Ross Levine, Mark O'Mard and Jadi Tention.

St. Petersburg, Russia was the backdrop for the first annual Martial Arts Olympics East-West Open, held in April of 2007. Russia is perhaps one of the greatest and most unusual stages for any martial artist from the west. An estimated 12,500 spectators were in the arena watching and supporting close to 6,200 competitors who were all vying for the coveted gold medal.

The Russian competitors and fans had seen American fighters before, but the last time the American team took home the gold was in 1994. The Russian rules are very simple: one, when executing a technique you must maintain your form to show mastery of the technique; two, competitors must make solid contact to the body or the head for a point; three, front leg sweeps are allowed; four, competitors may follow-up a sweep with a takedown; and six, a competitor may grab and hold or dump their opponent for a point. The rules were tough, but fair.

Mark O'Mard of NYC Professional Karate (USA) team was the first of the Americans to do battle. Fellow competitor and observer Jadi Tention watched the action and summed it up with “Mark was our tester, our sojourner. We watched Mark to find out what we should or shouldn’t do." O'Mard fought valiantly and made the finals but the one thing O'Mard didn't expect was the holding. His talent was apparent and his speed of technique was blinding however, in a close call O'Mard lost his match to the Russian champion. O'Mard did have an opportunity to redeem his loss to the Russian champion in the team matches where O'Mard fell short of defeating his nemesis in a hotly contested match.

Next it was Ross Levine on the mat showing why such high praise comes his way. Levine's tae kwon do experience was apparent and he was cunning and crafty with his workmanlike attitude. It was a hard fought battle and Levine was forced to earn every single point. Levine complimented his opponents, noting that "the Russians are strong and in great condition” (possibly the understatement of the day). Levine ended up winning gold because he adapted and was in excellent condition. Perhaps however, even more exciting was the performance Ross offered in the evening team fight. It was the honed and polished fighting skills that initially captured the attention of IMAC scouts, that Ross rained-down on his Russian counterpart. The speed and power weren’t easily matched, and Ross pulled ahead for an exciting win that brought the team fight to an even 1-1 battle.

The final American representative was Jadi Tention, the captain of the NYC Professional Karate Team. Tention's blinding speed seemed apparent except the Russian judges were not impressed. Tention threw and hit with ax kicks and blinding blitzes but could not seem to get a point. The Russian fans seemed to be watching open mouthed at Tention's skill but the Russians judges were not giving points easily. All of a sudden Tention changed his fighting style from the on-your-toes, angling of a point fighter to the hard front stance of the traditionalist. Suddenly he scored one point then another and finally it was like the dam broke and he just kept scoring. The match drew quickly to a close with Tention capturing the gold medal. After congratulating the Russian fighter, Tention came back to the corner and revealed his secret - “I had to go Sam McGee on him” (meaning he felt he had to fight ‘old school’ on his opponent and reverse punch him for points). That is the true meaning of a black belt - ADAPT. Adaptation however is not one-sided and the Russian team readily adapted as well. As a result, the Russian fighter was prepared for Jadi’s old school style in the evening team fight leaving the US team just short of the needed points to pull out the gold medal win.

To Mark, Ross and Jadi, you made America proud, CONGRATULATIONS