Gold Martial Arts to Host Interschool Tournament

Preparations for the Second Annual Gold Martial Arts Interschool Tournament are underway. 

Sensei Hender Alvarado, owner and chief instructor at the Glen Cove school, will be hosting the event on May 2 at the Glen Cove Boys and Girls Club. The tournament is slated to feature karate schools from all over the metropolitan area.

"We are getting a pretty good response so far," said Sensei Andrew Goldberg, who is one of the top instructors at the school. "I'm not sure if we have a target number of participants, but we're open to it as much as possible." 

Contestants will face each other in forms — Japanese or Okanowan only for non-brown and black belts — and sparring competitions under modified World Karate Federation rules. All participants, organizers said, will compete according to age and belt rank brackets.

First, second and third place winners will receive awards and all kids 13 and under will earn participation medals. In the spirit of competition and impartiality, the institute is allowing each school to provide its own referees for the tournament.

"We are trying to keep things as fair as possible," said Goldberg, who holds a third-degree black belt in Japanese Karate. 

As for the institute's students, Goldberg explained, the event will be a way for them to test their abilities against other schools and grow as competitors in the process.

"Certain Katas [forms] are done a certain way, but everyone adds a certain flair," he said. "If you only compete with students within the school, you don't experience as much as when you're competing with other students outside the school. We told them it's a great opportunity for them to compete."

Applications for the tournament must be received by April 29.

In the meantime, the school is also having an In-House Tournament on April 16 at 3:30 p.m. For more on the events and the school, call (516) 801-2622 or go to www.Glencovekarate.com.