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Caitlin Dechelle:
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We were immediately awed by the intense 13-year-old who said she typically trained five to six days a week. Every bit as impressive as her black belts in Chinese kenpo, goju-ryu karate and taekwondo was the ease with which she could launch herself into an aerial cartwheel while holding a full-length samurai sword. A quick check with the authorities of competition karate revealed that Caitlin had racked up grand-championship wins at the Diamond Nationals (extreme weapons), the Battle of Atlanta and Ocean State Nationals (traditional weapons, extreme weapons, extreme forms), the Capitol Classic and U.S. Open (extreme weapons, extreme forms), and the Bluegrass Nationals and Compete Nationals (traditional weapons, extreme forms)—all in 2004. That certainly explained her aerial ability. Our second run-in with the rising star came in March 2007, when Don Rodrigues corralled the entire Paul Mitchell Karate Team and flew them to our office for a photo shoot. Caitlin’s moves were sharper, her jumps were higher and her kicks were faster. When we went online to check her stats, we saw that she did much more than perfect her technique during those intervening years. She bagged a bunch of additional titles—at the same prestigious events and a few new ones—and she managed to get herself listed as grand champion of the International Sport Karate Association’s forms and weapons divisions (girls, 14-17). As we head into 2008, we have no doubt that Caitlin will continue to rule the “extreme” divisions of the international karate circuit. The only thing we wonder about is where she’ll look to find new challenges and challengers. For all her accomplishments, Black Belt is pleased to present Caitlin Dechelle with our award for 2007 Competitor of the Year. (This profile originally appeared in the December 2007 issue of Black Belt.) |
