My son and I competed in the Captain's Cup Challenge on November 20, 2010. We were there bright and early to help our teachers set up the venue. My daughter helped at one of the sign in tables all morning. The competition began at 10:00a.m. and by then, the gymnasium was packed! There were over 200 participants signed up, which may have been a record for Master Holloway. There was not a free spot in the bleachers - and it made for an exciting time. We gathered all of our classmates up for an excellent warm up and headed for the gym.
The day opened with Traditional Forms, then Creative Forms, the Family Forms (Jonathan and Me!). They announced our category over the loud speaker and we went over to the staging area to wait. When it was time to put us into groups the organizers were debating because it looked to be uneven. I suggested that with Jonathan's approval, that they go ahead and put us in the black belt group. What was I thinking? Well, I told Jonathan that we were there to have fun, that going up against black belts was a great experience, and that we were at least going to get a bronze out of it. To my surprise he said "sure mom". Our competition was a team of younger brothers (9 and 12) and a team of older twin brothers from Gentle East (teenagers I think). I won't say our performance was flawless, but close! And we won a silver medal in Family Forms. The younger brothers won the gold.
Now it was board breaking time (my favorite!). We had practiced our board breaking routines in class by going over the choreography with people pretending to be holding boards up. Today we would have two tries for each board station. If you can't break the board after two tries, then you move on to the next station. There were four stations allowed. Jonathan and I had each come up with a routine of four stations. Jonathan was up first and had four other competitors in his group, three red belts and one black belt. Todd and I were each a board holder for Jonathan this time. He missed the first board, supposed to be a back kick, but broke the other three boards with a back kick, axe kick and side kick. He won a silver medal in this competition! His board breaking is getting better each year and I am noticing his confidence and strength grow each time he competes. Then it was time for me. My first kick was supposed to be a side kick and for the first time I was trying it with my left leg. Well I missed twice. I broke the next three boards with a side kick, a jump turning kick ( a first) and a reverse turning kick with my left leg ( another first). Then I could hear Master Holloway saying "come break this board!". He was at the first station where I had initially missed, helping the board holder, so now I had two people holding my board. Again I heard him say "come break this board!!". So I did! I won a gold medal (for the first time) in that competition against three other ladies. Fun!
It was time for the lunch break at this point so we all had a short break while we geared up for the rest of the afternoon of sparring. The opening ceremonies started after lunch. They had all the competitors come into the middle of the gym and line up by school. This was the biggest showing for Gentle East I had seen, with our students taking up two full rows in the gym. It was so great to see that and I felt proud to be a part of it. Master Holloway welcomed everyone, we sang the National Anthem, and he introduced many of the people that he had there helping him, including his original teacher! At that point the entire gym of people stood up and bowed to him. That was a goose bumps moment. There were also 9 international referees there, including one man from Kenya! During that ceremony it was evident that we were part of something special, a love for the sport and a love for Master Holloway. We are so lucky to be a part of the Gentle East School.
Sparring:
This is the time when your adrenalin starts to build. We are nervous and excited. We are being grouped up with our competitors and silently sizing up the competition. The matches start with the youngest age category, so there is a fair amount of waiting-while-nervous happening. The gym is filled with cheering, shouting, screaming, kiups, and general craziness. Later on the ride home Jonathan and I would talk about how in a gym full of intense noise, you could easily pick out the voice of your loved one cheering you on from the sidelines. Reminded me of "March of the Penguins".
There were four boys in Jonathan's group. He won his first match in overtime, one to zero. He was tough and didn't back down and got the point to win the match. And that meant that he would go on to face the winner of the other two boys for the championship. In the second match it was zero to zero for three quarters of the match. Jonathan scored at that point and won the match one to zero! This was Jonathan's first gold medal in sparring.
When I was time for me to spar it was late in the day as the 33 and up category goes last. That is a lot of waiting-while-nervous! There were six people in our group, a red stripe, three red belts including me and two black belts. We ranged in age from 30's to 50's, but at that point you just want someone to spar against, so we all agreed to have one big match. I was paired with my classmate Lori for the first round and won 7 to 0. In sparring there is something called a 7 point gap, so if you reach it, you automatically win the match no matter what time is still left on the clock. Lori did a fantastic job in the match which was her first in a tournament and I was grateful to get to spar with her. I then had to go up against the winner of the other match who ended up being a 38 year old black belt. (Not that that matters) I lost 8 to 4. And was extremely proud to have scored 4 points against a black belt and win a silver medal in sparring.
The tournament was an amazing way to bring a year of hard work together and see the results. I am incredibly proud of Jonathan and well, myself too, for hanging in there, working hard, practicing consistently and having the courage to compete. Thanks to our teachers, Ms. McDermott, Mr. Hathway and Master Holloway for their skills, patience and love of the sport. And thanks to all of you who sent us good luck vibes, it worked!
