TIMA Nationals 2010 Vol.1

TIMA Nationals 2010 Vol.1

Tuesday, June 29, 2010. It’s a little after 1:00am on Tuesday morning and this is my first chance to bring you all up to speed on what’s been going on with the Elite Fighting Team of Team Intense Martial Arts.

Most of us departed Orange County, CA on Sunday, June 27, 2010. The travel thus far has had its ups and downs. My family was presently surprised when we arrived at John Wayne Airport and discovered we were on the same flight as the Okerlunds and the Tobers for our trip to Dallas/Ft.Worth. We departed just past noon. Guro, along with most of the teens would follow a couple hours later. Sarina, on stand-by at John Wayne also got on a flight as well. Things were looking good. We all arrived in Orlando, Florida within an hour of each other.

We picked up our rental cars and made it to the ‘Bahama Bay Resort. Our rooms are very nice. Our family is next door to Guro and the teens. The Okerlunds and Tobers are across the parking lot. The time change had us up late since our bodies weren’t ready to sleep. Many of us didn’t go to sleep until 5:00am or even 7:00am Monday morning.

The weather is oppressive. It barely gets below 80 degrees at night and hovers in the 90’s most of the day. As bad as that is, it’s the constant 90% - 95% humidity that really makes us prisoners in our rooms.

Monday was mostly a day of settling in, picking up groceries and trying to adjust to the Eastern Time Zone. Some of the kids went swimming in one of the 4 pools at the resort. I had a chance to get caught up on 3 of the fighter blogs, leaving just 3 more to go.

The only official business on Monday was getting Seth weighed in. He made weight. Also, Guro, me and Coach Kaihewalu had to attend a mandatory Coaching seminar in order to receive our coaching pass which is required to be on the floor coaching the kids. I wish I could report the seminar was informational, but mostly it was just long, very long. Two and a half hours. It was scheduled to last just 90 minutes. The room was hot and the information was stale. However, that was not the worst of it.

Coach Kaihewalu wasn’t present at the seminar. Why? Apparently the airline his family, as well as the Mertz family is flying on had some issues. Both families got stranded overnight in Cincinnati, Ohio. We had hoped he would make it into Orlando in time for the seminar. But it looks like they won’t be here until later this morning.

We had tacos for dinner. They were awesome. Brooke made her mom’s famous 7 layer dip. It too was very tasty.

Today is a big day for us. Seth is our first fighter and his division is expected to be the toughest of all our fighters. We ask that you pray for him as well as the entire team. Tomorrow I will update you on our first day of fighting.

From Orlando, for the team,
Coach Woodward.