The New Paltz Karate Academy held its fall shiai on Saturday, September 10 at Lenape Elementary School in New Paltz. The event included students from New Paltz Karate and Traditional Okinawan Karate schools in Pleasant Valley, East Fishkill, Brooklyn and Kinnelon, New Jersey. The shiai is a semiannual event and an opportunity for the students to come together and demonstrate their skills for families and friends. During the event, groups of students performed self-defense demonstrations and kata (martial arts forms).
The final segment of the shiai was the promotion of the students who had been tested earlier in the day. The highest promotions were those at black-belt level:
Junior Black Belt: Rebecca Acosta, Madeleine Barcomb, Calum Castro, Trent Stabell, Cody Zavodsky and Taylor Zavodsky.
Shodan (First-degree black belt): Benjamin Abrams, Annette Caruso, Lorenzo Cavazza, Ed Fenichel and Alexander Ferguson.
Nidan (Second-degree black belt): Jacqueline Bair, Yesenia Gonce, Noah Levitz and Heather Smith.
Yodan (Fourth-Degree black belt): Meghan Borland, Jennifer Hummer, Christopher Panek and James Telfer.
Godan (Fifth-Degree black belt): Jennifer Alencar.
Rokudan (Sixth-Degree black belt): Jason Donovan.
A potluck dinner for students and families followed the shiai.
The New Paltz Karate Academy is located at 22 North Front Street in New Paltz. For questions and inquiries, call the school at (845) 255-4523.
Join the family! 
