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Thursday, September 1, 2011

Master Rosbarsky Returns from China


I landed in China at about 4 in the morning and it all started.  Shenzhen Universiade banners and volunteers were everywhere.  It was obvious we were about to be part of something special.  We made it to the athlete village and received a duffel bag full of stuff.  We received Shirts, shorts, shoes, warm-ups, and even noise-cancelling headphones.  That afternoon athletes from all countries loaded into 200 buses and traveled an hour and a half to the Spring Cocoon, an immense arena built for this event, for opening ceremonies.  We walked in the side of the arena to the roar of thousands of people.  I have never been so proud to be an American, walking in behind the flag with 450+ US athletes at one of the world’s most prestigious events.
We spent the next seven days acclimating, training and supporting the USA at various events.  Our first two days of competition were Poomsae.  Our competitors faced current world champions from all over the world and performed in stellar fashion.  We failed to walk away with any medals in forms.  Sparring took place for the following four days.  I coached two athletes the first day, two the second, one the third and one the last.
All of them fought incredibly hard and well.  Everyone we faced had some sort of international experience.  For some of our athletes this was their first international competition. , and they were facing the very best in the world. Some of the highlights for me were coaching Tasha Pruter into the quarter finals and coaching Stepfon Westbrook to the first ever male bantam weight win for the US at the Universiade.
Our last fighter, Aziza Chambers, won bronze in the women’s division.
Thank you to everyone that made this possible.
Master Rosbarsky