This past weekend, the Beast Mode Fight Team competed at the 16th Annual International Chinese Martial Arts Championships (ICMAC) in Orlando, Fla. The event was held at the Gaylord Palms Resort and hosted the largest amount of competitors since the 2007 version of the event.
Athletes traveled from all over the world to compete in four disciplines -- Tai Chi, Kung Fu, Wushu and Sanda. The Beast Mode Fight Team competed in the Sanda discipline and brought back seven medals - the most of any club present at the meet.
Winning gold medals for the club were Dijonaisse "D.J." Brown (lightweight title), Cameron Lewis and Kenny Neymour. Giovanni Johnson and Neil King won silver medals, and Andrew Simmons and Wayne Mackey brought home bronze medals.
Sanda, also known as Sanshou, is a martial art which was originally developed by the Chinese military based upon the study and practices of traditional Kung Fu and modern combat fighting techniques. It combines full-contact kickboxing, which includes close range and rapid successive punches and kicks, with wrestling, takedowns, throws, sweeps, kick catches, and in some competitions, even elbow and knee strikes.
Dr. Kent Bazard has been a long time fighter in several disciplines, but this time he served as the head coach for the team.
"This time it was a lot different for me because I really had to control my excitement, because usually when I go to an event I prepare a certain way and do certain things and focus on my warm-ups. With this event I had to be focused on other people's mental state, making sure the weigh-ins were done correctly and making sure that they were matched up correctly. It was different, but it was exciting," said Bazard.
"I also think that this event helped me to mature as a fighter and as a coach. As far as fighters go, I'm probably in my twilight. I'm 36-years-old and even though that's not old in terms of fighting, that's really old. I probably won't be fighting much longer so it was bittersweet to watch them, but I was also proud to see the Bahamian team doing well."
Countries such as Taiwan, Hong Kong, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan and Brazil, which are all hot beds for mixed martial arts and have been known for producing champion fighters, all competed in the championships. Given that the Bahamian fighters competed against this level of competition bodes well for them. It made their victories that much more impressive.
"A lot of fighters from those countries go to schools that just teach martial arts alone, so they came in and are very high quality fighters. It was good being in an environment like that on a big stage with a lot of high quality fighters," said Bazard.
"We had the highest medal count as far as the teams went, so the guys did very well for their first time out. There were only two knockouts on the evening and one of our beginners got one of them. Kenny Neymour defeated his opponent from Uzbekistan in the first round. What was really impressive was that it was Kenny's first full contact fight."
As times goes on, Bazard hopes that the sport will become more popular here in The Bahamas because he sees a lot of potential in some Bahamian fighters.
"I always say that I think The Bahamas has natural talent and natural physical ability. We have naturally good fighters; growing up all children play a game called 'dashing'. The slaves actually brought that game here so it is in our genes. We are naturally strong and athletic and I'm looking forward to seeing more fighters come forward, and seeing the sport grow," said Bazard.
In September, the fight club will be returning to Orlando once again, but this time it will be the females out of the camp competing in cage matches. Bazard expects to spend the rest of his summer getting them ready to take to the big stage and ensuring that they are ready to take on the best in the world.

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