USA Freestyle Martial Arts in Point Loma earns a world championship

POINT LOMA – Point Loma has a new addition to its growing number of successful sports franchises: a karate team celebrating a world championship.

USA Freestyle Martial Arts at 3760 Sports Arena Blvd. participated in the International Sports Karate Association Tournament this summer in Orlando, Florida. The studio’s youthful team became world champs in the tournament’s demo-performance division.

That’s no accident, pointed out Will Jackson, sensei for Team Freestyle, a part of the karate studio that does mixed martial arts for all ages.

“This is for everybody,” said Jackson of their martial arts training. “We have classes from age 3 all the way to adults in their 70s who are training — the entire spectrum of the family.”

Regarding competitions like the International Sports Karate Association Tournament, Jackson said that is truly an art form.

“Thousands of competitors from all over the world were there, separated by age and belt rank,” he noted, adding that tournament competitors fight by weight and size.

“What [USA Freestyle] wanted to develop was the performative aspect,” Jackson said. “You would be surprised what these athletes can do, like being trained to flip backward over their heads while spinning and landing on their feet. Our capacity to do that better than everyone else is what makes us good.”

Jackson talked about martial arts being beneficial for everyone. “Our goal is to provide them a vehicle for growth, fitness, and personal development and self-defense for the entire spectrum — people just beginning up to world-class athletes,” he said.

The objective at USA Freestyle is to keep members long-term, said Jackson, noting their studio wants all of their students to eventually earn their black belts.

The relationship between the karate teacher and the pupil is also unique, pointed out Jackson.

“It’s different than a school relationship where (teachers) just get students for a year,” he noted. “Our goal is to get them from age 6 to 18, then send them off to college.”

Jackson pointed out that martial arts themselves are very diverse.

“There are many different systems and styles; it’s very niche,” he said, adding that part of USA Freestyle’s mission is to help students grow and mature as they progress in mastering karate.

“Kids come in here wanting to become a Ninja Turtle or Power Ranger or Marvel Superhero,” he said. “But fundamentally, martial arts is a vehicle for personal development. Our goal is to transform students into productive members of society.”

Discussing one of the major tenets of martial arts, Jackson said, “If you find yourself in a potentially self-defense situation, we teach the students how to manage their egos so they don’t have to engage in self-defense if it’s not necessary.”

Jackson talked about how students progress through the various karate belt levels.

“Most students start between ages 3 and 8, and every three months they’ll test for a belt,” he said. “By the time they are age 15 or 16, they should have accomplished all of the belts, more than a dozen.”