British Selections

I arrived early to weigh in.
With that out of the way I spent a little time helping set up the mats, then shortly after wards the draw was out. I looked at the names and recognized most of the guys in my division, national winners and top players as I had expected though I had never heard of my first competitor. Looking around I could see plenty of Australias top fighters wearing their national team wear. It was going to be high level competition.
Moving to the warm up area I started to get ready as I was fight ten. Getting ready with one arm takes me a little longer as I realized they were already calling the first 5 fights!
Time was flying , the competition had started and I had a little time to do a quick warm up and light stretch. I didn't feel it was enough for me as Carlo always says to get the first fight out during warm up. For me it means spending 5 or to ten minutes doing repetition kicks to really wake the body and mind up, though this is different for everyone.
Today we were to use the Lajust electronic scoring system. Its not my favorite as it is difficult to score with. The reasons being you need strong power 'and' a technically perfect kick. Any obstacle in the way off the sensor, ie clothing or an arm will prevent you from scoring. I watched a lot of fights today were fighters were doing triple roundhouses, getting a good pop (one which would be scored by the judges) and not scoring.
Watching, I felt players were more encouraged to attack the head when they can't get a clear shot on the body. And of course body shots are hard when everyone is blocking.
I felt my fight didn't go well today. First round I would say was fairly even as we tested each other out. I threw a strong head kick which didn't score, Carlo later said it required more power though I believe with only two judges scoring the fight that my positioning impeded their view. Second round I had an edge over my opponent.
Third round his intensity lifted and I lacked the composure to level the score back when I had the opportunity. And now Im feeling pretty disappointed. I believe I lost a fight I could have won. I walked off the mat with more to give and that's were I feel I let myself down. Full credit to my opponent, he did enough to win.
Always after a fight I chat with Carlo, ask him what he thinks so as to get some feedback on my performance. My defending was good, hence a close match though I dropped my pressure at a critical stage in the fight. Recapping I have a few other things I need to work on.
Now its recovery time, get the body right for the Vics in two weeks.

Steve