Three golds, one bronze for young NMI karatekas in Guam

On a busy day of sports in Guam on Saturday, Oct. 24, NMI athletes made the short trip down south to show off their skills and represent the islands proudly in their respective sports.

For the sport of karate, two young athletes from WKO Shinkyokushinkai NMI won three gold medals, and one won bronze in the 16th Annual Carlos Palacios Memorial Karate Tournament at iLearn Academy Gymnasium in Dededo.

Isaiah Orr won two gold medals—one in the Individual Kata, boys 6-9, white and orange belt division, after beating Tiah Erwin of WKO Guam, and one in the Kumite division, boys 6-7, with a win over Zeph Aguon of WKO Guam. Orr was the only athlete to win gold in both divisions during the tourney that fielded 59 practitioners from three schools—WKO Shinkyokushinkai Guam, Shinkyokushinkai NMI, and Minor’s TKD.

Meanwhile, Tristan Josef Sablan also won gold in the Kumite division, boys 13-17, 90+kg after defeating Guam’s Callan Davidson. Samuel McPhetres took bronze in the Kumite division, boys 9-10, under 50kg.

The NMI team was coached by WKO NMI Sensei Danny Banez, while Eric Atalig, also of WKO NMI, traveled to Guam to serve on the tournament's judging staff.

“We're very proud of Isaiah, Tristan and Samuel. Traveling off-island to compete takes courage, and they represented Saipan with real fighting spirit. This is a great step as we prepare to host the Marianas Full Contact Karate Championship in Saipan next May,” Banez said.

The tournament is held in honor of Guam’s Senpai Carlos “Cal” Palacios, who taught karate to hundreds of students at the Yigo social hall. He represented Guam at the World Open in Tokyo in 1984 and died of cancer in 2009. The tournament is now in its 16th year and is Guam's longest-running karate competition.

Looking ahead, according to WKO NMI, Saipan will host the 2027 Marianas Full Contact Karate Championship on Saturday, May 8, 2027, at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium. The event will be the first karate tournament held in the CNMI, with competitors expected from Guam, Japan, Mongolia and other parts of Asia.

WKO Shinkyokushinkai NMI is the Saipan branch of the World Karate Organization Shinkyokushinkai, a full-contact karate organization based in Tokyo. The dojo trains children and adults and travels with its sister branch in Guam as one Marianas delegation.