Lauderdale: World martial arts championship puts a kick in Hilton Head economy

Be careful what you say on Hilton Head Island this week. The person you're talking to may know karate.

It could be a child not old enough for kindergarten or a man old enough to be retired.

Hundreds of them have come from all across America, Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and South Africa.

They started rolling in Sunday at the oceanfront Hilton Head Marriott Resort and Spa in Palmetto Dunes. They'll head home on New Year's Eve.

It's the Super Bowl of their sport. It's the National Blackbelt League's Super Grands World Games XXVI.

I saw it through the eyes of my cousin, one of the competitors. Drew Sorrells is a lanky 15-year-old from Lynchburg, Va.

He was wheezing and whanging, huffing on an inhaler and pouring down water to fight his toughest opponent of the week, a sinus problem that will be operated on next month.

But he still placed third in the event I saw, open choreographed musical forms, with kicking, flying and fierce shouts.

The sparkling ballroom is more accustomed to black ties than black belts. And surely this is the first time sword fights have been held there, legally.

Boice Lydell, president of the National Blackbelt League, said some of the competitors will land as Hollywood stunt men, members of Cirque du Soleil, or top finishers in "America's Got Talent."

"It's competition, like any other sport," Lydell said.

Drew's mom, Libby Sorrells, likes the self-confidence it has given her son. Drew's journey that wound through Hilton Head this week, with two grandmothers and a baby sister in tow, started five years ago when martial arts turned out to be part of his after-school care.

Drew is a brown belt now, and his trail of kicks and chops has crisscrossed much of the Eastern Seaboard.

The cream of the cream are quietly putting a nice kick in the local economy on this holiday week.

It may be competition, like any other sport, but something stands out in this buzzing sea of rings in a posh ballroom.

The competitors are polite.

They bow to each other. They bow to the judges.

The competitors even support each other.

When was the last time you saw that on the football field?

Or at a political debate?

Or in Congress?

Or in an Internet comment?

Drew's coach, Jeff Doss of Rustburg, Va., said the sport that may seem violent to a bystander is built on humble values.

"It's based on integrity, loyalty, discipline, focus and respect," he said. "It's a sport made of good values."

So if you see two people being polite to each other this week on Hilton Head, be careful. They may know karate.

Follow columnist and senior editor David Lauderdale at twitter.com/ThatsLauderdale and facebook.com/david.lauderdale.16.

This story was originally published December 29, 2015 at 6:32 PM with the headline "Lauderdale: World martial arts championship puts a kick in Hilton Head economy."