01209dom’s Weblog

Well it would appear that in two days time I will enter my final year of my twenties. This is something which I have thought about for a while and reaching the age of 30 really is quite a big milestone. I have always said that I wanted to go somewhere really special like Japan/China/Korea which I will definitely still do at one point in my life, but the following year is the World Championships in Florida which will probably be more than enough to look forward to as far as trips away go, but we shall see..

So far my birthday celebrations have already kicked off. On Saturday despite it being the final weekend of my week off I went into work at around half five to meet up with the guys from work as they had organised a bowling night for my birthday. I was also greeted with a helium filled pirate balloon strapped to a can of Tennants Super Strength, nice touch. The night started quite rapidly and as we were in the (first) pub at about 6:00pm and the bowling alley was booked for 9:00pm I knew that there was a large amount of drinking time in between, so I decided to pace myself. Some of my colleagues were on a mission though and when we eventually got to bowling were quite far gone. I managed to call upon my previous Camborne bowling experience to claim first place in both games but to be fair I was probably the least inebriated of the group, which didn’t go down well!! My two possible train journeys home were 10:22pm or 11:10pm but that was just never going to happen. We ended up in a bar/nightclub called Vanilla which is a bit classier than I am used to but the upstairs club was packed, I bumped into lots of very cool people from past and present and even a couple of my fellow martial artist friends too which was awesome!

After paying £40 for a taxi home I seem to remember it being about 4:00am before eventually stumbling into bed. It was an amazing night and I think we all needed it as the atmosphere in work over the last month or so has been a little negative. There were certain ’events’ that took place which I have thought about pretty much every minute since but wont go any further, I think? I definitely don’t regret anything and hopefully the feelings are shared. It makes me a little sad in a way as it gave me an insight into what my social life could be like if I maybe made a little more effort, or maybe I am just getting too old for all that nonsense now!

I know that I am not going to escape lightly on my actual birthday on Wednesday either as if training is anywhere near as hard as my last birthday then I am a dead man walking. It’s cool though as we have a fun packed weekend to follow with apparently the best Halloween rock night ever in Plymouth on the Friday followed by a Poker/DVD/Beer night on the Saturday and then a Halloween party for the kiddies run by myself and my fellow coaches on Sunday! It is going to be amazing but I think I might need another week off to get over it.

Training on the whole has been great and all of the classes are starting to get really tough again. The merging of the classes all under the Tang Soo Do name will make everything a lot more accessible for everyone and I think will ultimately help each class to steal students from each other, there has already been interest here. We have all been feeling a bit under the weather recently so we unfortunately had to put a hold on squad training last week, which was mainly my fault to be honest as I was rough as a badgers ass, but this week we were pretty much back to our best again and we had a hard but very enjoyable session. I am a bit stop start with my new forms as I was advised to study one at a time, but on Sunday I was taught the first half of my newest form Bassai which I have been extremely anxious to learn. A real landmark form in my opinion, I am also really loving Chil Sung Sam Ro which is definitely my best form at the moment even though I suck at it.

I think that is all for now, lots to update soon so will stay posted.

It was a good journey up on the whole. We didn’t get that much heavy traffic and I think I would be right in saying it took around seven hours. There were a couple of minor scares and I managed to fall out with a truck driver who wouldn’t let me into his lane. He received some very colourful language and internationally recognisable hand gestures which will teach him to mess with angry Camborne folk.

It was good to get a quick power shower before we headed off for a light training session as I felt a bit more awake and human. It was surprising to hear that the hall was also where our instructor had taken his second Dan grading. Even though I could quite happily have crashed out in the hotel room I did find the two hours or so of training very useful. The warm up wasn‘t as bad as we had initially anticipated and I enjoyed the sparring drills. The free period at the end for Hyung practice was invaluable to me as I left feeling very confident with my two forms for the following day and a lot of the pre-tournament nerves were calmed, at least for a while. It took every ounce of energy I had to take the convoy of cars over to Kimbolton School afterwards and help set up the hall for the following day but it was good to get an early look at the venue. When we finished I was absolutely famished having only had a Nutrigrain bar and one crisp for the entire day so after a hurried taxi trip into town I took extreme pleasure in sitting down for our late evening meal. I hardly ever have Indian so when I do I usually challenge myself with something hot like a Madras but I decided against it in view of the tournament this time much to the displeasure of my curry comrades!

I didn’t have the best nights sleep on the rock solid sofa bed, so the 7.00am alarm call came much to my annoyance. I had been practicing my sleep Hyung (which involves thinking about forms for most of the night) and the pre-tournament nerves had well and truly kicked in by the time we were back in the cars again. The very high class School/Castle is visually stunning and it was nice to be back again after only a couple of months. The bow in was announced extremely quickly and we only just made it onto the mats in time for the opening speeches. Even without the newest grade addition(s) to my belt it felt quite strange to be standing so close to the front at a major tournament. It was also great to see a few familiar faces and the occasional “Hello” and handshake personally made me feel very welcome and goes a long way to show how well we are bonding with the other clubs around the country now.

Being an all day event (which is roughly the same amount of time as a normal working day) the standing around, waiting for the next category to be called, along with the increasing feeling of dread is definitely the hardest part of a Martial Arts tournament in my opinion. I was aware of the separate room for practicing but if you go in there you can’t hear your name being called so I was too scared to risk it. It meant going through my forms in my head, which I STRONGLY advise against as I somehow managed to question myself on Pyung Ahn Oh Dan which I have been practicing for the last six months and subsequently worked myself up into a bit of a panic.

First up for me was Traditional Hyung. There were six people including myself in this category; a young second Gup from Scotland, an older and slightly shorter second gup, a third gup roughly about the same age as me, a tall brown belt with a disrespectful bandana and a skinny green belt. I was up first and gave my absolute maximum. I had noticed that the general Kihap’s were a bit on the tame side in the previous category so I unleashed mine with fury in an attempt to win brownie points from the judges. I didn’t see my score as they made you turn around, but I was quietly confident that I had bettered the following scores of the next three competitors. Unfortunately the last two competitors were the two second gups and both did Bassai, which is much longer and a bit more technical than Pyung Ahn Oh Dan, so they both outscored me. Their forms were extremely good though I must say.

My following category was called literally a few minutes after which was perfect as I was still buzzing and totally had the bug for it. I was more confident with the Chil Sung category than any other and I was determined to do well. Chil Sung Il Ro is one of my favourite forms which definitely worked to my advantage in the build up to the competition! The other competitors in my group were virtually the same as before but I was also blessed with the company of one of my fellow team mates who did a sterling performance of Chil Sung Ee Ro if I may say so! I didn’t perform the form as well as I had done in the previous nights training session, and was asked to perform it again as I was tied with the same young Scottish chap from before. He eventually outscored me but I was told it was very close.

I wasn’t too optimistic about my sparring category as I usually get a tough draw, and somehow manage to get the absolute giants every time. Surprisingly though when called to the mat I saw that I had avoided a few of the bigger red belts and was in with a bunch of lads around my age and size. I knew it was my last activity of the day and didn’t really have much to loose, but I did want to give a good account of myself and luckily managed to sneak past my first two opponents and into the final. I should have given it everything but I dropped my game slightly and let in a couple of costly points at the start, (completely disregarding my VS training sessions) which I just couldn’t claw back. I think the final score was 5 – 3 so at least I put up a half decent fight. Because of the structure of my group I actually had all three fights in a row and when called to the mat for the third time in a row one of the judges (third Dan) said “Christ, you can fight me in a minute if you want!” I declined his offer.

I was very relieved when the tournament had finished and my feet and back were killing me from standing around all day, I was also insanely tired having had little sleep the night before and when we got back to the hotel I just crashed on my sofa bed with a bottle of beer and struggled to stay awake. I got a second wind when our room was invaded by the entire team and I think we must have consumed about four bottles of Sake and more beer before heading into town for some food and surprisingly… more beer. The meal in the Chinese restaurant was superb and due to the warmth and full stomach I had to stop myself from drifting again, luckily when we got into the nightclub I bounced back for a third time and we partied long into the night.

I know nothing has been openly said, but I’m sure everyone at the club recognises my prowess on the dance floor, and I could see the appreciation on all of their faces when I busted my moves. I think they all knew they were witnessing something magical that night. I was pretty gutted that the so called DJ didn’t play any of my requests though, what’s wrong with Ice Ice Baby and Hammer Time? Someone tell me? It was a well deserved night out, made more special because all three clubs were in attendance. The journey home was a little painful especially as we were still up at about 4:00am in the hotel, but it just had to be done.

It was an amazing experience which I wont forget. The team spirit was there right from the start and I felt very sad saying goodbye to everyone and having to end the weekend. A fantastic team which I am extremely proud to be part of.

Next up…. The European Championships.

It is only two days now before my martial art prowess is put to the test again at the British Tang Soo Do championships hosted in Kimbolton. Luckily we attended a seminar in the same place only a few months ago so at least the venue will be familiar. Pre tournament nerves are starting to set in a bit now and I have purposely suspended practice on all of my new syllabus forms and requirements, so as to concentrate solely on the forms I will need on the day. I actually registered myself as a third gup so obviously it is paramount I make sure that I have a firm grip of the relevant forms for this grade. I have been practicing continuously in my spare time and it was all going so well… I was absolutely fine up until tonight!

It was a normal senior class and we were told that we were going to be given a nice light session, no brutal stuff just plenty of free practice. That was fine up until fifteen minutes before the end where we were told to perform our tournament forms to the rest of the class. This was unexpected and took me completely by surprise, so when it came to my turn I was a bag of nerves. I don’t get anywhere near as nervous performing forms at a competition as I do in front of our class. That may seem like a strange thing to say but in a tournament you are often being judged by people who you never or rarely train with, so to me it is like showing off how good you are. In a lesson (especially a senior lesson) you are being watched by your instructor and all of your seniors, so the pressure to get it right is so much higher. I was literally shaking, which I don’t get very often and made some pretty basic errors but I at least got a round of applause at the end so it cant have been too bad.

I never get too strung about competition sparring, which is either a good or bad thing (haven’t worked out which yet) as you never know how good your opponent(s) are going to be and there is no set pattern, you just have to rely on your experience and instincts. I will probably get the worst pre-fight nerves ever on the day now!! I also had a really useful kickboxing lesson after TSD where I picked up some very good sparring tips. It is amazing how something that you have always done and thought was fine can be corrected in the most simple way. It feels like I have learnt months of sparring tips in just forty minutes!

We head off on Friday morning at about nine and traffic permitting should arrive at Bedford in fairly good time. The general mood in the camp so far is pretty high spirited, especially with regards to the higher from categories which is where we think we will pose the biggest threat. Even as I type I cant wait now, I absolutely live for trips away with the team no matter how big or small. It will also be the chance to see what areas I need to improve on with the European Championships now set for April next year, a month before Seni!!!

Exciting times.