Smashing Success: Liberty alumnus becomes youngest ISKA Ultimate World Breaking Champion

As the International Sport Karate Association (ISKA) 2026 Ultimate World Breaking Champion, Liberty University alumnus Parker Moody (’23) has demonstrated uncanny strength, skill, explosive athleticism, and destructive power on the international stage.

Moody, 24, became the youngest competitor to earn the prestigious title at the championships, part of the U.S. Open World Martial Arts Championships held at Disney World’s Coronado Springs Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., in July. The event is scheduled to be broadcast on ESPN2 later this fall.

The sport of breaking is a competitive martial arts discipline where athletes test their physical power, speed, and accuracy by smashing stacks of wooden boards or concrete blocks within a strict time limit. Competitors use powerful martial arts movements such as palm strikes, hammer fists, elbow smashes, and sidekicks, depending on the specific power or speed category.

In Florida, Moody also captured the Five Station Combat Power Wood Men’s Lightweight World Championship, where he had to complete a series of five breaks in less than 10 seconds, simulating continuous strikes against multiple attackers approaching from different angles. He also placed high in the Power Concrete Arm, Three Directional Board Breaking, and Horizontal Wood Kick competitions in the men’s lightweight (under 200 pounds) division. The Ultimate Breaking Championship is determined by competitors’ combined performances across these four events, with results ranked across weight and gender classes. Moody posted the highest combined point total to secure the overall Ultimate Breaking Champion title.

Moody travels to an average of eight to 10 breaking competitions a year, many held across North America with select events in Europe and abroad. He won the ISKA U.S. Open Martial Arts World Championships Three-Directional Powerwood title in record-setting fashion on the Night of Champions in Orlando, Fla., in July 2022.

“Tournaments are getting larger, and it is definitely exciting to watch the sport of breaking flourish,” Moody said. “My family and I get everyone together before tournaments and pray … that I might perform to the best of my ability and be a good example, no matter what the outcome is.”

After 10 years of consistent practice, breaking down and building up his muscles and strengthening the bones in his arm, Moody said his arm won’t even swell after repeated breaks in competition.

“In my experience, many breaking competitors hit their prime in their 30s, after years of developing their technique and conditioning their bodies for repeated impacts,” Moody said.

Moody grew up competing in martial arts. He earned his B.S. in Business Administration: Digital Marketing and Advertising from Liberty residentially and now works as an industrial markets sales executive covering the Southeast for 3M, based in St. Paul, Minn.

Outside of competing, Moody and his wife, Bre (also a Liberty alumnus) own and operate Moody’s Martial Arts in Oxford, N.C., a sanctuary for developing young martial artists and maturing them in the art of traditional taekwondo.

“I love how I can witness to students, and that how I conduct myself at competitions gives me a platform as a coach and as a competitor where we can really touch peoples’ lives in a very positive way,” Moody said. “My childhood instructor growing up was a great role model for me, and I want to be a good example of how I conduct myself and set the bar high for the next generation … to live up to that standard. It’s been really rewarding to take something that has been such a big part of my life and now have the opportunity to share it with others.”

The Moodys are already training their young son, Harrison, in the sport and in the ways of the Lord.

“He’s only a year and a half old, and he can already throw a kick and a punch and has already broken a kids’ demo board,” Parker said. “He loves watching me practice and compete. He’s going to have some years ahead of me.”

Moody said the studio is another chance for him to shine a light for Christ in his sport: “As an instructor, I want all my students to see my faith in action.”