Ainsley Walters, Freelance Writer

Nicholas Dussard - Contributed

TEENAGER Nicholas Dussard capped a fabulous day for Jamaica on Friday night.

Dussard, a 17-year-old graduate of Wolmer's Boys, added the junior blackbelt title to individual gold medals earlier won by Bruce McFarlane, power breaker Michael Thomas and kiddies blue belt Jordan Trought at the International Sports Karate Association (ISKA) United States Open World Championship at the Coronado Springs Resort in Orlando, Florida.

Jamaica started Friday's first day of competition with a bang when the Busta Fighters, the Combined Martial Arts Team, put on a superb display to beat hosts United States in the final of the Continental World Championships after getting by England in the first round.

However, the saucy Jamaicans were just getting started as they ended the day with 18 medals inside the huge centre, which housed 36 mats and featured all forms of martial arts from musical to rapid-fire points sparring.

McFarlane, the towering two-time World Seido Grand Champion toyed with his first two opponents in the blackbelt individual heavyweight continuous fighting division, spanking his first rival with his feet without having to resort to his fists at any point in the contest.

His Round Two opponent threw in the towel early with a bloodied right eye and McFarlane went on to lift the gold by dominating his German rival in the final.

At the end, the Mandeville-based 26-year-old was jubilant but paid his respects to teammate Sean Cummings, the defending champion, who lost his way midway his second bout after being warned for excessive contact.

Legacy

"It's nice to step into the place of my fellow Jamaican's legacy," he said. "It's always a pleasure for me and my art to shine," added McFarlane, whose victory was watched by his father and coach George McFarlane, who was seeing his son fight internationally for the first occasion.

Cummings started his defence looking every bit the part as his first rival cried 'No Mas' and quickly left the mat early in the fight after being stunned with a kick to the head.

"I feel good to have a fellow Jamaican win," he said. "I would've taken my second bout if the referee hadn't told me not to hit the guy so hard," he added.

Meanwhile, Thomas, the power breaker, who just missed out on third place at the recent International Taekwon-Do Federation's (ITF) World Championships in Quebec, Canada, made no mistake in Orlando, collecting a handful of trophies, including gold in downward knife, breaking two of five concrete blocks.

His other medals were third in knife hand and side kick, breaking boards, to win bronze in those events.

Dussard, a former Pan-Am gold medallist, was the toast of the evening as his bout was the final event of a marathon day's activities and attracted a huge crowd on Mat Five.

In a drama-filled victory, Dussard, who won his first two rounds, threw a scare in the semi-final against his New Zealand opponent when he fell to the mat and shouted "shoulder" during an exchange.

Held their ground

A medic was quickly called in but the Jamaican ring men, McKay and Kenneth Edwards instead shouted for coach George McFarlane, much to the chagrin of the umpire, who insisted that a certified competition medic look at the youngster.

The Jamaicans held their ground while Dussard was tended to by McFarlane, a gym owner and instructor, who knew perfectly well what he was doing as Dussard, who was previously writhing in agony, was afterwards up and smiling broadly.

Under the watchful eyes of the umpire, Dussard recovered to thrash his rival, sending him sprawling with a front kick to the chest.

In the final, against a tall South African, Dussard was poetry in motion, reeling out every kick in the martial arts handbook and flying high to fire rapid head punches whenever his rival got in close to slug it out.

Proud bunch

It was a proud bunch of Jamaicans, who left the Coronado Springs resort at close to midnight with trophies in tow including kiddies blue stripe Jordan Trought, who won gold in Under-11 continuous fighting.

Jamaica's other medal winners were McKay and Arthur Barrows in two-man team points fighting (silver); 16-17 year-old yellow stripes Kemar (bronze) and Keenan Barr (silver); Marlon Beaumont bronze and Demar King bronze in 16-17 yellow stripes, all for continuous fighting.

Red belts Ashika Dyer and Maya McKay were second and third respectively in advanced Under-13; Green stripe Roderick Edwards won silver in 14-15; Blue belts Justin and Jasmine Barrows silver in Under-13 Intermediate; and green belt Zario Wint third in green belt Under-11, all in continuous fighting.