World Karate Championships
Date: November 2005
How fast does 4 years pass by? It only seemed like yesterday, when I was preparing for my 1st World Championships in Perth; first year uni was ending, I had made a bunch of new friends, training at least 4 times a week and I had not started dancing yet.
4 years on and the feelings of stress, fatigue and excitement had been rekindled, as preparation for the Championships in Holland was quite intensive for me. It wasn’t the fact that karate training took up a lot of my time, in fact, I would admit that I was quite under-prepared this time round. However, it was the combination of completing uni, dance commitments and the mental battles that took place, that really caused the fatigue.
After what was an exhausting and rushed swotvac and final exam period, I flew off to Holland the day official exams started, with an attitude that I could not change the past, and tried to maintain positive. Being stuck in a foreign country, where there was a limited source of support, and feeling weary from the long flight and post-exam period, it was extremely difficult to stay positive. The only saving grace was a good luck card written by friends and the phone calls from loved ones at home. Without these, I would have been an absolute wreck, and might have received more bruises than I did :p
Some Victorians from the Aussie team in front the Rotterdam bridge
The Australian team arrived in Rotterdam, Holland on Tuesday after 24 hours of flying, and after a few hours rest, we were summoned for a light training session. This was a great chance to meet the other Aussie karatekas from interstate. It was an awesome feeling to have the whole Aussie contingency in the same room for the first time.
Wednesday and Thursday were very similar: 6am wake up call, 7am breakfast, 9am squad training for a couple of hours, 12noon get back to hotel and shower, and 1pm onwards was free time.
Friday, Saturday and Sunday were competition days. The kids took to the arena on Friday, and we were represented very well, with 5 of them from our club getting medals. Saturday was my first day of competition, and it was one that I would like to forget. My first event was demonstration (kata), which is usually my pet event. It basically involves performing a set routine of attacks and defenses. Despite having done the routine 100’s of times during practice and at other competitions, I still stuffed it up. I donno why, but there are a few explanations: not used to the mats, tiredness that day, loss of concentration, lack of spirit!!!! I was quite pissed at myself. I had plummeted from 9th in the World at the last championships, to getting knocked out in the 1st round. What a disappointment, not only to myself, but also my coach, teammates and country!!!
I guess things couldn’t have gone worse than that. And from there, I made a promise to myself that my fighting the next day would make up for that disgraceful performance. I had a long, hard think that night about what I was doing, and where I was going with karate. I could have easily taken the weak option and not care about my fighting, but that would only be cheating myself; cheating me of all the years of training I’ve had, the early Sunday training sessions throughout the year and most important of all, cheating myself of who I am. For those that know me, I don’t put in a half-assed attempt. It’s either all or nothing. That’s just the why I’ve been and I hope to remain that way.
Sunday was definitely a brighter day for me. I could see the light at the end of the tunnel. I knew that it was nearly over..only one more day of competition. By this stage, my brain was at “low battery” and I had to muster every last little bit of energy to feed my arms and legs so that they were fast enough to evade and attack. As I entered the ring, I could feel the aura of the crowd. Looking up at the stands, all I saw was a sea of green and gold with flashes of the Australian flag, and I also heard the distinct cry of my name. If I felt lethargic, it was all forgotten at that moment in time. The sensation of representing my country, the crowd, the adrenalin of the fight and the sound of the final buzzer... I still remember seeing the final 10 seconds of the fight count down, and the draining feeling of relief (as if bricks had been lifted off my shoulders), when the sweet sound of the buzzer went off. The icing on the cake was the podium presentation of our medals. Another Aussie won gold, so we were up there (Gold and Bronze for Australia) on the podium singing the national anthem. This was one of the most patriotic and proudest moments of my life. I don’t think I will ever get that opportunity again. It is definitely something that money can’t buy, and I will look back on it when I’m old and frail, and remember forever.
Gold and Bronze Medalists for Australia
Monday was spent doing a technical seminar with the grandmaster of our style. We trained for nearly 4 hours, learning from the best. This guy is nearly 60, but I’m sure he can still whoop my ass. The rest of the day was spent traveling around Rotterdam.
Tuesday was HOME TIME! We had to wake up at 5am for early breakfast and then head off to the airport, which was an hour bus ride. HOME SWEET HOME!!! There’s no better place than home!
Eating Burger King at KLIA before our 7-hr from KL to MEL
Home Sweet Home!
How fast does 4 years pass by? It only seemed like yesterday, when I was preparing for my 1st World Championships in Perth; first year uni was ending, I had made a bunch of new friends, training at least 4 times a week and I had not started dancing yet.
4 years on and the feelings of stress, fatigue and excitement had been rekindled, as preparation for the Championships in Holland was quite intensive for me. It wasn’t the fact that karate training took up a lot of my time, in fact, I would admit that I was quite under-prepared this time round. However, it was the combination of completing uni, dance commitments and the mental battles that took place, that really caused the fatigue.
After what was an exhausting and rushed swotvac and final exam period, I flew off to Holland the day official exams started, with an attitude that I could not change the past, and tried to maintain positive. Being stuck in a foreign country, where there was a limited source of support, and feeling weary from the long flight and post-exam period, it was extremely difficult to stay positive. The only saving grace was a good luck card written by friends and the phone calls from loved ones at home. Without these, I would have been an absolute wreck, and might have received more bruises than I did :p
Some Victorians from the Aussie team in front the Rotterdam bridge
The Australian team arrived in Rotterdam, Holland on Tuesday after 24 hours of flying, and after a few hours rest, we were summoned for a light training session. This was a great chance to meet the other Aussie karatekas from interstate. It was an awesome feeling to have the whole Aussie contingency in the same room for the first time.
Wednesday and Thursday were very similar: 6am wake up call, 7am breakfast, 9am squad training for a couple of hours, 12noon get back to hotel and shower, and 1pm onwards was free time.
Friday, Saturday and Sunday were competition days. The kids took to the arena on Friday, and we were represented very well, with 5 of them from our club getting medals. Saturday was my first day of competition, and it was one that I would like to forget. My first event was demonstration (kata), which is usually my pet event. It basically involves performing a set routine of attacks and defenses. Despite having done the routine 100’s of times during practice and at other competitions, I still stuffed it up. I donno why, but there are a few explanations: not used to the mats, tiredness that day, loss of concentration, lack of spirit!!!! I was quite pissed at myself. I had plummeted from 9th in the World at the last championships, to getting knocked out in the 1st round. What a disappointment, not only to myself, but also my coach, teammates and country!!!
I guess things couldn’t have gone worse than that. And from there, I made a promise to myself that my fighting the next day would make up for that disgraceful performance. I had a long, hard think that night about what I was doing, and where I was going with karate. I could have easily taken the weak option and not care about my fighting, but that would only be cheating myself; cheating me of all the years of training I’ve had, the early Sunday training sessions throughout the year and most important of all, cheating myself of who I am. For those that know me, I don’t put in a half-assed attempt. It’s either all or nothing. That’s just the why I’ve been and I hope to remain that way.
Sunday was definitely a brighter day for me. I could see the light at the end of the tunnel. I knew that it was nearly over..only one more day of competition. By this stage, my brain was at “low battery” and I had to muster every last little bit of energy to feed my arms and legs so that they were fast enough to evade and attack. As I entered the ring, I could feel the aura of the crowd. Looking up at the stands, all I saw was a sea of green and gold with flashes of the Australian flag, and I also heard the distinct cry of my name. If I felt lethargic, it was all forgotten at that moment in time. The sensation of representing my country, the crowd, the adrenalin of the fight and the sound of the final buzzer... I still remember seeing the final 10 seconds of the fight count down, and the draining feeling of relief (as if bricks had been lifted off my shoulders), when the sweet sound of the buzzer went off. The icing on the cake was the podium presentation of our medals. Another Aussie won gold, so we were up there (Gold and Bronze for Australia) on the podium singing the national anthem. This was one of the most patriotic and proudest moments of my life. I don’t think I will ever get that opportunity again. It is definitely something that money can’t buy, and I will look back on it when I’m old and frail, and remember forever.
Gold and Bronze Medalists for Australia
Monday was spent doing a technical seminar with the grandmaster of our style. We trained for nearly 4 hours, learning from the best. This guy is nearly 60, but I’m sure he can still whoop my ass. The rest of the day was spent traveling around Rotterdam.
Tuesday was HOME TIME! We had to wake up at 5am for early breakfast and then head off to the airport, which was an hour bus ride. HOME SWEET HOME!!! There’s no better place than home!
Eating Burger King at KLIA before our 7-hr from KL to MEL
Home Sweet Home!
posted by Kelvin at
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