Hellos and Goodbyes

Our trip in Austria is coming to an end.  As I pack my bags at 2.00 AM to catch my 3.00 AM bus for my early 6.00 AM flight, I give a little pause for reflection.  It also gave me a great opportunity to catch up on some reading and get back into drawing.

The trip also gave me the opportunity to re-connect with a lot of friends, bury hatchets and old rivalries (an opportunity to see my God daughter!), make new friends (Bulgaria, Brazil and Russia!  We may have an opportunity to fight in Paraguay in December) and say some good byes.

Joel Holland will not be coming back to Canada with us as he will be taking a much deserved holiday in Europe and spend time with his brother who lives and works here.  I look forward to his return.

Paolo Sison Dultra will be going back for exams and will be hustling to finish off some school work.  I wish him a lot of luck, but I don’t think he needs it.  Paolo’s work ethic is unquestionable.   This guy only trains with us during the weekends and he is fighting in the Worlds!  Paolo, good luck with your Kombat training group in Guelph!

Max Grech got a bad deal in this tournament.  It would have been good to see you in the semi finals.  But I can personally attest that Max faced A LOT of personal challenges to make it to the Worlds.  I am proud of Max and I hope he takes that vacation that we discussed.  In the end I know that he will work towards that balance in life that we discussed this week.  I am very proud of Max.

As for Sylwester Organka, my friend, student, at times teacher and someone I think of as my son, this was his last fight.  Sly will be retiring from competing, but don’t be alarmed he will still be at Kombat Arts.  Sly, over the years you have made me very proud.  Watching you fight and smash people has always been entertaining   I know that you will excel in whatever you pursue in the future, and continue to make me and the school proud.

Good bye Austria, Hello Kombat Arts Canada!  Jd

Congrats Neil Bishop

Congratulations to our Canadian Light Contact competitor, Neil Bishop who took the gold in his division.  You really represented the Canadians well!  Jd

4th Day at The Austria Worlds

First in the ring today was Joel Hollands against an athlete from Belarus.  The guy looked like Arthur Kyshenko from K1 Max.  Unfortunately for us, he also fought like him.  We lose to Belarus via decision.  Than we had James Coomber against Poland, losing that match also by decision.  We have one more athlete competing today for light contact, in the final this afternoon.  Sorry no piks or vids.  We are all tired and we want our beds   Jd

The Austrian Opening Ceremonies

Getting ready to travel to the event involved a lot of stuff: packing gear, checking on my guys and packing toilet paper.  This is essential.  When we got to the event I was impressed with the layout of the 3 rings and the 3 tatami mats.  Over 50 countries were represented with over 600 athletes registered.  I included a short video of the Opening Ceremonies.

Ok here are the results so far.  And please bear with me as I may have some incomplete info.

Max was the 1^st to fight, representing Canada and the Kombat Arts.  Listen to the drama.  Max was winning his fight, as per the scores indicated on the NEW computer scoring system and the supporting crowd.  Than at the beginning of the 3^rd round, the computer shuts down!  After a few adjustments the computer got turned back on.  We did not notice that the score had been changed.  At the end of the fight we were all surprised to see the opposing corner with their hands up.  Max’s opponent had won?!  Through a computer default, Max’s opponent had won.  I am sorry to say that as a coach I took a little bit too long to contest it.  This is another drama story.  As a result Max was eliminated.  I truly believe that Max won that fight.  To me Max, you have made me very proud and I am sorry that I could not be more convincing to the Officials.

Joel Holland fought next, representing Renegade/ Kombat, and he beat his opponent from Italy via decision.  Joel will go into the final 8 tomorrow!

Darryl Ireland, Ricardo Smith and Marcel Villeneauva all lost their matches.  Canada comes out with 2 wins (one K1 and one light contact match), as we enter tomorrow with 11 athletes competing.  Lets wish Team Canada good luck, especially Joel Hollands, Paolo Dultra and Sylwester Organka!  Jd

PS, Max you won that fight

Protein Poisoning and Sick!

Ok, last night, downtown or Slovania did not fly.  Which is good, because I felt like I was getting sick.  So after a restless sleep, I woke up and …I’m sick!  Oh well, off to a European type breakfast (from my piks you can see a common theme with the sort of stuff they serve at breakfast).  Resigned to my bed and slept again for a few hours before taking the boys downtown to the Internet café, more food, shopping for tea and fluids.  After the Internet café the boys went home and I chilled in a café to read and get ready for the International coaches’ meeting.  And I also got tomorrow’s draw /fight card.  Tomorrow we have 9-10 athletes fighting.  They are facing some stiff competition.  I will post who is fighting as I confirm the details.  Believe it or not, this stuff can change overnight.

After the meeting, myself, Helen and Roger went to a pub to have some Austrian fare.  As you can see from the piks, I now have protein poisoning.  The good thing is that the rush of protein momentarily made me forget how sick I am.  Have a good night Kombat.  Tomorrow we go to war Jd

Keeping Sharp for Austria

Ok, to keep the edge on the guys and to reduce the tension, we ran a second training session.  These guys are looking sharp.  Tomorrow we go to WAR!-Jd

More Piks from Austria Day 1

First Day in Austria

Started my day at 7.00 AM with a quick meditation session, running along a mountain trail (which was short lived) and some light calisthenics.  Grabbed some essential European breakfast and we are off to more weigh ins.  It’s now 8.30 AM, which is 2.30 AM your time.  My internal clock is all messed up, but strangely enough I feel really good.

We have to go back and have a few of our guys weigh in again as they did not make weight on the 1^st day.  After the weigh ins we decided to check out downtown Villach.  This meant eating, again J.  We even had time to chill out in the cafes and have Apple Strudl and coffee.  I have to say that the scenery is breath taking.  Being surrounded by stores, you sometimes forget that you’re in a valley, being surrounded by beautiful mountains and forests.  I took some piks, but they really don’t do the scenery justice.

After making our way back to camp, we decided to put some of the athletes through training.  I have to say that the group looks awesome.  I predict that we will have great fights on Thursday.  Ok I will post later on tonight.  It is now 5.23 PM Austria time.  I’m off for a massage.  Hopefully it’s not some brute named Hans that will bend me in half.  Than I’m off to downtown Villach or maybe we will jump ship across the border to Solvania.  Have a great day Kombat Arts!  Jd

Footwork Drills for Martial Arts

Footwork is very important for martial arts.  Think about it; you need footwork to engage your opponent and also footwork to evade your attacker and their attacks.  This short video here is #2 in a 3 part series.  Check it out, it’s about staying off the ropes, which is a really important skill to have in ring management for boxing, savate, K1 and even Muay Thai.  To see the other videos, and more like it, check out this link here-Jd

Great Muay Thai Gear @ Kombat Arts Mississauga

      I got some new Muay Thai stuff from KB-1 for you guys.  First off we got some nice heavy skipping ropes.  Skipping is great to work conditioning, footwork and timing, and with these new heavy ropes you can now work your shoulders and forearms, conditioning them to tolerate more lactic acid.  We also got some nice anklets, for that extra ankle support and of course we got some nice “sexy” Thai shorts (the International K-1 style!)  They should be at Kombat by this Friday.  Please visit our proshop when you get a chance-Jd