Issue 22 - Professional Unification of Martial Arts

PLANET P.U.M.A.
The 2 nd P.U.M.A. World Open Championships
By John Dowding
The 2 nd P.U.M.A. World Open Championships was held
over the weekend of 31 st March and 1 st April 2012 at the
Oasis Centre, Swindon, England. Following the success of
the 1 st P.U.M.A. Open last year this event was greatly anticipated
and expectations were high for some superb displays
of Taekwon-Do sparring, patterns, destruction and,
equally importantly, etiquette. This year’s competition was
even bigger than last year’s with more associations and
countries attending. The arena was already buzzing with
excitement as everyone started to arrive and warm up for
the day’s competition.
The event started with an introduction from Master Gayle and
then a display from P.U.M.A.’s Flowering Youth Group, who are
all young exponents of Taekwon-Do hand-picked by Master
Gayle for their ability and promise. It was great to see the discipline
of these youngsters as they confidently took to the
mats to begin their demonstration in front of the large expectant
crowd. It’s a testament to Master Gayle’s teaching that
the young members were not fazed at all by the scale of the
event or by the fact that they were performing in front of their
Taekwon-Do peers from around the world. The demonstration
itself was carried off flawlessly starting with team patterns, some of the female team members then had
what can only be described as a Taekwon-Do “throw-down” which was similar to a break dance battle
but consisted of ever more flamboyant kicks! Then it was the turn of the boys who performed a very
slick self-defence routine with one poor “victim” sitting down trying to mind his own business and read
his magazine. However two “hoodies” had other ideas but unfortunately for them, our “victim” turned
into a flying Taekwon-Do Superman, literally! It was great fun and like the rest of the demonstration a
very well-rehearsed and polished performance which was well received by the whole crowd.
Then it was time for the first competitive events. The Saturday was largely devoted to the Junior and
Cadet categories. Throughout the day, as an umpire it
was a pleasure to watch these young people perform
patterns of whatever style with power, grace and
technical precision and it was obvious how much the
art is loved by these future stars. One thing that I personally
enjoyed seeing was the mature attitudes of
the young competitors which were a true testament
to the benefits of martial arts training under a genuine
instructor. There were no tantrums, sulks or bad attitude,
just young people doing their best for themselves
and their instructors.
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