Doug places 2nd in Traditional Forms At The Central Florida Sport Karate Challenge Today!

Today is my birthday (happy birthday to me!) and I decided to compete to celebrate!  I had the opportunity to compete in the Central Florida Sport Karate Challenge in Lake County, FL.  Only competed in one event, Traditional Forms, and placed 2nd.  I will say this, the gentleman who bested me today deserved it as he performed a very clean kata (form) and was a worthy competitor.  I believe he also went on to place 2nd in Sparring, so mucho congrats to him!

It was a fun day, and I was honored with the presence of a friend and his son as well (thanks for hanging out with us Jeff and Marcus!), so good times all around.

I did get to experience a different side of tournament competition today…Judging!  They needed a couple of judges to fill slots and I volunteered (so did Michael, which was cool), and got to judge Creative Forms, Traditional Forms, Creative and Traditional Weapons, and Sparring…mostly for the younger competitors.

I must say I probably had as much or more fun judging as I did competing.  Probably because I always enjoy seeing and helping others succeed, and that, in some way, is what judging is about.

It was a smaller tournament, but a fun one and one that I will enjoy attending in the future…next time with a team of my own students!  Woo Hoo!!!  Oh, and I didn’t know it until yesterday but all the proceeds from this tournament went to benefit kids in Lake County through the Police Athletic League, and I am very honored to have been a part of that.

We are nearly ready to launch our new Martial Arts Program for students here in Orange County and I am so excited to be this close to being able to share details with all of you.  Keep us in your thoughts and prayers as this will be a tremendous opportunity to invest in young lives here in our area.

I will continue training and competing until I reach my personal goals, physically and in competition.  It has only just begun!

On the note of training…I did have an opportunity to have a drink with a friend and Personal Trainer yesterday and he has given me some things to work on to push through the current training plateau I am in, so I am excited about the next few weeks of training.  Stay tuned for more great results to be announced!

Until next time, I hope everyone is having a wonderful day on my BDay and I look forward to hearing from you or seeing you along the way!

Doug

P.S. – A lot of people have been asking me if I am going to start sparring again or fighting again in the future.  Hmmm…it is a very real possibility and one that could (hint, hint) be in the works within the year, given I can pass medical clearance from the past injuries.  Looking good though.  Oh, and in case you are wondering about any future “mountains” to climb…I am currently training toward reclaiming another passion, in which I have actually competed professionally and nationally in…long-distance running.  A couple of 5K primer runs look to be in the near future, so again, stay tuned…it’s about going as high as we can go!