U.S. Open begins tomorrow, July 3-4, at the Disney Coronado Springs Resort in Orlando, FL

…I salute you!!!

Well, here we are friends!  This is the Final Countdown (another shameless tribute to big music and big hair from the past :)  Tomorrow begins the world’s most prestigious Martial Arts tournament…the 2009 U.S. Open World Martial Arts Championships.  Martial Artists from all over the globe are converging on Orlando as I type (they have been arriving all week) preparing to go head-to-head in everything from Jiu Jitsu, Freestyle fighting, Forms, Weapons, Self Defense, Synchronization, Sparring, Team Demos, XMA Trick Battles, and so much more!

Here’s one thing I know…with all the martial artists in the area this week, Orlando should be the safest big city in America !

Doug and the team getting ready for the U.S. Open

We had some good, light training yesterday with the team, and then Michael and I went back out for a couple of hours to do some more work on our own.  Today is a rest day…mental training day…enjoy the process day.  I just got word that I may be going out in just a bit to help set some things up with my friends over at www.Kickgen.com who will be onsite all weekend doing live stream broadcasts and capturing the entire event on video, and interviewing some of the top athletes.  I’ve got family coming in from out of state and other friend arriving in Central Florida as well for this mothership of tournaments!  This should be a fun day in anticipation of tomorrow’s events kicking off.

I will be posting some results and happenings as I can and am not engaged in competition throughout the weekend, then after it is all said and done, I will post some links to vids and final results and also let you in on what is happening for the future as a result of this training experience.

If you need times and locations of my events, please see my previous post…

I look forward to seeing you there!

P.S. – Please take a moment to thank my sponsors and friends who have supported this effort by visiting their sites, sending them a message…or better yet, get a hold of some of their products and services.  Only the best for you my friend!  Now…let’s rock!

It has been a day filled with training from various angles…in the pool resistance training, out of the pool-stay-alive-in-the-heat-training, solo kata training, synchronized kata training, with music, without music, with frustration, without frustration…you get the point.  Tomorrow we will dive further into self-defense.

Here is a link to a local newspaper that ran an article on me and our Quest For The U.S. Open.  Thanks to the West Orange Times here in the Orlando area for running this piece.  We have made some great friends from the response to the article.

http://wotimes.com/articles/2009/06/22/news/sports/sports01.txt

Please take a moment to read through it and pass it on to friends and family via Fb, email, twitter, or any other way you communicate with your peeps!

It’s hard to believe we are under two weeks away!  We will keep working harder than ever to be ready in every area.  The dream is at hand!!!  As always, I appreciate your support, prayers, and encouragement!  I have added a support button to the right in the sidebar.  If you think kindly of it, please throw some spare change our way and we have two free gifts to send you regardless of what amount you give.  I thank you in advance.

There have been some new developments as a result of this Quest that I am excited to share with you as the details are ironed out and I have permission to announce.  Please stay tuned, and know that we are reaching lives in some unique places as a result of reaching for the highest level of athletic training in our Quest For The U.S. Open.

If you don’t have your tix yet for the event, please mosey on over to the U.S. Open site and get your tix locked in.  I will be competing in events on both Friday and Saturday, and will share some times as I know them.  The biggie “Night of Champions” is held on Saturday night, and you will definitely want to see this.  A…MA…ZING!

Do me a favor and check out some of my sponsors like www.BoldLook.net and my coach www.LaurenKearney.com over in the right hand sidebar.

Everybody stay cool now…I’ll see you at the U.S. Open!!!

Doug McGannon, Mike Tatum, Michael McGannon

Myself, Mike Tatum, and Michael McGannon (my son and primary training partner) out in the open field training some self-defense over the weekend.  Can you say HOT and MUGGY (the weather, not the pic)!!!

Mike Tatum

Here’s Mike T. (right) striking a pose…um, I mean, traditional stance…   Congrats to Mike for receiving his Black Belt the night before our training on Friday.  He was preeeettty sore whilst undergoing some self-defense maneuvers (hee, hee!).

Doug holding a new uniform from The Bold Look!

There is definitely a lot happening this week as we zero in on some technique-specific training with our kata (forms) and self-defense.  Michael and I will be heading south again on Wed. for some intense training with our Coach, Lauren Kearney, and I think she is going to team us up with some other tournament champs in order to raise our game a bit.  There is certainly nothing like learning from a group of people that are waaaaay above you in this game.  Good times!  I am looking forward to learning more.

We are so close now…to the point where I physically felt the pressure of being less than 3 weeks away today.  It has all come down to this.  I will be prepared, and this will definitely be a “moment” to remember.

Do me a favor and check out my friends and sponsors (link up top and links to the right).  I would appreciate it and I know they would appreciate your support!  There is no way I could do this alone, and to have some great people and companies in my “corner” for this Quest means a lot.

July 3 & 4 people…here we come!!!

This week saw my computer go down in a big way…got it back, only to take it back to the shop again.  I have it now, and am working through getting everything setup again.  Whew!

This week we also gained a new sponsor for our Quest!!!  I’d like to welcome The Bold Look in joining our Quest.  “Bold” as it is affectionately referred to in dojos and training centers all over the world, has graciously outfitted our entire team with new uniforms and belts for the U.S. Open.  Please check them out and get some gear at www.BoldLook.net.

I also have just received new images for one of our early sponsors Sign Pro, LLC.  Scott Matthews at Sign Pro is working with us for custom design shirts, and can handle all your screenprinting and sign production needs.  Please stop by www.Sign-Pro.net and give Scott a call.

As I have all my programs loaded back up this week, I will add these two awesome companies to our sponsor blocks and give some more info about them.  Thank you to Bold Look and Sign Pro for supporting the Quest For The U.S. Open.

I have some pics from this week’s training as well that I can get up in the next couple of days, but I also wanted to give a HUGE shout of CONGRATS to one of my training partners Michael Tatum (see earlier post from this week) as he was just promoted to Black Belt (Shodan) this week during one of his training sessions.  Way to go Michael!  It is an honor to have you on the team…HERE WE GO!!!

I’m off for now…but will be posting regular this week with some exciting pics and info leading into these final few weeks prior to the U.S. Open.  Please plan on attending what is known as the “Olympics of the Martial Arts World” and the “Super Bowl of Martial Arts” here in Orlando, FL.

Go to Kickgen.com now for some Live action tonight from KY!!!