When Stillwater native Elana Rapisarda won the world championship title in the men’s martial arts division in early July, she felt at the top of the world.
“This has been a dream of mine for so many years,” said 20-year-old Rapisarda. “I told my family that this is the most beautiful thing I have ever done.”
Rapisarda started martial arts at the age of 5 when her mother put her in classes with her brother. Immediately, the 2019 Stillwater high school graduate fell in love with the sport, taking classes after classes as he got older.
Fifteen years later, Rapisarda was one of two women invited to compete in Creative Open Breaking at the US Open ISKA World Martial Arts Championships in Orlando, Florida last weekend. The event is typically a men’s competition with no division available for women. Sometimes, however, a handful of women may be invited to compete in the men’s division if their skills are at a high enough level.
Rapisarda was one of those women.
“Since my first time at the U.S. Open – which was five years ago, I think – I’ve seen this division happen and I’ve said, ‘I want to do so badly,'” Rapisarda said. competing in this division that I wanted for so long was huge, absolutely amazing. “
Creative Open Breaking is an event in which a martial artist uses an impressive surface, such as a hand or a neck, to break a variety of different materials, such as wood, cement, and metal. They are judged not only on how much material breaks – keeping size and age in mind – but also on their technique, control and more. It is one of Rapisarda’s favorite events.
“I like to break up, because you have to keep challenging yourself and pushing yourself to new limits,” Rapisarda said.
But even if he loves practice, the road to such an impressive victory was not an easy one. Rapisarda spent at least four hours each night doing rigorous training with Master Adam Grogin in Pil-Sung Martial Arts who worked with her for about eight years.
Her routines consist of cardio, strength training, meditation and her body conditions to support the heavy impact that comes with the break.
“Soft tissue, bone actually builds strength and resilience to that impact to be able to do this safely without pain, and this requires a lot of time and repetition and, to be honest, it’s very boring.” Grogin said, noting that he often told her to just go on a pad for an hour to build her endurance.
Also, Rapisarda woke up every morning at 5:15 a.m. to go for a run and also lift weights. With such a brutal exercise routine, she came home every night “beaten up” and absolutely exhausted, both physically and mentally.
“I rarely remember, in 25 years of teaching and 35 years of martial arts, a student who was focusing on his goal,” Grogin said. “She had appeared every day with her little notebook with all the floor for the day I gave it to her and she was going through exercise after exercise.”
Rapisarda credits her inflexible self-discipline to the practice of martial arts, which requires long hours and hard work to advance from waist to waist and technique to technique. But self-discipline aside, his main motivation was his potential for victory in the U.S. Open.
“Just keep in my head that it’s possible to win this and I can have a world title at 20 – that’s really what kept me going,” he said. “I wanted to do my best and I was willing to put everything into it.”
Rapisarda’s breaking routine at the world championships consisted of a series of 12 breaks in which she broke materials such as baseball bats and various types of cement. For each pause, Rapisarda was laser-focused to the point that everything around her disappeared – she didn’t see anyone, and she didn’t hear any of the cheers from the audience. It even took her a while after she finished realizing she was bleeding.
“She was very practical, she was very focused and she was very controlled with her intensity, which is hard to do,” said her mother Tamara Bazar, who also competes in martial arts.
His solid focus has also attracted the attention of some of ISKA’s top figures.
“He took control of the ring when he entered,” said Drew Serrano, Director of ISKA’s Breaking Division. “Overall, that’s why he won – for the wide variety he brought to the table, his technical prudence and his exceptional presence.”
When it was announced that Rapisarda had won the event, making her an ISKA World Champion – the highest level of recognition that can be achieved in a competitive event – was a moment of disbelief for her.
“I never expected this to be especially in a division with a bunch of men and other world champions that I’ve watched for so many years,” Rapisarda said. “Crying a little, it was amazing.”
And as she was sent a big belt that was engraved with “CREATIVE BREAKING MEN’S CREATIVE BREAKING” on the third left and “WORLD BREAKING CHAMPIONS” on the right, Rapisarda was not the only one holding tears.
“I tried not to cry,” said Grogin, who won the same Rapisarda title in 2015. “I’ve told everyone since that day … that I think he was more emotional and more proud to have his victory than when I won. “
Even his competitors – almost all men – were happy for his victory.
“When I finished winning the title, everyone was jumping and screaming, everyone was so happy I did it,” Rapisarda said. “And it was so nice to see him in this predominantly male-dominated sport – it was so nice to see so much support for a woman who wins the title.”
Now, Rapisarda, who recently graduated from Eckerd College with a degree in psychology, plans to join the Marine Corps as an official candidate this fall, a step that has been inspired by her years in the arts. martial arts.
“That’s why I chose the Marine Corps over every branch. It really challenges you the most and they really try to train in the best possible version of themselves, so it’s been a huge boost for me to join the Marine Corp because I find it similar to martial arts and I really like the challenge of that, ”Rapisarda said.
Although Rapisarda isn’t sure which path the Marine Corps will take, this may not be the end of her martial arts career.
“I hope to return for more martial arts tournaments,” he said.
