WARNING!!! THIS IS A LONG NOTE!!! JUST SO YOU KNOW!!!!
Let me tell you of a tale. A tale of many things that just happened to occur around the same time.
Friday: 22 Jun 07
I went to work. It was already a good day because it was Friday. We had a birthday party for one of my SSgts. It was cool. Then, at the party I got some good news. "Per MSG (Mission Support Group, fyi, that's higher leadership) you all get a half day today." I'm like, woot! So, I get off work at 1230 and I head over to the flight line to get a better look at the space shuttle. I end up meeting some other Lts who have flight line access and we get really really close. It was so freaking cool to see it land! I was about 1/4 mile away from it. o.O, wow. Very cool moment in my life.
Then, I went to my CGOC meeting. For those who don't know, it's a company grade officer club (Lt - capt). And usually, it's supposed to be like an hour long. But the speaker, who is prolly pretty cool in real life, spoke non-stop for an hour and a half. I wasn't paying attention after 15 mins. =/
So, then I headed out for my tournament down in Oceanside. The US OPEN Elite Taekwondo Championship. I was late heading out. When I got to Pinon Hills (Middle of no where) I needed some gas. I saw a Chevron and I felt relief. But I saw this shady looking character, and I then felt nervous. When he asked me for a ride, I felt surprised, and more nervous. I have given people rides before, but I didn't feel good about this guy. So I said, "No." As I went to buy some delectables for the rest of the trip I decided to lock my car doors, so shady Joe wouldn't rob me (That's what I was thinking). To my dismay, I locked my keys in my car, while it was running. I first though crap!!, then I thought, wow, I left my car on while I was pumping gas. I had never done that before. John, the guy behind the counter was kind enough to give me a hanger and some basic lessons on breaking into a car. I guess I wasn't proficient enough, cuz I couldn't do it =/. Then, some dude asked if I needed help. I was like, yeah. So, he fiddled with it for about 30 mins. As time went by, we attracted more and more locals. By the end we had about me + 5 locals working on this. I think it was more interesting to help the outsider than drink beer on this Friday night. But with our powers combined, we broke into my car, and I was only set back about an hour. =D But the fun doesn't end there. As I continued down my chosen path (well, really the path google maps chose for me) I ran into a closed road. I learned that even google maps doesn't know when roads in the middle of no where are gonna be closed. So, I called my trusty GPS center (Luke and Ben) and they re-routed me. Thanks guys! I arrived at the hotel at about 10 pm, 4 hours after I set out. yay.
Saturday: 23 Jun 07
The next morning came with a hope filled dawn. I always get excited and a little anxious at tourney's. I keep a good poker face even though I feel that way inside.
Side note: I haven't been to a tournament since 2004.
kk, so I need to explain something really fast, other wise you might get confused later. I have a black belt in taekwondo. It's with the American Kyukido Federation. That's a midwest-west coast federation. I have a blue belt with the World Taekwondo Federation (otherwise known as WTF, which I think is funny), which is well, a world wide organization and basically the olympic peeps. I am planning on getting my black belt with them too. I competed in forms with my blue belt. Because I forgot them all, and am just learning them again. I've never been the best at forms, so I wasn't surprised when I got the silver. Although, I was a little embarrassed that I was beat by some color belts. However, for sparring, I was like, there's no way I'm gonna spar at blue belt, because it wouldn't be fair or fun. So, I talked with my instructor and convinced her to talk to the tourney director so I could spar as a black belt. He said sure. I was like, WTF!!!! AWESOME!!!
The Sparring matches: two 2 min rounds per match, continuous sparring, full contact. (they had a screen in the back and it was hooked up to these buttons the judges could push to give points in the moment. It was totally sweet)
Division: Male, 19-29 yr, Black Belt, Heavy Weight (182 lbs +) I weigh in at @ 205 - 210. Although, I don't look like it. =)
Match 1: Some dude (who was shorter than me, and a little heavier) vs Me.
I went into this match fairly confident that I was gonna win. I did. 7-0 in the second round. Important notes: I kicked him in the face for 2 points, and I did a jumping back kick to his chest, hard, which was awesome.
Match 2: Tall Black dude, 180 lbs (they let him move up) agile, and quick vs Me
I went in with more caution this time. I knew he had a slight reach advantage and that he was as quick or quicker than me. Very dangerous. I started out slow, and in a defensive/counter attack mode. He quickly scored 4 points or so. I scored 1. This was in the first 30 secs. That woke me up quickly. I countered his batch of points with some quick kicks and some decisive blocks. By the end of round one I think it was 5-4 for me. Round 2. I was tired. He was tired. I thought to myself, well no matter what I get a silver lol. =) Then I thought, even so, I want to win the gold. So, I told myself I wasn't tired. I went into round 2 and we moved around a bit for position and I did a spinning hook kick to his head, making him wobble momentarily. The score was 7-4. He got a few more points and so did I. At 15 secs left in the match I was up 9-7. All my tired body had to do was wait it out, and not get hit. With one second to spare he kicked me in the side of the head (which on his account, was very nice). I was too tired to block it, and I wasn't fast enough to put my hand up. So we tied 9-9. Then the judge said, "SUDDEN DEATH!" I was like, whoa! But I was pumped none the less. This is where I felt at my lowest. I had a real Rocky moment in my mind right here. I said to myself, I have fought a good fight, and I'm proud of accomplishments so far. But I told myself, I can't give up. Never give up. This is where you decide if you want to win or not. I got up, entered the ring, and I knew I was gonna win. When the judge said fight, we both hesitated for a second, and he came charging in with a flurry of kicks, I new I had to block and strike quick or I'd be finished. As he closed, I blocked 2 of his kicks and as I was pulling back, I kicked him in the stomach. "POINT!!" I had won!! I had beaten the demons in my mind saying I was too tired, and I had defeated my opponent, and I had won the Gold Medal for Heavy Weight black belts 18-29. It was a great feeling. In fact, this was the best moment in sports, for me, in my life. Not bad for my black belt debut. I stopped competing in tourney's like this when I was a brown belt or so. =D
(Side note: both my opponents were cool guys, and weren't jerks after. It's a guy thing I think. Once you beat on each other, you're friends. lol)
Then my instructor and me, and some other students went to a sushi bar and had a gregarious time.
Look for the next exciting chapter when I go to the Las Vegas Open in August. It's an international tourney with 50 countries attending! =D
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