By ASHLEY INGE
TheFlashToday.com
STEPHENVILLE (August 28, 2018) – Students in the Red Dragon Martial Arts school have been training hard this year and four students have even qualified for state finals that are going to be held in Galveston in December.
Ryan Leseberg, Cody Vines, Ashton Hassell and Curtis Jenkins are all going to the state finals. Ryan has been a member of the Red Dragon Martial Arts school for almost three years and he ranked second in the west division. Ashton is a transfer student who came from another school and she is now ranked first in state for the division. Curtis has been a Red Dragon for a little over a year and is ranked first in state in the north division and Cody ranked third in north division.
The Red Dragon Martial Arts school teaches Northern Shou Shu.
Northern Shou Shu focuses on swift and effective techniques to subdue aggressive opponents. It is designed for situations when multiple attackers may be involved, and the training provided to students emphasizes the use of maneuvers that will provide the advantage in combat situations and ensure they have the skills to rapidly disable their attackers.
“We teach comprehensive self-defense martial arts. We also teach all of the Chinese weapons and they learn a lot about self-discipline and self-respect,” Jeff Vines said, owner of the school.
This is the first year for the Red Dragons Martial Arts school to compete. The competitions have three main events: kata, a weapons kata and sparring.
Jennifer Vines, co-owner of the school with her husband, Jeff Vines, said that their students have exceeded their expectations by far.
“We have had numerous students place in each competition that we have been to 1st place to 3rd. If they, (the students) place in state, then they will qualify to go to nationals in Florida,” Jennifer said.
The students range in age from nine to 15 and they train for several hours a week. Ryan trains about 25 hours a week. The rest of the students average between 15 to 20 hours a week.
“This blows my mind every time we talk about it. Our students have trained day in and out, been knocked down and got back up with more fight. They get discouraged, but never give up. We are so proud of them, it’s unbelievable. They are not only our martial arts students, but our family,” Jennifer said.
Jeff wants “to have everybody out there rooting for the Stephenville Red Dragon team as we go into the next competition in state.”
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