Tournament

By David Mandeix
David is a Green Belt at Wu Dao

There exists a tale of an ancient tournament, taking place in a far away land, where martial artists would meet to determine the supreme champion....

...Actually, this tournament happened in July, in the somewhat-distant land of San Francisco. It has taken me quite a while to blog about the experience- which I will attribute to my own laziness, vaguely distressing memories, and mild dislike of the situation. Despite the feeling of vague dissatisfaction at the tournament, the experience as a whole was very rewarding.

Getting to the tournament turned out to be the first challenge; It was a long, restless flight to San Francisco, followed by a lengthy trip to the hotel. Everyone was arriving at different times, adding further confusion to the day. Having arrived early, I took the opportunity to explore San Fransisco with the help of my kungfu brother Walther, who I would like to thank for knowing all the good places to eat- without you and your iphone I would have made some poor decisions.

The opening day of the tournament was a tense affair. I was very glad for the presence and support of the rest of the Wu Dao team. Everyone’s nervousness (myself included) contributed to the chaotic atmosphere of the tournament. It was loud, there were so many people, the divisions were unclear, the location of events kept changing... in truth, not any different from a typical tournament scene- except that we had trained for months and flown thousands of miles to be here- which certainly added to the pressure.

Eventually, however, everything was sorted out and we found ourselves running from ring to ring in an attempt to either compete, provide support to our teammates, or film them competing. I was very proud of my compatriots; you could tell that the hours and hours of training paid off as it shone through in spite of nervousness, floor traction, what have you. My own form was scored lowest in my entire division, but that was nothing compared to the payoff of hearing Sifu say that was the best he'd ever seen me do the form. Oddly enough, I felt good about the form as well, in spite of the low ratings. I suppose it is possible that the greatest reward was being able to compete and test myself and my training against others, but this is a very high-minded ideal and difficult to focus on when everyone else is getting shiny medals to take home.

Sifu ended up providing us with a lot of support and pointers on our first day, but the single greatest moment was watching him bawl out a referee for his poor judging. I don’t usually take issue with judging at a competition- after all, everyone has different expectations of what they want to see from a martial artist, and I’ve usually resigned myself to this fact before the tournament has started- but this man’s oversight with regards to the Tai-Chi he was officiating was criminal. It did not help that Walther was suffering due to his negligence. I felt robbed. I’m sure Walther felt worse.

When the first day ended and everyone had performed well, we headed off to dinner. The evening’s activities included a show put on by the hosts of the tournament. I’ve found that these things can be hit or miss, and this one was largely miss- based purely on the severity of Sifu’s scowl. On the upside it did feature a man well into his eighties performing kungfu- proof that this is a sustainable hobby. We did not stay for the entire production.

Day two dawned, and that meant that it was time to spar! Originally I had not planned on sparring, as I had developed bursitis of the left elbow just days prior to the tournament (also know as water on the elbow- a painful condition that swells the elbow to size and consistency of a grapefruit). However, yesterday’s activities had left something to be desired. To be honest, I am guilty of not leaving my ego at the door- I had worked hard these past months and I wanted to take something home! I wasn’t going to let this piddly little elbow problem stop me! Not after so much suffering to get here!

With that thought smoldering in my mind I joined my other team members (Sissi, Melvin) in gearing up. During the gearing up phase Sissi was almost disqualified because she was not wearing sufficient armor- at Wu Dao we do not train wearing chest/ midsection armor. Fortunately, we were able to convince the judges to allow her to compete. I was very gratified to overhear a conversation occurring behind me that went something like this:

Person A: What’s that school? Isn’t that girl going to wear any padding?
Person B: (No hesitation, just a hint of awe?) That’s Wu Dao!

Not bad name brand recognition over the course of a single day, eh?

As the fights unfolded, I was disqualified for drawing blood (again) but this also managed to earn me a silver medal, so I was content. Additionally I was not injured, having wrapped my arm up in bandages and ice packs. The real showstoppers were Melvin and Sissi:

Melvin: Fought a much bigger Wing Chun fighter to a win over the course of three rounds. It was like watching a train get up to speed. The first round the judges gave to the WC fighter, though Melvin put up a very respectable fight. The second round found Melvin running the man around the ring, working him from a number of different angles and with different strikes. Round three, even though I know both fighters were exhausted, was a climactic battle wherein Melvin clearly dominated his opponent the entire round. Watching him adapt and employ all the things we see in class was truly satisfying.

Sissi: Faced off against some sort of South American kick-boxing champion. This was the classic battle of sport karate versus martial arts. Sissi’s stance was rooted, her guard was up, and all her strikes were firm and deliberate (but quick). Her opponent, on the other hand, bounced around the ring (in what can only be called the absence of a stance) and constantly dropped her hands, leaving her entire head and body open (good thing she had that armor). The result of this fight is immaterial- you could tell the better martial artist in the opening stances.

With the conclusion of the sparring, we were left to our own devices to celebrate the 4th of July in San Francisco. It was a good reward for all those months of training and days of competition.

In my mind the tournament itself was nothing to get excited over, but the experience of being there with the folks competing was what made the entire ordeal worth it. Not just the tournament, mind you, but the months and months of suffering and training as well.I hope to attend future tournaments and get the same experience (except maybe win some more things) Until that time it is back to the training hall for another hundred thousand repetitions.