From Left to Right: Austin Davis, Coach Michael MacDonald, and Adan Alvaro at Camp Pendleton
Over a 100 boys and girls met at Camp Pendleton Marine Base this Saturday for an invitational Pankration event. Local competitors Austin Davis, 16, and Adan Alvaro, 11, brought home the respective gold and silver medals.
Pankration is a martial art event that pits two competitors against each other using a full range of techniques such as wrestling, kickboxing, karate, jiu jitsu and sambo. Very similiar to the popular event known as the Ultimate Fighting Championships, UFC, pankration is a safe testing ground for upcoming fighters to test their potential.
All competitors are required to wear full proper protection and no head contact is allowed to insure all injury is kept to a minimum. As a matter of fact Pankration is actually one of the original Olympic events started in Greece over 3000 years ago.
Austin Davis of Goleta, representing Valhalla Elite Training Center, under the tutelage of Coach Michael Mac Donald, blew through 2 other competitors to take home the gold. Originally slated to fight in a lighter category, Davis was forced to fight in a heavier category with competitors over 15 lbs heavier than him. His first competitor, Austin Creel of Orange, was forced to give up 2 minutes into the match due to a variation side choke. Davis’s second match was bit close nearly going to the 4 minute time limit. Davis was behind points when he managed to score with a leg submission for the ‘tap out’.
Adan Alvaro of Santa Barbara, also competing from Valhalla Elite Training Center, has been training directly with Austin for the past month to get ready for his first Pankration match. Alvaro did well in his first match despite receiving an illegal kick to the head. He was given a minute to recover and managed to come back and beat his opponent on points. During his last bout Alvaro managed to score several solid points before his opponent managed to take him down. Alvaro lost that match on points.
The next tournament is to be held in Las Vegas to qualify for the National Team. If either competitor makes it they will represent the United States in the World Championships.
