Sensei Heath Macaluso instructs his daughter Shyla, 8, right, how to apply a Brazilian Arm-Bar on Olivia Mulhern, 10, left, at Aikido School of Self-Defense in Monticello.
News Page
Sensei Heath Macaluso instructs his daughter Shyla, 8, right, how to apply a Brazilian Arm-Bar on Olivia Mulhern, 10, left, at Aikido School of Self-Defense in Monticello. |
MONTICELLO — You hear the buzz words. Mixed martial arts. Cage. Fighting. Then you see this precious 8-year-old girl, this sweet, smart, funny third-grader who does soccer and softball and ballet — who can also put opponents to sleep.
And not the kind of kiddie sleep that's preceded by rocking and lullabies.
Shyla Macaluso's father taught her the sleep-inducing rear
naked choke hold at age 4. Now she's learning the art of, if not being groomed
for, mixed martial arts fighting.
MMA is that mano-a-mano cage-enclosed gut-check that's all the rage. Shyla soon will learn fighting techniques needed for competing in the cage, of which she's not eligible to participate until she's 18.
Her dad is martial arts Hall of Famer Heath Macaluso, 35, an Otisville resident and former wrestling star at Minisink Valley High who began martial arts at age 12. He's owned a Monticello dojo since 2004 called the Aikido School of Self-Defense.
Shyla made her dad proud by winning her first grappling match at the NAGA World Grappling Championships earlier this month in Newark, N.J. It came five weeks after Heath started a pilot program at the dojo, and as one of two girls in her novice division age group, Shyla's already a champion.
Check out the match on YouTube, and notice there's no punching or kicking like you'd see in MMA. Grappling is a wrestling-type skill that doesn't involve striking.
"She's a little phenom,'' kids instructor Aaron Levine says. "When she gets older, she's going to be unstoppable.''
But what about the idea of this sweet, smart, funny third-grader one day fighting in a cage?
"There are less devastating injuries in MMA than in boxing,'' Heath Macaluso says. "Boxing is full of head trauma. In MMA, they don't have the chin, for the most part (to take repeated blows without the fight ending).
"She's very competitive," Heath says. "She's very confident.''
Anyway, Heath jokes, Shyla doesn't use the RNC on sisters Mia, 5, and Sofia, 4. The newest martial artist and fourth Macaluso girl was born eight days ago to Nikki, Heath's wife, and high school sweetheart.
Shyla thinks this might be her favorite sport, and no, she's not afraid of getting hurt. As for the whole MMA thing, that's way down the road. She's a second-degree brown belt and on schedule to receive her black belt next month.
Asked what she wants to be when she grows up, Shyla says, "I know it's a little strange... but I want to be an archeologist. I like fossils and all the different dinosaurs. Because I love to paint, too. So I could paint things wherever I go.''
Archeology, MMA fighting — now there's a young lady with diverse talent.
kgleason@th-record.com
NAGANO--Taunts and shouting drowned out the cheers of the crowd during the Beijing Olympic torch relay in Nagano on Saturday, an event marred by disturbances and scuffles between police guards and protesters.
Plastic bottles and leaflets were thrown at popular comedian Kinichi Hagimoto during his run as a torchbearer, momentarily wiping the smile from his face.
With more than 3,000 police officers guarding the relay route, the tense mood enveloping the relay clouded the faces of torchbearers, including Hagimoto and table tennis star Ai Fukuhara.
The trouble flared as Hagimoto, the 10th runner in the relay, passed in front of JR Nagano Station about 20 minutes after the relay started. Several bottles and leaflets were thrown as Hagimoto held the torch aloft in his right hand and waved to the crowds lining the road with the other.
Police officers running alongside the comedian immediately surrounded him and held up clear protective shields. Hagimoto's expression stiffened, and he and the guards stopped for a short time.
After reaching the next staging point, Hagimoto safely relayed the flame to female wrestler Saori Yoshida, and gave her a high five.
At a press conference after the run, Hagimoto spoke of his disappointment at the disruption.
"I couldn't run with a smile on my face, although I thought I shouldn't have done that," he said. "It pained me that this happened."
Hagimoto wanted to give high fives to spectators, but was prevented from doing so by the heavy security.
Hagimoto quipped that all the police officers around him turned their heads to the side in unison when the projectiles started coming toward him, as if they were copying Hagimoto's trademark style of running from his comedy shows.
He also jokingly said, "I was happiest" after getting on the bus carrying the other torchbearers, which included several Olympic athletes.
Despite these lighter moments, however, Hagimoto could not hide mixed expressions during the press conference.
Takuya Horiuchi, 20, a third-year student at Gifu University who ran as the 21st torchbearer, was surprised at the tight security.
"I didn't think the security would be so heavy," said Horiuchi, from Ueda, Nagano Prefecture, who ran a leg from central Nagano to a suburb via a road beneath an elevated railway of the JR Shinetsu Line.
During the run, Horiuchi was completely surrounded by Chinese security guards and Japanese police officers. He said he could see only their backs, the heads of spectators and the media vehicle in front of him.
Though Horiuchi spotted a friend along the route cheering him on, he could not see his parents, who should have been somewhere along the route.
Horiuchi said police officers running alongside him often told him to speed up. "I could barely keep up with them," he recalled.
Local residents were quick to take a swipe at the disruptions that tarnished the relay.
"The Olympic Games are supposed to be about peace," said Akie Matsumoto, a 75-year-old woman living near the first staging point of the relay. "I don't want people to create such a commotion during the torch relay. If they want to make a scene, they should do it somewhere else."
Mitoshi Komatsu, a 90-year-old woman living close to the route, said: "The children missed out on an opportunity to interact with torchbearers on this rare occasion. What a terrible torch relay it turned out to be!"
At Wakasato Park, where the relay finished, assembled supporters of Tibet and groups of Chinese glared at each other as tension filled the air.
A 50-year-old man in the city who came to the park to watch the relay said: "I wanted to cheer on some of the torchbearers but I didn't know where they would run. I came to the park as I had no other choice. What's the point of holding a torch relay in such an atmosphere?"
Iokia stuns medalists at Sr. Nationals
Shannyn J. Gillespie 4/25/08
U.S. Olympic Education center freestyle resident athlete Shyla Iokia (55kg) qualified
for the Olympic Trials in stunning fashion as she beat 2 time Sr. World Championships
bronze medalist and second seeded wrestler Sally Roberts of the U.S. Olympic Training Center
(Colorado Springs) at the USA Wrestling Sr. National Championships held at the Las Vegas Convention
Center Thursday April 24, 2008.
Unseeded Iokia’s first match of the day at Sr. Nationals pitted her against team mate and 2007
Jr. World Champion Whitney Conder who she beat in 3 periods. Her second match
of the day was against training partner and USOEC resident athlete Amy Borgnini who she beat in 2
straight periods.
After ousting Roberts in the quarter finals, Iokia faced another Sr.
World Championships bronze medalist, Jenny Wong, who has trained at the
Colorado Springs training center for the last 4 years and recently
moved to South Carolina. Iokia’s chance to make the gold medal round
was stopped in the semi finals when she lost a hard fought 1-0, 1-0
nail biter to 6 time national team member Wong. Iokia, who was injured
in this bout and defaulted to 6th place, has now qualified to compete
in the U.S. Olympic Team Trials June 13-15, 2008 at the Thomas and Mack
Center (Las Vegas, NV).
The USOEC freestyle resident athlete team has 3 members who have
qualified to make the Olympic team. Iokia will join Sadie Kaneda
(48kg) 6th place and Alyssa Lampe (48kg) 7th place at the U.S. Olympic
Team Trials. The top 7 place winners in the Olympic weight classes
(48kg, 55kg, 63kg, 72kg) and the top 4 place winners in the non
contested Olympic weight classes (51kg, 59kg, 67kg) at the USA
Wrestling Sr. National Championships qualified for the Olympic Trials.
The final chance for all wrestlers to qualify for the U.S. Olympic Team
Trials is the Northern Plains Junior and Senior Regional Championships
in Waterloo, IA May 8-10, 2008.
The USOEC freestyle resident athlete team placed 7 wrestlers in the top
8 at the USA Wrestling Sr. National Championships.
In February, 1989, the U.S. Olympic Committee named Northern Michigan University (NMU) as the
nation's only United States Olympic Education Center (USOEC). The USOEC's main focus is the resident
athlete training program, where athletes actively train for the Olympic Games while also continuing
their education.
Generally, athletes in this program must be nationally ranked and also
approved by their national governing body (NGB), the USOEC, and NMU.
The USOEC has resident athlete training programs in freestyle
wrestling, short track speedskating, Greco-Roman wrestling, and
weightlifting. For more info about the USOEC freestyle wrestling
program, view http://www.frestylefemales.com
USOEC Sr. Nationals results
48kg Sadie Kaneda 6th place
48kg Alyssa Lampe 7th place
55kg Shyla Iokia 6th place
55kg Amy Borgnini 8th Place
55kg Whitney Conder DNP
59kg Nikki Darrow 7th place
59kg Amber Miracle 8th place
59kg Dany Hedin DNP
72kg Ku’u Johnson
8th place