The In­ter­na­tion­al Sport Karate As­so­ci­a­tion (ISKA) is set to launch the Trinidad and To­ba­go Sports Mar­tial Arts Cham­pi­onship League (TS­MACL), with a strong fo­cus on youth de­vel­op­ment and com­pet­i­tive ex­cel­lence. The event takes place on Feb­ru­ary 23, from 1 pm to 3 pm at the TMA (Tra­di­tion­al Mar­tial Arts) Do­jo, Cen­tral Ath­let­ics Club Com­pound, Maraj Street, Mon­trose, Ch­agua­nas.

This ini­tia­tive in­tro­duces the Karate Cares Youth De­vel­op­ment Pro­gramme, a ground­break­ing ef­fort to sup­port un­der­priv­i­leged and at-risk youth across the coun­try. Through mar­tial arts train­ing, the pro­gramme aims to fos­ter dis­ci­pline, re­silience, and lead­er­ship among young par­tic­i­pants.

"Mar­tial arts isn’t just about kicks and punch­es. It’s about de­vel­op­ing a pos­i­tive mind­set that can help these young peo­ple nav­i­gate life’s chal­lenges," said Mas­ter Lud­win Ja­cob, head of the TMA Do­jo and co-founder of TS­MACL. "We want to give them the tools to suc­ceed, not just in the do­jo but in school, at home, and with­in their com­mu­ni­ties."

The Karate Cares pro­gramme fo­cus­es on three pri­ma­ry goals:

1. Pos­i­tive Mind­set En­hance­ment: Through struc­tured train­ing, par­tic­i­pants will build re­silience, dis­ci­pline, and a growth-ori­ent­ed mind­set.

2. Skill De­vel­op­ment: The pro­gramme aims to en­hance so­cial, aca­d­e­m­ic, and life skills, con­tribut­ing to well-round­ed per­son­al de­vel­op­ment.

3. Com­pet­i­tive Ex­cel­lence: Se­lect­ed par­tic­i­pants will com­pete at na­tion­al and in­ter­na­tion­al events, in­clud­ing the pres­ti­gious US Open.

Ja­cob, who has a strong tra­di­tion­al jiu-jit­su back­ground, said the pro­gramme is root­ed in dis­ci­pline and in­tegri­ty.

"When these kids step on­to the mats and com­pete, they’re not just rep­re­sent­ing them­selves. They’re rep­re­sent­ing their com­mu­ni­ties and their coun­try. It gives them a sense of pride and pur­pose," he said.

The league was es­tab­lished by Ja­cob in col­lab­o­ra­tion with Pro­fes­sor Rus­sell Gomes, founder and head in­struc­tor of Gold­en Ea­gle Mar­tial Arts Acad­e­my School of Sur­vival. Gomes, who has over four decades of ex­pe­ri­ence in mar­tial arts, is well-known for his ded­i­ca­tion to nur­tur­ing ath­letes and pro­mot­ing the sport as a tool for per­son­al de­vel­op­ment.

"Mar­tial arts is about trans­form­ing lives," said Gomes. "This league gives us a plat­form to show­case our tal­ent­ed youth while help­ing them build char­ac­ter and con­fi­dence. We’re ex­cit­ed to pro­vide these op­por­tu­ni­ties through in­ter­na­tion­al ex­po­sure and com­pe­ti­tion."

TS­MACL is be­ing launched along­side a group of lo­cal mar­tial arts ex­perts, col­lec­tive­ly known as the Lo­cal Mar­tial Arts Gi­ants. To­geth­er, they aim to cre­ate more op­por­tu­ni­ties for na­tion­al ath­letes while pro­mot­ing growth in the sport and po­si­tion­ing Trinidad and To­ba­go on the in­ter­na­tion­al mar­tial arts stage.

The league promis­es an elec­tri­fy­ing sea­son of mar­tial arts ac­tion, with mul­ti­ple events host­ed by Gomes and Ja­cob. The sea­son will cul­mi­nate in a grand fi­nale with the Best of the Best awards and tour­na­ments.

"This league is more than a sport­ing event. It’s a plat­form to in­spire, up­lift, and em­pow­er the next gen­er­a­tion of mar­tial arts cham­pi­ons," Ja­cob added.

The pub­lic is in­vit­ed to at­tend the launch event and wit­ness the be­gin­ning of what or­ga­niz­ers hope will be­come a cor­ner­stone in Trinidad and To­ba­go’s youth de­vel­op­ment land­scape.