When the Colgan-Redlich family team of four competed in the U.S. Karate Alliance’s national karate championships in Albuquerque earlier this month, they made an impressive showing.

Mark and Karra Colgan made the 750-mile drive from their home in Running Springs with 5-year-old Connor Redlich and 9-year-old Christopher Redlich. By the end of the weekend, they had an armload of trophies.

Connor, who holds the beginning rank of orange belt, did exceptionally well for having never been to a major tournament. He placed first in the 5 and under kata (forms) division, second in the 7 and under weapons division and third place in the 7 and under chanbara (foam sword fighting) division.

After winning two fights on Saturday afternoon, Connor competed in the finals on Saturday night. He won his match and was named the 2009 national champion in sparring. That evening he also competed in the grand champion run-off for 12 and under kata. He was the youngest and smallest of 12 competitors and narrowly missed the win by 0.02 of a point.

Christopher is an intermediate rank of purple belt. At 9, he is already a veteran of six years in karate competition. He took fourth place in the 9 and under weapons division which had over 20 competitors; he used his bladed war fans which were quite impressive. Following the competition, he was unexpectedly promoted to brown belt not only for his martial arts skill and knowledge but also for his exceptional show of fighting spirit at the national competition.

Mark Colgan, 50, is a 4th degree black belt and the head instructor of the family’s dojo, Shozen Martial Arts USA, located in Highland. He is no stranger to competition as he has had several national and world titles in his 35 years of martial arts training and was also a member of the U.S. karate team that competed in Japan in 1999. He took second place in black belt men’s kata.

Karra Colgan, 28, is also no stranger to competition. In her 4-1/2 years of training she has earned 10 national titles and eight world titles as well as dozens of other state, regional and local tournament titles. She has led the point standings with a triple crown in all three divisions: kata, sparring and weapons for the past three years.

In Albuquerque she took first in brown belt women’s kata, first in adult kyu women’s weapons and second in brown belt women’s sparring. Her first-place finishes put her in the run-off for both kata and weapons grand champion. She surpassed the competition and won both titles, becoming the 2009 national grand champion in adult forms and adult weapons.

As the competition came to a close the family of four had 11 world-class trophies by which to remember the event. In July they will head to New Orleans for the U.S.K.A. world championships where they intend to defend their titles from last year and hope to earn some more.