What’s better than the adrenaline rush of a martial arts tournament or fight? Or a merry holiday with friends?
Combining the two - that’s what! There are few experiences as rewarding as the unique opportunity to compete overseas with your team. While travelling abroad to an overseas tournament is considered a fairly regular activity for the avid martial artist, it is always a wonderful happenstance when your teammates do it with you, too. A few times a year, a team of our students, led by a coach, participates in a regional or international tournament together. Though we see many of our students medal, the achievements of such trips span way beyond what takes place on the tournament mats.
Here are five perks of travelling to an overseas tournament as a team.
1. You get to work on your goals together
This is regardless of whether you compete overseas or locally. When a group of you makes the decision to achieve goals at the next tournament, you are motivated to train together and push each other. You share the same pain and struggle of weight cutting and tough rounds. It is often during these weeks of preparation that the strongest friendships are forged.
2. Travel expenses - and experiences - are shared
Let’s face it. You’ve chided a teammate to travel and compete with you so you can share the financial load of getting airport pickups, hotel rooms, and many other things that you would be too stingy to pay for if you were on your own. We’ve all done it!
3. Know your mates off the mats
Does your professor snore in his sleep? Is your teammate the sort that needs to be at the airport three to four hours ahead of schedule? Who on your team searches for food and drinks after the matches are over, and who prefers to escape to a massage spa for some alone time?? You’ll probably only find out these “intimate” details here when you travel with your team. Also, not everyone has the luxury of exchanging long conversations with your classmates and teachers before and after training at the academy, and so these are the rich opportunities to do so.
4. Support, support, support
In a sea of various nationalities and teams at a prestigious international tournament, it can be easy to feel intimidated. Many seasoned competitors will tell you firsthand that it is daunting to have to face an opponent alone when his or her team is loudly cornering and cheering for him or her against you. When you have your coach and team with you to cheer you on and provide advice on the sidelines, you naturally feel more confident and believe in yourself.
It’s amazing how the familiar, comforting voice of your professor above all that noise and clutter can provide 10% added strength to help you finish strong.
5. Team camaraderie - levelled up!
From getting around the city with each other, to waiting together in between matches, to screaming in unison when a teammate is down to his or her last ten seconds of the final round, to heading to a cheap local diner for boisterous merry-making after - these are the magical moments of friendship and camaraderie that are unique to each trip that you share with your team. Because of this, even non-competitors sometimes join in on the trip for a holiday with the team, just because it is so much fun!
Have you participated in an overseas tournament with your team? If you haven’t, why not make a plan in the next few months or year to do so? The memories you’ll make with your teammates are worth it.
FaMA - Fitness and Martial Arts Established in 2016, FaMA is a world-class martial arts training facility located in the heart of the Central Business District in Singapore. Walking distance from the Clarke Quay MRT station, FaMA’s main goal is to help people improve their lives through martial arts regardless of age or athletic capability. Each program is led by experts in their respective fields. Whether it is weight loss, a fun workout, camaraderie, competition training, or just to break a sweat, FaMA has something for everyone.
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, or BJJ as it is commonly known around the world, is a self-defence martial art that enables a smaller, weaker person to protect themselves against a much larger attacker using leverage and pressure. Formed from Kodokan Judo in Japan, Jiu Jitsu found its way to Brazil in the 1910s through Mitsuyo Maeda, a Japanese judoka and no-holds-barred prize fighter. During his time in Brazil, Maeda accepted a young Carlos Gracie as his student. Carlos would later pass on his knowledge to his brothers, most notably Helio Gracie - the father of modern Brazilian Jiujitsu. The Gracie family would go on to spread BJJ through The Gracie Challenge and eventually the creation of Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Today, BJJ has grown to be more than just an effective unarmed fighting system. It helps young children deal with bullies and adults live a healthy lifestyle. BJJ classes are offered daily at FaMA under the tutelage of Black Belts Zoro Moreira, Robyn Goudy and Thiago Gaspary.