Steve Giroux and Mady Giroux took home the coveted Norris Cup and the Warrior Legends Award after Mady’s grand champion and first place wins.
Reminder Publishing submitted photos
WILBRAHAM — Four martial artists from Wilbraham’s Giroux Bros. Martial Arts returned from Las Vegas as karate champions after placing first in their point sparring divisions at the Chuck Norris System International Training Championships, with one toting the coveted Norris Cup and the grand champion title.
The Chuck Norris System International Training Championships is a tournament held during the annual United Fighting Arts Federation conference, the organization founded by martial artist Chuck Norris. It features martial arts seminars, belt testing and championship competitions for students of the Chuck Norris System.
The Norris Cup is awarded to top champions in their respective divisions, known as grand champions. Winners have their names engraved and get to keep the trophy until returning to defend their title in the next year’s competition.
Steve and Mady Giroux are a father and daughter duo who run Giroux Bros. on Boston Road. Steve, a ninth degree black belt, won the Norris Cup and grand champion title in 1999, 2010 and 2011. Steve and Mady have been traveling since 2023 to fight in big karate tournaments throughout the country and Canada.
Mady, 18 years old, is a third degree black belt and followed right in her father’s footsteps this year by winning the Norris Cup in the women’s 18 to 29 division as a first-year adult competitor. She is the only 18-year old to ever win the Norris Cup.
“Everyone wants to win that Norris Cup,” Steve said. “The fact that she did it this year fighting for her first time as an adult is awesome.”
She is also head instructor for the other three winners — first degree black belt Kennedy Wright and advanced red belts Sophie Sutter and Brooke Beaudoin.
Her championship match had her fighting back from a 3-0 deficit and winning 4-3. Mady fought and won again against the same opponent in a 4-0 match after receiving the Norris Cup, winning the “Warrior Legends Award” in the open weight division.
Mady began karate before she was 3 years old, and Steve said Mady told him that she wanted to “do what he did.”
She became eligible for a black belt at 11, but the COVID-19 pandemic halted it until she turned 12. There are typically 10 black belt degrees, and Mady will be eligible for her fourth degree belt next year.
Mady said she had not been won at all during her first couple years at the tournament, and it made her want to take it a lot more seriously.
“My dad started taking me to the national tournament, and then coming in as a 16 and 17-year-old, I wiped the floor with my division,” Mady said. “I point-spread them, they basically call it a mercy rule. I had a little bit more confidence coming back home that year and having this year to keep training and competing on the national level”
She had watched her opponents’ fight videos “a thousand times,” and she said all she had to do was not get in her head.
“Going into it, I wanted to win the cup,” Mady said. “The Warrior Legend Award is nice, but the cup was something that no 18-year-old has done before.”
Steve said seeing his daughter win as a first-time adult fighter after 16 years of training made him proud and excited.
“She knew her goals going into this,” Steve said. “She’s like ‘dad, I want that Norris Cup. I need to win that Norris Cup.’ I knew she had the ability to do it, and it took me, I was 22 when I won mine the first time. Coming in as a brand new 18-year-old, she’s got the talent, she’s got the skill, but she lacked a little bit of the experience that only comes with time. For her to overcome the deficit is huge because, a lot of the times like any other sport, it’s a mental game … When you’re down by three points right the beginning and already a minute into a two-minute match, it’s very impressive that she was able to come back and not let her head get in the way.”
The first-place winners from Wilbraham’s Giroux Bros. Martial Arts posed with their titles.
Reminder Publishing submitted photo
Mady added that she can’t put feelings to words on how excited she felt to see her three students also win first place, and that she couldn’t be more proud. She said winning the Norris Cup is exciting, but she was more excited to see how well her students did.
“I stepped in as the coach for my girls when they were fighting because my dad was wrapped into judging for the tournament,” Mady said. “I was right alongside them. They come into the studio and everyone has stuff going on, but when they come in, some six times a week, they leave everything outside and put it all onto the mat.”
She said her students are aged from elementary school to high school, but everyone is willing to put the time and effort in and it paid off.
“We were all there supporting each other,” Mady said. “Knowing they have the passion and drive to be competitors, especially in fighting, it was just amazing to see.”
Each competitor is already locked in for their tournament returns next year to defend their titles.
Giroux Bros. is also currently in the process of expanding to a new 3,500-square-foot Wilbraham facility. More information on programs and schedules can be found at girouxbros.com.
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