Gutierrez Martial Arts Studio hosts first annual tournament

BARSTOW — George Rodriguez sat back and watched as his son repeatedly punched another child on Saturday— and that was after allowing him to play with weapons.

While most parents would have had a heart attack it was nothing new for Rodriguez and his son Gabriel, 11, a blue belt in Chinese Kung Fu and student at Gutierrez Martial Arts Studio. The pair of Barstow residents attended the First Annual Barstow Open Karate Kung-Fu Tournament at Barstow Community College’s James R. Parks Gymnasium on Saturday. Gutierrez Martial Arts Studio hosted the event which was the first of it’s kind to be held in 11 years.

Henry Gutierrez, black belt and owner of Gutierrez Martial Arts Studio, said the tournament was a success in spite of the wildfires.

“It went very well,” Gutierrez said. “We had as many spectators as we were hoping for even though some of the people didn’t make it because of the fires. There were a lot of first timers competing and a lot of the public attended. Hopefully it’ll help spread interest in martial arts.”

The tournament consisted of three parts: kata, weapons and kumite. Each portion of the tournament was scored by groups of black belts. Divisions were broken into age and skill levels. Gabriel participated in all three events, but said weapons are his favorite.

“I like to play with the staff,” Gabriel said. “I like to spin it around and do strikes. It’s fun to strike and block like you were fighting. I like to hear the sound from it spinning in the air.”

Kata, literally translated as forms, are a series of choreographed movements involving punches and kicks performed by martial artists to perfect technique. Henry’s son Paul Gutierrez said that during a tournament kata are scored on confidence, balance and technique. The weapons portion of the tournament mirrors the kata except that the martial artist uses a weapon in the performance of the forms. Weapons used in the tournament included everything from staffs to swords.

“Katas can be almost like a dance,” Paul Gutierrez said. “They’re just dances with punches, kicks and weapons.”

The finale of the tournament was the kumite or sparring portion. The sparring was scored by three black belts, one middle judge and two watching from the outside signaling points. The sparring consisted of two-minute rounds and was won when a competitor was five points ahead. Gabriel went undefeated in sparring in the 11-13 year-old intermediate division. He finished his day sparring in the 11-13 year-old advanced division after they were short competitors. Gabriel also took first place in the 11-13 intermediate division, the largest at the tournament, for katas and second place overall in the weapons division.

Although Gabriel may be focused like an adult during the competition he goes right back to being a kid afterwards.

“I feel really good,” Gabriel said. “I did good in the tournament, and I got nachos.”