THE JAMAICA Combined Martial Arts Team completed a perfect year of competition at the weekend by taking the Busta Caribbean Championship in Havana, Cuba, claiming three trophies.

The championship, contested by Jamaica, Trinidad, the Dominican Republic and Cuba, represented the elite of Caribbean martial arts.

Sponsor, Jamaica Beverages, transported the competitors to Havana after a selection board chose the top four teams in the Caribbean.

The competition, which is in its third year, saw a change from its touring format in which the defending champions previously travelled to three countries.

Tackling Cuba, Jamaica won in seven matches with two in hand. Despite an early rally by Cuba, they were unable to get past the speed of Jamaica - especially newcomer Alrick Wanliss and heavyweight Sean Cummings.

Gutsy display by T&T

The experienced Jamaicans also came out on top against Trinidad, who put on a gutsy display with a relatively young but accomplished team.

The matches, fought in a round-robin format, had the Dominican Republic battling to a draw with Cuba against whom Trinidad also drew in another brave performance.

The Dominican Republic suffered extensive injuries in their match against Cuba and opted not to challenge a clearly stronger Jamaican team in the third round, giving Jamaica maximum points in the team competition and their third hold on the Busta Shield.

The individual competition, which had three divisions and contested in individual sparring, had Combined Team invitee Shiahh Shukura winning the super heavyweight battle and Jermaine Lue sharing the middleweight title with Cuba.

The individual triumphs, coupled with the fourth degree patterns, won by Arthur Barrows, and first degree pattern, won by Nicholas Dussard, gave Jamaica maximum points and the Busta Gold Cup.