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
