THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, June 30, 1996 TAG: 9606300245
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MIKE NORBUT, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 63 lines
Referees, scorekeepers and competitors stood around the Virginia State Games karate ring in amazement. Chad Montgomery was nowhere to be found. Surely the division's defending state champion was going to compete.
Suddenly, the 12-year-old darted over from the mats at the north end of the Virginia Beach Pavilion.
``Sorry,'' he said. ``I was waiting to get my judo medal.''
Montgomery was a whirlwind of activity from the moment the karate and judo events started Saturday.
Though he didn't repeat as champion, he took second in the medium-weight division in judo, fourth in the 12-year-old advanced karate division, fourth in the open-hand style demonstration and fifth in the weapons demonstration.
``There are a lot of good people, and I can't beat them all,'' Montgomery said. ``But it was the first time I got to do both karate and judo in the same tournament, which was fun. I had to keep going back and changing my top and belt.''
Changing clothes added a new twist to the normal routine of competition, which is something Montgomery knows very well. A student of karate since the ripe age of 5, he won his division in his first tournament - at age 7.
Montgomery took up judo at 8, and now has an orange belt to add to his brown belt in karate. He's even managed to learn some jujitsu on the side.
His training culminated with a fifth-place finish at the karate nationals last year.
``He literally missed the medals by an overtime loss to the eventual champion,'' said his mother and coach, Karen. ``If he had won that match, who knows.''
The fact that he didn't increased Montgomery's resolve to improve. He didn't have to look far for advice. His mother, a fourth-degree black belt, has taught karate for 21 years and writes books for women on self defense. His father, Dan, is a fifth-degree black belt and has taught for 32 years. They are part owners of the Virginia Beach Martial Arts Center.
``I was elated with how he did, but he was a little disappointed,'' his mother said of Montgomery's nationals debut. ``He really buckled down and worked to improve.''
But while Montgomery has picked up plenty of advice and experience along the way, he still has to fight an uphill battle that only maturity will cure. At 4-foot-8, he often finds himself facing the chest of his karate or judo opponent, who in turn looks down menacingly at the top of his head.
But size means nothing in martial arts competition. Montgomery constantly proves that with every medal he collects.
``Chad is routinely the smallest kid in his division,'' said his mother. ``But he's very slippery. It's like Sugar Ray Leonard against some big guy. He just sneaks in, gets his points and gets out.''
It's a style that Montgomery has adapted to fit his size, and one that could carry him, with enough training, to higher levels. His goals are set: He wants to be on the Junior Olympic karate team in two years, he wants to compete at the Olympics in judo and he even wants to develop his own discipine of jujitsu.
``My mom said I can't develop my own style until I make black belt,'' he said.
That may happen before his 13th birthday, which may be too long to wait. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
BETH BERGMAN/The Virginian-Pilot
Chad Montgomery, 12, was fifth in the karate weapons demonstration,
one of his four events. by CNB