US Open Championship Photos 2004

US OPEN 2004 PART 2

We arrived in Florida USA with cheesy Mc Donald’s grins the size of Big Macs. First off was to pick up the SUV second off was to put on the tunes and as the bass rang out over Sanford Airport we were ready to go. Having been to Florida before it felt like I was coming home so no maps required just the straightforward journey to Davenport, Orlando.
We arrived at our destination in less than 45 minutes, we needed a few Kitchen essentials, but one look at the Pool convinced us that the shopping can wait and a quick dip was far more important than food and drink. After our swim we then went straight to the local
Wal-Mart and then went on to our first traditional US meal at TGI Fridays after all that travelling the shakes went down a treat.

We got up the next day then went and had breakfast at the local all you can eat, at a cost of $3.99 it would be rude not to. After breakfast our first important decision had to be what Theme Park to visit the choice was vast as anyone who has been to the Sunshine State would agree, we narrowed it down to two parks either Islands of Adventures or Universal.  Take a look at the welcome to Universal video!

We all decided that we would report in at New York’s finest Daily newspaper the Daily Bugle. The Spiderman ride lived up to its reputation AWSOME Ride Dude!
Next up was The Incredible Hulk Roller Coaster this launches from zero to 40 mph in just 2 seconds flat We raised our hands in the air ready in pole position "Everything looks good. I think, I think this time it's going to work. No! No! Noooo!". WOW…what a ride!!!!!!

The last coaster for the day was
Dueling Dragons  at the time of writing, this is the only dual tracked inverted coaster on the planet. Rather than go for two identical layouts, the designers have built completely independent rides that nevertheless feature three near miss points where there is only one foot of clearance between the two trains.

This provides some spectacular visuals both for the spectators on the ground and for the riders, particularly those in the front seat who see another coaster train racing towards them at high speed. I think we rode this ride 5 times during the afternoon quiet period three of those times we had FRONT ROW SEATS!

THE DAY AFTER TOMMOROW
We woke up full of nerves, so we went for a run in the Florida sunshine and had a light workout on the Focus Pads and then a long stretch. We had all been eating well since getting hear so we checked our weight on scales in the Villa we were all ok.

So after a swim and a very Lazy morning we went to register at the Colorado Springs Resort and Hotel. As expected the venue was awesome dude….. The US OPEN Championship committee conducted the registration with military precision; this truly was the biggest World Championships I have ever been involved in. How big was the competition? So you can gage the sheer size of the Championships it is said they had 3000 entries!

Just watching some of the competitors warm up was something else. Back flips landing in perfect L-Stances, 360 Degree Jumping Reverse Turning Kicks higher than what I thought was not humanly possible, lets just say Neo and Trinity return to the Matrix your time is up!

We went back to the Villa to get changed and ready for our first outing in the continuous Sparring and Team events later that evening.
The All-star Team trained very hard for this event but everyone was nervous for simple fact of the want to do well.
Jason Eaton (Brentford Academy) was narrowly defeated in the men’s intermediate Continuous only to see his team mate Damian Smith (Camberley Academy) in the Men’s Light Heavy Weight category blitz his way to the final. Damian was narrowly defeated after a draw to receive a tremendous 2nd Place in the World ISKA Championships.

Jason and Damian went on to receive a 3rd in the Men’s Intermediate Team event of which they were very pleased. Paul Martin (Wokingham Academy) finally made the breakthrough; winning the World ISKA title in the men’s Intermediate 64-70KG continuous division.

Paul Cain (Spirit Taekwon-do Team Coach) fought his way bravely through the Advanced Black-Belt Continuous 64-70kg division, only to be stopped by a narrow defeat against Macho’s No1 Sponsored Fighter in the semi-finals. Paul did however manage to secure a Third Place in the World ISKA Championships. Paul Cain then went on to compete in the Advance Black-Belt Team Event, went on and fought well enough to achieve a Bronze in the ISKA World Championships teams.

Last up was Danny Welland (Brentford Academy) who stormed to a tremendous victory in the Black-Belt Continuous 64-70kg division. Danny was then crowned World ISKA Champion later that evening, victory was his with what was a testament of how hard he trained.

THE DAY AFTER, THE DAY AFTER TOMMORROW
The bar was raised even higher as we entered the Points category. Leonnie Killingbeck (Camberley Academy) received a Bronze in the Korean Forms category our only medal in the Patterns disciplines.
Those who didn't come away with medals will not have regretted their journey as the participation, excitement, and camaraderie on this trip were second to none.

As always these trips don't just materialise. The Spirit Taekwon-Do Academies Team Coach put in a lot of hard work. My thanks are for the efforts of those behind the scenes in ensuring such a smooth trip together with a big well done and thank you to all Students who participanted in the event. Make a date for our next trip to the US Open June - July 2007.

Paul Cain……………….. Team Coach