It only took six years of local jiu-jitsu fighter Stone Durkalec’s life for him to earn a samurai sword — and he has the gold medal to prove it.
Durkalec, a student of Brazilian jiu-jitsu at Cottonwood instructor Ted Osburn’s studio at 423 S. Sixth St., took home the special award after earning first place at a North American Grappling Association tournament Sept. 7 at Phoenix College.
“Those who say it’s lonely at the top never took home a giant red sword,” Osburn said after his 6-year-old fighter topped all other fighters wearing their martial arts kimono uniform, or gi, at the tournament.
“One of the attributes that I really love about Stone is that, win, lose or draw, he loves to compete,” Osburn said. “He seems to have no fear of losing and just loves to be in there giving it his best.
“I wish I could teach all the kids to be that way, because nothing holds a person back more than fear of losing. I believe Stone’s attitude toward competition will take him far, whatever he decides to do in life.”
Durkalec, fighting in his fourth tournament since May, also took bronze in his weight class and won a silver medal by finishing second in a higher weight class in which he was invited to compete in the NoGi portion of the tournament — “which basically means they fight in a T-shirt and shorts,” Osburn said.
Durkalec’s new weapon is in the care of father Stan Durkalec and is no danger to the local population.
“They award the samurai sword at [the] NAGA tournament,” Osburn explained, “because jiu-jitsu was the original art the samurai warriors used in hand-to-hand combat.”
For the full story, please see the Wednesday, Sept. 17, issue of the Cottonwood Journal Extra.
