I have been practicing Taekwon-Do for 11 years, and have attended multiple tournaments in Singapore, but this was my first tournament overseas. I had spent hours practicing and training at the dojang in preparation for the competition.

We set off on Friday and the trip from Singapore to Malacca was uneventful – a three-hour car ride with a few pitstops. However, when we reached our destination, we were shown how truly different Malacca was compared to Singapore, despite it being so close. Some buildings were dated, but it was full of character and showed a historic sense of culture. The Peranakan houses, clothes and footwear that on display in Jonker Street really showed me the amount of heritage that I, as a Peranakan, was missing out on. We also were eager to sample the huge variety of local food in Malacca, which was definitely one of the trip’s highlights.

The hotel we stayed at was grand, with gold detailing and large marble countertops all around the main lobby. The amount of space that the hotel used up was massive, and if it was such a size back home in Singapore, one could only wonder about how much the land used would have cost. The hotel’s free buffet breakfast had a large variety of both local and Western dishes, which we all were definitely happy about.

The tournament commenced on Saturday. It was held at a huge open square with a glass dome, in Elements Mall. The competition space could accommodate up to 5 rings, and the air inside was heavy with the feeling of the throngs of participants eagerly awaiting to bring back medals for their respective countries and clubs.

I was one such individual and with the pressure of the eyes of other participants watching from the floors above, it truly felt marvellous and nerve-racking at the same time to spar in such an arena. I did my best but my opponent managed to score more points. My coaches told me it was a really close match but I still felt extremely disappointed. However, after seeing the high standards of Taekwon-Do at this tournament, it motivated me to continue to do my best and give my all in the future. I also learned two important points from this championship – in order to win, I must put in continuous effort into training and never cut corners.

I would like to thank Master Daniel Sng for training me up and giving me this opportunity to participate in an overseas tournament, and also to congratulate my fellow ITC participants who performed really well. I look forward to training and competing with them again.

Taekwon,
Max

Written by Mr. Maximilian Isaac Wee, 1st Degree Black Belt, ITF Singapore
© Island Taekwon-Do Centre 2019