RICHLAND — Freewind Martial Arts Studio recently competed in the Battle on the Columbia tournament, where four of the nine competitors brought home hardware in addition to strong all-around performances.  

“We were really excited because we had such a great turnout,” Freewind Instructor Brandi Guertin said. “We had nine competitors go, and having nine competitors go to a single tournament is so fun because it's such a giant group, and having such a giant group makes it exciting because you have someone competing at almost every moment of the tournament.” 

Of the nine competitors, Serjio Madrigales, Milan Bhatt, Zachary Morris and Jessie Young earned Jr Grand Champion honors for their performances in form, weapons, noodle sparring and sparring across their respective age groups and levels. Across the entire group that competed, everyone placed in the top three of each competition, highlighting a dedicated class of students in attendance, Guertin said.  

“That speaks volumes of the students, and that's what makes me so proud and happy for my students,” she said. “As an instructor, our goal is to have our students be better than us, because if you want to put limits on your students and say, ‘Oh, you can only be as good as me, or whatever,’ then you really shouldn't be in a position of instructing, because that's really the ultimate goal – to have your students be more outstanding than yourself.” 

For competitors like Madrigales and Young, this wasn’t their first time participating in this event. Last year, both earned Jr Grand Champion honors, while Madrigales improved his placement in forms, climbing from second to first.  

“It's just so amazing to watch him grow as a student and as a tournament competitor,” Guertin said. “From the beginning he just went out there gung-ho and just did everything even if it wasn't right. Then to watch his technique and his skill level grow into the competitor that he is today just brings tears to your eyes honestly because he's so good for his age.” 

Young suffered a foot injury at last year's competition, adding a unique importance to this year's event, Guertin said. While it would have been understandable from Guertin’s position to see Young pull the plug on her journey in martial arts, she opted to stick it out and climb back. Her dedication embodies the five tenets of courtesy, integrity, perseverance, self-control and indomitable spirit. 

“We couldn't be prouder of her,” she said. “It's just too awesome, to watch that, you talk about those tenets, and with Jesse, she just lives them, and she highlights them.” 

Sara Byrd stood out to Guertin as well, for the effort she put forth in Richland. Byrd placed second in weapons and third in forms and sparring.  

“She shows up and she always puts her heart out there, 100%,” Guertin said. “She's never really focused on being first place or anything. She just wants to be better than she was last time, and she does that every time.” 

Guertin finished first in forms and weapons, but second in sparring. She describes the experience as a silly moment, essentially freezing up during the competition.  

“It's quite funny, really,” she said. “Sparring is one of my favorite things. I just go into it and I just do it freestyle. I was getting ready to have my sparring match, and Jacob (Guertin), my instructor, comes over and he says, ‘Keep your lead hand up.’ That's it. I went into my sparring match, and guess what I did? I kept my lead hand up, and that was it. I was so focused on keeping my lead hand up, I could not think of any other weapon to throw.” 

While it was a moment she could look back on and laugh, Guertin also was able to use this moment to put her teachings to practice, as well.  

“We're there to have fun,” she said. “If you're going to beat yourself up about something like that, then why be there? Because you're ultimately going to set yourself up for an upset because those kinds of things can happen, and they tend to. If you're there to have fun, then it's all fun, no matter what happens. But if you go there with a specific agenda or just to be the greatest, you're probably going to be upset.” 

Guertin expressed a lot of pride her students not only for their performances, but their dedication to the martial arts, as well.  

“I'm just so proud of my students. Every single one of them. They're just amazing people, and they are what makes Freewind great,” Guertin said.  

RESULTS: 

Competition – Place  

Serjio Madrigales – Jr Grand Champion  

Form – First 

Weapons – First  

Noodle sparring – First  

Milan Bhatt – Jr Grand Champion 

Form – First  

Weapons – First  

Noodle Sparring – First  

Zachary Morris – Jr Grand Champion 

Form – First  

Weapons – First 

Noodle Sparring – First  

Sparring – Second 

Jessie Young – Jr Grand Champion 

Form – First  

Weapons – First  

Sparring – First 

Kelvin Bhatt 

Form – First  

Weapons – First  

Noodle Sparring – First  

Sparring – First  

Sara Byrd 

Form – Third 

Weapons – Second  

Sparring – Third 

Cassie Sheppard 

Form – First  

Weapons – First  

Noodle sparring – First  

Sparring – First  

Brandi Guertin 

Form – First  

Weapons – First  

Sparring – Second  

Jacob Guertin 

Form – First  

Weapons – First  

Sparring – First 

    Freewind Martial Arts studio brought home four Jr Grand Champions at the Battle on the Columbia tournament in Richland.
  

    From left: Sejio Madrigalez, Milan Bhatt and Zachary Bhatt strike a fighter pose at the Battle on the Columbia martial arts tournament.