Its finally come about. At long last the Oceania selection competition has arrived. Every training session and competition for the past 3.5 years has been in preparation for qualifying at this event.
It has been quite a journey with so many unexpected challenges, particularly the last 18 months whereby my training has been intermittent, having to manage and overcome various new and old injuries. I cannot mention enough of how grateful and lucky I have been to have the skilled support of team CSSM helping me throughout this time.
Taekwondo is a dynamically explosive, physical contact sport which really pushes and tests your limits each time you train and compete. Its for these reasons I’ve really enjoyed training, unfortunately though there’s also a physical cost to the body with my latest challenge these past months, flaring up an old hip injury.
Having seen a specialist sports physician, I’ve explored and tried a number of treatments though with little or actually no noticeable improvement. This now becomes a battle of focusing with the mind.
Nothing is lost though as I can be confident in having a wealth of experience and the knowledge of having the ability to adapt to my physical limitations, something I’ve been doing for a long time post my motorbike accident.
There is one other competitor in my division (-75kg K44) from New Zealand, I believe a new player which could hopefully work to my advantage.
Personally my match went well, competing against an inexperienced player allowed me to control the fight to suit my strengths and weaknesses.
With my hip aggravated, I had planned to compete very conservatively, only kicking when it appeared I had a high percentage chance of scoring.
At the beginning of the first round, I spent a little time gauging my opponents abilities and then as scoring opportunities presented, was able to land my kicks accurately on the electronic scoring system and gain an early lead. From then on the match became a process of maintaining ring control and extending my lead to win comfortably, qualifying the Male -75kg K44 division for Tokyo!
As for my next step, I will be checking in with Kobi to continue my rehabilitation and strengthening program with the aim of getting my body in the best condition for the final push to Tokyo.
Lastly, a massive thank you to all the team at CSSM for your continued support!
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