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“In the Clinch”
By Coach Woodward

Welcome to ‘In the Clinch’ Vol.9, an up close, behind the scenes look at the Elite Fighting Team (E.F.T.) of Team Intense Martial Arts (TIMA). With Master Catalasan’s permission and support we will bring you inside the inner workings of the E.F.T. As we begin, now literally, our descent on final approach to the Junior Olympics in Orlando, Florida.

With the Junior Olympics upon us and the training complete, it’s now time to show Orlando what TIMA is made of. For those who’ve been following along thus far we thank you for your encouragement. As I write this particular blog I’m cruising at 39,000 feet above Texas. Our subject for this story is on a plane as we speak making her way to Florida. Like this one, all of the remaining interviews will be posted from Florida, mixed in with our daily updates.

We hope you enjoy this blog as we attempt to make you feel like part of our family. Without your support and encouragement none of this would be possible. Today we continue with our 9th of 12 interviews of the amazing kids who comprise the E.F.T. We encourage you to share this blog with family, friends, co-workers and anyone else who might benefit or partner with us in doing what we can to give these dedicated athletes the support they need to accomplish all they’ve set out to do.

Please sit back, relax and enjoy being ‘In the Clinch’ with Brooke Alexandra ‘Gumby’ Barth.

Brooke is 15 years old and she’s been with TIMA for 6 years. This is her 4th year on the E.F.T. She is a blue belt (4th gup) in Tae Kwon Do. Brooke is a founding member of ‘Team Stacy’ named for her mom. At one time in TIMA history we had three of her kids on the team, Brooke, Darby and Hayle. Brooke said in all she has 10 sibling and step siblings. I don’t have the time to name them all here, but I will say that Hayle is my least favorite.

In addition to Tae Kwon Do Brooke also trains in Muay Thai and Kali. When I asked her to rank them in order of her preference Brooke said, “I don’t not like the least any of them.” Huh? “In Tae Kwon Do I like the footwork and speed and multiple kicks. “In Kali I like the thinking and frustration. In Muay Thai I like the power and I love the kicks. They’re just fun to do.” Brooke also said Muay Thai is the most strenuous but Kali is the hardest on the mind.

Brooke is a fun interview. She answers a lot of questions with a hint of attitude (bathed in a liberal amount of respect) as if I should know the answers. It makes for some entertaining responses. For example, I asked Brooke which tournament memory stood out most in her mind. She said, “Well Detroit obviously. It was the most amazing thing ever.” I asked her to be more specific to which she responded, “Everything. The fight cuz she was a beast.” Brooke paused momentarily, and then proclaimed, “I was a beast!” I concur.

Another example of Brooke’s “You should know this” attitude was found in my very next question when I asked her to name her friends on the team. She said, “Well the whole team is my friend.” As before, I asked her to be more specific. She said, “Ish, Austin, Sara, Seth, Jake (Interestingly she listed Jake twice), and Guro.”

Brooke told me her least favorite punishment was plank push-ups. This was at the beginning of Muay Thai class the evening of our interview. At the conclusion of Muay Thai class she came to me and said, “Coach can I change my answer? My least favorite punishment is ‘partner plank push-ups.” I told her she could not change her answer so please disregard this last sentence. I asked Brooke which punishment was the easiest. She might only be 15 but she’s no fool, “Punishment is punishment. I don’t want to pick a favorite.”

One of her favorite memories during her 6 years with TIMA came last year at the TIMA fireworks booth. “One of them from the fireworks booth when you (Meaning me your humble author) were making fun of me at the cotton candy machine and it nearly chopped my thumb off.” Another came in Detroit, ”When we all had the 4th of July party after I made weight and Guro gave me two pieces of cake.” Interesting isn’t it? I remember a kid with zero percent body fat dropping 10lbs to make weight. She remembers the cake she enjoyed afterward.

Would you like to hear what a future TIMA black belt sounds like? Check this out. I asked Brooke about her worst injury in Tae Kwon Do ever and I ended up with a ‘John Wooden’ moment. The injury in question took place at the Jimmy Kim Invitational. “I fractured my toe when I lost at the JKI tournament.” This was only Brooke’s 3rd loss ever. Brace yourself for some wisdom and maturity you don’t usually see in a 15 year old. Brooke said, “It’s ok. Everyone has to lose sometime. It keeps you humble.”

Here are some fun facts about Brooke you may not have known:

Favorite Fighter: “Mr. Garcia because he’s fast and strategic and powerful.”

Favorite Movie: “Alice in Wonderland and all the Rush Hours.”

Favorite Sparring Partner: “Mr. Garcia because he doesn’t go easy on me and he always does headshots and knocks me to the ground. It’s fun to get beat up. It’s the only way you can learn. Well, it’s A way to learn.”

Favorite Food: ”I have a great appreciation for food. My favorite would have to be artichokes, lumpia and rare steak, like just seared on both sides and cold in the middle.”

Favorite TV Show: ”House, Leverage, and NCIS in that order.”

Biggest Fear: “Losing family or friends.” Everyone say it with me…Awwww!

Favorite Band/Singer: “Green Day”

Favorite Movie Star: “Sandra Bullock”

I asked Brooke to tell me something about herself people might not know. “I was supposed to have my braces on for 3 years but my stupid orthodontist made me have them on for 5 years and now my mouthpiece doesn’t fit. I love my mouthpiece, it’s my baby. It was made for braces.”

I asked Brooke to identify her hero if she had one. Without hesitation she responded, “Guro and my mom and dad.” I reminded Brooke how she had just listed her favorite TV shows in a particular order and I informed her people might assume the same thing regarding her hero. She immediately realized she might be in a bit of a jam and she quickly blurted out, “Put mom, dad and Guro. No, wait. Put them all up on the same pedestal.” If Brooke wants to, I believe she has a future in politics. Way to straddle three sides of the fence Gumby.

I then asked Brooke to list the 3 most influential people in her life. She replied, “Mom, dad, Cerritos grandparents and Guro.” I asked her if she was sure this was the order she wanted to list them in. She shot back at me, “Stop putting me under the bus.” Have I mentioned how much I love this kid?

Brooke’s favorite thing about TIMA was a no brainer for her to answer. “I love the people and the atmosphere and I love that I can hang out with everybody. There’s no tension. It’s not awkward. I just love everything about it. I love how I can walk into the studio having the worst time ever and walk out feeling like I had the best day ever.”

At this time I turned to Brooke’s family, friends and Coaches to learn a little bit more about one of TIMA’s future black belts and one of our best present day leaders.

According to Brooke’s dad, because of her time with TIMA, “Her work ethic has improved at home. Her respect for her parents has improved as well.” And “She can kick her sisters’ butt now.” He continued,”I don’t know that without it she’d be as good of a kid.”

When you want a great story about someone I’ve found the best source is always a parent. Brooke is no exception. Check out this beauty her dad gave me. It put Brooke in a whole new light for me, as I’m sure it will for you too. “She had sliced her toe open stepping on dirt clod, requiring 7 stitches. They had to papoose her (restrain her) because she wouldn’t sit still.” Apparently our future black belt was prone to outbursts of anger as a child. “She would throw temper tantrums. Once she was pounding on the door and she dislocated her elbow.” Wow! Are you kidding me? Brooke? The queen of tantrums? I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t heard it with my own ears.

After gutting Brooke like a fish in front of her family and friends dad needed to end on a high note. I believe his parting words to his daughter as she heads to Orlando certainly qualify. “Whatever she does she’s going to make us proud. We’re already proud of her.” Amen.

Team Stacy matriarch (Stacy, referred to as mom from here on out) captured a parents apprehensions regarding children who fight competitively better than I could have ever written. I asked mom about her most vivid memory from one of Brooke’s tournaments. What followed will stir something familiar in the hearts and minds of all of us parents who’ve watched our kids compete.

Which tournament stands out in your mind? She said, “Her first tournament.“ I asked if she (mom) was nervous. “Nervous? Are you kidding? I still get nervous.”

To put this in context, Brookes first tournament did not have the electronic scoreboard so you never knew the score of the fight or who won until after it was over. “I saw the girl she had to fight in an earlier bout and she was not a nice fighter. Then Brooke got punched in the throat. It scared me but she sucked it up and she won. After she walked off she admitted it hurt so bad she wanted to cry. I’ll never forget that. It was intense.”

She also recalled a tournament at the Anaheim Convention Center. Once again she saw Brooke’s opponent fight again. “I freaked out and I was calling Guro saying she can’t fight that girl she’s a beast.” Unfortunately for that girl, Brooke did fight her.

Perhaps the reason Stacy still gets nervous is because Brooke doesn’t do anything to ease her fears. For instance, “She brought home a DVD of her sparring Justin Bardales where he kicked her in the head and knocked her to the ground. When she stood up she stumbled around. She thought it was awesome. She rewound it and watched it 15 times. ‘Brooke, turn it off. I do not need to see that’.” “At tournaments she told me I wish I could fight a boy just once. All she ever wants to do is Tae Kwon Do. I had to make her go on vacation. I had to force her.”

Coach Kaihewalu had this to say. ”She’s our next female black belt. She wants it. She uses her physical attributes to the fullest. Out of everyone in a tournament she’s the one I’ve actually seen try to kick as hard as she can.” As for what she needs to do to be successful in Florida coach said,”Trust her axe kicks. She’ll go in nervous, but she knows what she needs to do.”

Guro said as a person Brooke is loyal, thoughtful and has integrity. As a fighter she’s extremely intelligent, powerful and fierce. Guro's favorite memory about Brooke came when Guro was forced to remove someone from the team for gross disrespect. Brooke, who was close friends with this person at the time, stayed loyal to Guro and the team. Guro was moved by her respect, integrity and loyalty. All are necessary attributes of a great leader.

Sara said Brooke is,”Sweet, funny and kind. I love Bronzie.” Her favorite memory of Brooke is, “When she had to lose all the weight for nationals.” Daphne said, “She’s nice and funny and she’s happy all the time. She’s a smart fighter and she has some powerful kicks.” Austin described her as random, funny and “cheeseball”. As a fighter she’s fast, tall and powerful according to Austin. His favorite Brooke memory came last summer. ”We were at camp. Guro walks by the bathroom and say’s ‘It’s really smelly.’ Someone blamed Brooke. She admitted it.” Marisa gushed, “Oh my God, she has such a positive attitude. She has amazing hair. It’s very pretty.” Additionally, “She has really good head shots.” Seth said Brooke has “curly hair”. I hadn’t noticed.

I was asking Seth about Brooke and Nathan was also sitting in. This next exchange is hilarious. I’ll do my best to recreate it as it happened. I was asking Seth for a good Brooke story.
Out of nowhere he blurts out, “She runs funny, like her feet go to the side when she runs.” Nathan starts laughing out loud, “Oh my God, I just realized that.” Then he continued to laugh, as I did, for the next several minutes. Good one Comet. Funny thing is Brooke asked me specifically to interview Seth for her blog. I wonder if she regrets that now.

Nicolette said of Brooke in the ring, “She keeps her fighter outside of the ring and she looks like she’s going to headshot you.” She’s also, “Scary, violent and I’m really in shock when she throws a really good head shot and hits like woah!” Nicolette said, “One time I was talking to Jakey about how Brooke was fighting and how she hurt me. Right then she walked up and said, ‘I took it easy on you.’ But it was like a major headshot and it hurt a lot.”

I’m going to close this one out with a very recent story about Brooke. So recent it actually happened an hour before I interviewed her. I arrived at the studio early to work on the blogs. Guro was locked in her office with a parent and a student to be named later, maybe. Mr. Garcia was not present. I began examining the Tae Kwon Do class which was going on in front of me wondering who was in charge. As I’m sure you’ve figured out by now, Brooke was at the front of the studio putting the students through their paces. I remember being impressed that a girl, barely 15 was already confident enough to run a class by herself. Had I known the entire story I would’ve been Way more than just impressed as I’m sure you will be too.

I was talking with Guro about this the next evening after everyone had left the studio. I told her how impressed I was that Brooke had conducted that class and how I could see her sporting a TIMA black belt in no time. That’s when Guro hit me with another bit of information that really shined a light on this accomplished fighter, current leader and future black belt of TIMA. She took it upon herself to run the class. Guro was in a meeting that required her immediate attention. She couldn’t take the time to ask Brooke to lead the class. Then again, she didn’t need to. She just did it. As a coach, parent and grown up, I applaud you Brooke. I think the rest of your friends, family and teammates should too.

I hope you enjoyed being ‘In the clinch’ with Brooke ‘Gumby’ Barth. Please check back in very soon when we get ‘In the Clinch’ with Ismael ‘Rico Suave’ Aguilar.

For the Team,
Coach Woodward