Dominic See: my first championship, bronze

last saturday i joined Kejohanan Taekwondo Majlis Perbandaran Subang Jaya 2010, a "fighting competition" for you understanding. And i got bronze medal under the heavyweight class.

on that day, dad and i reached there at about 8. Waited soooooo long for one of my coaches, Master Lee (in tkd, you'll have more than one coach), my other coach, Master Yap was there already with 3 of his guys.

After warming up, Master Lee FINALLY reached! then only i realized that he had quite many other students from Tropicana fighting too. So he gave us a briefing on the rules and stuff.

Here's the rules :

2 rounds for each fight, 2 minutes for one round, 30 seconds break in between round

no punches to the head
kicks are allowed to the body and head

once you lose a fight, you're out!

I have to say, i was super nervous that time even though i tried to stay calm and relax.

FIRST FIGHT:

my opponent was a black belt, and he's HUGE!

yeah, i beat this big mofo that owns a black belt!

First round, i was really nervous and didn't know what to do. Master Lee told me to keep distance and play the "defender", but what i did was keep retreating and not attacking even when i see space!

he scored a point on that but after a while, i "woke up" and started throwing kicks. I noticed that this guy likes to do the "back spin kick" but he doesn't keep and eye on the target.

So what i did was, i waited for him to do his back spin kick. Once he spins, i move out a little bit and kicked him. Worked all the time!

Unfortunately, i got kicked in the groin when i was charging in. That stupid fella lifted his knee and hit me right in the nuts! OUCHHHHH!

First round ended, the score was 2-1, i was in the lead.

Round 2, i did the same thing and won that fight.

SECOND FIGHT:

my opponent was a guy from my same team, from Tropicana.

I saw him warming up before this, this guy's fast and has good techniques.

Before the fight, Master Lee told us to just fight easy and not kick to the head.

BUT!!!!!!!!!!!!

when i stepped in the ring, Master Yap (he was my coach for that match) told me something else........

Yap: Dominic, for this fight, you should keep your distance from him and do more high kicks go for the head.

Me: But Master Lee told me not to.

Yap: So?

I stoned for a moment.....

Yap: Listen, you don't kick his head doesn't mean he won't kick yours. In the ring, you fight your best.

Me: Yes sir

So i entered the ring thinking that i will fight my best.

This round, i was actually more, say aggresive. I attacked more, kicked more, kicked harder and higher. But this guy wasn't not holding back too, he's fast and his combos are good!

First round ended, it was a tie, 2-2

I was quite worried so for the second round, i threw morehigh kicks and attacked more.

When i started throwing high kicks, Master Lee, at my opponents side shook his head and signaled me to stop but i didn't care and kept throwing high kicks. Then my side kick hit his face, lucking it wan't on target so it "touched" him a little only

Round 2 ended, I WON!!!

this guy moves like bruce lee. WATCH!

there was also once that his arm hurt from blocking my kicks so he was adjusting his forearm guard, DURING THE FIGHT!......bad choice.

And i was such an asshole, i went up and kicked him hard in the back, scored points :)

btw, i injured my right shin too. Our legs caught together, and that hurt! luckily my coach had deep heat spray. It stopped the pain immediately, like magic!

THIRD FIGHT:

i had a total wrong mindset for this round. I knew that i already won a bronze medal and it's alright even if i lose this round.

So guess what ? i lost!

This guy is kinda short compared to others. But he's fast, has good footwork. Long story short, he's a good fighter.

But i did pull off some great moves too:

JUMPING KICK! and he's out of the ring :)

of course, i fell down too....

Here's what i think about the tournament:

I'm definitely not proud of the fact that i got bronze. But getting bronze for the first time joining a tournament is actually quite good already. Besides, i was the only one from my club that won a medal. Btw, i got warnings from the referee for god knows how many times, from pulling/pushing opponent, grabbing opponent's legs and punching to the face.

At night, i received a text from my coach, Master Lee.He said congratulations and said "let's work hard together and achieve you gold medal"

YEAH, LET'S DO THIS TOGETHER!! IT'S ON LIKE DONKEY KONG !!!

Here's some pictures: