2008 Friendship Open

The 2008 Friendship Open was another success. As usual it was hosted by the Academy of Elite Martial Artists in West Jordan, Utah. The tournament was much smaller than last year, at least to my eyes. I’m guessing that this is due to the usual tidal ebb and flow of intrastate martial arts politics. Some years school owners feel good about each other and tournaments are well attended. The next year school owners are offended by all other school owners and tournament attendance is down. Not being a school owner I can say that I find the politics of martial arts melodramatic, disappointing, and laughable all at the same time.

Anyway, I have always enjoyed the Friendship Open and this year was no different. Because there is no sparring the usual “I’m going to complain if I don’t win” attitude is not present. Instead, you have an atmosphere of fun and excitement as kids and adults alike perform their forms, demonstrate their weapons abilities, and break boards. One moment you are watching a cute little four-year-old breaking a board with his head and the next you are watching middle-aged mothers and fathers snapping a board with a knife hand. This tournament is a wonderful family experience.

One of the more exciting elements of the Friendship Open this year was watching three different school owners demonstrate some breaks that pushed them to their limits. I was impressed at the courage, humility, and skill as these instructors performed breaks that were difficult enough that it took more than one attempt. Mr. Cagle, from Black Angels taekwondo broke five boards with a downward ridge hand. Not all the boards broke on the first attempt so he had to torture his hand again to finish them off. Everyone experienced in board breaking knows that the downward ridge hand is a painful break and we all cringed as we watched him do it. But do it he did and in spite of the pain he showed no pain.

Shayne Myler, of Academy of Elite Martial Artists, did a series of difficult breaks. He did the high flying 540 break. Then he impressed us by breaking six boards (non-spaced) with a back kick. Then he did a flying sidekick over eight bowing students. He fell short on the first attempt, but then successfully completed the break on the second try.

Kevin Jerman, of Beehive Martial Arts, broke five, non-spaced, boards with his fist. On the first attempt the bricks appeared to separate and let the boards fall to the ground. High speed photography showed different, though. The bottom board had snapped while supporting the upper boards. The boards were toast on the second attempt. This board breaking by the school owners was the unexpected highlight of the tournament for me.

Only two schools competed in the demonstration team competition this year. This is down from six from last year. But these two schools, Academy of Elite Martial Arts and Mountain Path Taekwondo, did an excellent job. There were lots of gymnastics, fun martial arts skits, and great demonstrations of martial arts techniques. I found it a wonderful experience watching these demonstrations.

I want to congratulate Shayne Myler on hosting such a fine tournament each year. I can’t wait until next year.