Shidokan World Open 2002
December 14th - Park West Theatre - Chicago, IL


Once again the US Shidokan hosted its annual World Open at the Park West Theatre in Chicago, IL. This event featured 12 of the best fighters in the world in the under 155lb weight class. This sold out event had celebrity guests including UFC fighters Chuck Liddell and Matt Hughes, the Chicago Black hawks hockey team, Jesse Jackson Jr., Mankow, and many more. Also featured were two super fights, including Shonie “Mr. International Carter, UFC, Pancarase, King of the Cage, Iron heart veteran and Shidokan Champion.

>Women’s Mixed Martial Arts Super Fight
Christina Chavez, of Chicago and Amber Cobb, of Atlanta fought under Karate/Grappling Rules. Cobb showed a good low kick attack. Chavez waited patiently eventually getting the takedown and choking Cobb with a Gi choke in round 2, to win by submission.

>Quarterfinal Fights
Ryo Sakai of Japan defeated Cruz Gomez, from the USA in the bare0knuckle rounds with brutal leg kicks. Cruz Gomez trained by UFC contender Chuck Liddell showed tremendous heart, having fought a tough fight against Poland’s Tomaz Korcyl.

Jerry Morris, 6 times World Shidokan Champion, fought a fought fight against Remy Bonnel. After 6 rounds, an extension round was fought and Morris pulled out the victory.

Richard Trammell, 3 times US Shidokan Champion defeated Craig Oxley in round 2 of the bare-knuckle karate rounds with hard punches and knees to the body.

World Thai Boxing Champion, Matee Jedeepeitak of Thailand, defeated the young and talented Franzk Paines, a Caribbean Kickboxing Champion from St. Martin by a unanimous decision.

>Canada vs. USA Super Fight
Shonie “Mr International” Carter took on Mike Nomikos in a Shido-Submission fight. On the feet, Carter put awesome hand and foot combinations landing hard low kicks and high kicks. Nomikos wanted to keep the fight on the ground but Carter chose when he wanted on the ground. In round two, Carter applied a quick neck crank to get the tap out.

>Semi-Finals
Ryo Sakai and Jerry Morris met in the first semi final fight. Sakai came out strong throwing powerful leg kicks in the karate rounds. In the kickboxing rounds, this momentum continued to build with incredible hand and foot combinations. The ever-dangerous Morris waited until the grappling rounds to come alive landing some hard left hooks of his own. At one point, Morris took Sakai’s back for a rear naked choke. At the ten-second mark of the round, Morris misunderstood the signal as a restart to stand up. Sakai immediately jumped up to reverse the position and put Morris in a rear choke. The unanimous decision was awarded to Sakai.

Richard Trammell and Matee Jedeepedek met for the next semi final match. The karate rounds featured sidekicks from Trammell and the deadly left leg round kicks from Matee. Matee caught one of Trammel’s kicks and swept him with a power low kick. Trammell answered back with a power uchimata (inner thigh sweep). In the kickboxing rounds, Trammell used his movement to avoid Matee’s kick. Both fighters exchanged strong punches. In the Grappling rounds, Trammell managed to take Matee down, but Matee managed to escape a submission attempt. In the final round, the two went back to ground fighting. Trammell attempted a Kimura arm lock. Matee pulled out of the guard, with Trammell following the arm. Once on top, Trammell managed to secure an entangled arm lock. Matee fought hard to free his arm. Because of Matee’s refusal to tap, his corner threw the towel and signaled for the match to end.

>Shidokan International Triathlon Match
Hector Monterry of Costa Rica defeated Jochen Gieb of Germany in the last round of the grappling rounds. Gieb put up a good fight and almost pulled off a choke, but was unable to put Monterry in any serious danger.

>Final Match
Ryo Sakai and Richard Trammell met in the finals for an awesome fight. In the karate rounds, Sakai picked up where Matee left off, executing a devastating leg attack. Trammell weathered the storm and came alive during the kickboxing rounds, scoring a hard right cross, giving Sakai a standing 8 count. Sakai answered back with hard combinations. In the second round of the grappling rounds, Trammell landed another right hand, giving Sakai another 8 count. Towards the end of the round, Sakai got the takedown but Trammell reversed the position. In the final round Sakai jumped Trammell for a takedown. As Sakai went for the arm bar, Trammell sat up into his guard. Sakai attempted a triangle choke, but Trammell blocked it and passed the guard taking a full mount position. Trammell applied a front forearm choke causing Sakai to tap out.

This event is truly the Triathlon of Martial Arts. All of the fighters who participated can walk with their heads high. Anyone of them could have won this night. Every fight was competitive and the fighters displayed the spirit of the Samurai.

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