Matthew Hemker wields the Chinese broad sword at the N.C. Nationals Karate Tournament at Hunters Creek Middle School on Saturday. Hemker, a 31-year-old Navy lieutenant stationed at Camp Lejeune, won the open weapons kata division at the tournament, which attracted martial artists from across the state and elsewhere.
Rick Scoppe/The Daily News
Published: Sunday, July 21, 2013 at 10:30 AM.
When he can find the time away from his day (and night) job as Navy lieutenant, Matthew Hemker likes to compete in karate tournaments, which is why he was on hand Saturday at the N.C. Nationals Karate Tournament at Hunters Creek Middle School.
?This happened to be close to home so I figured, ?Hey, why not??? said Hemker, who recently earned his first-degree black sash at the United Martial Arts Academy in Jacksonville to go with his black belt in Tae Kwon Do.
Why not indeed? The 31-year-old Hemker, who is from Florissant, Mo., which is just outside St. Louis, used the Chinese broad sword to win first in the open weapons division as well as third in the open kata division and sparring.
?I feel I did very well,? said Hemker, who is stationed at Camp Lejeune. ?I feel like, as always, when doing Kung Fu in front of a bunch of karate guys, they?re kind of looking at me like, ?What the heck is he doing.? I always get that feeling when I?m doing it.
?But I come out here to have fun and see how well I can do, and so I see how it ends up after that.?
The tournament, which is run by local karate instructor Larry Isaac, attracted competitors from all over the state, including Raleigh and Durham, along with South Carolina and featured male and female athletes ranging from baby-face youngsters to gray-haired adults.
The tournament included sparring as well as a variety of weapon kata ? including the bo staff, Okinawan oar (eku), sai and fan ? and empty-hand kata, which are a set series of moves against an imaginary array of opponents.
Of the weapons he knows, Hemker said the broad sword is his favorite.
?There?s just something comforting about the way it feels and flows,? Hemker said, ?and it?s a very fluid weapon vice just the hacking, slashing, chop-chop, push-pull that the other weapons are.?
More than that, however, Hemker said he just loves training and teaching Kung Fu at the United Martial Arts Academy, where he?s trained for about two years and has by his estimate about 30 to 50 students.
??My favorite thing to do is the training that I get that trains me physically because it?s a great workout. I love the feel when I finish that workout. When I go to the gym and lift weights I feel good, but I feel even better after doing this,? he said.
?The other thing I love is teaching kids, teaching adults (and) watching the light bulbs go on. And we?re not only teaching them how to kick and punch and everything, we?re teaching them life skills, like how to set goals, how to do things they didn?t think they could do before.
?I love seeing that growth in students and being able to impact young lives at age 8, 9, 10 and know that I?m having a direct influence on them now and, hopefully, they?ll stick with it so they have something that is uniquely their own.?
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Source: http://www.jdnews.com/sports/local/lt-hemker-wields-winning-chinese-broad-sword-1.175657
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