My First 1st Placing in National All Styles Round 4

[iceman]

This is definitely non-astronomy, but I know there is a few people that do, or used to do some form of martial arts training, so I thought I'd post it.

I competed in the National All Styles Round 4 event yesterday at Ryde, and finally won my first event - the Point Sparring for the 3rd-1st Kyu division.

It was my 4th tournament this year and I've been progressively getting better each time, so I was really happy to finally win an event, after some 2nd's and 3rd's in the last few events.

You can watch the videos and read all the commentary here:
My First 1st Placing in National All Styles Round 4 (http://www.mikesalway.com.au/2009/08/24/my-first-1st-placing-in-national-all-styles-round-4)

Thanks for looking.

EDIT:
I competed in another tournament on the weekend.
See post 21 (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showpost.php?p=499930&postcount=21) for more.

[renormalised]

Ah so......Karate Kid...remember....wax on, wax off:P:P:D:D

Great going!!!!:D:D

[DavidU]

Great skill there Mike. You must be happy with the result.

[beren]

:thumbsup: Great stuff Mike and congratulations, looked like a lot of fun makes me wish I kept on with my Muay Thai/Boxing :P bit nervous watching with those hands down so low though :whistle:

[Robh]

A result of discipline, training and developing experience.
And presumably, some talent.
I did Hapkido for many years and know how much dedication is required.

Well, done!

Regards, Rob.

[Dennis]

Congratulations Mike – it certainly looks tough!

You appeared very much at ease and looked quite loose compared to your opponents, who seemed more mechanical in their approach? Your kicks appeared very effective and they didn’t appear to have an answer for them. Obviously I write this with respect for your opponents as performing at this level takes immense dedication and commitment. I used to take classes when at Uni, many, many moons ago LOL! and can certainly appreciate what it is like under fire for a 3 minute round!

Well done again! You’ve certainly got a couple of quite demanding hobbies in astronomy and the martial arts, not to mention family and work!

Thanks for the write up, I enjoyed watching the videos of your sessions.

Cheers

Dennis

[DavidU]

Note to self : NEVER be cheeky to Mike.

[iceman]

Thanks guys, appreciate you taking a look and posting some feedback.

Beren/Stuart, you might be interested in this: http://www.martialartslife.net/forums/53810-coastal-clash-22nd-august-2009

It was the first fight for a kickboxer, part of a martial arts community I'm also part of.

Watching that, it's much more brutal than mine LOL! There's no way I could do that :)

Rob - my friend that started Martial Arts Life (http://www.martialartslife.net) (a friend/ex-work colleague of mine) does Hapkido. I did one class with him one time - was fun! Except his fiancee had her wrist broken during that class! Ouch!

Dennis - thanks for your comments. I was very nervous at the start of the day, but getting the continuous sparring and then the kata out of the way earlier on, helped me be more relaxed for the point sparring. Trying to control the nerves has been one of the biggest challenges when starting to enter tournaments. Trying to make sure you don't forget everything you've learned is tough :)

I'm definitely enjoying the martial arts training at the moment - it's very tough to balance the demands and desires of the different hobbies, not to mention family and work!

Thanks again.

[BerrieK]

Well congratulations Mike, top stuff. You must be pretty fit to be involved in such a demanding sport.

You sure look pretty relaxed - powerful even (aah yes, power comes from speed and weight together with relaxation, confidence and concentration......). My kids do Tae Kwon Do and as such I spent nearly 4 hours watching the club grading on Saturday afternoon. Are your kids involved as well?

Kerrie

[multiweb]

Very cool - congrats on the placing. Pretty good Kumite stances and you snap that round-house pretty fast and high. My boy's been doing shotokan too for the past 8 years and is going for his junior black belt grading in December with Yoseikan-ryu. I'm just the taxi driver, doing a bit of table officialing on occasions for the tournaments and the NSWKF. :) Takes a lot of training and dedication to do what you're doing. Well done again. :thumbsup:

[dpastern]

Same here. I can appreciate Karatake, but prefer Muay Thai's style. That said, you can't beat it for discipline.

Mike, good footwork, style and a better reach gave you a good advantage over the first guy in the point sparring. vs the guy in the continous sparring, he seemed a bit more aggressive than you and I was a bit worried about the low hands too. Beren - you gotta remember than kicks to the groin are illegal in Australia (at least from memory). It doesn't stop them from accidently happening, but most fighters do genuinely try and avoid groin kicks. In Muay Thai anything is fair game (that's if you're not doing kick boxing where knees and elbows are disallowed that is).

Good stuff Mike, enjoyed watching the sparring and kata.

Dave

[casstony]

Why isn't protective head gear worn?

[Jen]

:lol::lol::lol:

Good on ya Mike :thumbsup:

[iceman]

Thanks Jen :)



Thanks Kerrie - my fitness is getting better. A few months ago I started regular fitness training in preparation for my black belt grading (http://www.mikesalway.com.au/tag/journey-to-black-belt). It's definitely helping.

The NAS tournaments have a lot of Tae Kwon Do competitors. I did do TKD for about 6 months, but a looong time ago (I was only 13 at the time).

My son Jacob did Karate for a little while, but gave it up after only 6 months or so. I started when he stopped (almost 3 years ago now).



Thanks! My footwork and distance awareness are two of my strengths. Helps me to not get hit too much ;)
I competed in an AKF tournament early this year (February?) - it's certainly a different beast than NAS. I'm hoping to compete in a few more AKF events next year. My friends' daughter went down to compete in the AKF Nationals in Adelaide just a few weeks ago.

I hope your son sticks with it after he gets his black belt!



Thanks Dave. I think the guy in the continuous sparring has done a lot of kickboxing training - he definitely fought like a kickboxer, with the high guard and the thigh kicks.



It depends on the tournament. In some tournaments it's mandatory(IBS and IMAT events I think), and others it's not required (but you can wear them if you want to, I guess). We all have mouth guards, of course.

Strangely enough, in some tournaments they allow kicks to the head but not punches to the head. I don't understand those rules! :shrug:

[h0ughy]

well done mike

[dpastern]

I was going to say that, but since I'm not really totally au fait with your style, I didn't know if it was just a variation. I did notice his raised leg blocks on low roundhouse kicks, typical of kickboxers. It probably explains his aggressiveness on the mat as well now that I think of it.

A mate of mine did a bunch of martial arts, mainly Kempo karate, but he also did kickboxing, muay thai and hapkido, all to some extent. I wouldn't want to mess with him lol!!!

Dave

[jjjnettie]

Nice one Mike.

[iceman]

Yeh definitely, it's probably a good style and tactic for continuous sparring which is a much different beast than point sparring.

The National All Styles tournaments are good in that you do get to fight against people with different styles - karate, tae kwon do, hapkido, kick boxing, kung fu etc. It's interesting to see how the different styles go against each other.

[Ric]

Well done Mike.:thumbsup:

The hard work and discipline has paid off which is probably the most rewarding aspect of it all.

Cheers

[beren]

Thanks for the link Mike, good going for a first comp bout nearly had his opponent when he performed that third flashy superman punch :lol:.



:) When I was doing MT you get so ingrained using your leading leg as a block, feigning or launching a push/thrust kick.
Mike I think your footwork and kicking served you well in the point scoring, the opponent in the continuous sparring clearly had good skills and apart from me thinking "tuck that chin in, lift those hands" thought you handled it pretty well in the punching exchanges even when he switched southpaw a couple of times :)

[iceman]

I competed in another tournament on Saturday - this time an internal BBMA tournament for all students in the club. Over 300 competitors of all ages and in all divisions.

I was fortunate enough to follow up my win in the previous tournament with another win in this one - taking out my division (4th-1st Kyu < 75kg) in the Point Sparring.

I also came 3rd in the Open Division < 75kg Point Sparring, which I'm most proud of - as I beat a 3rd Dan Black Belt and a Sensei to take 3rd place.

Videos and more here:
Results from the BBMA Intramural Tournament (http://www.mikesalway.com.au/2009/09/28/results-from-the-bbma-intramural-tournament)

Thanks for looking.

[troypiggo]

Congratulations again! No mean feat beating 3rd Dans. I remember watching a 4th Dan spar with a 1st Dan (not in a comp). It was all quite friendly until the 1st Dan took down the 4th. Then the 4th Dan decided to up the ante and totally unloaded on the 1st Dan who had been crapping his pants since realising what he'd done just a few seconds before :)

[BerrieK]

Well congratulations again Mike! You can't win these things without deserving to.

My 10 year old competed in a Belt challenge tournament at Dubbo a few weeks ago. Apart from watching our own kids compete, the most exciting part of the day was watching the black belts compete in point sparring at the end of the day. Wow.

So well done you; hope that your thumb is okay.

Kerrie :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[dpastern]

Congrats again Mike - I'll check the vids out tonight when I get home (I'm still @ work).

Dave

[Matt Wastell]

Well done....sir!
Happy 5 year anniversary too!
Its great to see you striking a blow .....and I mean this with great respect to all....for nerds.

[Rodstar]

Is there anything this man cannot do?

At least we will not need to worry about security at IISAC this year.

Mate, you look very relaxed and flexible as others have commented. I know it was a different discipline, but as Mohammed Ali would say, you seemed to "float like a butterfly, but sting like a bee". In the two clips I watched from the Ryde event, you seemed a lot more fit and active than your opponents, and whilst you seemed generally to respond to the attack moves of others, in most instances it seemed, like Daniel-son, that you waited for the chink in the armour to open, and then pounced. Very inspiring stuff.

[Outbackmanyep]

Well done Mike!

I was gonna say....people be warned! Don't nick his stuff at IISAC!

[Robh]

Mike,

Great to see the progression.
Nice fluid movement and anticipation.

Regards, Rob

[Steve Heaton]

Great to hear, my two boys (7 & 11) both do Kenseikan and the benefit they get out of Karate is just brilliant and can thoroughly recommend it. What allways amazes me is how you can remember all the different kata. We are off to Tamworth this weekend for country titles to prep for the world titles next year.

[iceman]

Thanks for your comments.
I'm happy that the progress is continuing - I don't feel even close to plateauing yet. I know there's still so much to learn and as my flexibility, confidence and strength continues to improve it will open up more options.

I know that as I continue to prepare for my black belt grading (which is at the end of next year) it should hopefully take me to the next level.


Thanks!
LOL yeh, I asked a 2nd dan black belt for advice, and he suggested that if I can get my opponent angry, it will take him off his game. So trying to score first was definitely a strategy for me - and I was able to control the distance more and not get sucked into the anticipation game.


Many thanks Kerrie! How did your 10 yr old go? They can be quite exciting events to watch, that's for sure. It must feel awful seeing your child get hit or kicked though :)
My thumb is more pink than black now, which is good :)



Thanks Steve, and good luck to you and your boys!

I agree that kids can get a lot out of practising a martial art. Great for their confidence, strength, discipline and respect.

[BerrieK]

Mike, Ariel my daughter does TaeKwonDo and alas was knocked out (fortunately not literally) after her first fight. But it was still a pleasure to be there for the whole day just for the experience (it was 'our' first tournament - no I'm not being a soccer mum) and to support all the other junoirs, seniors and the big black belt boys and girls. We are only a small club compared to all the others that were there for that comp, but all in all we did really well.

Yes I always watch with my heart in my mouth but rest assured she gives as much as she gets. She has not taken any big kicks to the ribs as yet, thank goodness, as at this stage she guards well. Watching makes me wish I took it up when I was a kid - I know its not too late...in fact Frank my husband has been inspired and started up too. But alas he is away with one of his jobs a lot and so misses out.

Cheers, Kerrie :)

[multiweb]

Congrats Mike. You look way sharper than previous vids. All that training is paying off. :thumbsup:

[TrevorW]

I gave up karate nearly 10 years ago (S'hito Ryu) after having my arm broken by a snap kick free sparring with a guy half my age

Thought then it was time to give up

[troypiggo]

So that's where the snap kick gets its name...

[TrevorW]

Yes and it was heard throughout the dojo

[troypiggo]

Ouchies. I cringe just imaging that sort of thing.