Glendora Girl Wins Karate Championship

Kristy Adams is handy with nunchakus and samurai swords, and last month she bagged top awards at a national karate tournament sanctioned by the North American Sport Karate Assn. Inc.

At the Empire State Nationals in Long Island, N.Y., the 14-year-old Glendora resident placed first among advanced 14- to 15-year-olds in sparring and using weapons, and she came in second for form-fighting in the same age range.

“That’s exceptionally good,” said Mike McCoy, rating director of the Minneapolis-based NASKA, which has close to 1,000 members. “It’s very unusual that anyone would place that highly in all three divisions.”

But the brown-belt recipient isn’t resting on her laurels. “I want to be a top black-belt competitor,” Adams, a Charter Oak High School ninth-grader, said.

She wasn’t even sure she would enjoy the sport when her family persuaded her to take it up in 1988. Adams’ father and two brothers also are brown belts. A third brother, just 5 years old, already sports a green belt.

In 18 months, Adams has learned to use seven weapons. Her favorite are the kamas, sickle-like weapons used as a pair.

But she likes sparring best. “You can kick people and throw punches and no one gets hurt. It’s just exciting.”

Her father, Frank Adams, is hoping that his daughter will find a sponsor to pay her air fare to tournaments once she obtains her black belt. “It’s becoming expensive.”