To Spar Again!

It has been a long time since I have done real sparring. It has been even longer since I sparred at another's martial arts school. And it has been even LONGER since I have sparred in a competition for real. Well, yesterday, I went to one of my mentor's school's, Peter Bardatsos. Master Bardatsos is probably the greatest coach on the east coach and has taught at his school in Queens, NY. I used to go to him maybe once a week when I was a kid, then once a month when I couldn't pay the tolls!

Well this month he has opened up a new school in Little Falls, NJ with another master who I am familiar with, Master Richard DeGeorge. This past Sunday, they held an Olympic sparring seminar. I took one of my adult Black belt girls with me, and we both took part in the seminar.

It felt so good to have someone else give the line drills, and doing the stretching, meeting me people and other coaches, doing hogu drills (when you kick each other in the chest protector) with new partners, and to do several sparring matches. I sparred six times and I felt really good. It's been so long. I really get to have a checkpoint, if you will, to see where I am at and see if I could apply anything new in my sparring. Master Bardatsos gave us many drills and very good progressions to where they can lead up. And his drills are a mix of going offense and defense, which really keeps you thinking. And I am so happy my Black Belt got a chance to spar other Black Belts and new faces.

We are both competing this Sunday at the America Open Taekwondo Championships at Clifton High School in Clifton, NJ. I am both apprehensive and excited. When I was younger, there was a lot of pressure for me to win, get the gold, and I feel I don't need to do that anymore. I am going in with a very different mindset. The medal does not matter. There are certain goals I want to make for myself that I want to accomplish in the ring. And if I accomplish those goals, THAT will make me happier than the medal I get. The medals are bonuses. That is my mindset. When I told this to Master Bardatsos, he told me something that put a smile on my face: "Be a martial artists first, then be the competitor. But you do that already." VALIDATION. Thank you Master Bardatsos!

Yours in service,
ANDREW TRENTO