JOHNSTOWN, Pa. (WJAC) — A local karate practitioner won a prestigious European trophy last week to add to his trophy case of more than 20 tournament wins.
With more than 1000 competitors, this was the biggest tournament Alex Beegle has won Grand Champion at, but in 13 years of training karate, Beegle says there's one thing he aims to win at each tournament that's more important than a trophy.
"When I go out there and compete and win, I don't care about winning the cups or battles or not though. I just worry more about how I earn the respect from the other competitors and my seniors or anybody else out in the audience, so they know how well I’ve done or how well they've done. So yeah, I think respect, earning everybody's respect, is more of the best prize I ever win."
Alex Beegle walked into Joe Goss Karate as a nine-year-old, unsure of his capabilities, but thirteen years later, he has now won more than 20 Grand Champion trophies.
Head instructor Joe Goss Jr. says Beegle's level of success is unprecedented.
"Joe Goss Karate has been a thing now for more than 50 years in Johnstown and he has more Grand Champion trophies than anybody that has come through. So, no, it's very rare."
Goss says that at one point, Beegle stopped training as much because he started playing basketball, but an honest conversation with his student saw him bring a new level of dedication.
"I said, ‘look Alex, you got to make a choice here. You can choose to keep playing basketball and coming here, or you can do this. And at this you can be truly great.’ And he's lived by those words ever since. He never misses a class. If I was open seven days a week, he'd be here seven days a week. He does that. He puts in strength training on top of that. And that's why he's able to do what he does and win as much as he does."
And on the topic of Beegle recognizing the importance of respect, Goss adds that through Beegle's discipline and hard work, he's earned the respect of not just his juniors, but of the adults he's encountered along the way as well.
ncG1vNJzZmivmpawtcKNnKamZ6OlvLPA0miaqKakmru1e8Saqaehnpx6s7HSqZycrF2XsrTAjKmporKVYrmwr8ClZKaZoqm2oriMmqmtoaOpeqO%2ByKeerGWYpLqmedOrpqmgqWLEorjErGSkmaKWwaZ5yaifp6ukpMSvec%2BepaerqaHDorrImmSjp5VitLC%2F0g%3D%3D