Why I'm eating through a straw

So where were we.  At the annual Alpha Tae Kwon Do tournament I was the lone Goju student in a sea of Tae Kwon do.  My son had just finished up, and now it was my turn.  First up the forms. 

For my form I decided to do Geki Sai Dai San.  I knew I wasn't going to have some of the flashy kicks that the TKD forms would have, but I have decent technique and power so I was hoping that would show through in the form.  On top of that the form has some elements that show off really well, and I really like to do it.

There were three other students in the forms division.  I'm watching them, thinking, well hey at least my son will be happy I did the tournament.  I get up, I do my form, and present myself to the judges, hmm, they were all TKD instructors.  Neither Sensei Rollinson or Shihan Sidlik were on my judging panel.  So none of the judges had any idea what my form was supposed to be like.  That could be good, or that could be bad....

My turn finally comes, and it felt great.  I think this was the best I've ever felt doing a form at a tournament.  I felt like I did it very crisply, and with a lot of power.  Everything felt like it flowed well, and I walked off the floor thinking I had never done the form better.   I was pretty calm as the remainder of the competitors did their forms.  I had felt great, nothing I could do about it if I didn't, heh.  I talked to the other competitors as we waited for the final results,  they call us out for the awards, line us up, and give out the medals,.  Guess what, I won!.  I was ecstatic, stunned, pleased, surprised, you name it.  I was completely floored.  As the judges handed out the awards.  Master Mike (one of the judges and instructors at the school, and also one of Sensei Rollinsons instructors), shook my hand and said "I don't know anything about that form, but you looked great doing it." 

Nice! One event down, and one to go.  Up next sparring.  I was really nervous about sparring.  First Goju doesn't really stress kicks anywhere near as much ast Tae Kwon Do does.  TKD has all this high, powerful, dynamic kicks.  Me?  I have fast hands (or so Sensei Rollinson always tells me), and terrible kicks.  So I was already at a disadvantage.  On top of that the sparri ng judges at TKD don't stress punches as much as kicks.  They do call punch points, but they have to be very clear obvious and powerful.  Sensei Rollinson and I had discussed this already, and I knew what I was getting into.  Meh!  No big deal.  I had already gotten first in forms, the rest is just gravy.

So my first match comes up.  My whole strategy was to block/dodge/avoid the kicks and get inside as fast as I could where I could use my hand speed to my advantage.  Overall it worked, sort of.  First I didn't block/dodge/avoid all the kicks so I took a bit of a beating.  Second, two minutes of sparring is hard work, I couldn't keep up the pace I wanted for the whole thing (which lead to my getting kicked).

Okay so the match starts, I get inside like I want, fake a head punch, throw a couple of body punches and get one through...

No point.  Crap!

I quickly follow up with a another body blow, nothing, I see the head is open so I take it and get my first point.  I pretty much repeat that process for easily 80% of my points, just tried to mix up high and low strikes.   I kept trying to work my way inside (either by kicking and moving in or blocking and moving in), then fake to the head, a few body blows, and then up to the head again.  I gave up my share of points though, and the match ended up in a tie.  So we got to take a breather, then do another minute round again.

Okay, round 2.  Its basically a repeat of round 1.  A bit more furious due to the reduced time frame, but same overall flow.  He kicks me, I punch him.  We trade back and forth, and when its all done I lean over to my opponent and say.  I hope you win, I'm done.  They announce the results... tie again.

Okay breather, and round three.  This time it goes a bit different.   Master Mike, the referee in the match, makes a point of saying that the points were going to be called a lot tighter in this round.  All the blows had to be clear, obvious, and powerful to be called.  Okay, so we start going at each other even harder than before.  Somehow or other his eye gets scraped, and after that he is at a disadvantage.  He is defnitely worried about his eye, and he probably was having trouble seeing so when got in close he would get very defensive, and actually turn away.  I eased off when that happened.  Just backed up and let him collect himself.  Very few points got made this round as a result.  But when it was done I ended up with the win.

I felt pretty bad about the eye.  I told my wife I was gonna pull out.  I didn't feel right moving forward with my opponent getting hurt like that.  Don't get me wrong I know it was an accident, but I also understand that we both have to go to work on Monday.  Well just then Sensei Rollinson comes over to congratulate me, my wife tells him I want to pull out (not matter of factly mind you, more llike she is explaining how much of an idiot she thinks I am).  At any rate Sensei Rollinson talks me out of it.

Okay so the fights progress, and when its all said and done I end up in the finals. Against a guy with incredible kicks.  Before the sparring he was kicking over my head just to warm up. *sigh*.  Hey second isn't bad.  So we start sparring.  I get inside, and get punched in the head to give up a point!  Damn, he's beating me at my own game!

The fight continues and we end up evening things out.  Then all of a sudden

WHAM!!!!

I get kicked in the head...I saw his knee come up, and I was convinced it was going to be a side kick.  I don't know why I just thought it was going to be towards my midsection.  Nope, it comes up and hits me clean with a roundhouse to the jaw.   

The ref calls time, I immediately back out of the ring take off my helmet and walk over to my wife.

"Are you okay?" She asks, really concerned.  I mean I got nailed!

"I think I should have blocked that" I said.  For those of you that know me.  I always make jokes, even at the worst times.  Its just what I do.  But, make no mistake.  I was messed up!  The kick had caught my bottom jaw pretty clean, and shoved it way over to the left.  So the really weird thing was that I had been kicked on the right side of my face, but my left side is what hurt.   I couldn't close my mouth at all.

So I took a minute or two, and the ref asked if I could continue, I asked for one more minute.  Got a bit more of a breather, and got my gear back on.  Okay maybe I wasn't thinking too clearly, I did just get kicked in the head, I probably shouldn't have continued...but I did.

The match continues, and ... I end up winning the match, and as a result, I won the sparring tournament for the 30+ age group.  Holy Schnike!

I give my opponent a big pat on the back, it was a great match overall.  He apologizes for the kick, but honestly, it was my own damn fault!  Note to self, never try to block a kick with your face.  So I get changed, and try to have a bite to eat.  Uhh Uhh, I can't chew at all without a lot of pain!  I can't even close my mouth.  Not good.

Actually its now 48 hours later, and I'm still not chewing my food.  It feels a little better, but not enough to chew.  I haven't eaten this much Jello in years.  So that's why I'm eating my meals through a straw right now.  I don't think I broke anything, I do know something isn't right (I'm guessing the muscles and ligaments that hold the jaw in place got strained trying to keep my teeth in my head).  I don't think I have a concussion.  Three different people checked my eyes for dilation, I never felt dizzy or sick so I think I'm all right.

Oh well, I talk to a few people, and I'm getting ready to leave, when I get told to get my uniform back on and get back out there. I'm supposed to compete in the Grand Champion division.  Since I won forms I was competing against the other forms winners (in different divisions).  I was up against a blue belt, and two black belts (note I'm a green belt, far from black (not sure how it ranks against blue in TKD)).  No big deal, at this point I'm just having fun.  I do my thing, we get our scores, and I tie for second.  The winner is a black belt, and the other person in second was a black belt as well.  Nice!  So two first place, and one second place for my first tournament in 25 years. 

I think I'm going to retire at the top of my game.  How could I improve on this? Besides, call me crazy, but I'm done with getting kicked in the head.