Tournament Stories
A collection of articles from various tournaments over the years:
Ken Gullette swept the black belt competition at
John Morrow's annual tournament at the fairgrounds in Davenport, Iowa on August
6, 2004. Ken won first place in black belt forms, weapons and sparring
(photo at right shows three of the competitors, from left to right: Allen
Porter, Aaron Leisinger, Ken Gullette, and Dan Gray). Photo at right shows
Ken and two of his newer students, Valerie Hughes and Colin Frye, at the Eagle
Classic Karate Tournament in Keokuk, Iowa on August 23, 2004. Ken won 2nd
in black belt weapons, 3rd in forms and 3rd in sparring. Valerie showed
both of the guys up by winning first in women's white and yellow sash forms and
first in sparring. Colin won 3rd in men's white and yellow sash forms and
4th in weapons.
Ken Wins the Gold in Hsing-I
Competition
Photo at left shows Ken and his wife Nancy at the 3rd Annual Chicago International Wushu/Gong Fu Championships, where Ken won the Gold medal in the advanced Hsing-I forms competition on Saturday, June 26, 2004.
New Tournament Video on our Tournaments/Seminars page.
Ken Wins 1st Place Sparring in Moline Tourney
On May 22, 2004, Ken Gullette won 1st place sparring in John Morrow's all-styles tournament in Moline, Illinois. The black belt sparring division included men aged 16 and over.
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You are welcome to study and practice with Ken at Kung Fu Quad Cities. Call him at (563) 370-6323 or email Ken at kungfu4u@aol.com.
Victories at Dubuque Tournament
Students from Kung Fu Quad Cities competed in the Midwest Karate Championships in Dubuque, Iowa on Saturday, March 13, 2004. The picture on the left shows, from left to right, white sash Justin Irvin (2nd place sparring), white sash Valerie Hughes (1st place forms, 3rd place sparring), white sash Colin Frye, green sash Skip Hackett, Ken Gullette (1st place black belt weapons age 16 and over, 3rd place 35 and over sparring), and Nancy Gullette (tai chi student, mascot, and Ken's lovely wife). Not pictured is green sash Vicky Arratia, who won 2nd place in empty hand forms (women's green belt division). This tournament was the first for Justin, Valerie and Colin. And it was a milestone for Ken, who won his first trophy in 1974 at age 21 and now has tournament trophies spanning 30 years. It was a fun day cheering each other on and enjoying the friendship of other martial artists. More pictures on our Club Updates page.
Gullette and Gray Tops in
Tournament Again
Ken Gullette and Dan Gray again won the most trophies of the black belt competitors at John Morrow's tournament, held Saturday, Feb. 22, 2003. Dan won three first place trophies -- for forms, weapons and sparring. Ken won 3rd in forms, performing the Chen 38 against all karate and taekwondo competitors (and all karate judges). Ken won 2nd in weapons with a kung fu straight sword form, and 3rd in sparring, losing to Dan, who went on to win first place against Ryan Morrow. In many tournaments, Dan and Ken end up fighting for first place, and they've become good friends over the years in a friendly but spirited competition.
Photo shows Ken Gullette, John Morrow (tournament promoter) and Dan Gray.
Ken Gullette Wins First Place
Fighting at Morrow's Moline Tournament
In his last tournament before turning 50, Ken won first place in black belt sparring competition at the John Morrow's 21st Semi-Annual Martial Arts Tournament on October 19, 2002. Ken managed a win over a tough competitor, Dan Gray, in the finals. Photo shows, from left to right, John Morrow, Dan Gray and Ken Gullette.
Tournament Wins in Dubuque
Three competitors from Kung Fu Quad Cities won 5 first place trophies in the Dubuque Karate Club's spring tournament on March 3, 2001. Richie Coulter won 1st place in forms and 1st in weapons in the brown belt division (he did not compete in fighting); Chris Lorenzen won 1st in forms and 1st in fighting in the yellow belt division; Ken Gullette won 1st place in black belt weapons and 3rd place in black belt 35-and-over division fighting.
7 First Place Trophies at Waterloo Tournament
Five students from Kung Fu Quad Cities competed in the Shinkyudo Karate Tournament in Waterloo, Iowa, on February 17, 2001. They brought home 7 first place trophies. Winners included:
- Richie Coulter (brown sash) -- 1st place fighting; 1st place forms; 1st place weapons.
- Chris Lorenzen (yellow sash) -- 1st place fighting; 1st place forms.
- Skip Hackett (yellow sash) -- 1st place forms (women's division).
- Ken Gullette (black sash) -- 1st place fighting (35-and-over division); runner-up Grand Champion.
Big Tournament Wins in Chicago and Galesburg
Kung Fu Quad Cities students had a great weekend of competition at two tournaments -- The Kuk Sool Wan tournament in Galesburg on November 11 and the Gen-Ki Karate and Kung Fu Open Championships in Chicago on November 12. Here is a list of the competitors and their victories:
Kuk Sool Wan Tournament:
Richie Coulter (brown belt division) -- First place weapons; third place fighting; fourth place forms.
Eric Schlichte (adult yellow belt) -- First place forms; third place fighting.
Chris Lorenzen (junior white belt) -- First place forms; first place fighting.
Chicago Tournament:
Ken Gullette (black belt division) -- First place, Chinese weapons forms; First place fighting (senior division); third place Chinese empty-hand forms.
Chris Lorenzen (junior white belt) -- First place forms; first place fighting.
Skip Hackett (senior women underbelt) -- First place fighting
September 30, 2000 -- Kung Fu Students Do Well at John Morrow's Fall Tournament.
Seven students from Kung Fu Quad Cities competed in John Morrow's fall tournament in Moline. More than 110 competitors turned out, one of Morrow's biggest tournaments ever. In the brown belt division, Richie Coulter won 1st place fighting, 1st place in forms and 1st place in weapons. In the men's white-yellow-orange belt division, Eric Schlichte won 1st place in forms and 2nd place in fighting; Rick Reed won 4th place fighting in the men's white-yellow-orange belt division. In the 15-16 year old white-yellow-orange belt division, Chris Lorenzen won 1st place in forms and 1st place in fighting. In the 11-13 year old white-yellow-orange belt division, Nick Fox won 2nd place in fighting. In the adult women's division, Marilyn "Skip" Hackett won 3rd place in forms. In the black belt division, Ken Gullette won 1st place in heavyweight fighting. An outstanding effort and a testament to the quality of martial artists at our school! It's especially exciting when internal kung fu artists can compete so successfully against other martial arts in both forms and fighting. It shows that internal arts are not as "soft" as some people think.