Chronicle II - 1st & 2nd Martial Arts Competitions

My 1st martial arts competition was on 30/03/2008. It was a grappling tournament. I had no previous experience of any sort and was entering the competition as a complete novice. I had just watched a few instructional videos on youtube and and it just totally captivated me. I had to wait for quite some time before my match began, and to cut the long story short, I met the champion and was knocked out in the 1st round with an aching elbow to boot. My friend F accompanied me and recorded the whole match. After analyzing the match, I seemed like a total idiot. Alas! It turned out there would be another competition on 31/08/2008. I began to get ready for the competition by WATCHING MORE INSTRUCTIONAL VIDEOS haha, and of course I had about 4 sessions of sparring sessions with my friends although it's more of a session for me to test out some moves. Compared to those who train at least twice a week with competent training partners, suitable facilities and an instructor, I seemed selfish to want to pull a win, but humans are selfish by nature anyway. The competition this time was held in Tampines SAFRA. Two huge mats placed on the badminton hall greeted me when I first walked into the venue. When I went over to the registration counter, the man asked "which school?" which I replied "no school". That guy gave me the "huh" look and asked "then which gym?" to which I replied "No gym, I'm self-trained". I then had to weigh in to see if I'm within the suitable weight range for my category. Being severely underweight, I passed the weigh-in with flying colours. To top it all off, my 1st match opponent was beside me all the while. He knew I had no experience and was super light, I wished I didn't give him that confidence though.To cut the long story short again, I won the 1st match but was injured thereafter and was forced by the ring doctor and organizer to stop. Some of my friends pang seh and I had to go alone. No support and no video of my 1st win. In short, my 1st 2 experiences at martial arts competitions have been disappointing. Can't wait for the 3rd one.

By the way, I just received a letter calling me up for my medical review on 17th Dec. If only the review would end with "In view of your current medical condition, you are hereby exempted from National Service." Joke!