October 16, 2011

Native Pankration champion

Northwoods Teenager Makes Martial Arts History

By Lyndsey StemmA Northwoods 18-year-old is the youngest, and first Native American to win a world championship for the USA in the sport of Pankration.

Katie Maki got into martial arts by following in the footsteps of her big sister. Little did either of them know that Pankration, a form of mixed martial arts, would take Katie all over the world, and turn her into a world class athlete.
And:Coach Dave Sixel has trained Katie since she was a child. He lead Team USA in Serbia, where the team won a total of nine bronze, one silver, and five gold metals.

"As a team we ended up placing second in the world. Ukraine ended up taking the gold metal, USA the silver, and Russia the bronze," says Sixel.
Comment:  The article doesn't make it clear what medals Maki won and whether they were team or individual medals. If the Americans won "only" a silver medal as a team, they aren't world champions, of course. Only the first-place team members are world champions.

For more on martial arts champions, see Navajo Taekwondo Champion and Mixed Martial Arts Champion.

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