Who are we? We are young athletetes and crafty veterans. We are the best of last year, this year, and the next. We train as if everyone is out to beat us, because we know they are. We are sure they are going to fail at doing so. We are the best athletes, coaches, and volunteers in the USA, and we are driven to succeed. We are not-for-profit, because we love the Arts and all they have to give. We are proud representatives of the United States of America!

We are, like the WMAGC above us, a non-for-profit organization dedicated to the athletes. We have joined with TAFISA to bring the Sport For All concept into the martial arts, and to show that multiple masters from a range of disciplines can work together to promote the arts and competitions we love.

To prove this, the US Team has adopted a wide variety of criteria for its team members including proving that they are more than just quality athletes. “We want people of high character who will represent our country well. It does us no good to put together a team of individuals capable of winning who then go overseas and embarrass us by being poor sports, egotistical, or rude,” says Head Coach Alberto Friedmann. “We rely on personal integrity and responsibility as much as ring competence.”

2010 World Martial Arts Games

In September of 2010, the United States will host the 5^th Anniversary of the World Martial Arts Games. The Games, under the patronage of TAFISA and the World Martial Arts Games Committee, are changing the way martial arts tournaments are run and in so doing are attracting the attention of the International Olympic Committee, the United Nations, and the best martial arts competitors from across the globe.

Anybody who has been in the competition world for any amount of time knows how hard it is to find competitions that are truly athlete oriented. Friedmann said his own experiences in international championships molded how he views and runs competitions for the WMAGC.

Part of the change occurred when the new Team Manager began helping the team on a volunteer basis. The first thing she did was ask every competitor what they liked or disliked about current competitions. “It was amazing,” she said. “Nearly all of the competitors said they did not feel like competition was the focus of the events. Can you imagine that? Do you think there are Olympic athletes out there who do not believe the Olympics are about competition? I don’t think so.”

Armed with that insight the organization began preparing for the US hosting of the 5^th World martial Arts Games.

“It all has to be about the experience,” Friedmann said. “When an athlete leaves Las Vegas after this event we want them to be saying, ‘That was the best experience of my life.’ They should leave feeling like they were important no matter how they placed in the standings and feeling like it was great to be an athlete in the United States.”

To do this she is working to coordinate everything from welcoming committees for the athletes to opening ceremonies that include the best entertainment Las Vegas has to offer, including  Inversion Entertainment , musical talent, magicians, taiko drummers, and more for the opening ceremonies. It should be amazing!

The US Team’s Competitor First attitude has attracted membership to the team that reads like a who’s who of the martial arts competition world: Drew Derrick-Bisbee, Sonie Lasker, Scott Sonnon, Avi Nardia, and Guiness Book of World Records Holder Moti Horenstein as competitors.

The coaching staff includes:

·Shihan Donna Judge – Karate, Florida

·Shihan Avi Nardia -  Grappling, Continuous Sparring, New York

·Professor Carlos Machado – Grappling, BJJ, Texas

·Scott Sonnon – Conditioning, Washington State
·William Chung - Korean Styles, New Jersey State
·David Burke - Assistant Coach

·Head Coach Alberto Friedmann was invited by the IOC to be an Olympic Torch Bearer in 2004, won a bronze medal in traditional karate kumite at the 2009 Maccabiah Games, and holds World Championship titles in everything from point fighting and full-contact fighting, to weapons forms and musical forms dating back to 2000.