As most of you might crave for, the long-awaited “Boxing Invitation Competition 2004” has commenced on August 14, along with the celebration of the 10th anniversary of the Hong Kong Amateur Martial Arts Association (HKAMAA) since it was founded in 1994. Contestants, helpers and officials came to Shek Tong Tsui Sports Centre to make up this grand event over the decade on a weekend. As promised you before, the competition was real exciting and thrilling that not only the contestants, but the whole of us got the enjoyable and invaluable experiences back home.

Following the blessed words made by Master Lin, the competition kicked off at 7:00 p.m. with the fight in male division starting with Chun Po Shing (秦寶城) vs Chan Man Hung (陳文鴻). Chun had a great time on that day who won the first ticket to the quarterfinal without much effort. Not so long after the competition, we soon got heated with the contestants as you could hear the continuous shouting and screaming filled the room all around. Among the first round matches, the fight between Chan Alan (陳東山) and Lam King Shun (林敬淳) was one of the most exciting matches. The rookie black belt Chan though lost the match, won the never-give-up spirit on the mat. The highlight in first round matches was Chan Tung Kim (陳東劍) vs Yuen Chun Lok (袁俊樂). Being a newcomer, Chan defied the skeptics once to score all points by simple short punch and again short punch, finished Yuen surprisingly. Notice the match showed that complicated technique doesn’t earn its place as much as simply straightforward attack in a fight.

The women’s division was also great and intense. Leung Man Yi (梁敏怡), the dominant contestant among the women won the semifinal ticket without a hitch. The last semifinal place was won back by Chow Shun Kwan (周舜君) after the consolation match with Lai Hoi Ching (賴凱菁), who was characterized by her back fist strike. As long as the contestants focused on their opponents, they probably got strayed, so the coaches and spectators shouted out slogans, in order to cheer up as well as to slap them out from the intense ambience. Some slogans were captured as “get up!”, “use the last option (絕招)!”, “nose inhales and mouth exhales!”, “he/she is out of breath (佢冇氣啦)!”, “The best warrior (猛將)!”, …etc.

After the warm-up in first round matches, the heat escalated for the second round which started with the fight of Ma Kin Hang (馬健恆) against Cheung Siu Chun (張肇峻). Ma is a highly tenacious contestant who beat down his competitor into the semifinal (what an exhausting match ever!). Keep an eye out for Man Cheuk Fung (文灼峰), he knocked out his competitor Wong Chun Lit (王俊烈) by leaving behind a heap of glove’s slices due to his heavy punches hitting on the head gear (awful power!). Lam King Shun (林敬淳) is a self evident contestant, characterized with his extremely fast back kick scored primarily, beat down Chan Tung Kim (陳東劍). The fight between Lam Lap Tin (林立田) and Lam Chi Kuen (林智權) was the toughest match among, they are always neck-and-neck, but Tin worked well with his deadly jump turning kick, led the score once, however Kuen soon got even by snaring Tin stepping out of bound. As time was called, Tin was declared the last winner into the semifinal.

As time flied, all the places in the semifinal have been determined and finally we took a photo altogether, which marked out enthusiasm and fellowship behind the fight. From the contestants’ faces, they were all cheerful and enjoyable as though they become stronger by participating, win or lose just don’t matter! In fact, the first-day competition was so successful that there was no serious injury throughout the competition, which was fully credited to the excellent judges and helpers. At last, gratefully thanks HKAMAA again for making up this grand event, we had such a great time! The upcoming final competition has been scheduled in October. “Hey guys don’t miss it!”