"I was pumped."
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That's what Mudgee's Liam Standen had to say about scoring a collection of medals from the round three installment of the National All Styles Tournament on July 7.
But, he wasn't alone in nabbing first in point sparring and second in kata, with six other Mudgee Martial Arts students walking away with their own cluster of metal.
Ashley Maher, who placed first in kata, performed well enough on the day that she only needed to perform once to steal the top spot.
"I got called up to the table once everyone had finished because I was the first to go out of six competitors, they told me I had the chance to go again but she recommended me not to because I was already placing," she said.
When they were calling out who got what, I was expecting to get either second or third, then I was like 'yay, I got first'. It felt really good.
- Ashley Maher
"I learnt to put all of my nerves aside and just do the best I can."
Frequent competitor, Arnab Ghosh scored two first placings this time around, one in continuous sparring and the other in point sparring, as well as a third in kata.
"I feel pretty good about it. I think I did well because I was attacking more and going to them more to score points," he said.
"I definitely feel more confident for round four since I got these high placings."
As for the experienced Bill Murphy, he made an unfortunate error causing his first place in weapons to slip away to a third, but says he is stunned by the effort put in from the younger members of the dojo.
"The coaches down there actually came up to me and said that I've got to learn to put on a poker face because the referees and coaches don't realise what kata you're doing, all they're looking for is form," he said.
"I gave up when I made a mistake so that put me back to third and they said I should have been first.
"You learn from each experience, it was good in that respect. But, it was an all round good tournament, all of the kids did well.
"They are always putting in 110 per cent."
As for the rest of the group, Hayden Lowe got third in continuous sparring, Jack Newman came second in continuous sparring and third in point sparring, while Connor McGowan walked away with first in point sparring and second in continuous sparring.
However, Jessica Newman, Zebo Steedman and Thomas Nicholas missed out on placings this round.
"There really has to be a mention made to commend Mudgee Tourist Bus for letting us use their vehicle to get us to tournaments free of charge. It would be really difficult without theirs, and Ben Newman's assistance," a cluster of members of the Mudgee Martial Arts centre told the Mudgee Guardian.
Jay-Anna Sleeman
Reporter for the Western Advocate. First began as a sports journalist with ACM in 2018 before moving on to cover news and court.
Reporter for the Western Advocate. First began as a sports journalist with ACM in 2018 before moving on to cover news and court.
