Next tournament: September 21-23, 2012

Dear Sifus and Competitors,

The 3rd Annual "Golden Gate" Chinese Martial Arts Championship is scheduled for the weekend of September 21-23, 2012 in the beautiful city of San Francisco.

The tournament will once again be hosted at the Haytt Regency Peninsula Ballroom. The Haytt is located right on the Bay. There are countless quality restaurants along the waterfront to suit any palate and taste.

The championship has been building steadily over the last tow years and we are anticipating our largest turnout yet! Be sure to mark your tournament for what is fast become one of the premier stops on the ICMAC Circuit.

We extend you and your students a warm invitation ot participate and look forward to welcoming you to what is sure to be a memorable and exciting event.

Join us, we are offering:

• More divisions
• Great venue
• Beautiful Awards
• Challenging event
• Dynamic Masters Showcase

Thank you for your continued support.

Sincerely,

Master Tat-Mau Wong and Master Nick Scrima

2011 "Golden Gate" Tournament Report

On September 16-18, 2011, Master Tat-Mau Wong and Master Nick Scrima hosted the 2nd Annual "Golden Gate" Chinese Martial Arts Championship.

Over 900 competitors from all over North America and several countries came together for this tournament. The Peninsula Ballroom at the Hyatt Regency was filled to capacity; the atmosphere was electrifying as spectators jammed together to cheer on their favorite athletes.

Non-stop action thrilled the audience at the 2nd Annual "Golden Gate" Championship

The championship is fast becoming one of the premier events on the ICMAC Worldwide Circuit and we are confident that the tournament will continue to grow and gain prestige.

This year's event brought together more than 900 competitors

We had over 100 Officials and numerous VIPs attend the event and we would like to recognize them here in alphabetical order starting with the VIPs: Stephen Chang Wu Na, Lin Chuan, Lai Hung, Shane Lacey, Vince Lacey, Peter Lau, Wing Lau, Bill Lee, Clarence Lee, Lok Sang Lee, Chiu Chi-Ling, David Louie, Mei-Hui Lu, Ming Lum, Hin-Fai Mak, Hugh McDonald, Tim McFarland, Carlo Navarro, Frank Navarro, Fu Hang Ng, Al Novak, Dino Salvatera, Paul Shek, Jason Tsou, Henk Verschurr, Richard Wan, Daniel Weng, Kayan Wong , Sylvia Wong, George Xu, Kai Yu, Zhang Yuxuan, Bi-Sheng Zhu.

A view of the Atrium of the Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport; everyone loved the venue!

The Officials for the event were: Troy Augbourne, Jose Balestrini, Peter Barbosa, Mark Barquera, Ellis Beam, Aaron Beatty, Silvia Bianchi, Ryan Bigarani, Kevin Breakstone, Adam Caldwell, Alex Cardinas, Al Carrie, Jeffrey Chan, Ken Chilton, Arthur Chin, John Cho, Jeffrey Chon, Jeff Chow, Ken Chun, Marilyn Cooper, Joe Deluca, Francisco De Paula, Mark de Vera, Jill Doherty, Troy Dunwood, Lilly Freeland, Felipe Godoy, Josh Goessling, Michael Goodwin, Ronda Gotti, Brent Hamby, David Harmon, Kristen Hee, Chon Jun Hong, Andy Howse, Edward Huang, Robert Ito, Robert Ito Jr., Scott Jensen, Tony Johnson, John Jones, Park Jung, Victor Kim, Reggie Lamborn, Michael Lau, Norman Lau, Michael Lee, Stanley Lee, Elmond Leung, Herb Leung, Robert Louie, Thom Louie, Gary Low Chris Luth, Henry Lyne, Crysta McFarland, Luke Neher, Joseph Ng, Yodi Nin, Daniel Ostrow, Michael Ow, Richard Ow, John Palmer, Lynn Palmer, Jody Perry, Nelson Quan, Angie Rouede, Steve Ryan, Art Schonfeld, Katrina Seto, Bill Smith, Gary Suen, Henry Tang, Amy Tarrago, Steven Tarrago, Jason Tsou, Angelo Vivo, Whitney Vuong, Alisa Wan, Elaine Waters, James Wong, Meng Wong, Scott Yee, Susan Yee, Paul Yep, Alexis Yick.

Sifu Steven Tarrago looks on as two young warriors give it their best in a sparring match

We also wish to recognize the many Sifus that sent competitors to support the tournament: Li Ao, Lee Burchfield, Jaime Calixto, Chris Chan, David Chang, James Chin, Ben Der, Charles Edmonds, Alex Feng, Jasan Fujii, Tao He, Happy Hsu, Nguyen Lanh, Johnny Lee, Neal Lee, Wes Letioa, Zheng Li, Leandro Manabe, Mike Nedderman, Cesar Pacol, Lyu Pollard, Rod Sanford, Neil Thomas, Tony Timmer, Leo Wang, Xena Wu, Henry Poo Yee, Zou Zenghua, Ben Zhang.

Here is view from the Hyatt looking out over the water at the San Francisco Airport

We also want to thank the great team of volunteers that Master Wong and his staff put together to make sure that we had plenty of help to run the event. They did it all with a smile on their faces!

Finally, we have to say a few words about the Haytt Regency, this year's venue for the "Golden Gate" Chinese Martial Arts Championship, located just a few minutes from the Airport and right on the Peninsula overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The views were amazing and there was plenty to do within walking distance. The restaurants along the the water are something to experience. Next year it's worth staying a few extra days to enjoy this magnificent area.

With gratitude and heartfelt appreciation,

Master Tat-Mau Wong and Nick Scrima

Look for more photos and results to be posted soon!

2010 "Golden Gate" Tournament Report

We had promised everyone real fireworks for the Inaugural "Golden Gate" Chinese Martial Arts Championship and we delivered!

On July 2-4, 2010 Master Tat-Mau Wong and Master Nick Scrima welcomed hundreds of competitors and guests from all over the Continental United States and as far away as China, Brazil, Chile, Spain, Italy, Canada and several other countries to the the City of San Francisco for the Inaugural "Golden Gate" Chinese Martial Arts Championship.

The tournament was hosted in the huge Yerba Buena Ballroom at magnificent Marriott Marquis which is located in the hearth of downtown San Francisco. The large venue provided plenty of space to accommodate 8 large rings and seating for 2000 spectators.

The championship begin promptly with the Opening Ceremonies getting underway at 9:30am.competitors were lead into the huge ballroom by 5 Lions. The ceremonies continued with the Traditional Lion Dance and was followed with opening remarks by Master Wong and Master Scrima. The competition got started as scheduled at 10:00am sharp!

All 8 Rings were busy with action and excitement as competitors tried their best in their respective categories. The competition continued none-stop until late afternoon with the Sport Sanda Ring drawing lots of attention from spectators.

The Sport Sanda Ring was filled with fast fighting action and was a big hit with the audience

Master Wong put together a dynamic and hard working team of volunteers who attended promptly to all the competitors and judges needs. This was a big factor in insuring the smooth operation of the tournament.

The VIP table featured many famous masters, movie stars and personalities

The Golden Gate tournament was attended and supported by numerous renowned masters and personalities of the Chinese martial arts community, among these was Grandmaster Poon Sing who made the trip all the way from Hong Kong to support Master Wong. Also in attendance in no particular order were: Stephen Chang, Eric Lee, David Leong, Gini Lau, Henry Look, Bryant Fong, Carlos Navarro, Douglas Wong, Carrie Wong, Antwione Alferos, Kan Gui Xiang, Men Kan Hong, Walter Lorini, Robert Ito, Dave Cater , John Olivier, Man Sing, Al Novack, Bill Owens, Clarence Lee, Daniel Leung, David Louie, Diana Chung, Dino Salvatera, Gary Low, James Wong, Joe Chu, Lee Xue, Lok Sang Lee, Michael Lau, Ming Lum, Nai Tam, Norman Chin, Patrick Au, Sam Deng, Sammy Louie, Shu Dong Li, Tim Alemany, Vince Lacey, William Cheung, Yung-Chi Chung.

The Masters Demonstration on Saturday evening was electrifying and featured several Masters in their 80's who astounded the audience with their skills. The show was filled with over two hours of exciting performances and the large crowd was thrilled as each performance was followed by yet more thrilling action. The Masters Demonstration alone was worth making the effort to attend the championship.

Sparring action on Sunday

On Sunday morning the competition resumed with all the Continuous Sparring, Push-Hands and Chi Sao. Soon all rings were busy with competitors vying for top placement in various categories and skill levels. There was a crescendo of action and anticipation as the finals neared. The judges did a marvelous job in controlling the fights and the audience, competitors and coaches demonstrated welcomed sportsmanship which enhanced the competition.

An overview of some of Saturday's competition

Every successful tournament is staffed with hard working and diligent judges and we want to recognize them and acknowledge here in alphabetical order: Emilio Alpanseque, Graham Baker, Peter Barbosa, Kyle Brown,Alex Cardenas, John Cho, Jeff Chow, Dennis Chu, Ken Chun,Joe Crandall, Michael De Alba, Francisco De Paula, William Der, Susan Deter, Bryant Fong, Glenn Gee, Filipe Godoy, Brent Hamby,Don Hamby, Isaac Hamilton, Tyler Hanamura, Thomas Horton,Johnny Jang, Scott Jensen, Marvin Jew, Victor Kim, Shane Lacey, Reggie Lamborn, Eddie Lane, Ron Lee, Herb Leong, Linda Leong, Gordon Lew, Robert Louie, Tom Louie, Sylvia Ma,Paul Mowrey, Victor Munoz, Joseph Ng, Enrique Ortega, Daniel Ostrow, Richard Ow, John Palmer, Lynn Palmer, Jody Perry, Anthony Ragbotra, Gerald Ronan, Angie Rouede, Patrick Schleeter, Bill Smith, Shoko Takegoshi, Joan Tay, Eliza Van, Richard Van, John Wang, Ron Willis, Matt Wong, Scott Yee.

We want to give special recognition to David Law for serving as coordinator, Jeff Chow for overseeing the Sport Sanda and Michele Harris for doing so much work behind the scenes.

We want to extend our gratitude and heartfelt appreciation to all the Vips, judges, competitors, volunteers, and spectators who helped make the Inaugural "Golden Gate" Chinese Martial Arts Championship a success. Your support and dedication has made all our efforts and hard work more than worthwhile and we have already begun work on next year's event to present you with a bigger and better tournament.

With gratitude and friendship,

Master Tat-Mau Wong and Master Nick Scrima