Jamaica’s martial arts team, the Busta Fighters, jetted off to Orlando, Florida, last Thursday after securing a fourth straight World Continental Team-Fighting Championship at the NationaI Indoor Sports Centre last week Sunday.

Led by first-class performances from Alrick Wanliss, Nicholas Dussard and Kenneth Edwards, Jamaica won their two matches in straight sets, rolling over Poland in the semi-finals before taking out Argentina.

After entering the semi-finals on a bye, Jamaica got things going in the six-team showdown when Wanliss beat world-ranked Pole Amit Batra, setting the pace for Dussard and Edwards.

Poland had earlier beaten Japan before running into Jamaica. Canada afterwards defeated New Zealand in a close encounter but were overpowered by Argentina in the semi-finals.

A hyped-up Jamaica came out roaring for the final, for which Argentina won the toss and asked the hosts to send out their first fighter. Wanliss answered the call and his first kicks caught Martin Duran in the face.

Whereas Wanliss was clinical, Edwards and Dussard, who fought Serrano and Turnes, respectively, gave their opponents no breathing room, jumping on them in attack after attack.

“We lost the toss and they asked us to send out our first fighter,” said coach Claude Chin.

“We knew what they were planning so we went at full blast and gave it all in three,” he explained.

“After the world continental, they were all drained, apart from the two who did not fight,” Chin pointed out.

“They were so drained we did not expect much from them in the individuals for the Gold Cup.”

Chin said crowd support for the Busta Fighters also played a key role in Jamaica’s victory.

“We knew we’d be in for a hard fight especially with Poland and Argentina,” Chin said after the action-packed and historic tournament, which pulled a fair-sized but vociferous crowd.

“We knew Argentina well but they really came hard especially with us being on home soil,” Chin pointed out.

“What happened was the crowd support the guys got helped a great deal. It might have looked easy but it was that crowd support.We’re always fighting abroad and, with the home support, they just exploded. “This is the best I have seen them fight. They gave the maximum,” he added.

The team-fighting championship featured world champions in every division including Jamaica’s Wanliss, New Zealand’s duo of Carl Van Roon and Mark Trotter, Canada’s Maxime Bujold and the Argentinean pair of Denis ‘El Negro’ Turnes and Batista. Jamaica finished third in the Gold Cup behind impressive Poland and New Zealand.