Darien Martial Arts Students Triumph At 2026 Kempo Classic Tournament

DARIEN, CT — Darien has a strong showing at the 2026 Kempo Classic on June 7, a martial arts tournament that featured over 300 competitors from Connecticut and New York, ages 3 to 17, who competed across 21 unique divisions.

Events at the tournament, which was held at the Wilton Field House, included:

• Maneuvers – a series of moves requiring skill containing blocks, strikes, and throws used in self-defense
• Kata Forms – a longer, highly detailed choreographed pattern of martial arts movements
• Sparring – full contact ‘free-form’ fighting where combatants use protective gear and attempt to outscore their opponent

Owner and chief instructor of Kempo Karate in Darien, Sensei Michael Nahan, organized the tournament.

Significant Achievements by Kempo Darien Students

• Kempo Karate of Darien students swept the Age 11 Kata Forms division with Kamyla Hernandez winning first place, Yardley Clark earning second, and William Kramer and Ayaan Joshi taking third and fourth place, respectively.
• In another sweep, Kempo Darien students took the top spots in Maneuvers Age 7 (Last Name N – Z) with Winston Nahan winning first place, Ayla Tuttle earning second place, while Saanvi Thakker and Bennet Simon took third and fourth place, respectively.
• Across multiple age brackets in sparring, Darien finished with all the top spots again, including Sparring Age 5, both divisions of Sparring Age 7, and Sparring Ages 12-13.

Full details of all the winners are listed below.

Sparring Age 5

• First place for Grayson Ross
• Second place for Ai-Lin Liu
• Third place for Ophelia Coffee
• Fourth place for Mary Andrada

Sparring Age 6

• Second place for Ethan Li
• Third place for Landon Ross
• Fourth place for Mia Zou

Sparring Age 7 (Last Name A - M)

• First place for Ka-Cyn Boderick
• Second place for Thomas McKenna
• Third place for Dashiell Mathis
• Fourth place for Jack Grimshaw

Sparring Age 7 (Last Name N - Z)

• First place for Winston Nahan
• Second place for Bennet Simon
• Third place for Lee Wilcheck
• Fourth place for Zachary Shalhoub

Sparring Age 8

• First place for Hao-Zhu Liu
• Second place for Demian Markevych
• Third place for Nolan O’Keefe

Sparring Age 9

• First place for Charlie Grant
• Second place for Owen Killian
• Third place for Charlie Moore

Sparring Age 10

• Second place for Riley Gariba
• Third place for Adriel Cooke
• Fourth place for Kaily Gariba

Sparring Age 11

• First place for Henry Moore
• Second place for Max Alvarez
• Third place for Kamyla Hernandez

Sparring Age 12-13

• First place for Daniel Courtney
• Second place for Eli Kempenich
• Third place for Jacob Zaremba
• Fourth place for Marshall Davis

Maneuvers 3-4

• Second place for Carter Kilts
• Third place for Lukas Fraczkiewicz

Maneuvers 5

• First place for Ai-Lin Liu
• Second place for Ophelia Coffee

Maneuvers 6

• First place for Ethan Li
• Third place for Adam Li
• Fourth place for Owen Golenbock

Maneuvers Age 7 (Last Name A – M)

• Second place for Ka-Cyn Boderick

Maneuvers Age 7 (Last Name N – Z)

• First place for Winston Nahan
• Second place for Ayla Tuttle
• Third place for Saanvi Thakker
• Fourth place for Bennet Simon

Maneuvers Age 8

• First place for Hao-Zhu Liu
• Second place for Demian Markevych
• Third place for Sophia Florio

Maneuvers Age 9

• Second place for Henry Sartorius
• Third place for Riley Walker

Maneuvers Age 10

• Second place for George Latimore
• Third place for Natalei McDaniel
• Fourth place for Palmer Sullivan

Kata Forms Age 9-10

• First place for Adriel Cooke
• Third place for Christina Filewych
• Fourth place for Winston Nahan

Kata Forms Age 11

• First place for Kamyla Hernandez
• Second place for Yardley Clark
• Third place for William Kramer
• Fourth place for Ayaan Joshi

Kata Forms Age 12

• Third place for Phoebe Bovay
• Fourth place for Marshall Davis

Kata Forms Age 13+

• Second place for Meera Arjunan