Journal of a Taekwondo referee

lumut championship

2009-10-08T09:57:00.000-07:00

this year 2009 was perhaps the boringest championship i have experienced. lumut hasnt changed much, and this year i'm wiser as in i will not take the free camp accomodation anymore. why? visible bed bugs and haunted hostels do not make good sleep companions.

i got myself a comfy motel just outside camp for rm140. thanks to master for having the patience to fetch me everyday. i renewed old acquaintances. all went well but i only refereed twice as there were so few bouts. there were no ruckus and navy won again. i'm getting fat and slow for my age.

Remaja in Kelate

2007-08-13T18:48:00.000-07:00

17th-19th august 2007
remaja kebangsaan

im going on fri, its been almost half a year since i last officiated and this time, i dont think i even have the chance to officiate, just sit and count points. yawn....

coming back is an issue, i needed to get back on sunday as im working on monday, but my ride is going back on monday. so its either express bus(RM30) or flight (RM200). initially i opted for bus, but after the news yesterday of a northern bus crashing & killing 20 ppl, i'm a bit apprehensive...

Referee refresher in Kedah

2007-04-15T23:23:00.000-07:00

This was really a close shave. Was supposed to take the nite bus to Kedah on thurs nite. so i called for a cab and the stupid cab couldnt find my house and the stupid digi was down so they couldnt call me to say they're not coming. so at 11pm, i was still at home although bus leaves as midnite. panic.... called md, he couldnt help. got fed up, drove to pudu, parked at a hotel nearby.

walked really really fast to the bus station to meet up with kh. we reached kedah around 6.30am was picked up by syed. he asked if i was taking referee course too. hahahha....(was actually gonna assist kh for this course and my first solo intro lecture omg omg omg). course was held at the youth center which looked eerily like the youth centre in kuantan, and the stadium also looked eerily like stadium pahang.

so i talked on criterias to be a referee while the kedahans listened. also explained on kyonggos and gamjeoms. led the practicals, a lot of shouting and commands, which was a feat as im stil recovering frm my broken arm so hand signals did not look too firm or nice. had lunch at the stadium and practical and test around 5pm. suddenly the hall was filled with kids with ribbons and dancing, so we moved to the back of the hall for the test.

mayb its the location but the tkd camaraderie in kedah is like in my hometown. the black belts are like family and they treat each other like family. u cant find that in kl and i miss that. met nora who embarassed me cos she was malay and she spoke to me in chinese and i couldnt understand.

test went smoothly, those who were really good in practise, freaked out while testing, understandable if they're beginners .it gets better in the field. took a dinner at kuala kedah, food was delicious. bus at 9.30, reached kl the next morning almost 7am. had tosai before going home to sleep til 1pm.

a pre new year BASH (and i really mean bash!)

2007-01-02T00:06:00.000-08:00

Due to the sensitivity of the results of this tournament, i shall not reveal the location or c/ship name.

Woke up at 4.00 am as i had to be at the meeting point at 4.45am. Turned out everyone else was late and i waited til 5.15am. arrived at destination on schedule. went for sight seeing, we walked; how tiring that was. the accomodation was nothing to shout about and the towels had bugs. ewww....also i was the only female so i had no company.

we used the manual system with 3 judges. supporters made a ruckus when their players lost. first time i saw a fight. im used to the usual swears and insults from coaches and supporters but this was a full fledged fight. interesting actually to see how narrow-minded people can be and how they are a slave to their emotions. the referees were called back to the center. match was stopped til everyone calmed down.

at night, we had a good dinner and i met sir JH. he looked like denzel washington and apparently i wasnt the first to say so. then D,V, and i went shopping for souvenirs while the other masters went to goodness-knows-where. i bought a newspaper to read in my boring old room.

we had our finals the next day and then we set back home. it was an ok trip; nothing compared to terengganu 2 years back. but it was entertaining and educational to hear the masters recount their experiences in tkd and officiating.

3rd UIA Close

2006-02-19T09:18:00.000-08:00

Was late. arrived at 845am as I went to Bt 14 to look for my missing dog. Arrived at the Rakan Muda hall in UIA where I had my last 'meaningful' tourney few years back before i had my ACL tear. No breakfast. Hungry. 2 rings for juniors. 15-25 kgs. Haha, I could lift the tiny tots with one side of my hand. Imagine, KALYEO then lift one in each hand put them back in the middle.

First day was very relaxing, the kids were like 6-10 years old. Lucky, Im short therefore i dont have to really squat to have a view of them fighting. But their height only reached my waist. oh dear..and when i call them up and issue them to begin the fight, they have no idea wat im saying but nodded serenely. two events worth mentioning:

a cute girl who cried n cried n cried while kicking. eventually, she decided not to fight. her pop turned out to b the organizer...manja-nya.....awwww
a boy (in his teens, yeah, im old already...now teenagers also i address them as 'boy') who got kicked in the face and proceeded to bleed bright red blood. i've never seen blood so red (rich in oxygen?). counted till 5 or 6 then called medic. safety first, my young lad.
placed myself between the 2 fighters (u know those tall boys who were all arms and legs?). one decided to side step so now i was facing the back of him. then he decided to chase after his opponent to the edge of the ring. took me a while to catch up, getting slow on my feet, attention wavering too. i envy tall people like mr V and mr TC. they appear so relaxed as they tower over everyone else, a few steps left and right and they already covered the whole arena.
the width of the mats are 8m. Red on my left. Blue on my right...5 metres away. So far, how to kick la, dude?

1st day finished at 1pm, no lunch so had lunch with Mr V. Havent been to WM in quite awhile, since Justin i think. So much food everywhere, so many DVD everywhere! its like a chinatown in the outskirts. hmmm..may consider moving there, nearer to workplace.

2nd day. Thought i was late, heh, was 1st to arrive. hunted for breakfast. had macaroni. i love pasta and macaroni in UIA. when arrived at hall, organizers prepared breakfast, i guess they felt guilty for no lunch yesterday. 2nd round nasi lemak. Some slow starts, eventually picked up pace. Tourneys lately have been quite relaxed even with the males. Organizers were trying to drag out the tourney til 5 pm. So had a lot of time out and breaks.

On an eating n drinking binge:

dadih (supposed to b tau-foo-far)
coconut water
grass jelly
doughnut
macaroni
tomato rice + chicken + acar (this was nice)

The lunch was by far the best service i have ever had. they actually served us. normally in tourneys its just 'grab your own food pack n drink in plastic bag' and find an empty seat n eat. i've eaten chicken rice in previous tourneys that gave me diarrhoea, and once even had to eat while sitting on some stairs. finally finished the tourney at 5pm. tired, cos was in the center most of the time with nurul as there were not enough referees.

ATM championship at royal military college

2006-02-19T09:11:00.000-08:00

First tourney for the year 2006. Arrived early. Saw Kak Mala and Nurul. Master J was there too. I like him, reminds me of tricia's dad. Tourney started on schedule. 2 rings. Did the girls' arena, which was relaxing. Ntg special happened except one guy pulled another guy's dobok so hard, it ripped off at the sleeve.

One thing i noticed, i drink like a horse during tourneys. There's a juice bar outside n I just loved juice.

Saw Master C there with his students (my former varsity mates). Feels weird to be treated like a celebrity with them wanting to take photos with me. Feels like family photo with me sitting in the middle with Master C. Had a chat with him.

Spent half of the day at inspection. Used to think that inspection were for losers and refs who had fouled up. Now i dont bother anymore, i got nothing to prove anymore. its more relaxing (u get to chat and get to know the rest).

opening ceremony was fun. officiated by this major general who looked really uncomfy in his dobok. delivered a long speech that no one listened to, except me (trying to look interested n polite). he broke 2 roof tiles as a way of launching the tournament (invitational between colleges and universities).

2005-09-27T07:17:00.000-07:00

Mr BT and I, outside Sri Malaysia

2005-09-27T07:16:00.000-07:00

Me in bus. SLeepy ler

2005-08-29T09:15:00.000-07:00

MSSKL

2005-08-25T06:57:00.002-07:00

AL after a match. Sengih siut...

2005-08-25T06:57:00.001-07:00

Poised for attack

2005-08-25T06:57:00.000-07:00

UKM Close 2005

2005-08-25T06:54:00.000-07:00

UKM Close 2005

National Remaja Tournament

2005-08-18T07:20:00.000-07:00

This is my first national tournament. It had his hiccups & false starts (it nearly got canceled!).
Location: Kuala Terengganu.

Friday (27/5)
Woke up at 9am. Packed like mad. Refilled dog food for Angel.Took a cab to Kajaang station. Arrived at airport.Hungry. Had Burger King lunch. Stil hungry. Flight ticket was only RM78 two ways. Alternative was to drive for 6 hours. No thanks.Touched down around 1pm. Checked into Hotel Seri Malaysia. Room mate is KM. Met her during UKM Open.

2pm
Pizza lunch. Yum. Finally sated.

4pm
To stadium to help with bout chart.

10pm
Bout chart stil not finished. Was surprised that MD came for this tournament. When MD gave orders, no one dared disobey them. Thank god he was there else I'd be there til the wee hours of the morning. So people started jumping around & acted real busy to help me and SW.

Saturday
Took a bus to the stadium. Tganu looks like a smaller version of Kuantan. Got home sick looking at signs pointing to Kuantan. Being an SR, got assigned to Inspection duty. SW had the flu, so switched with her. Thanks SW! Got assigned to a ring headed by Mr H. I like him, a pleasant guy to work with. Last worked with him at PD. He's a bit like KS, nothing can make him lose his temper. To prevent unfair judgment, Mr H did not allow refs to be centre when players are from the same academy. That pissed Mr S off & he walked off in a huff. Do not like ppl who are rude and show no respect to the HOC. SKipped lunch, but was really thirsty. ABout 100 bouts had to be carried fwd to the next day as tournament stopped at 6pm due to dinner organized by president of tganu tkd asso.
Was pretty tired. Collapsed on bed, took a bath & rushed out to bus to goto dinner. Pretty thoughtful of the organizers to treat the ref & players to dinner. As an official, got to sit on table & served, instead of buffet. Thank god!

Sunday
Went down to breakfast. Saw Master H with coffee on his IR shirt & pants. Poor him. Someone spilled a cup on him. Turned out it was Mr B. Hahaha. Yellow & black definitely do not mix.
There were 8 rings to pick up the slack frm yesterday. Assigned to another ring today. HOC lacked confidence & kept referring to the IRs for minor & obvious decisions. WHen parents were unsatisfied with the decision, he even revealed the score sheets to them at their request. Duh.. Was feeling tired from activity yesterday & early this morning. Only paying 100% attention while being centre ref. Scoring wasn't that accurate, as attention kept diverting elsewhere. ;) Almost all the fights where i was center resulted in a woosay kiro (draw). the first time when i have reached a decision & returned to the center and on the verge to declaring the winner (my hand was already lifted to center so they knew who was gonna win, the supporters were already getting ready to cheer), the HOC called me back. he wanted to make sure i got the right winner. geez. later, did a few finals, including one of the girls heavyweight. Stood at the borderline to keep fighters frm going out of boundary like a good referee. kept my distance like a good referee. girls heavyweight glaring at each other. u know when girls get angry they start pulling hair, and pummeling with their fists? this one, while glaring at her opponent, swung a back fist sideways..not at her, but at me... of cos i was busy observing the match and caught it in the face, right between nose & lips. owwww. head thrown back, saw stars & talked to God for awhile. i stopped the match, wondering if i had blood pouring out of my mouth (they had mouth guards, i dont!). Luckily. everything was allright. Few matches later, after declaring the winner, crowd got rowdy. looked up to see them red-faced & angry, shouting like a mob. took me a while to figure they were making rude gestures to me.. ah.... making rude gestures back at them definitely not a good show of professionalism. so ignored them thus making them look pretty silly.

Collected pay frm Master MD. SW came in with a huge plastic of keropok lekor. I think she bought the entire stall frm the looks of it. Delicious. I think i devoured 10. Had some chat with Master DT, JH etc. Really nice people. Master DT looks like a better version of my father. Got
Master W to sign some previous tournaments i officiated.

Got back around 8pm. Hunted for food with the Tan brothers & SW. Got back early to expect a call frm bear but he never called. Fell asleep tired & depressed.

Monday
Took the day off. Woke up early. Had breakfast. I really love the hotel porridge. When im working, never had the chance to really sit down & chat during breakfast. Took some pics. See below.

Went to airport. Flight delayed for 1 hour. Peeled oranges for SW to eat. Mr MT called to ask me how i was. Awww..how touching. Master KM came to sit awhile, he took the MAS flight. Lucky him. Got bored of listening to parents talking abt rowdy crowd. Fell asleep. Getting old, can even fall asleep in public places. Yapped on the plane til reached KL. Mr A's pop came to fetch us. Had banana leaf rice for lunch at Kajang. Yummy. Its the same area where i ate when i first came to UKM. Brings back memories.

Epilogue - this was the last tournament i officiated in when MTA got deregistered by the Sports Commissioner. Was supposed to do Selangor Open, Kuantan MSSD, UKM Close but my priorities have changed in these few months.

Dunno if there will be other entries after this regarding referee matters. Its been a fun 1.5 years, met a lot of interesting people, learned a lot on human behaviour. Being a referee is another aspect of TKD worth exploring once you get your brown or black. This blog will continue to exist for me to reminisce the good times i had with my friends. I will be starting a training blog which encompasses tkd & karate soon.

MSSKlang

2005-05-13T04:36:00.000-07:00

This was another district tourney held in Klang. Came early for a bak kut teh breakfast. 4 arenas, headed by Mr W again. Pretty relaxing tourney, at least for me it was. We take turns being center referees. Its kind of a rotation basis thingy where u come in, sit as a corner judge until its yr turn to be center. when yr center, u do maybe 2 to 3 matches (KOs dont count!) and then u come out for a rest. The amount of rest u get depends on how many referees get assigned to any arena. If there are only 4, then there will be no rest. This is how I spend my rest time

toilet break, tie my hair
drink a few sips of water
hunt for coffee or mint
snap a few pix with my phone camera
chat with the HOC
look at other amusing matches
hunt for players in the next match
hunt for score sheets at secretariate table

this tourney was a little irritating as the organizers had not thought of separating the competition area from the spectators & emotional parents. the results are having people screaming practically in your ear when they cheer & having them breathing down your neck when you write down yr score. pretty distracting. i found myself fanning them away with my clipboard or simply shooing them away from me.

some funny/interesting/gross stuff:

This happened in the arena next to mine. i could only see the back of the player. suddenly something white pops out at face-level. how do u lose your mouth guard in the middle of a fight?
Player stumbles back to coach area in the middle of fight, hands cupped near mouth & proceeds to vomit. he dumps his stomach contents in a plastic bag, washes his hands & proceeds to win the match. bravo!
blue kicks red in the head near the corner judge. red's headgear flies off to land on judge. judge hands back headgear to red.

food for thought:

when i signal for a time out, i expect the time keeper to be alert & follow my instructions instead of talking to his friends. so there i was saying shigan over and over again until i managed to catch his attention. suffice to say, i told him off.

i found out my shigan hand signal has been wrong all this while. jeez! its supposed to be a cross with two fingers with the fists pointing toward each other, and here i was, pushing them outward. tried to change it, but old habits stick like glue!

after the tourney:

had a seafood dinner with the gang. check out the pix below. could only eat cuttlefish, bean curd & chicken due to allergy. poor me!

dinner proceeded to supper at starbucks. pretty tired the next day.

Up next:

Sukan Melaka & National Juniors

Cya!

MSSKL

2005-05-13T03:55:00.000-07:00

This is a district level championship held at the Cheras badminton stadium. This is the first time i officiated in this stadium. the last time i was here, i was half limping & i couldnt fight anymore. looking back now, i think about how i've improved in this 2 years.

anyway, reported in at 8am, called up by Mr V, RIC was Mr W. 4 arenas, if I remembered correctly. Wore black shoes, thought better of it, changed to a pair of white ones. but they were old & peeling at the front. After several incidents where I nearly tripped over my own feet, changed them to another white pair (yeah, i got a boutique & shoe shop in my car!) that was peeling at the back. A few trainees sported super saiyan hair styles. either that, or they stuck a finger in an electric socket.

pretty uneventful tourney except a parent banged the secretariate table during protest. and also a protest over wrong decision by HOC. here's an incident worth mentioning:

player gets kicked in the neck. he moves away, stunned, with red-teary eyes, as if he cant breathe. centre referee asks if he wants to fight. player shakes head NO. centre referee asks 2 more times. NO & NO. centre referee declares other player as winner. Coach walks angrily to HOC table & demands why his player lost, insisting that his player can still fight.

Now, point of interest. Decision whether to stop a match rests on these people: HOC, center referee, player & finally the coach.

Now, here's a few points of interests i noticed during the recent nationals.

Stupid things that coaches do:

OK, OK. turning kick, back kick, chopping, reverse swing. Ha, turning kick some more. faster, faster aka blindly yelling all techniques that do not suit the situation
looks at other direction or answers their cell while their player is fighting in the ring
stands up & screams at player to perform particular technique. yeah, as if thats gonna make a difference
looks helplessly around while player rolls in agony on the ground (normally after a kick to the groin)
wears headgear the wrong way for player, thus embarassing player & self in the process
occupies the seat during break when player is close to exhaustion & dying of exhaustion

I'm not an expert at coaching as im not much of a talker but I do know that the duties of a coach are to

observe the weakness of player's opponent & think of ways to counter measure them & conveying this to the player during break
moral support esp when player is tired or losing
look out for injuries in player & responsible for calling time out if necessary
remind players of fundamentals during sparring esp blocks & look out & minimize players' weaknesses from being exposed in the ring

I just love doing junior tourneys. The little ones esp the 7, 8 year olds are so cute when they are in full gear & its their virgin match. Of course, in these type of matches, u gotta be more alert as they are amateurs, be a tad lenient & explain the fouls clearly to them. i used to be like:

kalyeoshiganchungkyonggokyesok

now, i slow things down a bit and

kalyeo-shigan-chung-kyonggo-hey dont push, understand? jangan tolak, faham? ok?- kyesok

it helps when i explain in both languages.

2005-05-02T17:11:00.002-07:00

A group photo

2005-05-02T17:11:00.001-07:00

After the championship

2005-05-02T17:11:00.000-07:00

A referee lineup

2005-05-02T17:10:00.000-07:00

Taking a break

Uni Malaya Martial Arts Festival 2005

2005-02-19T07:29:00.000-08:00

I love refereeing very much. But this tournament really tested my deddication as it was held on the 4th day of Chinese New Year. Which meant I had to return to KL on the 3rd day of CNY and get up early the next day. Martial arts involved in this festival were tkd, karate, silambam, silat & wushu. Unfortunately, international participation were only limited to wushu & silat.

1st day - arrived at 8am. Learned the ESS (electronic scoring system). The controls were modified frm PS controllers, geez. Spent half the day doing inspection. Didnt really mind, too cold in the hall to move anyway. ESS looked difficult. Only a 3 second Juries kept being called forward due to point discrepancy. Me start to sweat.

But before that head of court came screaming at me due to male player wearing vest too small for his size. Male player wearing mini vest got injury in the groin as vest not covering VITAL area. Lookedd uncomprehendingly at screaming HOC as i was doing the girls' checking, while the MALE inspection ref smiled sheepishly at me.

Second half of day, RIC (ref in charge) wanted to see me in action cos he's contemplating whether to let me handle the army guys the next day. Didnt know whether to be happy or insulted. Guess i did fine as 2 guys got stuck at inspection the next day.

After tourney, took a walk with mr B, to watch silat & view t-shirts for sale (its a ritual thing for us at every tourney).

2nd day
=======
Supposed to report at 9am. Never had to report so late before therefore overslept. Jesus CHrist! Woke up at 9am. Broke out in cold sweat. Rushed like mad. SW already calling, "Where the hell are you?!" Pedal to the metal til i reached the hall.

Apologized to RIC, RIC threw me into ring straight away. Did OK, considering the fact heart still pounding frm rushing & hair like mad woman. Apparently did well enough the day before to qualify to officiate the army contestants. Both side fought dirty. Every foul in the rule book was committed: catching leg, punching, grabbing, pushing etc. Coach protested why i kept giving warnings for hand raised to face. Remembered Master Michael T. saying a long time ago that warnings had to be given with an intention of committing a foul. Thank god he was right! Lost a tad of confidence after the protest.

Unused to awarding points using ESS. Trunk scores still ok but had to stay alert for head scores (different button). WHenever there's score to head, this goes on in my head:

shit, was that a head score?
oh yeah.....
reciting slowly to self, "blue scored, so its right thumb press the other button, not the trunk score button ..."
shit, did i press it within 3 secs or too fast?
die die die was there a [ding] frm the computer signifying my score was recorded?
great, HOC is calling all juries up
fight halted
only 1 jury recorded the valid head score
quick check on system
it was ME, me, me!
yay......
back to seat to sweat all over again.

After lunch, helped Mr PY to maintain ESS. Players have bad habit of looking at the screen whenever the computer dings (point added). this is what happens:

Blue glares at red & vice versa.
Cool shuffles & test kicks.
Blue scores & sticks to red's vest, still glaring at each other.
Computer: {ding} meaning point awarded
Both players look at screen. Yes, i scored! then resumes glaring at each other while me struggles to separate them.

And here's another incident & occassionally happens when i do men matches, especially for the heavier weights (70kg and above).

me in middle while i call players in.
me to self:gee, this is the only time i feel small & light

me: kal yeo!
me to self:geez, are you ppl deaf? im practically screaming in your ear. nvm, i try again
me in a louder voice: KAL YEO!

still no response. me thinks to stop time. but timekeeper unable to see me as i was blocked by the two mammoths. jumping up to signal time out not a good idea as might look unproffessional. i start to panic. finally got an idea. I whisper just within earshot of both players....

me: oi, separate ar...u dont separate, i gam-jeom (deduction)

players obediently separates. me looks triumphant.

============================

and here's an amusing one at least frm my point of view

me in the middle, watching a fight intently. me hears vaguely someone shouting "REFEREE". looks up. Mr PY, HOC, RIC, timekeeper, juries were all waving at me. Decided not to wave back. I stop the match, wondering why they were waving. looked at players, maybe injury or guards loose. nope. looks at waving people again with a puzzleed look. looks down. ahhh.... loose shoelace belonging to me. bent down to tie it really really tight. crowd gives wolf whistles. Resumes match with red ears. Now i know how mr AT felt when i laughed at him when his shoe fell off while officiating.

============================

2005-02-19T07:25:00.001-08:00

This is what happens when i left my cam phone lying around on the head of courts' table

2005-02-19T07:25:00.000-08:00

Time out

2005-02-19T07:24:00.002-08:00

Me in the middle

2005-02-19T07:24:00.001-08:00

Taerobic demo

2005-02-19T07:24:00.000-08:00

Pic of me that i found in MTA news. Me on left. God, I'm huge now

2005-02-19T07:23:00.000-08:00

Snaps

2005-02-19T06:30:00.000-08:00

Me at uni malaya after the martial arts festival 2005

MMU Melaka Invitational

2005-01-25T07:18:00.000-08:00

Tournament - 2nd MMU Invitational 2005
State - Melaka

I've never been to Melaka before and this was a perfect opportunity to officiate. Drove to Melaka on Friday night after work. Had to rush like mad to iron referee shirt & pants. Checked into Naza hotel.

1st day
=======
This tourney's still new. Only 11 participating universities. Competition held in old library. Decided to take a breather frm the boys (after eventful UKM), therefore took girls' arena.

First bout, center referee did not notice that blue & red were in their wrong positions. Me told HOC, center referee was scolded. Felt kinda bad.

Nothing much to note, except girl stepped on my foot & she released my foot the moment i was pulling on it, which caused me to lose my balance. Nearly lost my balance while retreating, but managed to stay on my feet. Though flailed like a flapping bird. No way im gonna fall on my ass. Spectators can be cruel sometimes.

This marks my first tourney where i'm actually bored & started to fall asleep. Probably due to the cold & the number of participants.

During lunch, Ms Yew brought us to eat chicken rice. THe rice is shaped into ping pong sized balls. interesting...

Dinner, we went to Jongker street, kinda like a chinatown with a row of chinese clan associations playing chinese orchestra (yes, gu zheng & er wu), dancing, lion dances etc. A lot of rare delicacies that couldnt be found in kl like sotong bakar, ting ting candy, malt candy, etc. Also antiques & stuff. Then we went eat 'satay celup' (eat your heart out phui yee!, haha) which was delicious but couldnt really fit much in as was munching on snacks previously.

Was pretty tired. Evie came down to room to lepak. SHe's filled with boundless energy & i was half asleep watching James Bond.

2nd day
=======
Only 10 bouts per arena, even more yawn. Did not like coaches shouting vulgar words & standing up but did not mention it as i was not centre referee. Better to mind own business & let the HOC handle it.

Had lunch at a home-cooked place. Had nyonya laksa. Yummy. Judged for the 2 grand finals. HL's fight was pretty easy. I was thinking more in a fighter's mindset rather than referee. Some fights were pretty one sided, like HL's. Given the opportunity, his opponent couldnt even score even if the vest was wide open. HL had some pretty good shots. Worth mentioning would be when they stuck together & his opponent tried to slap kick (which look ridiculously like him trying to climb a tree) & all HL had to do was walk fwd & he fell off. Twice. Some ppl never learn. Also a good fake for a back thrust which earned him another point.

Another worth mentioning would be FL(girl) frm S'wak. She looks like a model (tall & thin & very very pretty). Decent fighter who chooses to score although she could do a knockout if she wanted to. I really admire ppl like these. And she's in my weight category.

Drove home at about 4pm. Had dinner with MMU fighters at Char Chan Teng at IOI. Splendid time, though i have been feeling a tad tired the whole weekend, therefore was silent through out.

Next: MU Martial Arts festival on the 4th CNY.

Medal presentation ceremony

@ Naza hotel, official hotel for MMU tourney

Snaps

Rollcall

After the tourney

Events worth mentioning

2005-01-15T07:09:00.000-08:00

There are always unforgettable events at every tournament. Things that make you wake up, sit up straight & actually concentrate on the fight. Here are a few from the latest SUKMAS 2 at UKM, Malaysia. FYI, SUKMAS is the national university games for the entire country.

1. Me as center. Fight fight fight. Blue gestures for a timeout. I give a time out. Blue goes to edge of ring & blows his nose. ewww...

2. Me at sidelines. Two guys fighting aggressively. Referee halts match. Both players continue bumping each other chest to chest like caveman.

3. Me at sidelines. Player falls down after kicking near the attention line. Player then proceeds to roll out of the ring. Is that a warning?

4. Finals. Blue is late because he's in the gents. Match starts. Blue gives a deliberate punch to Red's face. Red falls. Medic comes. Red is able to continue. Red proceeds to beat the crap outta Blue to win the gold. Blue's team mates stopped cheering for him after the foul.

5. Me at inspection. I'm inspecting the girls btw. Player comes to me. I look at the player and almost without thinking pointed to the boys inspection. Thank god i took a second look. It was a very tomboyish girl. Needless to say, this girl went on to the finals. Superb fighting skills. Got a silver.

Below is an incident from UKM Open 2003:

1. Blue's coach is this 130 kg heavyweight whose bulk makes him look square. Coach's phone rings in the middle of match. Coach answers phone & proceeds to slouch & spread his legs wide and talks really loud. Nuff to say that Blue got a warning due to his coach's disrespect.

Snaps from MASUM 2005

My former master Chauw

Must have list

2005-01-15T07:03:00.000-08:00

These are essentials to survive a minimum of 2 days refereeing. As interesting as I made it sound, most of the time (esp after lunch!), u tend to get sleepy after the first 20 bouts. So pack these things in the list to avoid
being reprimanded by your chief.

- referee book (the paper that states you have done so and so tourney)
- pen (bring more than 1)
- cuppa coffee (for me, i bring my entire thermos)
- sweets (nothing like a wake up call than using sugar!)
- ciggies (if u smoke)
- plastic forks & spoon
- tissue (to mop up yr sweat)
- your mobile (but keep it in silent mode)
- a camera (for those kodak moments)

An introduction

2005-01-15T07:01:00.000-08:00

i think an introduction of who i am is in order.

My name is Lex Hooi, I'm a state referee for the sport Taekwondo in Malaysia, endorsed by the Malaysia Taekwondo Association. In Malaysia, there are 6 classes of referees.

Trainee -> State -> National1 -> 2 -> 3 -> International

So as you can see, I'm pretty low down the food chain. Purpose of this journal is to share with you my experience in officiating tournaments. My passion is Taekwondo & due to a knee injury few years back, i can no longer compete in the tournament circuit. As a referee, I get to meet & make many new friends & enemies. I get to see how a tournament gets run. I get to make cool hand gestures & speak & count in korean while everyone's watching. nah, just kidding.

So this journal are records of my accounts & extraordinary events that are worth mentioning. It is in no way an outlet to defame people, therefore all names are fictional, including mine.

This journal will be updated everytime i go for a tournament. My personal count (santioned & otherwise) is 7 i think & I have improved a big deal (read from a bumbling gibbery mass of jelly to a kinda cool referee, at least i think so)

Therefore, some tokens of appreciation is in order:

- to Master Michael D. for passing me (thank god!) & teaching me all there is to know about refereeing.
- to Master Wong KH. for teaching me all there is to know practical wise
- to Master Michael T. for signing me up for my first referee course & giving me an opportunity to officiate for the first time
- to Master Johnny L., Ms Ng SH. for calling me up for referee assignments
- to Mr Bu SD. for being a pal at every tournament
- to Ms Tai PY. for setting a high standard for me to follow

Thank y'all. Now, sit back, relax & read on....

Me & my master during MSSD 2004

Journal of a referee

2004-08-24T06:45:00.000-07:00

Journal of a referee

6:00 am
Wake up..Yawn....Made coffee...Bathed
7:00 am
Drove to stadium
7:45 am
Got lost. Called friend for directions to stadium.
8:00 am
Parked at spot reserved for referees. Felt important
8:15 am
Briefing by Referee in charge. Reconciled with a few friends
8:30 am
Announcement. Match to start in 10 minutes.
8:40 am
Another announcement. Match to start at 9:00 am
9:00 am
Assigned to Ring B. Became centre referee.
Player got headgear on backward. Stifled a grin.
10:00am
Tooks turns being centre & corner judge.
12:00pm
Lunch. Standard chicken with rice.
1:30 pm
Match resumes. Air conditioning very cold. Teeth chattering while giving marks
4:00 pm
Finals. Exciting matches. A few knock outs. Poor fella. Had to be carried out on a stretcher.
Coach protests decision. Causing an uproar. Eventually he calmed down.
5:00 pm
Prize giving ceremony. De-briefing by RIC. Yada yada. Received pay. Happy.
5:15 pm
Exchanged phone numbers with a few referees.
5:30 pm
Drove home