Local youth Owen Settee recently returned from the sikaran arnis nationals martial arts tournament, winning gold, silver and bronze medals among 120 competitors in sparring, patterns and stick fighting, respectively.
Practising under Laban Fitness’s Chris Byrne, Settee felt well prepared for his sparring events, with ample opportunity to practise beforehand. He exceeded his own expectations in stick fighting, however: “We don’t really do stick fighting very much, so it was good experience.” Both Laban and the sikaran arnis tournament use a point sparring format, where competitors only simulate physical contact. The format emphasizes speed and technique over size and strength.
Patterns are choreographed performances typically simulating the motions of fighting off multiple attackers. Settee constructed his own pattern, though he received no additional points for doing so. “I had the opportunity to make up my own pattern, and I really enjoyed it.”
Though sikaran is a distinct school of martial arts, it shares many similarities to taekwondo.
Though Settee is no stranger to competing in martial arts, he notes the tournament was the first he had attended in some time. “It was a really good experience. I hadn’t been to a tournament in over three years, I did really well.”
