I first came to Moyle Park College in 2003. I started in second year. I did some of
my primary and first year secondary school in a different county in Ireland. I
remember when I first came in September the school looked very big. I got lost
a few times trying to find my class and even looking for the exit. But after a while
I got used to it. Now I know everywhere in the school and have made lots of friends.Second year was not so bad as I had already experienced the feelings in
first year. About two months later I heard that martial arts is taught in the school, it is
called karate. This is not just any type of karate, its Shotokan Karate, a tradition
that has been kept for many years. I was very interested in martial arts so I asked
the instructor Mr. Lee O'Reilly if I could start training with him and he said, 'Yes.
You was welcome to.' So I was there Monday after school.My first training was a new experience because I had never done any martial
arts before. But, after a few months, I started to improve on my kata (imaginary
fighting), my stances, kumite (freestyle fighting). The fighting came very
naturally to me but I needed to get better. I kept training consistently.During March, about two years ago, I had my first competition in Wicklow. It
was a new experience. I was very nervous to compete but I lost. I fought
against someone much more experienced than I was. I was only on my second
belt then. I expected to win very easily, but was not aware that I needed to
have learned and perfected one or two techniques and those would be my
winning weapons!After being in a few competitions and training hard, a year and half later the
all-Ireland championship event was about to take place in May. I was very
excited about this. At this time my level of understanding was very high and
I had perfected a technique. In training I was very good at using it. On the day
of competition I woke up early and exercised the techniques again repeatedly
so in the competition it comes naturally and automatically. "In these karate
competitions it is not all about if you can fight, it is if you can get the point before
your opponent gets it first."The competition was held in St Mary in Rowlagh, Clondalkin. The hall was very big.
People from all over Ireland were there. First in the event the kata (imaginary
fighting) took place and then the kumite (freestyle fighting). This is the most exciting
part, all the boys under my age group (under 18s) lined up and each person
fought when they are called out. Who you fight is not picked by weight, it is by
age. So sometimes I could be against someone much bigger than I am. When it
was my turn to fight, the person I fought was a black belt and unfortunately was from
my club. I was very nervous. I used my technique which I have being practising
and perfected. I scored twice with that and won against him. The fight was very
clean. After fighting, we shook hands. There were more people I had to fight
to get into the finals. I fought again and used the same techniques and won that
fight too. I was then through to the finals. Being in finals made me even more nervous
because I was even closer to winning. After the break, about thirty minutes, later the
finals was about to start. The boy I had to fight was a black belt and he had more
experience than I had. Our names were called out. We stepped out, bowed to the
crowd and to each other to show respect. During the fight I scored one point with my
techniques and he got one on me too. It was a draw. The next person to get the
next point would win. I had great fear of losing at this moment. But in the end I
finally got the point so I won. The crowd cheered especially people from my club
who gave me great support.My hope for the future is winning the all-Ireland coming up again soon and
becoming even better, going on to representing Ireland in the European
championships and winning it hopefully! And my biggest ambition would be
to be known well and participating in the world championships! With the
help and guidance of Mr Lee O'Reilly who has helped me over the years.
And many other instructors.Thanks to those who helped: Mr O'Reilly, Moyle Park College, instructors,
family, friends, classmates.
Click first button to hear the karate call.
