West Louisville martial arts team traveling to Florida to compete in international competition

A group of 19 west Louisville martial arts students are traveling to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Thursday. The Arabian Nights World Karate Team is competing in an international martial arts competition, representing Kentucky and the region.

Students from the Arabian Federation Martial Arts Academy will compete against more than seven other countries. The team raised nearly $3,400.

For some kids, it’s their first time on a plane or out of the state.

“Louisville is a small place,” 14-year-old martial artist John Maes said. “When you travel, you get to see how big the world is.”

And that’s exactly what Grand Master Khalid Raheem hoped to do. Raheem has run the academy for nearly six years now.

“When they come through those doors, I want them to know that they got somebody that got their back,” Raheem said. “We’re here.”

Raheem is leading the team to the international competition. For those who aren’t able to fly because of costs, he is driving a van of students to Florida. He said they have packed frozen meals and pans to keep costs as low as possible. No matter the effort, Raheem said he needed to make this happen.

“My whole vision is to get them out of here (Louisville), and get them exposed to other areas of the world,” Raheem said. “Let them see other things besides, you know, unfortunately, the killings and everything that’s going on here.”

Raheem lost his grandson, and most recently his 16-year-old niece Nylah Linear, to gun violence. Nylah died after being shot on Cecil Avenue last Wednesday.

“They (the students) can get nurtured, you know, but we can’t nurture my baby no more, she’s gone,” Raheem said. “But it inspires me to keep moving to keep moving, but it’s hard.”

One of the students pushing Raheem forward is 10-year-old Christiana Billups. She and Maes were both inducted into the International Martial Arts Hall of Fame Up and Comer.

Billups will go for her sixth international title at the Florida competition.

“I like about how we fight and learn in here,” she said. “And everybody respects others.”

For Maes, martial arts gave him the support to start raising his hand and asking questions in class.

“It helped me boost my courage because it was low, and karate helped me bring it up higher,” he said.

In every kick and punch is an uplifting life lesson, according to Raheem.

This weekend is the team’s nearly fifth weekend in a row traveling to different competitions. After they get back, they’ll need to start fundraising again for their next competition in North Carolina.