year round to get to certain levels of competition and striving for their best,” Snipes stated.

He said they are also given assignments for things like helping neighbors, helping around their homes and keeping their rooms clean.

Snipes stated his students did an assignment where they left inspirational notes in the carts at Walmart saying things like “you’re beautiful” and “keep your head up.” He said they were giving back to the community.

“We just want to share light that you know, nobody rides the bench here you know we have kids in wheelchairs, we’ve had students with spinal bifida, down syndrome. We had one child that had no leg, no arm and half a hand you know and he was phenomenal,” Snipes stated.

He said kids often find their home at the academy because martial arts is not only about fighting but about life skills. Snipes said this is his main focus and goal.

“We’re proud of the students and the athletes that we have you know they definitely and the coaches they definitely, has made the academy what it is today. You know, they really have. Because without the students, we wouldn’t be here,” Snipes stated.

For this trip, LUMA Academy is fundraising. According to Snipes, the academy will have a blacktop yard sale and vendor sale on July 20 beginning at 9 a.m.