Cabrini karate phenom chops through competition

Maci Ousset proved her chops in karate when she was named a winner at the World Karate Confederation World Championship May 10-11 in Melbourne, Australia.
    Ousset, 17, competed in three rounds of the mandatory kata girls’ 16- to 17-year-old advanced division and earned first place in kata and second in kumite sparring.
    “I think I hold a special place in my heart for kata,” she said. “I love the perfection of the technique because it takes a lot of time to work on it. I want to be great in kata.”
 
    To qualify, Ousset was selected for the 2012 AAU team trials in Houston and competed in an international competition in Chicago that year. (The world championship is held every other year.)
Practice makes perfect
    At age 5, Ousset was introduced to karate by a friend. She continued the sport after he quit two weeks later.
    “I’ve never stopped,” she said. “It’s something I’ve loved early on.”
    
She earned a black belt at age 9 with sensei Gene Evans and began setting more milestones to achieve, such as a national championship. She also was salutatorian of her class at Our Lady of Prompt Succor in Chalmette and is an honor student at Cabrini High School.
    Hurricane Katrina halted her formal karate training for two years when her family lost their house in Chalmette. She said she continued to practice on her own and eventually found sensei Darrell Goodyear in the St. Bernard Parish Karate Program. He has taught her the intricacies of kata, the art form of karate that is a pattern or sequence of movements simulating a fight scene. In kata, students are judged technically for speed, balance, proper application, movement, timing, overall performance and rhythm, he said.
    “Hurricane Katrina had a lot of blessings with it,” she said. “I wouldn’t be here if not for Hurricane Katrina.”
    She has competed and done well in several AAU national championships throughout the U.S., making the AAU national team twice. In 2012, she competed in the international championships in Chicago and earned a silver medal in sparring and a bronze in kata, placing only behind the two current world champions.
    “A champion has to have the heart, commitment, dedication and perseverance, and that all came down to her work ethic and that was unbelievable,” Goodyear said.
Committed to excellence
    Ousset trains twice a day in the summer to prepare for competitions and practices five days a week during the school year in addition to being an instructor for beginner students. Goodyear said not a lot of people have that dedication.
    “It’s a lot of sacrifice to do this instead of other things she wants to do,” he said. Even with many national champions under his instruction over the past 20 years, Goodyear said Ousset is “the strongest female student he’s ever had.”
    Karate is a character-building activity that stresses respect and discipline, Goodyear said. Karate has given Ousset more than trophies.
    “I have gained self-discipline, dedication, commitment and a work ethic,” she said.
    To pay for her 10-day trip to Australia, Ousset said she wrote fund-raising letters to friends, family and former karate students. The competition was May 10, but she trained there every day for an hour a day with the U.S. AAU team and its national coaches. Sensei Mike Ivey, who is part of the southern regional developmental program, was her personal coach on the trip.
    She said this competition was different because she competed against international junior athletes, not just those from the United States, experiencing a higher level of competition.
    “It all comes down to hard work and to give my best at that moment,” she said. “My best just happened to be good enough that day.”
    Ousset competed June 27-29 in the 2013 Amateur Athletic Union Nationals in Cincinnati and placed second in mandatory kata for 16- to 34-year-olds; second in 17-year-old advanced kubudo (weapons); third in 17-year-old advanced kata; third in 16- to 34-year-old open kata; second in 17-year-old kumite (sparring); and third in WKF kumite.
    She plans to continue karate.
     “I would love to get another title as world champion,” she said. “I will carry this with me the rest of my life. Hopefully, one day, I can become a sensei, too, but right now I am looking toward a career in physical fitness or becoming a fitness trainer. I want to study exercise science and nutrition.”
    Christine Bordelon can be reached at cbordelon@clarion herald.org.