Taekwondo Olympian attacks referee, proves he is a crybaby

This Cuban "Olympian" is Angel Valodia Matos. Matos was a Sydney 2000 gold medalist. So on he comes to Beijing to compete once more.

In the middle of the second round of his +80kg bout against world silver medalist Arman Chilmanov of Kazakhstan, he broke his left toe. Taekwondo rules will stop the clock for injury for one minute. Any longer and the contestant is deemed unfit to continue. Chong (Red player) took more than that one minute, so the Swedish referee (of Arabic north African decent) declared Hong (Blue player) as the winner.

The Cuban and his coach did not like to lose to Uzbekistan that way, so once the ref announced the verdict, Matos attacked him with two kicks to the head.

Being an Ex-Taekwondo athlete and a life long fan, I watched this live and was appalled and enraged by this violent act of a cry baby sore loser.

The World Taekwondo Federation seemed to share my feelings as they immediately announced that Matos and his coach would be permanently barred from all championships it promotes. They said:

"This is a strong violation of the spirit of taekwondo and the Olympic Games"

"The sanctions are the following and are effective immediately: Lifetime ban of the coach and athlete in all championships sanctioned by the World Taekwondo Federation and at the same time, all records of this athlete at the Beijing Games will immediately be erased."

Serves him right. Congratulations to the WTF on its swift and stern reaction. And to Matos: You are a disgrace to all Athletes on earth, be they martial artists or else. Your Sydney 2000 medal is undeserved in this light and it is a shame to see it wasted on an arrogant cry baby such as your self.

It is a good thing that we will never see you again. Good riddance.

Redbelt - The Movie Trailer

Some of you may remember that Tim Allen (of Home Improvement) is starring in a martial arts movie that has the same name as my nick name.
Before I start throwing all kinds of name infringement law suits on their asses, I -out of the kindness of my soul- decided to give them a chance to make a decent movie worthy of carrying the same name as my marvelous internet alter ego...
...
ah, well...
Here is the trailer, make up your own mind.

Tim Allen Stars in my movie!

Well, It's not really "MY" movie, but, Allen will star in David Mamet's "Redbelt". This film is supposedly a "martial arts drama". Now Tim is a comedy guy basically (you all know him from "Home Improvement") and I have no idea how him being in a "Martial arts Drama" would be. The plot isn't very clever I'm afraid.

Redbelt is "the story of Mike Terry (Ejiofor), a Jiu-jitsu master who has avoided the prize fighting circuit, choosing to instead pursue a life of honor and education by operating a self-defense studio in Los Angeles. Terry's life is dramatically changed, however, when he is conned by a cabal of movie stars and promoters. In order to pay off his debts and regain his honor Terry must step into the ring for the first time in his life." Allen will play "a troubled action star with marital problems who meets the master when he is getting pummeled in a street fight."

See, that does seem like countless martial arts action flicks. But Ah! This isn't Action! Its DRAMA! Say it with me, Dra-ma.
Well, I like Tim, and Mamet made decent films in the past. They better do my nick name good! I have to wait until 2008 to know.

Defend your PS3 with a Samurai Sword

Damian Fernandez, a Karate brown belt, used a samurai sword to scare off a burglar who was after his PlayStation 3 video game console.
Seriously!
2 Burglers broke in and started looting. They say an empty PS3 box and began looking for it. One of them got into the room where Damian was and went out, then: "Once I saw him take off running back, I jumped off my (bunk) bed and I grabbed my sword … and I just waited for him," he said.
One of the men were arrested. Anyhow, that is the most fitting way to defend a PS3 in my opinion. Wouldn't you say?

Final day of Tournament

I arrived at the Umm Ahasam Sports arena next day and found several of my old training buddies. I miss the tournament atmosphere.
Sadly our guys didn't win golds as usual today. Why? Make up your own mind. I managed to capture Habib's last fight on my P990i. But You tube said it was too long. I'll try to split it up. Anyone know a good video editor for PC?


So he wins at the end of Round 3, ref gives him a 1 point penalty to return his score to zero equalling his opponent (score 0 after three penalties). They go into sudden death and some how his opponent wins.

This is what Sabumnim Aldoy had to say:



They are champions so no big deal. They won medals before and will continue to win many more. All the best to them.

The tournament was chaotic and messy. True that allot of people will say that most TKD tournaments are like that but that's not an excuse. It could have easily been given to an event manager. And why not hire marshals? volunteers. They'd do it for free like the F1 does. Heck I would have done it.

Still it was a very good effort as a first and I can not wait for the 2nd tournament!

Bahrain's First Open Taekwondo Tournament

Bahrain is enjoying it's first Open Taekwondo Tournament (BMAA website). It opened the day before yesterday and had it's children & women competitions yesterday. Today is the men's competitions.
I used to do TKD with Aldoy's club. Obviously I stopped at a Redbelt, but I try to follow up on the club's news and participations.
The tournament lists 400 players which isn't a small feat. Countries I saw were Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan, Iran& Iraq.
The Irani team is always tough so it'll be intresting to see them. I heard rumors about the Iraqi team enrolling players older than what they declared them to be. I am not sure but I did see one player get disqualified, and they do look a bit taller then the rest of the kids.
Now Aldoy's TKD is famous for being tough competitors. They have a solid Women team, and the fact that they got most of the women medals isn't surprising really. The first day results can be found here in Arabic. I'm off to see the rest of the clashes today, if you have the time, drop by the Umm Alhasam sports dome just off Adliya.

Pictures, top to bottom:

1-Part of the women matches
2-Part of the kid matches
3-Sabumnim Aldoy taking to the ref. between rounds
4-The Doy Girls team
5-Salman Yousef, Doy's team Black belt

Taekwondo Competitions today. BAHRAIN GO!

If you were ever wondering what am I a redbelt in, its WTF Taekwondo.

I had the pleasure to study under the amazing referee and coach, Sabumnim Abdulla Aldoy. I had to quit before I attain my black belt due to work and mixed schedules. But TKD will always be in my blood.

I am still loyal to the Black & Yellow Aldoy's TKD Centre in Riffa. I'm glad that most of our team consists of their members.

They will start at 2:30 PM, I am wishing them luck with all my heart.