Nathaniel Lombardi captures grand championship title

Nathaniel Lombardi

by Mark Huard

Nathaniel Lombardi is a long time student of Huards Martial Arts. He has achieved a third degree black belt in karate and jujitsu at the school. Lombardi is no stranger to the competition scene, as a veteran member of the Huard’s Sport Karate Team. He has travelled throughout Maine and New England competing in weapons forms, open hand forms and fighting.

On Saturday, June 18, Lombardi traveled down to Gorham to attend the Friendship Tournament. This is only the third tournament Lombardi has attended since the pandemic, which ended the tournament seasons for two years. Local tournaments depend upon volunteer black belts to judge and guide the under belts, and Lombardi did his part by sitting as a corner judge prior to his own competition.

The first event for Lombardi was the weapons division. He picked up his trusty nunchucks and worked his way to fourth out of eleven competitors ages 18-29. He went on to improve his performance in his kata division, finishing third amongst the other highly trained martial artists.

Lombardi’s third division of the day was kumite, or point fighting. The objective of this division is to score five points first by landing a kick or a punch on their opponent to specific areas (light contact to the face, side of the head, chest, stomach and sides). Lombardi says prior to the event, he visualized throwing and landing his techniques on his opponents. This is a technique that helps attain focus and grounds competitors. The division was filled with many men that focus solely on this style of fighting and are extremely fast and agile.

Lombardi knew that he needed to bring his “A” game and win this division so he would have the opportunity to compete in the Grands. He had several fights in the 18-29 division, and managed to capture first in a couple of back and forth battles. He went on to compete with older age divisions and was able to capture the overall Men’s Fighting Grand Championships. He fought many veteran fighters who have competed for years, and have many tricks of the trade that they utilized against the younger Lombardi. He displayed his stamina and athleticism throughout the rounds, and came out victorious. Lombardi works out consistently in the dojo and additionally in the gym to always stay competition ready.

Lombardi credits his instructors and training partners at Huard’s for his successes and was pleased to demonstrate his skill sets to be a role model for the next generation of Martial artists.

He is also a first responder as an emergency medical technician. He works long hours and stills finds the time to devote to his training. Those that know Lombardi credit his discipline, integrity and commitment to himself and his team.