Preview: ISKA World Martial Arts Championships

Founded in 1986, the ISKA (International Sport Kickboxing Association) has been one of the top globally recognized sanctioning bodies for competitive martial arts. This weekend, the ISKA will host the 2017 U.S. Open World Championships in Orlando, Florida.

The competition features high-level combatants in a variety of martial arts disciplines, including individual weapons-based bouts and team competitions.

Here’s some examples of the various competitions that fans can expect at this year’s championship competitions:

• A rivalry matchup between Sammy Smith and Mackensi Emory for adult women forms and weapons
• A demo team competition between Team Infinity (Mike Welch) and Team Freestyle (Will Jackson)
• the teenage phenoms Aidan Considine and Danny Etkin who have defeated all comers including adults in two-man synchronized forms
• Zsolt Moradi from Budapest on the Paul Mitchell team who is considered the finest fighter in the world today in Men’s Open Weight Sparring
• Jackson Rudolph and Jake Presley in 2-man synchro weapons, who have proven unbeatable for a year
• The 3-man point sparring team of John Paul Mitchell who have taken that division in nearly every tournament this year including Atlanta two weeks ago
• The men’s forms rivalry between Jacob Pinto and Tyler Weaver and Reid Presley
• The closely-matched weapons forms ultimate athletes Reid Presley (defending champion), Cole Presley (his brother), Tyler Weaver, Shahin Jahanvash, and Jackson Rudolph.

The ISKA Open World Championships aims to put on a show that demonstrates the diversity of martial arts in many of its forms and rules. The world’s largest open martial arts event goes down from June 30th to July 1 at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort in Orlando, Florida.