I am competing in the disabled martial arts competition this year. Unfortunately the rules are not posted on the site. I was hoping someone here may have competed before, and be able to give me some idea what to expect. The last thing I want to do is get disqualified. Thanks.
The Arnold Here you go friend. www.arnoldclassic.com Click on the martial arts home section, then click on specially challenged. Let me know if you're going. Perhaps we could say hello in person.
i m very interested by this competition, i dont found anything on the link ("http://www.arnoldmartialarts.com/2006_disciplines.asp?d=sc"), can you tell me more ..... please ( im paraplegic in wheelchair)
Headed For Columbus Well, I'm off to Columbus, Ohio for The 2006 Arnold Classic Disabled Martial Arts Competition. I am disappointed. There may not be any sparring. This is a bummer because I love to spar. There are empty hand and weapon form divisions. When I inquired as to why there was no sparring, I was told that when sparring was offered in years past, not enough people signed up to justify holding competition. Can anyone offer me any insight into why? I'm sure that there are more disabled martial artists than me who enjoy exchanging a few bruises. Where are you guys?
The Arnold I had a great time, and met some wonderful people. I didn't meet Arnold, but a very deserving young new friend of mine named Michael did. I got some good video though. There was one aspect of the specially challenged competition that I did not like. There were no awards for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place. Everyone who competed was given a gold medal for participating. IMO when any athlete trains for competition they are training to win. It is often the sting of defeat that spurs us to try harder. I know the idea of everyone getting a medal is meant to prevent loss of self esteem, but I find this notion offensive. Disabled athletes endure more hardship and disappointment simply living their lives than most will ever know. I seriously doubt that not getting a medal in some tournament is going to do major damage to their psyche. They should be given the same chance to experience the thrill of victory or the pain of defeat like anyone else. To give them less in the name of protecting their feelings cheapens the effort they spent training. I will now step down from my soap box. I am very happy about the fact that I got to spar. I met a fine gentleman by the name of, Ron Mann. Ron lost a leg in a motorcycle accident, and wears a prosthesis. He is also a very talented mixed martial arts fighter. He and I sparred in an exhibition match. Ron and I agreed on 75% contact with both stand up fighting and ground work. Anything except knee traps, eye gouges, and the like was legal. The event organizers set up a ring with four corner judges, and a score/time keeper. The match was given a three minute time limit. The action was stopped when a point was awarded. Points were given for a clean punch or kick with solid contact, or ground work that resulted in a submission. One point was awarded regardless of technique. When time expired I was ahead 3 to 2. I am not so sure I would have stayed ahead had there been more time on the clock. Ron is an awesome fighter. His round house kick to my head was one of the hardest shots I have taken. He claimed a similar admiration for my punching power. It was only an exhibition, but Ron and I had a blast. He is organizing an event called the Ability X Games for disabled athletes who want a more intense level of competition. I can't wait. :yeleyes:
Wow...sounds like you had a great time - got any piccies for us? I have to say I find medals brilliant motivators - shame they didn't dish them out. Do you know when and where the Ability Cross Games are going to be?
The Arnold was moved to a completely different building this year than the last 3 years to make room. I know next year they are talking about not just giving participation medals but the 1-3 place PLUS a participation medal. It would make more sense.
Sounds cool, glad you got the chance to spar. A gold medal for everyone - err OK. Not at all patronising then If I had trained hard, got everything right on the day and won I'd have been pretty annoyed with that. When my 10 year old daughter was given a medal for competing in a competion she did not take it home. She said "It's not worth anything, what did I do for it, I lost didn't I" - she was not upset just being factual. She then went on to win the Gold in kata which is proudly displayed at home. The following year she was even more happy at winning the bronze. Why more happy? Because it was a much tougher competition and it proved a bigger challenge to get the bronze than to win the gold the previous year. I think that the value of a win is based on the toughness of the challenge. What do they think disabled atheletes are, emotionally fragile, unable to cope with failure? Shame to ruin what seems like a really worth while event. Sorry i seem to have pushed you off the soap box Now this Ability X Games sounds like a lot of fun.
Thanks for the link to the web site. I just past it along to one of my students who is handicapped and I may venture up there next year myself.
