Jack Griffiths - Austrian Classics
Well I have just returned from my first international competition and I must say its was a great experience.
On 17/03/08 I travelled to Kufstein, Austria, to take part in one of Europe's biggest Martial Arts tournaments. There were over 1,000 competitors from 30 countries including USA, Hungary, Italy etc.
We flew form Liverpool Airport into Innsbruck and hired a car to get us around and to the tournament. The weather was very cold and there was still lots of snow so we could look forward to a couple of days skiing after the competition.
The competition started on the Friday night at at 7o'clock. With the first events being the team fights and musical forms.
I must admit I was very nervous when I saw all the competitors I would be up against warming up. There were 37 competitors in my category from 30 countries. I was up seventh and although a little nervous managed to complete all my tricks without fault.
I had to wait 2 hours before the presentation and was delighted to hear Jack Griffiths Great Britain silver medal - wow my first International competition in the mixed under 12 category and me at 9 a silver medallist.
Could this get any better I thought, and then just to top of a fantastic evening Great Britain came 3rd in the team fights and I met my heroes Matt Emmig and Laura Kierney, two American Martial artists who are both multi world champions who I aspire to be as good as one day.
The competition finished at 0100 in the morning and we left for the hotel knowing we would have to be back at 0900 in the morning.
It was a long day but with all the excitement I forgot how tired I was until I fell asleep in the car on the way to the hotel.
Next morning we were up bright and early but a little tired and got to the venue in plenty of time. After a short warm up I was straight on the mat up against a boy from Belgium. The rules have been changed and the fight is stopped when I beat my opponent by 6 clear points.
My next fight was against a boy from Hungary who is part of a world class team. He is very good and and I put on my best show but lost out 6 points to four.
The Belgian boy went on to second place. I am quite happy with my performance as I know I have 3 more years in this category and have loads of time to improve.
Great Britain excel in the fighting bringing home 12 golds and 8 silvers.
The competion now over we enjoyed 2 days glorious skiing before returning to England.
Again my performance can be viewed on youtube. I have 3 more major championships to compete in this year but look forward to next year when I can officially represent Great Britain as you must be 10 years old. I will continue to keep you updated on my progress in this year's events.