TCSL Tournament 2009

[Linda Heenan]

I couldn't see another topic on this yet, so here it is - the thread to enjoy the results of the tournament. Congratulations to Greg for a well deserved win. Your techniques are something to aspire to. Well done also, Ian, runner up. It was very close.

I've just spent some time writing a subjective report on my own website. This will be followed by a winner's profile, equipment review and possibly some other pages. If anyone would like to hear about my personal experience, and check out the photos,here it is. http://www.chinese-swords-guide.com/fem ... rtist.html I don't mind this being linked to the SFI thread if someone wants to do that.

[Linda Heenan]

Here's a tournament equipment review. It would be nice to hear the experience of other competitors.

http://www.chinese-swords-guide.com/ult ... hting.html

[J HepworthYoung]

I really enjoyed reading your write ups on this.

From the details of your anxiety to your enjoyement, from the descriptions of the gear to thoughts on being in the tournament, I found it all to be informative and even exciting to read.

I look forward to a chance to be able to participate in future events of this nature and find what you have shared to be invaluable.

[Scott M. Rodell]

The League now has its own My Space Page -

http://www.myspace.com/chinese_sword_league

We'll have the video for Brattleboro soon & will see about putting together a highlights reel...

[G-Man]

The competition was definitely very close this year, and I think any of the contestants could have taken the day. I think the addition of the "10-point" rule for determining a winner also had a positive effect on the play. I felt the rule increased the value of arm, hand, and leg hits, which simulated in some sense how telling those strikes would be in a real swordfight.

Competing in the tournament also allowed me to experience firsthand how my mind operated in a competition setting, with all its anxieties and desires. It was a real challenge to attain and maintain anything close to a state of "pure focus", neither aggressive nor lax, but sharp and prepared to take decisive action at any moment. Each bout was a real test of the mental and physical benefits we train for at Great River, and I value the opportunity competition provides more now than I did previously.

[Scott M. Rodell]

A bunch of photos from the Tournament can be found at-
http://gallery.me.com/matteh99#100222

[Linda Heenan]

If you have been waiting for the video to become available, it is for sale here http://www.nycreator.com/ Go to the "Fight" tab and it's under the video clip.

[Linda Heenan]

My copy of the DVD arrived today and I've been enjoying watching it. Most of the fights are there. One of mine is missing. A really good feature of the DVD is the judges' comments over possible kill strikes. It all looks very fast on the DVD, with powerful strikes. On stage, in the midst of it, it doesn't feel like that at all. The video looks scary but the reality isn't. It's just fun. So if you are thinking of entering a tournament, don't be put off by the speed. In the moment, it feels like a fun bout on a normal day.

Here's the image Joanathan Doyle made for my website this morning.



The judges probably don't get every decision right but hopefully, that doesn't matter too much. They do their best and it's pretty good. It's not so serious we can't enjoy a tournament and use it for its intended purpose - improving our swordsmanship skills and raising the standard of Chinese swordsmanship. I see lots of things to personally improve after watching the DVD, so that's good. You can't really tell from being there, but seeing the video makes things more obvious. Let me encourage you to get a DVD - especially if you plan to be in a future tournament. They are going to improve each time and seeing the footage will help people prepare. Remember that some of the errors you see are done on purpose to draw a particular response for a planned reply. Still, there's plenty to learn from.

Since last time, I've put a lot of work into how to actually enter the fight, and have been training the students over here in those skills as well. There will be more Aussies in tournaments as the years go by.

MOD NOTE- To purchase a copy of the DVD go to - http://www.nycreator.com/

[Scott M. Rodell]

http://web.mac.com/jonathandoyle1/nycre ... Fight.html

[Nik]

Can't see the video although I installed the latest Quicktime. Seems to be a missing (commercial ?) video codec. Sometimes, video programs chose codecs as preference that are not commonly installed on most enduser systems. I get the embedded player and the video loads, but the picture when playing is a white screen.

[Linda Heenan]

Nik, try changing your pop up blocker to allow pop ups for that site. Both the video and Laoshi's audio were soundless for me until I did that. Now it works from the site perfectly.

[Nik]

Ok, must be some permission problem (ActiveX plugin). When you copy the file from the internet cache (on XP usually \documents and settings\<user>\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files, sort by file size) to a normal directory (running from the cache doesn't work), you can open it directly with the Quicktime viewer, then I could view it. So it wasn't a missing codec, just some issue with the embedded player. I had it both in Opera and IE.

[Scott M. Rodell]

Just got my copy of the 2009 Tournament DVD today & watch it once thru...

My first observations - There is a fair amount of sloppy technique, which arm chair "enthusiasts" will blast. but that is totally understandable to anyone who has actually played in any kind of full contact tournament. Be that as it is, what is more interesting to note is that nearly every "kill" shot that ended a match was a clean hit that followed up on a good deflections.

[Nik]

That's how it should be. Outposition your opponent putting him "on the wrong foot", our deflect his attack to get your opening.

[Linda Heenan]

Ahhh well ..... it looks like my 15 minutes of fame is over! Here's the revised DVD cover.