Tang Soo Do Mi Guk Kwan 10th Annual International Tournament
Held in New Orleans, Louisiana at the Radisson Park Plaza
Wednesday before last, Kandi and I set out for our first, real vacation together... New Orleans, Louisiana. My first real vacation since my last visit to Dad's in New Hampshire back in 2003 (work in Las Vegas #1, #2, #3 doesn't count as vacation, especially if you suck at gambling).
We flew into Louis Armstrong Airport about 11:45PM, struggled to get our luggage and paid, imho, way too much for a shuttle ride to our downtown hotel, Radisson Park Plaza. As soon as we stepped outside, there was a wave of moist heat circulating around us. The shuttle ride wasn't much better as the A/C only half worked, blowing semi-hot air out the few overhead vents. Fortunately, we were the first of 10 people to be dropped off at the various hotel stops, but there was no hurry... at least the night staff didn't think so as we waited at least 5 minutes for her to help us out. We got into our wonderful, tiny room around 1:30AM.
The next day was much nicer. Slept in until 10am, got a hold of Mr. Odabashian (Adam) and Mr. Weil, and went out to breakfast at Cafe Beignet for some decent southern eats. We spent most of the day walking around the French Quarters looking in antique and jewlery shops (driven by Susan, Adam's mom, and Kandi). Around 3:30PM, we trekked over to Graveyard #1, but it closed at 3PM. After heading back to the Park Plaza, we watched a wee-bit of the clinics and decided we had missed too much to pay the $25 fee. Ms. Fong, Mr. & Mrs. Sumpter, Mr. Weil, Mr. O & his mom, and Ms. Bui joined Kandi and I to Pat O'Briens in the French Quarters and damn! I never knew gumbo was so good! Even though there's probably even better homemade gumbo out there, it was a great first time experience. We went out and drank a bit more. Adam was a bit excited about hanging out with everyone and kept buying drinks for anyone that refused.
The next day was the Dan competition. Everyone did quite well, but most admitted to not being fully awake until getting a punch in the face while sparring. Our group made a "sparring team", but were a couple members short. They hooked up with members from the Netherlands - another photo (two guys on the left) - and together, tore up the competition. In the middle of it all, one of the Masters announced over the PA that the city of New Orleans is declaring a 50-hour evacuation notice. We were told that as long as we were in the hotel, we were safe. The competition continued, and no one really seemed to be too concerned.
With Hurricane Dennis coming in from the South, Kandi and I walked over to Winn Dixie, local super market, which was only a few blocks away. The place looked like it had been ransacked... shelves empty, freezers completely cleared out with tape and signs marking off the doors saying "Not for Sale". After grabbing a few small items, we asked a worker what happened. Turns out they had no tested their generator and the power went out requiring them to consolidate their freezer items into a single row. We stocked up enough food to last us a couple days and started heading back. As we started returning the way we came, we noticed a "short cut" through a housing area that looked to be much shorter. We figured what-the-hell, and took the beaten path. What was odd was everyone was sitting on their porch, mostly poor black kids, all in awe of my Tang Soo Do uniform. I repeatedly got "You a green belt?" and "I'm a black belt!".
That night we hit up Hard Rock Cafe to just hang out. I didn't really feel like going out to party, so some of us went back to the Park Plaza and trained a bit to prepare for the next day's competition. 
That night, it started to sink in that I was going to be competing at an international tournament! My anxiety jumped a few notches, but died down before I went to sleep.
The next morning was a bit crazy. From white to red, black, and master belts ("dark blue" with a horizontal red stripe), the ballroom was filled. We eventually lined ourselves up (at some point, you've got to wonder if people will ever get the concept of lining up in some sort of straight formation), greeted the Masters and watched a few demonstrations by groups from Texas and from Chile. One of our masters, (Ms.) Master Ah Po, wiped the floor with her demonstration of an advanced Sa Bom Nim form (beating out the other under 35 Male competitors), but declined to spar in that division because she "liked where her nose is".
Before we knew it, the Gup testing was starting. I'm a 6th Gup (green belt, no stripes), grouped together with 5th and 4th Gups (green belt, one/two stripes respectively) so my level of expertise was much more limited, or so I thought. Everyone seemed to be performing Chil Sung Il Ro Hyung, a form needed to test from 4th to 3rd Gup (to red belt, no stripe), which I have learned and knew quite well. But it wasn't my place to perform that form since I'm a 6th Gup. So I perform your typical 6th Gup form, Pyong Ahn E Dan, and get scored around 7.6, while everyone else stumbled through theirs and received bonus points for trying a higher-up form. BLEH! I'm still happy with how well I performed, even though I didn't place in forms, but that's not what it's about... right? ;-)
So I signed up for forms and sparring competition. I look to my right to meet David Weathers, sounding exactly like Andre the Giant when he said "I will crush you", followed by a "I'm just joking around". I wasn't really intimidated, just a little worried about how to sneak in a few shots at him. After we were called up, I was marked "Red", and the match started. I darted in with a front kick only to be blocked by his knee and received a light punch to my side. Point "White". Next two points, I got him with punches, to his side and to his head. We kept clashing, and he got in another punch. With the time ticking down, he lunged in, stepped on my foot, and just kept punching til he made contact. It was a good move. Time was called, and he was given the point putting him one above me. David took gold, and I took silver... I look forward to being matched up with him again, I'll make sure I'm ready next year.
20 minutes later, I notice my toe is really hurting. I look down and notice that it's bent about 20 degrees inward. Turns out I broke it on the first kick! One of the Masters, Doc Murphy, set it straight and "buddy-taped" it for me to let it heal in the right direction. After the competition, Kandi and I hit up Hard Rock (she missed out the night before). We walked over to Bourbon Street (well, I hobbled) only to walk the opposite way of where everyone else was meeting up. So we went back to the Park Plaza and called it a night (thankfully cause my foot was killing me!)
Next morning we got our room back into order since we flew out at 2PM, but before we could leave, we had to hit up Cafe Du Monde. 8 hours and three cities later, we finally made it back to Sacramento where my brother graciously picked us up.
I'd say I'm done with flying for awhile, but we're headed out to New Hampshire to visit my dad July 20th!
Mr. Sumpter's pics
Ms. Fong's pics
my pics (mostly taken by Kandi)