Up early and over to the contest. There was about 600 Adult Black Belts who competed today. The rule set was a system called stop time, which we are familiar with, but don't train for very much. The competition was excellent, and the judging was mostly fair, but a bit inconsistent, with a noticeable bias toward the home country at times. In fairness, it was a long day for the officials, and we respect their efforts and appreciate their sacrifice to make an event of this size work.
We got off to a rough start today, with many of us losing our first matches, partially due to a combination of unfamiliarity with their point standards, nerves, inconsistent enforcement of their own rules,, and the fact that some of us were just outmatched.
The day ended on a very positive note. Our three man team event (Anthony Gibson, Sam Lieff, and Jon Zaleski) placed 3rd, winning the first three matches, then losing only to a "super team" made up from three different countries. At least two of the players are world champions. Ours was the only team to give them a run for their money.
I also lost my first match. I thought I did pretty well, but my opponent kept running out of the ring every time I moved in. He got me once with a punch to the head, and got him twice, but he scored??? on a kick into my arms, and I could not keep him in the ring long enough to score again. Pretty disappointed in the outcome, but I am happy that I got to compete in the same tournament as my son and other students, and that is very rewarding.
Follow this Link to watch my fight:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O65La6rBSiQ
It was crazy with 16 rings going all day, and I never got a chance to see all my students fight, but I am very proud of all of our team today. They represented Canada with honor. I will hunt down video and post ASAP.
Tomorrow is Jr. Black and color belts. We will be cheering for Jackie Addison, and the crew from Trail and Kelowna. Sunday should be our best day, with the continuous Black Belt Sparring, and the 5 man team matches. Time for a good sleep now.
No comments:
Post a Comment