On Friday morning, the fun began with a day long drive to Regina. Oh, Saskatchewan, the home of the Rough Riders, temperatures that cause your appendages to freeze off, and provincial sales tax. I shared this tedious adventure into the frozen prairies with two of my Dojo mates, taking my ever-so-trusty steed known as the Anne-Mobile (aka Honda Element). Within the cozy interior of the Anne-Mobile (except for when Rich was driving... BRRRRR) we shared laughter, music, driving shifts, and the occasional inappropriate - but funny as all hell- comment . This made the super long trip seemingly short, and it ended with a visit to my soul sister-best friend-kindred spirit's house. Kim, (the host with the most), gave us nourishing sustenance, and sent us on our way only when our eyes were droopy with exhaustion, and drool was starting to trickle out of the corners of our mouths.
We stayed at the Raddison Hotel. Built in the 20's, it has a very opulent and Victorian atmosphere with rich dark furnishings and gold trimming. Our room had sleep number mattresses, which was very entertaining for me as I tried to find my ideal sleep number (it's 65).
Saturday morning woke up the ancy, anxious, anal retentive Anne (how's that for alliteration?). I tried very hard to quash the polar personality, but she seemed to poke out enough that my two partners-in-crime took note. EEEP! I knew I had to get to the tournament so I could settle the nerves that threatened to ruin my entire day if I let them. Plus, I am kind of a nut case when it comes to being on time for things, so when we were still eating at the hotel as registration started (never mind that we had over an hour for registration) the twitching really started.
Once arrived and registered, I was finally able to relax a little and enjoy the day. Kim came to join us for her first introduction into the world of Martial arts tournaments. Rumor had it that we would be competing at noon. I was warmed up and ready at noon. As one pm rolled around, I was rip roaring to go and ready to spar anything that moved. By two pm my muscles were starting to tighten again. Three pm brought boredom induced hilarity as I tried to tackle the pillar in front of me, and invisible attackers as I fought to keep my muscles limber. Four pm arrived with acceptance that this tournament was being poorly run, and when we were finally called, all three of our divisions were called up together. Poor Kim had to run around with the camera and did a great job covering our tournament endeavors.
1 minute for Kata and several 2 minute (or five point spreads) sparring sessions and your performance time is over. It passes by in the mere blink of an eye. My hopes to place first or second in kata died when my braced up feet slipped on the floor on my spear hand. I struggled to keep upright, and the rest as they say, is history. That one slip put me in fourth place. I still medaled, but it simply wasn't good enough especially for my standards. With sparring I knew that I would have to do some serious non-contact damage to keep myself in the running for a team Canada invite. With the luck of the draw, I managed to land myself with a kick boxer. I managed to overwhelm her and kicked her butt (not literally of course) in a five point spread. The gold medal match was against a Taekwondo goddess. Remember how I have mentioned that taekwondo makes use of fancy footwork?? She destroyed me. I have no idea how to fight against tall leggy people, and it showed. It was terrible! I'll definitely be asking to spar against the two incredibly tall people in our dojo just so that I learn some tricks and will be prepared for the situation in the future. In the end nothing mattered as my second place won me my much desired spot on Team Canada for the Pan Am Tournament.
As a small side note: THINGS TO REMEMBER- Just because you kick someones butt simply by punching them does not give you the excuse not to use your legs!!
Yesterday evening was spent celebrating Kim and my birthday's and our success at the tournament. Both my Dojo-mates medaled, and one of them also won a spot on the team! I wish I had more time with my beloved Kim-lady . The time spent with her was like a breath of warm sweet air on a mighty cold winters day... the type that warms you up inside and tickles you all the way down to your toes. I love you to pieces Kim! Thank you for cheering me on!
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