This is a review for my fight blog of my experience at the 2010 West Coast Can-Am Martial Arts Tournament, held at BCIT, on May 31.

As always, I fight to blog and blog to fight. So I entered the 2010 West Coast Can-Am Martial Arts Tournament, held at BCIT, on May 31. Turned out to be an interesting experience. I had trained almost every day, for the last month, but wasn’t able to do any sparring, since the gym where I train is undergoing renovations. But I managed to go from 206 to 197 in a month, which is good weight loss and I achieved my fitness goal.

I checked in to weigh in on Saturday, and though I was 199.0 at home before coming in, I had to strip down to my underwear to weigh exactly 200 on the Detector scale. I left wondering how many people have stepped on it before me.

On Sunday I arrived at about 1:30. From that point on I found that I either made mistakes, wrong assumptions, or would encounter difficulties that would make it uncertain for a while if I was going to get a fight at all.

It turns out I would be totally on my own for the tournament, and I had to start by gathering information. Tournaments have to have a lot of reorganization on the fly and so I ended up making enquiries at a stressful time for everybody. I was told I missed a noon briefing and was then told I needed to be re-weighed because yesterday’s weights meant nothing. It also seemed that my division may have gone and I may not be fortunate enough to get one fight in at all. The order was to wait, not to go anywhere, and something might get figured out. I had unintentionally pissed off one of the organizers with my questions, but I fell back on the martial arts way of showing respect and not taking it personally, just be patient. My patience was rewarded by one of the organizers finding another guy, and only one other guy in my division: Stephen, a junior with 3 yrs exp. From Posner’s.

2010 West Coast Can-Ams

We kept an eye on each other because we weren’t sure if we were going to get a fight or not. Which was kind of funny, and typical for the day, because there was more confilict outside of the combat zone than in it.

Amateur Muay Thai (modified)

Lots of time would then pass but in the mean time I hear that our fight would be a match for Gold and Silver medals, which are handed out even when there are only two competitors in a given division. Next thing I hears was that being a final round fight, it would be in the Gionco boxing ring. So there I was, set up for a ring fight, after being late, only partially prepared, and nobody in my corner. However I did find Justin, a BJJ competitor from my gym to take a few photos. None of the other kickboxers came to the tournament, despite talk to the contrary.

So there I am in the ring, ready to go… oh, I needed knee pads. I went out of the ring, asked anybody for knee pads. Somebody lent me a pair, to the lady fighter that did, thanks! I left them on the judges table, hope you found them. So Stephen was a better clincher than me, I gave lots of body shots, a few knees, got caught in the clinch and kneed a few times too many but I kept with it through the fight which is what I was hoping to do. It was like a good sparring session. I pulled an illegal trip, I fell down a couple times; I would have been better overall if I had sparred but I have to just accept how it went down. He who trains more wins more.

2010 West Coast Can-Ams

So I got a silver medal out of the deal. Which I guess I got because I did all the training I could, I showed up when other guys from my gym didn’t… and went through it all on my own; made a handful of preparatory mistakes, and I hadn’t sparred in over a month. Despite it all I stuck it out. And then, on top of it all, a ring fight. But the fight went off really well all things considered and who cares about what else didn’t go to plan as long as the fighters are well matched they actually get a fight after waiting around all day.

Its a funny way to win a medal, considering that lots of tough fighters didn’t win a medal that day. But this is possible in organized fighting. Later, there would be a top-level Muay Thai fight between a fighter from Canada against a guy from China. An illegal elbow strike to the head scraped open the Chinese fighters head and this would bring an end to the fight.

The judges would rule it no contest, and both fighters would be treated as winners and awarded these 4 foot tall trophies as a souvenir to commemorate such an auspicious occasion. That is to say that in a fight, one or the other can win or lose, but also, both can win, or lose, and even be in a state of victory and loss simultaneously. For one, its a trophy for a fight they deserved to win. For the other, it will be a trophy that shouldnt be there, but serves as a reminder every time he looks at it that he must not make use of illegal strikes.

I was talking after with a couple other fighters in the change room. One guy was not happy losing his fight, because everyone else from his gym had won their fights. The other guy said, “…you know, if you don’t lose you don’t learn anything… wish there was another way but there doesn’t seem to be….” Dude was right. How much is a tournament going to result going to matter in the world anyway? It gets done and you move on with your life.

At a martial arts tournament, there are other obstacles and adversities to negotiate around. There is the organization’s level of ability to operate the tournament. A large number of competitors can prolong the day. A smaller number means on the spot reorganization as well, when divisions are collapsed into one another, just so paying competitors can get a match in. I even heard by way of Olivia, the blogger at Girls Who Grapple, that a girl in submission grappling from Universal entered in the guys category and won a couple of medals. Really impressive, but that’s alright, because technique is supposed to trump power in BJJ combat. So in light of the work of the organizers to make the event happen, I kept in mind that my problems were smaller than theirs. If I had a hard time, I just have to think about what Justin had to go through. Justin had been at the gym since 8:30 AM. His fight wouldn’t happen until about 5:30. And then in one match, he had to tap out to a rear naked choke. Fighting, sometimes, truly is organized chaos.

There are lots of great shots from this day in my Flickr.com Pool

I decided to enter the Tiger Balm International martial arts tournament this year, but to get ready was no easy feat. I had to make big changes in my fitness level and diet in order to be ready for March 28^th.

Tiger Balm 2010

The Tiger Balm International Tournament is one of the largest martial arts events of the year in greater Vancouver, held annually in the spring at Capilano University in North Vancouver. The event is a two day martial arts tournament with a wide range of ages and disciplines, for both men and women. There are Karate and Kung Fu forms, Grappling, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, weapons, Pankration and more. Its a tournament for all the regular people who train at martial arts gyms around town or the region, who are there to see how they do.

A Fitness Goal achieved by diet, exercise, and coaching.

This year I have entered in the WKC division. I decided this quietly last year and after I got over a lengthy cold, I started my training in earnest. I made it my fitness goal to enter the tournament. To succeed, I had to lose a considerable amount of weight to make it into the heavyweight category, with 200.6 lbs at the upper limit. And I had to really increase my state of fitness above and beyond what I get out of a martial arts class two times a week. I’m 42 years old, and I’ll be fighting guys half my age in some cases, so I really have to be on top of my game.

Sparring at Versus21

Cutting that weight

Something I have come to realize after training for about two years and not losing much weight, if any at all, is that without changes in diet, a fitness regime wont bring any results. Weighing in at about 220 lbs, I had about 2 ½ months to lose 20 lbs. In December I was over 230 lbs, but the fabulous H1N1 & Flu diet took care of close to 10 lbs all on its own. So why not keep going in that direction? I started on a diet plan that I would be comfortable with. I’m an old foodie from way back and I make beautiful salads, and I worked to cut out the sugars, starches, beer, pastries, and things that I like to eat. Instead I worked toward a plan consisting of reasonable portions of complex carbohydrates, such as those found in leaf vegetables, as well as protein powder supplements, green tea, and lean meat choices. I didnt really count calories, but as a guide I know that I should have a diet under 2500 Calories per day. What I did do for this program was log everything I ate since the beginning of February in a Google spreadsheet. I shared the spreadsheet with my Sensei, Ali Taghinejad and lead trainer of the Fighterbody conditioning program, Ben Kerswill. Logging everything I ate on a spreadsheet and sharing it with trainers over the web was a great thing to do, being that we are all busy people. I also logged my weight before and after training, my training plan, and other things I was doing in my program. To date they have approved of my diet plan, and the first month I managed to cut 10 lbs, getting my weight down to 210. Now in the second month, the 22^nd of March, I am at 205 and I’ll shave my head to get my weight down if I have to! The plan now involves a drastic increase in water and no bad things can enter the mouth, simple as that. Fortunately, while my event is Sunday I can weigh in on Saturday. I really hope I can make it into that weight class, because the unlimited class has some big guys. I would be faster than them, but its always better to be at the top of your weight class, not the bottom.

Training to fight

Kickboxing class, Sparring

At Versus21, the program I train in is kickboxing based, with lots of techniques borrowed from Muay Thai and standup MMA, and lots of conditioning. The gym offers an open mat for sparring on Fridays and I have made an effort to attend regularly. Sparring has been so important because all those drills and combinations become a total mess when you first get into the chaos of sparring. Eventually you focus and things come together, but it is a constant challenge.

Sparring at Versus21

You have to be in the gym more than anybody else, you got to work harder than anyone, and you’ve got to be willing to sacrifice more than anybody else…

I have had to face some super tough guys sparring, guys with real fight experience, and it has been the toughest thing. I have had to take plenty of full force wallops and I have had to learn to block the strikes or die. Its to my interest though to do that, because I want to be conditioned against guys who are tougher than who I will face on the mat at Tiger Balm. But over the course of sparring, I have had beaten up legs, an eye injury that will probably never heal, not to mention black eyes on more than one occaision, sprained ankles and wrists, bloody noses, and of course various lumps, scrapes and bruises. Now after training I finish my shower with an ice cold blast to help with muscle recovery and to speed the metabolism. It seems to help.

Fighterbody Training

I supplemented my training plan by joining Ben Kerswill’s Fighterbody class. Fighterbody is not a martial arts class, it is a conditioning class that top level athletes use to get in shape for their sport. It is a circuit program of vigorous exercises designed to build speed and power. Typically we train hard for a timed interval, and then brief timed break, we repeat or go to the next exercise. The program uses everything from truck tires and sledgehammers, to kettleballs, dumbells, bosu and swiss balls, elastic cords, and some things that must be exclusively the invention of the program designer. It always impresses me how some seemingly simple little exercises that look so easy to do can be so effective and exhausting. There are some damn fit people in that class.

The program is available on days alternating with my martial arts, as well as weekends, and Friday at 7 PM after sparring. This has meant I have been at the gym almost every day training one way or another, and Friday is a double shot with sparring and Fighterbody. And sometimes I have had to limp through Friday’s class with sprains or a charlie horse. But now after two months of it I feel it has paid off, because instead of being burnt and gassed after an hour of martial arts, I feel strong, like I could go for another hour.

Coaching is important

Its always necessary to do as much as possible to get ready for a tournament. I know there are some damn fit guys out there I’ll be going up against. There is no substitute for the hard work and sacrifices that must be made in order to be ready for a fight. Coaches are there to help, to remind you of what you probably already know you should be doing, and now and then they can give you a tip to maximize your effort. But sometimes you need to be pushed, and they are there for that as well.

When interviewing Sifu Tom Laroche, a former world kickboxing champion, in Kamloops in the fall of last year, he said something toward the end that states in plainly.

…if you want to do well…you have to pay the bigger price than anybody else. You have to be in the gym more than anybody else, you’ve got to work harder than anyone, and you’ve got to be willing to sacrifice more than anybody else… You’ve got to be willing to work harder than anybody else, you’ve got to be willing to come into the gym more than anybody else, and you got to be willing to sacrifice. And it is a sacrifice. Your friends are out doing something else and you cant go do it. They want you to go out to the bar, sorry, I got to go train. If you want to do good.

Here’s to a great tournament, see you down there. And there will be lots of pictures. Osu!

2009 Western Canadian Martial Arts Championships

October is coming soon and that means its time for the 2009 Western Canadian Martial Arts Championships. Its a great place to several different disciplines of martial arts, different classes and different age groups all together at one place. I attended last year’s event and blogged it, since a fellow martial artist and occasional sparring partner, Adam Blanchette, competed in kickboxing.

This year promises an exiting tournament with two days of action with new and expanded divisions in Karate, Kung Fu, Grappling, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and Modified Muay Thai. Dont forget that besides fighting or just watching, this is a community event that needs volunteers for setup, registration tables, timekeeping and other tasks. Volunteering gets you the best seats in the house and a sweet T-shirt if you register before October 9th.

There is also the event Facebook page.

See you there!

Western Canadian Martial Arts Championships 2008

The 2008 Western Canadian Martial Arts Championships was the first tournament I have ever attended. I was really impressed by the size of the local community and how everyone could come together to create such an amazing event. There was a full range of events going on all day long, like a veritable martial arts festival. People of all age categories gathered to gain rank in Karate, Tae Kwon Do, Hapkido, as well as Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Kickboxing.

I was there as a part of the Versus 21 team to cheer on Adam, our entry into the kickboxing matches and Josh who entered into BJJ at the last minute. That was my first reason for being there – cheer on Team Versus 21.

getting ready to fight

But something else I saw that day was what made the greatest impression on me. For a while I turned and watched the juniors who were there to win higher ranking belts and challenge themselves. I remember seeing a young man, about 10 years old, in a Tae Kwon Do match. I saw him take a kick to the gut that knocked him to the mat. We all know that feeling, from one time or another in our lives. And when you are so young, its your whole universe that has just caved in. He lay there folded up for about 20 seconds. Then he sprang to life and bounced back to his feet with a Kiai shout. A good recovery by any measure. I dont recall if he won the match or not. Its not really the point. I was really impressed by how he found the inner strength to get up again when he was down and face off again. He meant it. He was determined. He will be able to draw upon that inner strength for the rest of his life. Years from now, when he is in a rut, he will think back to that time and use it to pick himself up and try again. Isn’t that what martial arts is for?

Versus 21 team: ali, sensei blake, adam, iman, and norm

It was humbling to see other people as well, who tried and failed. The students were there in their gis, representing their schools with pride. A few of those students took a heavy hit. Maybe it was a moment of inattention, they their guard down or maybe their opponent got in a lucky kick. They looked like they were knocked into next week, stunned, bloody nose and all. Of course first aid attendants were on hand to attend promptly to everything. But there is no first aid that can provide much comfort for the hurt deep in the eyes of those students. They believed in themselves enough to be there, trying hard for that next belt, only to have those hopes crushed. Lets hope they will come back and use that experience to face a new challenge and prevail.

sensei blake and adam