Post by Anthony 'Antz' Whitaker on Jul 31, 2005 21:49:08 GMT
Today I took part in a martial arts competition for the first time. It was in Harrow Weald (not far from London) and it was the Taekwon-do Explosion 2005. I decided to take the plunge and enter as a contestant just for the experience -- and, boy, it was a blast (pun fully intended)!
There were four events that contestants could participate in: Patterns (which I didn't do because I'm not a Taekwondo exponent, so I don't actually know them), Power Hand Technique (done against a shield that has a meter attached to record how powerful the hand strike was -- in my case the technique was a Reverse Punch), Power Foot Technique (similar thing, but kicks only -- the one I had to do was the reverse turning kick [spinning reverse roundhouse kick in some non-Korean styles]) and Sparring (points or continuous, depending on the grade of the contestant -- I was put in continuous).
I had an interesting problem regarding weighing in caused by adult males being split into under 75kg and over 75kg (I wonder what would've been the case if someone actually was 75kg?). You see, when I weighed myself for the original entry form and payment I weighed 76kg (and I was naked at the time because I'd just had a bath, so couldn't've made myself any lighter!), yet today it had dropped to 74.5kg, but because I'd already put in my events under 75kg+ I had to stick with that.
The Power Foot event was a bit of a mishap for me. It was the first event I did and one proviso for the best score was to hit within the star shape on the shield to get a more accurate reading. All contestants were only allowed one measure -- which I did perfectly, getting the heel to touch right in the middle of the star. However, when I did the kick I was about three inches too high. I was so frustrated with myself that I forgot to see what the reading was on the LCD on the shield! Now I'll never know...
The Power Hand technique came next, and I got a reading of 176 (kg?) on this one. This time I did hit within the star, although in hindsight I think I may not have been close enough.
Then, hours later, my time came to do the sparring. I was becoming increasingly nervous as the sparring going on around me was more intense than anything I'd ever done in a class, and many of the blows looked and sounded heavier (it was only supposed to be semi-contact), so I was concerned that my sparring headgear (which is only made to withstand light contact) would be insufficient to take the punishment.
Fortunately I was up against a man who did actually keep control and within the guidelines (if I remember correctly the only thing he lost a point for was doing a blind backfist). The most painful strike I took from him was a side kick straight into my abdomen, but it wasn't enough to knock me down like a sack of potatoes, so I just shrugged it off and carried on. I think I held my own, all things considered, and did manage to get some strikes in when things got really intense. I did lose a point for falling on my butt when I slipped doing a roundhouse kick, which was a bit embarrassing! My opponent won the round, so consequently I was knocked out of the event, but he did congratulate me on giving him a good fight (a few other members of the audience also came up to me and congratulated me, which was also nice).
So, as you probably gathered, no trophies for me, but a wealth of experience, and I hope that I can enter another competition akin to this one again, as it was interesting to spar with different people.
Many thanks to the likes of Lynz, Luke Pollard and Stuart, as well as a host of others who made me feel welcome. It was amazing!
There were four events that contestants could participate in: Patterns (which I didn't do because I'm not a Taekwondo exponent, so I don't actually know them), Power Hand Technique (done against a shield that has a meter attached to record how powerful the hand strike was -- in my case the technique was a Reverse Punch), Power Foot Technique (similar thing, but kicks only -- the one I had to do was the reverse turning kick [spinning reverse roundhouse kick in some non-Korean styles]) and Sparring (points or continuous, depending on the grade of the contestant -- I was put in continuous).
I had an interesting problem regarding weighing in caused by adult males being split into under 75kg and over 75kg (I wonder what would've been the case if someone actually was 75kg?). You see, when I weighed myself for the original entry form and payment I weighed 76kg (and I was naked at the time because I'd just had a bath, so couldn't've made myself any lighter!), yet today it had dropped to 74.5kg, but because I'd already put in my events under 75kg+ I had to stick with that.
The Power Foot event was a bit of a mishap for me. It was the first event I did and one proviso for the best score was to hit within the star shape on the shield to get a more accurate reading. All contestants were only allowed one measure -- which I did perfectly, getting the heel to touch right in the middle of the star. However, when I did the kick I was about three inches too high. I was so frustrated with myself that I forgot to see what the reading was on the LCD on the shield! Now I'll never know...
The Power Hand technique came next, and I got a reading of 176 (kg?) on this one. This time I did hit within the star, although in hindsight I think I may not have been close enough.
Then, hours later, my time came to do the sparring. I was becoming increasingly nervous as the sparring going on around me was more intense than anything I'd ever done in a class, and many of the blows looked and sounded heavier (it was only supposed to be semi-contact), so I was concerned that my sparring headgear (which is only made to withstand light contact) would be insufficient to take the punishment.
Fortunately I was up against a man who did actually keep control and within the guidelines (if I remember correctly the only thing he lost a point for was doing a blind backfist). The most painful strike I took from him was a side kick straight into my abdomen, but it wasn't enough to knock me down like a sack of potatoes, so I just shrugged it off and carried on. I think I held my own, all things considered, and did manage to get some strikes in when things got really intense. I did lose a point for falling on my butt when I slipped doing a roundhouse kick, which was a bit embarrassing! My opponent won the round, so consequently I was knocked out of the event, but he did congratulate me on giving him a good fight (a few other members of the audience also came up to me and congratulated me, which was also nice).
So, as you probably gathered, no trophies for me, but a wealth of experience, and I hope that I can enter another competition akin to this one again, as it was interesting to spar with different people.
Many thanks to the likes of Lynz, Luke Pollard and Stuart, as well as a host of others who made me feel welcome. It was amazing!
I hope to come to a future competition, too.