ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Competitors from around the world traveled to Albuquerque, N.M., on March 17 and 18 to compete in the 2018 Grand Internationals tournament, a USAMA five-star event.
Hosted by the U.S. Association of Martial Artists, this event featured a day of seminars by grandmaster-level instructors followed by two days of intense competition.
Amelia Gallup, Sunapee graduate and 4th Degree Black Belt, was one of those competitors.
Having twice been a Twin State Karate Champion for New Hampshire and Vermont, Sensei Gallup decided it was time to take her game to the next level.
She worked tirelessly for months to prepare for this event and her hard work and dedication paid off. By Saturday afternoon, she had taken first place for Empty-Hand Forms and third place for Weapons Forms. This allowed her to move up to the Grand Championships, held the following day.
At 7 p.m. Sunday night, Amelia presented her form for a second time; this time competing against the first place winners in all of the Black Belt divisions. From this group, the top two would be selected to prepare and present Bunkai – an analysis of how the moves in the form could be applied against actual opponents. Amelia made it to the top two.
She was provided with three individuals to work with and given an hour to work out her bunkai presentation with them, before returning to the ring for the final performance.
“I was really touched by how the people I had just competed against were willing to help me with my presentation of bunkai and offer their encouragement,” she said later.
In the end, Sensei Amelia Gallup was the 2018 USAMA Grand Internationals Forms Champion. She returned home to Sunapee, the first woman to win this championship in the past 20 years.
“I wanted to do the strongest kata possible to show respect to the women in my division and their impressive skill level,” Gallup said. “To do anything less than my best would have been a disrespect to them.”
Sensei Gallup has been studying karate at Rising Sun Martial Arts, in Newport, N.H., since she was six years old. When asked about her experience, she said, “I love the martial arts and competing is just one way that I can push myself to get better. It was intimidating to step out there and present with strangers who I had less than an hour to work with. But how can I ask my students to do it if I’m not leading from the front?”
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