Canadian Eastern Championships – 2 golds and 1 silver!!!!

On Saturday I competed in the Eastern Canadian Championships in Montreal along with 250 other competitors.  I am extremely happy to say that all my hard work paid off.

First I competed in Patterns.  I worked really hard for the last three weeks to work on a new pattern that I’ve never competed with.  In the semi-finals I had to compete against the Junior National Champion from Trois-Riviers so I was pretty pumped. She beat me at the last tournament and that was a huge motivator for me for this tournament.   We did a first round of patterns and then the judges got to pick a second pattern for us to perform.  All the pattern names are written on a piece of paper and then put in a bag.  The centre judge pulls out a name and that is the pattern that has to be performed.   I knew I had to give every ounce of energy and strength that I possibly could but I was feeling really strong.  After several minutes  (if felt like hours standing there) the judges tallied their scores and announced that I was the winner.  I could hardly breath I was so shocked.  Then I had to continue right away in the finals against a girl from Nova Scotia.  The first round was in my favour  and then the judges got to pick a second pattern to make their final decision.  It was ironic and unlucky because out of all the patterns they had to pick the one that I haven’t been taught yet.  I knew right then and there that I had lost the first place position.    I had nothing to lose so I attempted to start the pattern by remembering what I had seen other do….  but that didn’t get me too far :).   The judges were even laughing and gave me props for sportsmanship.  I was still extremely pleased with earning the silver since I accomplished what I set out to do.  Next tournament I will have learned ALL the patterns!!!! Get ready.

Then it was sparring time.  I am in the hyper weight division.  I hate it when they call it that.  I personally prefer the term ‘muscle density and  big boned division’.  🙂  I am lucky that I don’t have to worry about dieting and cutting weight to stay in a weight category. Everyone else was so worried at the weigh-in on the Friday night.  I always love the sparring and enjoy the strategy involved of earning points.  Each sparring match comprised of two – two minute rounds and I won gold for sparring.

Now that I’m in the Junior Division there is a third category called ‘Power Breaking’.  It was the first time I tried that and I won gold.  Basically you take turns kicking through wooden 1 inch wooden boards until your opponents isn’t able  to break theirs.  The person who keeps breaking the boards wins.  Each time you break a board they add an additional 1 inch board.  I was able to break 4 inches.  On my 2nd degree test I only had to break 3 boards.  I wonder how many I can actually break?  There are three fundamental movements  – Side kick, turning kick and knife hand strike.

I love going to away-tournaments since I get to meet so many people from all across the country and we really get to know and support each other.  I had a great time on the Friday night.  A big group of us went out for dinner and it was exciting  talking to the other competitors who competed at the Word Championships in Argentina last year.    After the dinner everyone goes back to the hotel to stretch, gently go through patterns and gets re-focused for the next day.  It’s funny how we compete against each other, but we’re all friends trying to help each other out.  It’s like one big family.   I feel just as comfortable being with the adult competitors as I do with the Juniors since we all have the same dedication and goals.

I am really looking forward to some good training seasons with the girls/women from Quebec next month.

We didn’t get home until 1:00 am and today I had soccer practice so I’m really tired and sore.

I’ll keep you posted……