Local Border Patrolman earns Grand Champion at State Games

On July 19, local border patrolman and martial artist and sensei Michael Morser did something he hadn't done in 10 years.

He competed.

"I went down to represent Malta in the state games," said Michael Morser, a 10 year resident of Malta.

Not only did he compete in the 2014 Big Sky state games in Billings, he won the honor of the tournament's adult black belt Grand Champion award after winning gold in both "Kata" and weapons, and winning silver in sparring.

"I feel good about how I competed, but there's still stuff I need to improve," he told the PCN. "Even if you won, it's not the end."

The tournament featured around 100 participants, young and old, that displayed various types of fighting styles, like Kempo, Ishinryu, and Taekwondo.

Morser has been a long time student and teacher of Shitoryu, a type of Karate that was made popular in Okinawa, Japan.

Morser told the PCN, that sparring sessions were controlled meaning it involved head gear, hand gear and foot gear with light contact to the head and moderate to the body.

The rounds were one minute and the first to three points won the match.

"Everybody had to spar against everybody, whether you won or lost," Morser said.

After every match the total points were counted and after a cumulative total was taken Morser placed second.

He also won three out of four matches. The last match he participated in, he lost in overtime.

"It was clashing back and forth with five referees judging," he said.

In order to score a point competitors had to make contact above the belt. No hits to the back were scored though contact to the head was allowed.

"They were looking for clean shots," he said. "If they blocked and still got hit, it more than likely didn't count."

He explained that if a point was awarded, it was based on a majority vote.

Being from a smaller Montana town, Morser doesn't have much of a choice of sparring partners to practice with, but in order to stay fresh, he was taught to spar with anyone, who will train with him.

"At my job, there's a guy (Ted Reiter) that did pro boxing and I worked with him," Morser said. "He did some mixed martial arts stuff and I was helped him with kicks and he showed me some boxing stuff."

He went on to say sparring with different styles keeps you sharp because training in house you learn your opponent too well.

In his weapons display, Morser showed his skills using a bostaff,

"The judges went by technique, form and how you use the weapon," Morser said.

The kata, which is a Japanese word used for a display of choreographed movements, is also judged the same as the weapons display.

Though Morser won first in the displaying of his kata, he is wise in knowing, it can always improve.

"You never master. You keep working," he said. "I've been training for about 13 years or so. You just always work on it. There's no end to karate."

Thanks to his efforts at the Big Sky Games, Morser had an opportunity to reach out to other dojos in Montana.

"I was out of the loop and had no contacts. There was a kempo school in Havre interested in doing a demo or tournament," said Morser.

Morser has been running his dojo for around a year in a building attached to Xude Fitness.

He has about five students this summer and a few more during the school year.

He brought a student down to Billings to compete, which means that eventually students will have the chance to compete.

His dojo is looking for more students who would like to learn the art of Shitoryu.

For more information on Morser's Dojo, contact Morser at 654-1578.