Smoky Mountain Classic

10 Competitors - 25 Trophies

The Steel Hand Dojo made the short trip to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, on June 19, for the Smoky Mountain Classic. The open tournament had the largest turn-out of any we’ve attended in some time. The youth divisions were particularly well represented. Trophies were only given for the first three finishers and those who placed had to best a good number of people. They were somewhat unprepared for such a large turnout and were short on having enough judges. The event started at 9:00 AM and it was 6:30 PM before it was all said and done. You weren’t going to get a trophy here just for showing up for your division. Competitors had to wade through a fair number of folks to place in almost all divisions.

We had a good day with ten competitors bringing hone twenty-five trophies. Thirteen first place trophies were taken with ten coming in second and two third places. They had a grappling division in which we took five first places with five coming in second. The grappling began standing up and points were given for takedowns. This was also a huge division in all ages and levels. There were some experienced wrestlers and other grapplers in the competition and I was proud to see our group do well.

It was point kumite and face contact was allowed. I must say, other than the continuous sparring at Bill Poque’s tournament, this was about as physical a tournament as we’ve attended in a couple of years. It was a long day, but a good one, and we had a lot of fun. It’s one thing to stay on the same old merry-go-round of the same tournaments and people year after year. If you really want a reality check, you have to go see what else is out there. The same is true with cross-training, if you aren’t doing it, you aren’t prepared.

Nancy Anderson drove down from Washington DC and everyone really enjoyed seeing her. She will always be a member of this dojo, no matter where she lives. Her support for the dojo is an inspiration and motivation for us all. Nancy had no intention of competing but couldn’t help herself and entered the grappling division. It came down in the end to her and our own Myrtle Ferguson with Nancy coming out on top for first place. Myrtle suffered a shoulder injury in the takedown and it was decided to take her out of the competition for the rest of the day. The trophy count could have been higher.

Cas Cox was also there in support even though he still had a drain tube in him from his recent surgery. He just had to come in the dojo one night to help supervise some of the training despite the fact he still had two drain tubes in him. Cas doesn’t just talk it, he lives it. He starts receiving a twelve week regimen of chemotherapy on July 1. I told him at least he won’t have to spend as much time in front of the mirror combing his hair. Cas is as tough as they come and will be just fine, but please keep him in your thoughts and prayers.

The next tournament we’ll attend will be right down the street at the Isshin-Ryu Hall of Fame. Our last tournament of the year will be in support of Chuck Reynolds. We opted this year to back away from as much of the point stuff and concentrate on cross-training. We’ll constantly be looking for events that have continuous sparring and grappling. The ICA training dates are as good a time as can be had. Only serious trainers need apply.

My next articles will contain a book review section. I don’t know if it will have a star rating to it or not, but it will be fun. The first review will be by Cas Cox and myself. We’ll look at The Last Lesson by James C. Burris, Ed.D., Ju-Dan.

Train hard