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 The
Foothills tournament was held this year in Calgary on Sunday
March 12th. Kris Erickson and I both flew to Calgary
to compete and we were also joined by our instructor, Sensei
Tats who was the head referee for this event. Extra effort from
Sensei Brad Gillespie and his students from the Calgary
Kyokushin dojo were put forth to make this the biggest
tournament in Alberta yet. The brand new Deerfoot Inn and Casino
was the venue for this years event and it was a large change
from the typical gymnasiums I am accustomed to fight in. The
sponsors, the banners, the raised seating for the crowd, the
awards, even the Kyokushin branded water bottles all came
together to create a very professional and impressive
atmosphere.
Being a
former student of Sensei Brad I was excited to fly into Calgary
to fight and support this tournament. However at the same time I
was also very nervous. This was going to be the first time for
me to fight in the open division and having recently just
returned to training after a long break due to illness I wasn't
sure if I would be ready. I knew that I would have to take every
opportunity at the dojo to push myself and learn as much as I
could.
My past
experiences with fighting in tournaments has made me realize
that one of my biggest weaknesses is my nerves. I tend to get
very nervous and unable to calm myself down during the fight. My
goal for this tournament was to keep my techniques simple but to
fight calm and maintain the ability to think my way through the
fight and find my opponents weakness and utilize my strengths.
Training with Sensei Tats has given me the opportunity to do a
lot of sparring with different partners and I believe this has
helped me to be more comfortable in my fights for this
tournament.
The first
bout I had was against Cathleen Bailon who comes from the Newton
dojo. I have always been impressed with her high energy, quick
attacks, and flexibility. I knew she would be a tough match for
me. I wasn't sure that I would have the cardio to keep up with
her. I was well aware that I was going to have to fight toe to
toe with her and try to make sure she was the one being moved
around the mat. She fought exactly as I had expected; quick and
determined. I remember I got too caught up in throwing upper
cuts that I had forgot to keep my hands up. I felt a few of her
kicks make contact with my head but luckily they were not strong
enough. After the first round I was exhausted and began to feel
light headed. An extension was called. I knew that if I were to
persevere I would have to push myself harder than I ever have
before. I kia'd as loud as I could and felt the adrenaline. I
fought hard trying to keep up with her fast attacks but in the
end she had the edge over me and took the win. I was happy to
have fought her, she is a great fighter with a lot of spirit.
Sensei Tats pointed out to me that I need to work on focusing my
punches better, so this is something I must work on in the dojo.
My second and
final fight was for third place and I would be competing against
Rachel Ferger. I have fought her in a previous tournament and
she beat me quickly with two wazari's by attacking my stomach. I
was very nervous about fighting her because I knew that she was
very strong and had some of the most powerful attacks I have
felt. I did not want a repeat of the last time I have faced her.
Kris, my teammate, told me to focus on low roundhouse kicks to
her legs. I listened to his advice and it was effective. Many
times she did not block her legs; one, two, three, four kicks to
her lead leg before she blocked and I quickly switched and gave
one kick to her rear leg. Her attacks were strong and I felt
every single one of her hits. I knew that I would lose this
fight if I stayed in close for too long. I would go in close
momentarily, throw some punches and the moment I felt I was
taking too many hits I focused on moving to the side to avoid
her devastating attacks. I thought at one point she would go
down, I could see it in her face. But she was very strong and
pushed herself to attack much harder. The first round was
followed by an extension and in the extension I continued to
attack the legs. She was blocking them more often so I led the
attack with a punch before a leg kick and this worked as she
stopped blocking her legs. She was backing up more in the
extension and I think it is this reason that I ended up with the
win. I was happy about this fight because I knew she was a
fantastic opponent with such strong attacks that even though I
was nervous to fight her I was able to think my way through the
fight. I could hear Kris coaching me and I was able to change my
strategy based on how she was reacting. I could never do this in
the past. I think however that I still need a lot of work on my
combos and the ability to string various attacks together that
work effectively as opposed to the one or two hits I was doing.
Between my
fighting I helped to coach Kris Erickson. He fought very well
this weekend and utilized his powerful attacks in all of his
bouts.
His first
opponent was Richard Barkman from Calgary. Richard stepped up
into the open division for his first time at this event after
many impressive results at other tournaments in western Canada.
Kris fought very smart during this bout by remaining calm and
attacking only when there was a good opportunity for him. Kris
found his opening quickly into the fight and delivered an
impressive and powerful roundhouse kick to Richard's ribs, when
he was attempting an uppercut. As a result, Richard dropped to
the mat and an Ippon was given to Kris.
The quick win
for Kris was good because he was able to conserve a lot of
energy for his next bout which was against Daymon Miller from
Banff. Many people knew this would be an exciting match as both
fighters possessed a lot of power and very focused attacks. It
was interesting to watch because Daymon was focusing on his
punches and Kris was set on using his legs more. I believe Kris
had a good plan because Kris delivered a lot of painful looking
kicks to Daymon's legs, which Daymon failed to block. Both
fighters refused to back down from each other. I was impressed
by the combos Kris was able to deliver on Daymon. In the end
however Daymon was able to win the judges decision. Kris should
still be proud as he fought very hard and was able to dish out a
lot of effective attacks. I think the fight could have gone
either way that round.
Kris should
have had one more fight for third place but unfortunately the
opponent he was to fight was injured from his last bout and was
unable to challenge Kris.
It was a good day for the two of
us at this event. Kris and I both received a trophy for third
place in our divisions and I also received the Spirit Award
which I was honoured to accept. I believe we have gained some
stepping stones towards bettering ourselves as Kyokushin
practitioners. At the same time we both learned many valuable
lessons that we can take home with us to work on in order to
further ourselves in the future.
<<With Sensei Brad
Gillespie, the organizer of the event
Being able to fight at this tournament has also given me a
chance to catch up with my former classmates. I miss training
with the people from Calgary but I realize that I never lose
them as a Kyokushin family, my family only grows larger since
Sensei Tats and his students have welcomed me to their dojo.
I would like
to take an opportunity to thank Sensei Tats for his training and
allowing me to fight at this event. I would also like to thank
the students I train with each week for their support. Finally I
would like to express my gratitude to Sensei Brad Gillespie and
all of the people who put in their time and effort to make this
tournament happen. I think it goes without saying that this
tournament is one that will not be forgotten.
Osu.
Lalena
Desautels
Please visit
www.kyokushincalgary.ca
for the complete results and action photos.
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