Taekwondo

[barbaraa]

Okay, fit in between getting ready for a woodcarving show and teaching a woodburning class, was the first annual tournament in Kansas City for Master Han's Martial Arts group. I got talked into competing and chose to compete in forms as I'd least likely collapse from an asthma attack in that than in the fighting competitions. So, arrived at 10 am to watch the black belts and the little kids from our local group compete. At 2 pm (scheduled time for us) we still hadn't gotten to the over 34 women's competitions. Meantime, the 'food' being sold there was not the hotdogs I thought they'd have, but candy and chips. I'm diabetic. The highest protein counts of the food were in the Peanut M&Ms and the Snickers bars. So I had one of each for lunch and prayed I didn't go into a diabetic coma. And water. At 3 pm our teacher told us that the over 34 women would be starting soon. So we waited another 15 or 20 minutes and then were called up. 5 women, a white belt, a yellow (the only one from my group besides me), a green and 2 blues. I was in the middle and I swear the acoustics of the place made my shouts (KYA) louder. Or I was more adrenaline blasted than I thought I'd be. Anyway, it was the best I'd done on my chosen form. Both of our black belt teachers said so. I was really surprised to get the gold medal. Go me! Should have fought too, as only 3 of them competed. I'd have had a 75% chance of medaling. Maybe next year.

Stayed till the end to watch them break one inch pine boards. For the record, pine is a softer wood and breaks easily compared to say...oak. :) Still, it was interesting to see it. Especially seeing one gal I had sparred with back when she was a red belt.

Only 60 competitors were expected, but we ended up with 100. Good first year!