This past Saturday Marty Eubanks in conjunction with Hillvue Heights hosted the 8th Annual Tournament of Champions Martial Arts Competition in Bowling Green, KY. The event featured over 600 contestants ages 3 to 60+ competing in five events across 160 divisions. Eubanks says “It’s really neat to watch. Anybody can compete at this level. The aspect of cage fighting or full contact stuff, not everybody can step in that cage or ring and go all out. But at this level and this opportunity any age can do it.” Contestants travel from as far as Georgia and Wisconsin to test their skills in events such as weapons, forms, sparring, continuos sparring and grappling. “All those different events are different disciplines from the stand up part to the weapons and the forms, that is basically just showmanship,” said Eubanks.
One of the the highlights of the event includes the black belt division, which included rising star, 18 year old Ried Presley. Eubanks explained “He is a superstar martial artist and you will see him in the movies one day. He is just now coming up in the division and all the men are dreading that kid coming up.”
While this is the 5th year Eubanks has hosted the event at his home church, he hinted at a venue change as the event has continued to grow. Eubanks said, “There will be a venue change next year. I don’t want to let the cat out of the bag right now but we are going to have to do that. I love to do it at a church, the atmosphere is much different than just a high school gym.”
You can learn more about Marty Eubanks World Champion Karate and the Tournament of Champions by visiting http://eubanksworldchampionkarate.com/
