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| January 22, 2012 - Taekwon Do Tournament It will not be simple It will not take long It will take all your breath. __________ We arrived at the dojang early on Sunday afternoon, based on the scheduled times for the competition (different age brackets were slated to compete at staggered times). Des was reassigned to compete in the 13-18 year old age group (she is 12) and I was bracketed with 2nd and 3rd degree Black Belt competitors, as no other adult women showed up to compete in color belt sparring/board breaking. It was not simple. Ninety-eight percent of competition is fought between the ears long before a match ever begins and is either won or lost before one sets foot in the ring. The moment I bowed into the ring, I was grateful for every. single. miserable. oxygen deprived. training run. Two-minute rounds. 3rd Degree Black Belt and 2nd Degree Black Belt. Back to back. I won both rounds. Des and I both earned first place in pattern work and sparring for our respective divisions. We each took second place in board breaking.    Leading up to this tournament, I spent hours running through crystalline powder snow. Breaking through the crust, stomp-charging forward through -35F temperatures, ice fog, lung-smothering particulates, I stretched the envelope of cardiac capacity while sucking air through a frost-encrusted Buff bandana. The confines of a helmet and mouth-guard have nothing on biking/running in extreme cold and trying to huff oxygen through a face mask.  |
It did not take long...
It took all my breath.
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| I am smiling. This is my happy face. |
Thanks to each and every one of you who contributed to the fundraiser for St. Jude's, who supported Des and me in person and in spirit, near and far. The encouragement and the reinforcement are valuable beyond words.
The photos shared today are all courtesy of Chef Jeff. He patiently accompanied me on many a snow-run, allowed me to use him as a crash-test dummy for kicks/punches/sparring/flailing, kept us fed and hydrated and generally held up my half of the sky and his for the last two months. To say that I couldn't have done any of this without him is to wildly understate it.
12 smart remarks:
Job well done. Congratulations to you and des
nice happy face...and glad you came up for air...and water...great job both of you...
Woo Hoo!
You two ROCK! Now breath.
I like the black and white ones. Having started my photography with developing my own B&W prints, I'm still kind of partial to it. You captured the event and movements well.
I got sidetracked by your Alaska whitewater rafting albums - lots of movement there.
I would not like to be on the end of those martial art kicks of yours. Tme motion has been caught excellently in all the shots.
Brilliant Ti, congrats to both of you! And to Jeff for the great pics so we can see how tough it all was
What excellent waves of movement her absolutely...makes us looking in just want to kick up our own heels....this has always fascinated me, especially watching from the beginning stages as the wee child becomes stronger...about your happy face...ha ha!!! thanks for sharing these!
Holy crap! You're lethal! lol
Chef Jeff has a great eye, and you and Des did so well. I love how you've described what goes into emotional preparation for a big event. You've captured so perfectly how all of us try to gear our brains and our bodies for a challenge. Congratulations to both of you!
YAY!!!
Here's to 2 brilliant, strong women and one fantastic gentleman!
Thanks for sharing the process- feet, knuckles, body-straining training (huffing oxygen and previous descriptions of lots of snot sound rather grueling), and of course, the battle between the ears.
Beautiful photos to capture the competition and amazing results!
Congratulations and hugs~
Congrats! Sounds like a great time was had by all, good on ya! And ditto for your daughter.
I agree that 95% of winning in a tournie is mental state and all the hard work put in for preparation. You two have that part down pat!
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