spending time at the dojo with his brother so much. His sister isn’t interested in doing karate - but she always supports her brother.” From 3,842 miles away, both boys returned home with mem- ories and new lessons to last a lifetime. “My trip was really good, but we didn’t get to explore much due to our flight being cancelled,” said Jax. “We did get to explore Cardiff Castle though, but my favorite part was winning my gold medal.” Jax won gold in point sparring and silver in kumite, which is like sparring. “You just have to have really good technique in kumite,” said Jax. “I also won bronze in continuous, which is fighting that there isn’t a break until the judge resets the fighters.” “I did make friends with people from England and Ireland. On the last day, people from different countries will trade shirts and jackets. I traded my warm-up jacket with Maddox from England,” said Jax. “I also traded my American flag with Scott from Ireland.” Jax was really excited to trade with Scott since Ireland very rarely trades with people. “I am glad I was able to make friends with him,” said Jax. Chance shared the same level of excitement, stating that his trip was awesome. “We got to explore Cardiff Castle which was super cool, but overall, fighting at the tournament was my favorite part,” said Chance. Competing was fun for Chance, and he even landed a few Jax Cavanaugh While both boys had the chance to learn, compete, and travel, their parents were able to watch their sons do something many dream of. “It was very nerve-racking to watch him compete. There were so wins as well on his trip. “I got silver in the 30kg point fighting division and got bronze in kumite,” said Chance. “It was my first time doing kumite.” Both enjoyed watching other competitors. Jax enjoyed watching and cheering on Team USA, and Chance overall loved watching adult competitors. “You can always learn from watching,” said Chance. He also states that it was neat to fight kids from England and see how people from other countries fight. Chance had a blast and cannot wait to go compete in Canada next year. many people and different countries. Knowing he was going up against them would make any parent nervous,” said Ashton, Jax’s mother. “We are super proud of him. He handled it like a champ and went out and fought like he always does. As long as he has his coach there coaching and cheering him on, I know he will be calm and fight,” said Ashton. As a parent, Ashton loved how everyone on the team was so supportive of everyone. When anyone from the USA was fight- ing and competing, the team could always be heard cheering and encouraging each other. “Jax is kind of quiet, so we loved how he made some friends from different countries. They even asked if he was going to be there next year,” said Ashton. We will always remember the moment that he won his gold medal,” said Cavanaugh. INTHEVUE.COM | PROMOTING EVENTS THAT MAKE A DIFFERENCE | DECEMBER 2022 61
