Competitor Spotlight
Spotlight Archive (By Last Name)
Ashton Shaw
Competitor: Ashton Shaw
Rank: 5th Kyu (Gup) Green Belt
Age: 9 Years Old
Team: Not Affiliated
Base Style: Shorei-Ryu
School: Groves Karate Studio, Eureka Springs, Arkansas
2006 AKA Titles: Traditional Weapons
"This is going to be my year!” Ashton Shaw was overheard saying early this season. While Ashton and those around him hope that he hasn’t peaked at the young age of nine, he did have a good season in 2006. He won the 2006 national title for traditional weapons, second place in traditional forms, third place in sparring and fourth place in musical forms.
Ashton also received top honors from his dojo for 2006. He received the “Tournament Student of the Year” award, “Dojo Student of the Year” award as well as Grand Champion at the school’s Dojo Day event.
Ashton is a very dedicated martial artist. He became a student at Groves Karate Studio in Eureka Springs, Arkansas just before his sixth birthday in October, 2003. He attends several classes a week and practices many evenings and weekends on his own or with his dad. He also enjoys helping his younger siblings (including his two-year-old twin sisters!) perfect their martial arts skills. Ashton has shown his present and future dedication to the martial arts by joining the Black Belt Club and committing to working towards the goal of attaining his black belt in Shorei Ryu.
Ashton is currently devoting most of his energy to traditional forms and weapons, but he “definitely wants to learn extreme martial arts” in the near future. Ashton intends to compete in a lot more tournaments this season. He plans to test for his purple belt soon and hopes to get his junior black belt in the next couple of years.