I've watched all compete in the past and they are really strong fighters, having a high dominance over other locals in their divisions.
The WQT is being held on the 30th of June in the same stadium I competed in some 2 years ago.
For our competition the stadium had three rings, with the center ring being elevated higher than the other two. With Taekwondo being a national sport in Azerbaijan, there was plenty of spectators and also a camera crew filming for national TV making the atmosphere in the arena quite exhilarating.
It was built up to be a momentous occasion as it was the first ever para world championships. We (the para athletes) were treated exceptionally well by our hosts, the Azerbaijan Taekwondo Federation (along with the WTF) who went out of their way to show us their city and make welcome our stay.
I remember the Head of Team meeting before the competition and the speaker declaring the goal of the WTF to have para Taekwondo introduced into the Olympics. Unfortunately its definitely not going to be apart of London and I believe that's also the case for Rio in 2016.
The weekend just gone saw MTC hold another successful inter club competition. Turnout was perhaps a little low with some athletes resting and recovering after the recent Vics but this didn't take away from the competition. This allowed for a round robin draw giving fighters at least two bouts in the ring, something I believe is really worthwhile. I know speaking from personal experience that it's difficult to learn much on competition day if you are often eliminated after the first bout.
We (Team Carlo) took our developing athletes along and those that did not compete two weeks earlier. It gave Alana, Tina and myself an opportunity to coach which for me was a nice change from the stress of having to compete.
Perspective from outside the ring is much different than when in the middle. You can often see when there is a clear shot and a point to be scored, ring positioning and how it affects the judges scoring and how a fight can be won or lost within one moment.
Carlo always tells us that Taekwondo is a moment by moment sport, every second you have the opportunity to be scored on or score yourself and that the match is never over until the end of the last round. That is how quick the game can change.
This coming weekend High Performance State training is being held over in Reservoir. It will be two hours of competition sparring and I believe actual referees will be volunteering their time again. The last training session there was well organized and I had around 6 fights in that time making it a good day to develop the skills your working on.
Come along and have a kick, the more that show up the better it is for all of us!
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