Douglas Cyril

 

I started karate when I was 11 years old at Lake Olympia Middle School

in Chuck Norris's Kickstart Kids program.  I had always been fascinated 

by the idea of karate and loved karate movies, and always wanted to 

partake in it.  At the time I started karate I was a very shy and quiet

individual, I didn't like to bother others. I can remember this day like it

was yesterday. Luckily Master Pettway gave me another chance and i

feel like that's when my martial arts journey began. It was at that time

where I decided that karate was something I really wanted to do. I

started training harder, started competing in tournaments, and even

started to grow as a person. I competed in regional and state

tournaments and started winning the harder I pushed and the more

Master Pettway pushed me, and eventually moved onto national

tournaments and before I knew it, I was on Kickstart's National Karate

Team. 3 years from being placed on the team, I won my first world titles

in the National Blackbelt League (NBL). Soon after that I joined team

Proper and went onto compete on the NASKA circuit. NASKA was a

difficult circuit to get use to. The competition was a whole different

change of pace from what I was use to, but I worked hard and with the

help of my instructor Master Pettway, my training partners Willie Hicks,

Hakim Walker, Chris Robinson, and my coach Junior Salientes. My hard

work paid off in 2014, I went on to be ranked in the top 10 fighters in

sport martial arts and was ranked number 8. Ehich was a real big

accomplishment for me, and a great honor. Martial arts has taught me a lot, and helped me grow so much as a person. The person that I was when I started not the person who earned his blackbelt. Martial arts means a lot to me and I thank everyone who has taught and helped me grow. Everything I have been put through in martial arts and the things I have learned shaped me into the young man I am today and I am truly thankful and grateful for it.