Our first competition

Only 0.1 points off a gold medal!!! Nerves got the better of me, but they won’t next time. This is one of the many positives I can take away from my first competition.

Me and the boy (Bradley) were up at 4:00am to get ready and get picked up by the Champ (Liam) then we went to pick up the shark (Travis) 🦈. We got there nice and early and met up with the Masters to indulge in a nutritional breakfast at McDonald’s. Short drive to the leisure centre (hoping Trav didn’t pull the doors off). I'm getting more nervous at this point, Bradley’s not showing any nerves whatsoever.

After getting changed we said hello to some Masters and seniors who we have never previously met but gave us plenty of encouragement.

Next we went into the hall and looked at the competition schedule and event numbers; where there were competitors of all ages and belt levels. Then it was time to line up as you would in class (apart from quite a few more people) followed by competition time.

Bradley was called up for his event with students from other regions and of his group. The other students went before Bradley meaning that he had to wait to demonstrate his form. The students who went before Bradley performed amazing Hyungs and were a credit to their instructor, with the judges scoring each student individually. When it was Bradley's turn, he pulled off a wonderful hyung (Master Goldsworthy said after it was the best he had seen him do it). The judges then gave Bradley his score and we waited for the results.

Master Williams announced the results to the hall and I was proud when it was announced that Bradley came first (Gold Medal).

Then it was my turn, I was very nervous but got through it and missed the gold by 0.1 point but I was very happy with silver (I was up against a higher grade). I took plenty of learnings from my first attempt and got feedback from Liam and Masters from our and other regions who gave me some pointers.

After dinner it was time to fight, Bradley was up first and did really well against a green belt; loosing on points but coming 2nd (winning a silver medal). He got a bit upset after the match, but the Denby Dale team rallied round him and got him smiling.

Next it was my turn, I stepped next to the ring and talk about brain freeze. My head was just not on it but gave it a go. I had 2 fights and lost the first one convincingly and, whilst I lost the second one it was by just 1 point and I felt it was a big improvement on my first fight. I loved stepping in the ring for Hyungs and fighting and understand now why Liam talks so fondly of them.

We enjoyed the whole day and learnt so much and I’m convinced I can do better (I will be a lot less nervous).

Most importantly we are a team and we won and lost together. I would recommend to any student to have a go it’s very rewarding no matter how well you do.

Tang soo!

Mark & Bradley