Ryan Simpson wins two Karate grand championships

Warwick - Ryan Simpson, 20, won two Grand Championships at the recent Okinawan-Korean Karate Championship in Goshen. Simpson, a Warwick resident and second-degree black belt instructor at the Traditional Karate-Do Center in Warwick, got started by winning first place in his black belt divisions in the men’s age 16-39 kata (formal exercises), kobudo (weapons) and kumite (sparring). Those victories qualified him to compete for the Black Belt Grand Champion awards in kata/kobudo and kumite, in which he won both awards. “Mr. Simpson achieved a truly rare feat by winning two Grand Champion awards-not many win even one,” said Glenn Finke, owner of the Traditional Karate-Do Center. “He has come a long way since he began training in 1992 and is a role model for hard work and perseverance.”