TOPEKA (KSNT) – Organizers for a martial arts tournament in Topeka are finding alternative options after cancelling the event due to air conditioning woes.
The Sunflower State Games hosts a number of events, including volleyball, badminton, disc golf and a whole lot more. However, one of the tournaments is cancelled this year.
Organizers held the opening ceremony for the games Friday, July 11 at Evergy Plaza, but this year’s competition will look a little bit different as there will be no martial arts tournament. It was originally supposed to be held in the Maner Conference Center near Hotel Topeka, but a city spokesperson told 27 News that organizers for the games pulled out two weeks ago due to AC concerns. This has left some attendees heated.
“That was really, really disappointing to us,” said Leap of Faith Martial Arts owner Aanika Douglas. “We had a lot of students that were preparing and working super hard. A lot of kids who it was going to be their first tournament. And it was a great option because it was close to home, budget-friendly, all those awesome things we look for in a tournament.”
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“We were disappointed,” said Professional Martial Arts Grandmaster Kevin Wilson. “I’ve been competing in the Sunflower State Games for many years, and this is the first time it has been canceled. But that disappointment came with an approach of what can we then do about it.”
Wilson, disappointed with the cancellation, isn’t giving up. Instead, he’s decided to put together a small school tournament for his students. But he’s not the only one.
Douglas and her family with “Leap of Faith Martial Arts” in Emporia is putting on a tournament of their own as well. It’s called the ‘Stronger Together Open Martial Arts Tournament’ and it will be held at the Emporia Recreation Center.
“There’s no way that we could do this without the help of our students,” Douglas said. “You saw how many mats we had to take out of here alone. That would have taken me, and my mom, and my dad so much more time than it did when it was all of us moving it. And all the trailers, and just the manpower to move it.”
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With several dojos turning an unfortunate situation into something positive, Wilson says it’s the martial arts way of doing things.
“There’s so many things that are out of our control,” Wilson said. “I believe good martial artists recognize things that are in their control and do what they can do, so I was glad to see Emporia step up and do something. We were happy to step up and do something. I’m sure there’s other people doing the same thing, so it’s just kind of that mentality that goes along with our martial arts training, is just stepping up and doing what we can do.”
While the Sunflower State Games plan to bring back the martial arts tournament next year, all the other games are still going on as planned throughout this weekend and next.
Shawnee County told 27 News it was unaware of the tournament until we reached out. While the county owns this portion of the facility, the hotel books and cancels events here.
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