A New Journey Begins

Dear Friends and Family,

For those who are close to me, you all know the long and hard journey it took me to finally achieve a Gold Medal in the Full-Contact Sparring for the Heavy C weight division at the 2012 U.S.K.S.F International Championship Tournament.

My first year in 2010 was one hell of a hard battle. Going into the 2010 U.S.K.S.F International Championship Tournament with very little experience but with a lot of preparation, I managed to take upon my first opponent with ease. Although, my second opponent was a lot more difficult than I had anticipated. With the little energy that I had saved after my first fight, I struggled to finish my second opponent and winning only by split decision. Moving onto my last opponent, my lack of experience definitely was the cause of my loss for the gold medal that year. My fight came to an end when my opponent pushed me off the 2 ½ foot raised platform 3 times within the first round. Unable to maintain a striking game with me, my opponent quickly changed his strategy. Due to my lack of experience, I failed to catch his new game plan and remain on the platform, hence I had to settle for a Silver medal that year.

My second year in 2011 was a rude awakening. Going back into the same tournament for that year, I was ill-prepared but with more experience.  Thinking I would be able to manage my opponents with a lot of take downs and sweeps, my training consisted of mostly takedown offence and defense drills. With a very high self-esteem and a lot of confidence, I had my opponents underestimated for that year and took very little preparation thinking that they would be easy. I maintained an average diet with an average workout routine. On my first fight at the tournament that year I was literally punched into reality. The reality that I was horribly unprepared for what was to come and therefore lost my first fight on the second round by split decision. I came back home after the tournament that year, with a very depressed state of mind. I took off 2-3 weeks of training to do nothing else but to sulk in my own misery. My friends and family finally had enough of my moping butt and kicked me out of my sorry state, got me back into the right mindset and into a great training regime. Watching my fight over and over, analyzing every little detail propelled me into a great start for 2012.

Finally my third year at this tournament, I was more prepared then I could ever be. My game plan for this year was literally to stay“Calm, Cool, and Collected”.  I started training 6 months before the tournament date and it consisted of everything you could possibly think of. Training 6 days a week with an average of 3 hours every training session which includes endurance, stamina, strength training, weight lifting intertwined with a great healthy diet, and a lot of sparring with students from our school as well as other schools. My competition this year was extremely diverse; my first opponent had amazing take downs. Within the first round he was able to perform several take downs on me with ease, unfortunately every take down only awarded him 1 point which is the same point awarded for a clean punch or kick that lands on your opponent. The fight ended early after my opponent fell down when I threw two successful knees to my opponent’s face and giving him 8 stitches by his left eyebrow. The fight was awarded to me unanimously and I moved on to my second fight. My second opponent had more power in his punches then a jet engine. For the first time ever, I’ve been knocked down twice on my second round. The first time I was knocked down, I was able to recuperate quickly and get back on my feet, the second time I wasn’t so lucky. After getting knocked down for the second time, getting up was a problem. My feet and legs were all wabbly, I was disoriented and it was clear that I had trouble standing up. I panicked and acted on instinct, before I knew it, it was my opponents turn to get knocked down. I hit him hard enough that the medic had to check him out to ensure he was capable to continue his fight. By the end of the second round I had won it unanimously. My last opponent was for the Gold which was a 6 foot 5 giant that had twice the reach on me. The fight went for the full 3 rounds and I won it in the end by unanimous decision. None of my fights were without struggle, which makes me appreciate accomplishment even more.

The reason why I am writing here today and the reason why you are reading this is to let you know that with my recent win, I have qualified to represent Canada at the World Championships in Malaysia on October 15 2012. I am asking for your help to send me to Malaysia so I may be able to represent my country for this once in a life time opportunity. For those who do not know the level of competition that is present for the world championship, it is the same as the Olympics but with Kung-Fu as its only focus. Any funds that you may have available would be greatly appreciated. You can send funds via my paypal account at nguyen.manhtu@yahoo.com or click the button below to donate.

Thank you for your time and especially for your help.

P.S. Below is a picture of me holding my newly acquired success with my Sifu. J