An early start from Ludlow to get down to Guildford, London for the UKTA English Open. The competition went ahead despite concerns regarding Covid19. Everyone was noticeably reticent about being in close contact with each other, but many competitors still turned out as part of their preparation for the 2020 European Championships in Prague.
I had some medal success in both the sparring and the patterns. In each category I came up against international competitors from the home countries of England, Scotland and Wales. I was disappointed to not go further than the Bronze in 4th Dan Patterns, I am finding that I haven't yet got the new 4th Dan patterns embedded well enough to have a fluid rhythm when performing. I was very pleased with the Gold medal in the -80kg Sparring. The sparring final was against a fellow England team competitor who is very fast and very capable. On this occasion my experience on the mat put me in front and I was able to win by avoiding getting caught by his spinning kicks..
The hardest part of competition days is often getting the warm up timed correctly so that that you are ready to go on the mat. The reality is that things change during the day and you warm up and cool down numerous times, often leading to niggling injuries being made worse when you actually get on the mat to compete. But at least on this occasion new injuries were avoided and existing injuries were not made any worse by the rigours of competition.
It was great seeing the other competitors again. I'm not sure when we will be able to meet up and compete again due to the Covid19 restrictions. I hope to see them all again soon.
Veterans competitors at the UKTA English Open 2020