June 28, 2024

Written by Evan Bloom

For Immediate Release

Three Fayetteville Karate Students To Compete In America’s Toughest And Most Prestigious Karate Tournament

Students from LWC Karate To Compete In The 2024 Amateur Athletic Union Karate Nationals In Florida

FAYETTEVILLE, NY. – June 28, 2024 – Three students from Lawrence World Class Karate will be participating in the 2024 Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) Karate Nationals to be held at the Broward County Convention Center in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida from July 2nd - 6th, 2024.

Lawrence World Class Karate dojo has won over 100 medals at previous AAU Karate Nationals. Out of these, over 40 were for first place making the medal winners national champions. No other Karate school in Onondaga County has achieved this before.

The Lawrence World Class students will compete in the kubudo (weapon systems), kata (choreographed set pattern of movements), and kumite (a controlled, competitive fight using basic techniques delivered with "empty hands") events.

Hanshi (Master) Rande Lawrence, head teacher at Lawrence World Class Karate, will be attending as head coach and he will be assisted by Renshi Gary Guidera.

60-year-old Eric Scharoun, who has Down Syndrome, and has a 5th degree black belt, will be competing in the kata and kubudo events in the advance physical challenge division. Eric has previously won a national championship. It is believed that Eric holds the highest karate rank achieved by a person with down syndrome in the United States. He has been a student at Lawrence World Class Karate dojo in central New York where he has been training with Hanshi Lawrence for over 30 years.

Sam Tadevossian, a 17-year-old second-degree black belt karate student, will be competing in the kata, kubudo, and kumite events at the Nationals. In 2021 at the AAU Karate Nationals, Sam was placed third overall in the United States at the intermediate level. In addition, for his demonstration of the Saifa Kata at the event, Sam was awarded a bronze medal. 2021 marked the first time he had entered a national karate competition.

Srihari Mohan is eight years old, and this will be his first Karate Nationals tournament. He has a junior blue belt and will be competing in the kata, kubudo, and kumite sections.

Commenting about the upcoming championships, Hanshi Lawrence said, “I am immensely proud of my students for competing in the AAU Karate Nationals. This is by no means an easy event. While the competition is tough, I know that we will do well. Let’s bring some medals back to Syracuse.”

Lawrence World Class Karate dojo is the only karate school in Central New York specializing in traditional Japanese Shotokan and Okinawan Goju-ryu Karate Systems.

The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is one of the largest, non-profit, volunteer sports organizations in the country. As a multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports programs. Founded in 1888 to establish standards and uniformity in sports, the AAU philosophy of “Sports For All, Forever” is now shared by nearly 800,000 members and 150,000 volunteers across 45 sports programs and 55 U.S. districts.

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Press contact for interviews with Hanshi Lawrence: 

Evan Bloom

Fortress Strategic Communications

evan@fortresscomms.com 

(315)744-4912