Momence karate instructor helping group on NBC talent show

America may soon be deciding if a group of extreme martial arts performers has talent, but their Momence instructor, John Sharkey, can already answer in the affirmative.

The group, known as Sideswipe, combines martial arts, acrobatics and gymnastics in a performance set to music. Their appearances onstage, in corporate shows and on TV have always been show-stoppers, but Tuesday their popularity will really be put to the test.

That's when the four young men, originally from the Naperville area, will once again appear on the hit TV show "America's Got Talent." Earlier this week, they made the cut from among 20 different acts featured on the show.

Now, it's down to 10 finalists in a contest where $1 million is on the line and viewers phone in votes.

"They've been on TV a lot, but every time I see them it's like the first time," said Sharkey, who runs Sharkey's Karate Studio in Momence and Naperville. "It's so exciting, I get chills."

It was Sharkey who instructed the four -- Matthew Mullins, Chris Brewster, Craig Henningsen and Jackson Spidell -- in martial arts.

"I've raised Matthew since he was 13," said Sharkey of Sideswipe's creator. "These guys are my martial arts family."

Mullins was the one who developed the group and headed off to Hollywood. In 2002, their ambition paid off when they were chosen top entertainment on the TV show "30 Seconds to Fame." Since, they've appeared on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" and during halftime shows for various sporting events.

They've also grown to include a host of fellow martial arts performers and have even developed a 90-minute martial arts stage show, which ran at the Rialto Theatre in Joliet last year.

Mullins, the five-time World Karate Federation world champion, has also been featured in the Discovery Channel documentary "XMA: Xtreme Martial Arts."

"I've been told it's the number-one selling DVD for Discovery Channel," Sharkey said.

His Momence-based karate studio, which boasts several national champions, got its start downtown in 1973, when Sharkey was just 17 years old.

"My shop was above "Joe the Butcher" and then "Italian Village" restaurant, but then the owners started to complain because we were making too much noise during the dinner hour so we moved," Sharkey said with a laugh.

He moved the studio to Illinois Route 114 before opening another site in Naperville.

Sharkey said he became interested in martial arts when he was 8, after having viewed a world championship competition as part of the Gladiolus Festival.

"It used to be that karate was hard core, hit with a stick, militaristic discipline. But now, it's about technique and discipline and building self-esteem," said Sharkey, the American Karate Association president since 1977.

As far as his "Sideswipe" team goes, Sharkey's happy about the publicity it's bringing to martial arts.

"This helps us show it's not about kicking and punching," he said. "Plus, I think they have a good chance of winning it."

"America's Got Talent", NBC Channel 5

7 p.m. Tuesdays

<strong>View Sideswipe's segment on "America's Got Talent" from last week:</strong>