Submitted by Goh Ray June

The 12^th Powersport Championship was a smashing success! Anybody who loves a good fight is here and bam! Not a minute into the first round and fighters are giving all they have into the fight—six-year-olds are literally stumbling around as they shoot out tiny legs, punching baby fists and thoroughly dulling us who wanted more action. Parents are clamoring for their kids as you won’t get another legal fight anywhere else.

Moving on to the secondary boys, they are putting on an exciting and entertaining show for us audience as 360 turning kicks, back thrusts and heavy kicks are aimed to beat down their opponents. The boy’s arena is packed with energy and power! Yes, the audience cheered and groaned when loud thuds are heard, depending on which side you are on.

What about the secondary girls’ side? I can see lots of first-timers thrown around the ring—they will not be bullied next time, will they?—and some seasoned fighters confidently using techniques to score the points and win the game ( easily discerned by their excellent stamina, signs of year-round practicing). Girls have less strength, but are more nimble and quick in the field.

Before we get on with the experienced and the foul, let’s see what tips we can give as a shrewd observer to the brave and the beaten first-timers. I took some advice from the seniors after I lost the game and their strategies are not to be missed. First, make sure you know where to park your leg before you kick—the back, chest, side or stomach? If aims are loosely-aimed, every kick will be wasted on hands and buttocks and you get nada points. Next, always kick for a reason and do not waste your energy just blindly kicking if you have not adjusted distance. Remember that a good loud thud on the vest is better than attempts blocked by the hand—so choose quality over quantity, if you know what I mean. Distancing is such a wide lesson to be learned (honestly I have not mastered it yet) but you must always judge how far you should be from your opponent. Unless you are always quicker, a step back (you get kicked) and a step in (you can’t kick) counts a lot. Last but not least, stamina determines how well you perform in the next round and how powerful your kicks will be after the first few ones. If you can’t train it, you can’t have it.

The list up there looks like it got all my weaknesses, but I have the impression that we generally have the same weaknesses. Good luck can only get us so far (if you are hoping for your opponent to not turn up), so we really should put our backs into it in our usual training.

After a round of lecture, let us get into the arena and see what’s going on again. A praise to the young children for participating, but we really ought to see the more ferocious fights from the teenagers. Round 50 got foul when a kick to the groin (weather by accident or not) had the fighter rolling on the ground. He showed good spirit though, and after a lot of jumping around and ouch-ouching he wasted no time in giving his opponent a kick packed with power (and possibly extreme anger). A shift to the girls’ part and we can see a fighter dissolving into tears as the results were announced and she was not on the winner’s side. I can see Mrs Leong comforting another sobbing fighter not far away and emotions are clearly running high.

We do cry when we compete, regardless of the results (winners and losers alike always express emotions through tears, don’t they?), and I do respect those who took this championship seriously enough that they cared very much about their fights. It is not an embarrassment—Balotelli cried in the aftermath of Spain’s victory over Italy and Andy Murray cried during the Wimbledon’s runner-up speech—so let’s use those tears to make ourselves stronger than before. Anger, however, is fun to watch if it doesn’t get out of control. When fighters channel their anger into their fight in proper ways (no dirty moves), we observers are happy to cheer them on. There are loud cries of their respective school names as the observers yell for their favorite fighter.

There is a break at 11 o clock and the amazing taekwondo demonstration are performed by the demo team. It must have been fabulous but I won’t know it because I fall asleep from lack of energy. It is lunch time after and food is a bit cold, but I’m sure that the parent’s support team did their best. Then we have poomsae and judging from the number of contestants, it is very popular among the students. However, I am more surprised at the powersport magazine, which appeared at first eye to be featuring Tan Kien Tat, our taekwondo senior. One might question the designer of the magazine’s cover page (could it be Kien Tat himself?) if he was mistaken for doing a biography of Kien Tat.

I flip through the magazine and check last year’s winners and find that a few talents have got their names on both the poomsae and sparring event. It is a rule that if you won too many gold medals, you will be banned from the championship—and yep, Ngiam Fang Qi is only a referee this year. How does it feel to be such a consistent winner that you are at last banned? I don’t know the answer to this question but let’s see what the ones who are still-trying-to-get-banned are saying.

Wenni, 16 says she’s afraid and happy at the same time for getting into the final round, but she’ll do her best to get the gold medal. Tee Zi Yen, 17 says she doesn’t have much confidence in the final round later but strength of mind is her best and only strategy. Daryl Goh, 10 shrugs when asked why he participates in the championship. He says it is a teeniest bit of fun to fight. A teeny bit.

The event goes on past the evening and the Sunday becomes a very tiring day for everybody here. We love the championship and the opportunities it offered, and it has ended well. I won’t announce all the winner’s names in case this gets tedious. Now let’s give a clap on the back to the winners from our hearts and a nod of thanks and appreciation to the organizers and helpers for making this championship a success! Adieu and see you next year!

To view more sparring pics, CLICK HERE, HERE and HERE!

Submitted by Mandy Tee

A few months ago, I was told that the 2^nd National Poomsae Competition will be held on the 27^th of May. Therefore, Mr. Leong thought it would be a good idea to have classes held on every Sunday in the Chi Liung public centre to help Power Sport students who are interested in participating in the competition with their basic movements. I was quite interested in participating as I’ve never really participated anything that involved the whole of Malaysia so naturally, I went for the training every Sunday, determined to improve myself so that I could be good enough to participate in it.

I went every Sunday to brush up on my basics and to learn new patterns for the competition. The instructors of the classes, Mr. and Mrs. Leong and Mr. Tan Kien Tat were very helpful as they patiently went through each and every student, correcting their stances and movements. Sometimes, the classes would be conducted by only Mr. Tan and I was surprised that he could handle and teach so many students, especially since there were a few students who were still in lower primary school. One thing that actually made me find him very admirable and amusing at the same time is when there was one day, on one of the classes, he was late by a few minutes because he had to fetch a few students who had no transport and lived quite far from the centre. So, before he started the class, he apologized and promised everyone that he would punish himself by doing 60 push-ups in front of us at the end of the class. It was obvious that everyone was very amused by his proposal and was very looking forward to it. Why wouldn’t they be? It’s not every day you have your teacher punish himself for his mistake. Sure enough, at the end of the class, everyone crowded around him, excitedly counting for him while he did his push-ups. One particular student actually smirked and said to me, “Maybe we should’ve asked for more. 60 push-ups seem like a piece of cake to him.” This little incident is what I feel made the whole training all the more fun and memorable for me.

Unfortunately for me, a few weeks before the competition, I tore my right foot’s ligament and was unable to walk for 2 weeks, let alone train. It was because of this that I couldn’t attend the classes on Sundays and participate in the competition. I was devastated because I loved the Poomsae trainings on Sundays as I had met so many people there and learnt so much from the instructors. Since I couldn’t participate in the competition, all I could do was just wish everyone who did the best of luck. When the day of the competition finally came, I waited for the parents of the participants to post the results on our own Power Sport Taekwondo Facebook Group. I felt so proud of everyone, especially those who brought back medals! However, I did feel a little disappointed because after the competition was over, there were no more trainings on Sundays. I had hoped that after my foot recovered, I could attend the classes again but I guess I’ll have to wait till next year. I am definitely looking forward to that! =)

Members preparing for coming MSSD Poomsae championship at Chi Liung Center, Klang.

By Sharanie Patmanathan                                Click here to view Slideshow on Championship

About 320 participants took part in the 11th Power Sport Taekwondo Championships held at the SRJK (C) Pandamaran B hall on the 26th of June 2011.

The championship, organised by Power Sport Taekwondo with support from the Selangor State Education Depatment, Top A Plastics was the co-sponsor, were aimed at helping the club members gain exposure.

The championship was officiated by Tuan Noor Azli bin Abd Rahman, Penolong Pengarah Kanan Ketua Unit, Jabatan Pelajaran Selangor on behalf of Tuan Hj. Mahmud bin Karim, Timbalan Pengarah, Jabatan Pelajaran Selangor as he was unable to attend due to some official duties.

During the one-day meet, competitors aged from seven to 17 years from 12 primary schools and eight secondary schools took part in both sparring and pattern categories. Spectators also had the opportunity to witness taerobics and destruction demonstrations.

There was a small group of enthusiastic parents known as the Power Sports Parents Support Team, who were there to cheer for their kids so they feel they are being backed up when they’re fighting. Besides that, they also held a small fund raising by selling food and drinks like noodles, sandwiches and 100 plus. They are planning for a get-together for parents sometime soon.

Overall Standings
Primary Boys’ Champions : SK La Salle, Klang (5G. 3S, 2B)
Runners-up : SK Taman Rashna, Klang (1G, 1S)
Third : SK Taman Megah, P.J. (1G, 3B)

Secondary Boys’ Champions : SMK La Salle Klang (3G)
Runners-up : SMK Pui Ying, Klang (2G, 2S, 3B)
Third : SMJK Kwang Hua Klang (1G, 3S, 9B)

Primary Girls’ Champions : SK Convent (1), Klang (3G, 2S, 2B)
Runners-up : SK Methodist, Klang ( 2G, 4B)
Third : SK Taman Megah, P.J (2S, 1B)

Secondary Girls’ Champions : SMJK Kwang Hua, Klang (3G, 2B)
Runners-up : SMK Convent, Klang (2G, 1 S, 2B)
Third : SMK Bandar Damansara Utama, P.J. (1G,3B)

More pics to come soon…