PERENNIALLY Jamaica’s biggest contingent of athletes, a 60-member squad of martial artists start departing the island today for this weekend’s International Sports Karate Association’s United States Open in Orlando, Florida.

Staged at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort, the event is the world’s biggest martial arts open, drawing competitors from every discipline and from all corners of the globe.

Jamaica’s squad comprises competitors from age six to masters, pulling together martial artists from six different schools, Jamaica Taekwon-Do and the karate organisations of Ningen, Rising Sun, Seido and Zendo.

Headed by a powerful seven-man squad from the combined martial arts team, captained by Nicholas Dusard, Jamaica will first hit the mat tomorrow when an all-female three-member team faces off with Germany, South Africa and Chile in the Gold Cup, a round-robin team-fighting match.

Sheckema Cunningham, Jamaica’s top female fighter, will lead out Tashauna Grannum and Subrina Richards, seeking their first hold on the Gold Cup, which their male counterparts have never lost.

“I think this year we have a better chance. Tashauna has never fought Gold Cup but she won the International Taekwon-do Federation (ITF) African Nations Cup in South Africa and did well at the ITF World Champs in Italy where she advanced to the second round and only lost by a point,” Cunningham said.

Richards won the gold at the International Sports Kickboxing Association’s World Champs in Portugal this year and lightweight silver at the ITF World Cup in Montego Bay last August.

Similar to Cunningham, Dusard was confident of combined team members returning home with gold.

The combined team squad includes in-form Kevin Brown, Scott Wright, Adrian Moore, Ackeem Lawrence, and Demar King. Greagon Taylor and Delano Francis travel as invitees.

Ningen’s Brown has been in top shape, and unbeatable on the local circuit. He was grand champion at the weekend’s Seido Open after winning at the Superstars, Shai-Tai, Taekwon-Do and Ningen opens earlier this year.

Meanwhile, more than 20 Jamaican high schoolers are down to compete at the tournament where they have traditionally done well. They will be looking to maintain the edge they showed at home during last year’s ITF World Cup in Montego Bay.

Jamaica Taekwon-Do has 12 schoolers from six Corporate Area schools, which participate in the McKay Security High School League. They are Kingston College’s Romario Henry, George Waugh and Brandon Scott; Hydel Group of School’s Akino Lindsay; Calabar’s Tye McKay, Chris Campbell and Naval Mills; Wolmer’s Boys’ Kevaughn Johnson; St George’s College’s Damani Gayle and Miguel Hamilton; Jamaica College’s Tahj Hewitt and Joshane Thompson.

Ningen and Rising Sun Karate each have two high school students. Zendo Karate has one representative, Tyrique Tai-Loy.

Keith Edwards’ Ningen high school fighters are Jordan Stephenson of Ardenne High and Karette Donaldson from Holy Childhood High. Heather Campbell’s Rising Sun has Jason Francis of Hillel Academy and Leon Beckford of Kingston College.