The London Open 02/06/19

Last Sunday I participated at the London Open for Tai Chi. It is my fourth time and for the last three years, it has been the only competition fixture I've entered. Last year was not a good year, but I have spent the last twelve months to address my faults and shortcomings. This year, I concentrated on the core aspects. I have not really done anything on my days off and weekends, but train.

The day went ok, with only a few hiccups, such as messing up part of the sabre form and correcting the error and still finishing on time. The hand form was far better than previous attempts, but I missed out on gold by one point. The sword form was better than previous years attempts, but my least successful. I won't let this put me off. this is my third time I competed with sword. The standards here are very high. When I look back at my many years of competing with spear and hand form. I took many years to get it right and get good. I know I will get there 파이팅*! Spear was my best effort and I am very happy to succeed in spear. I actually learned a new advanced move the day before. To be honest, spear was the last for the four entries. It was a hot day, even with less people that day, it was still a mission to compete in that heat. I was exhausted by the time I finished.

I aimed to get at least two medals, but ended up with four.

Gold in Open Tai Chi Spear

Silver in Open Wudang Handform

Silver Overall Internal Weapons

Bronze in Open Wudang Sabre

Despite a few issues, I enjoyed the day. The competition was well run and without kids, we ended the day a few hours early. For me, medals are about taking part and show you have improved. Medals mark your journey. For me, it was and never have been about an ego trip. Work hard and you will eventually get there. I met other competitors and judges, and it was nice to see people about and catching up. It's also nice to given compliments. So until next year, Ciao!!!

*파이팅! - pronounced as Paiting! Fighting in Korean English. An exclamation that means bring it on. Often used to encourage or when the difficult challenge or task is met.

Thank you for reading my blog.

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