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Top Ten from Compete Nationals

2012-02-29T05:34:00.004-08:00

With JPM missing from the AKA Grands, many big names were absent from the adult divisions. Not so this weekend. Pretty much everyone made it to California for the Compete Nationals, and the result was some highly exciting competition. And in the youth divisions, the night show had a very different makeup than we saw in Chicago. Who will be the dominant competitors in 2012? It remains to be seen. But for now, here are my Top Ten from California.

1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=penJ4YXdE0A
Matt Emig always performs well under pressure. With Micah entering the adult divisions, it's clear that Matt stepped up his game. This is his performance from the Overall Forms Grands, which earned him his first stage win of the new season.

2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuNf0f4msfo
It's not often that we see top-level wushu on the NASKA circuit. But with Austin Jorgensen on JPM now, it seems we'll finally be seeing more of him. Not since DX have we witnessed wushu like this. Austin won the Overall Weapons Grands on Saturday night.

3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9KS2sqoqcY
Speaking of dominant, Caitlin Dechelle may be the most dominant competitor in the history of NASKA. And even faced with the stiffest competition we've seen in the women's divisions in years, Caitlin still emerged with double Overall Grands wins.

4. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJVevCNkJlc
One of ASG's new team members this year, Jacob Pinto seems to be channeling Kalman Csoka. Kalman retired only a few months ago, but his young protege is already following in his footsteps. This is Jacob's first Overall Grands win with the double sword.

5. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPhTp7Tsh5M
Dallas Liu was unstoppable this weekend. After winning all of his regular divisions, and three out of four runoffs divisions, Dallas went on to join ASG teammate Pinto in winning DOUBLE Overall Grands. This is his weapons performance from stage.

6. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsMOLUh5lLg
Mackensi Emory won all six of her CMX divisions--extremely rare in the 14-17 group--and went on to make stage for weapons. There's been a lot of buzz about this performance, with many calling it her strongest form ever.

7. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r06YOpBiD60
Like her 100 Percent teammate Emory, Kaelyn Whaley also won all six of her CMX divisions. She went on to win both CMX runoffs, making the world tour stage for only the second time in her young career. This is her forms performance from Saturday night.

8. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaCxPIB3wr8
Jake Presley earned the distinction of being the ONLY competitor to beat Dallas Liu this weekend. He won his traditional weapons division, and went on to win the runoffs as well--over Dallas. This is his performance from stage.

9. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_Vg28mfJGE
It's not every day that we see a competitor enter a 6A tournament as an unseeded competitor and make it all the way to the night show. But Kylie Chock did it TWICE. This is her performance in the Overall Forms Grands.

10. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-fuEcWJjVI
In only her second World Tour event as a Black Belt, Emma Teo made it to runoffs in both traditional forms and weapons. She was the only competitor to make it past Kaelyn Whaley in divisions, and I'm sure we'll be seeing more of this rivalry in the future.

Top 25 of 2011

2012-01-07T09:23:00.000-08:00

Originally planned as the Top 20, this list had to grow; there were too many amazing competitors and performances to narrow it down any further. But this is it. The Top 25 performances of 2011 as we gear up for the start of the 2012 season this week in Chicago.

25. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxvXmJ6wwo4
Team Infinity made it to more World Tour events this year than ever before. And it paid off with major wins at several big events, including this one at the Diamond Nationals.

24. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfmncohh6mM
One of three newcomers to the black belt divisions to make the Top 25, Kaelyn Whaley managed to win World Championships in ALL EIGHT of her divisions in 2011. This is her performance in the CMX Forms Runoffs at USCC.

23. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReK90sSTjfo
Another newcomer to the World Tour, Aidan Considine made a huge splash at the AKA Grands. He made it all the way to stage to compete in the Overall Forms Grand Championship.

22. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UychkF1H0sU
Veteran NASKA competitor Ross Kohnstam also started the year with a bang, making it to stage for CMX Weapons at the AKA Grands. In addition to executing some very impressive releases, Ross makes the double cork look as easy as a single.

21. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZZAy_447h4
One of many competitors with the unlucky task of having to get through Micah Karns, Jacob Pinto truly pushed the envelope with his forms and weapons in 2011. This is his CMX Forms Runoffs performance from the Compete Nationals.

20. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4i8N7vcFFs
In 2011, Lady Jade Miles showed the world that she could be equally formidable in the CMX divisions as she is in traditional. But it was her performances in traditional that earned her this spot in the ISKA Grand Championships.

19. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmJBoMq_Ivk
Mackensi Emory made it to stage for CMX Forms more than any other 14-17 girl in 2011. After becoming the first female to land a boxcutter in competition in Quebec, Mackensi turned in one of her strongest performances of the year at the New England Open.

18. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wybXBYr0YRg
Stephanie Figueroa is one of very few competitors to make multiple appearances in all four divisions on stage in 2011. She's also the ONLY youth competitor to win all four runoffs at the same tournament, which she did at Twin Towers.

17. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FISIY9s9S6U
Sarah Calande competed in NASKA for many years, but had her best year in 2011. Winning her first Overall Grands at the Dixieland Nationals, she was also the ONLY 14-17 female to win an Overall Forms Grand last year.

16. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-nn4XAw5Qc
Although unable to get past JPM, Jessica Goldman and Vincent Scarduzio were often the audience favorites in the Sync Forms division. They electrified the crowd with their debut performance at the Quebec Open.

15. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4YywmRMujA
While dominant in their respective individual divisions, Caitlin Dechelle and Marc Canonizado are truly unstoppable when they come together in the sync divisions. Here they won the first-ever ISKA title in Synchronized Weapons.

14. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8NpvpEkaTg
Coming into 2011 with big expectations, Carson Crawford lived up to his promise at the US Open. He won the Overall Forms Grand Championship and earned his spot on the ISKA stage.

13. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMjAuEUCz-M
In addition to winning two Overall Grands in weapons, and two in forms, Vincent Scarduzio was the ONLY competitor in 2011 who managed to beat Micah Karns in CMX forms. This is his winning performance on stage at the USCC.

12. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIitp-g_u4E
After difficulties earlier in the year, Connor Griffith put it all together at the US Open. This performance in the runoffs wowed the crowd and ultimately launched him all the way to the ISKA stage.

11. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13RKZVoKyHA
The third newcomer on the list, Dallas Liu had a huge year in 2011. After making it to stage several times, he pulled off the win in the Overall Forms Grands at the Diamond Nationals.

10. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JhaGgsqhJI
Making it to stage at every tournament she attended in 2011, Sammy Smith won both the Overall Forms AND Weapons Grand Championships at the Twin Towers. She is one of only three youth competitors who accomplished this feat in 2011.

9. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uAdQGClz3A
Amanda Chen was the first of three youth competitors to win both the Overall Forms and Weapons Grand Championships at the same tournament in 2011, doing it here at the New England Open. She also won the 13-under Overall Forms title for the year.

8. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcmzEVz9FTM
In addition to winning World Championships in all four extreme and musical divisions, and the World Championship for CMX Forms Grands, Danny Etkin won his first ISKA Grand Championship. He was the only first-time winner in the youth divisions.

7. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeEJlI92o8s
In the most epic trick battle of 2011, NASKA stars Jacob Pinto and Mackensi Emory held their own with tricking legends like Anis, Danny Graham and Vellu. Landing her double cork for the first time in a battle, Mackensi proves girls can do anything boys can do.

6. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPuz3V6lMoo
Making their fourth appearance in the ISKA Grand Championships, 100 Percent Performance became only the third team in history to win the title three years in a row. They join KICK Team and Team Charlie Lee in the record books.

5. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuIk4t9qxKA
Despite missing several events because of an injury, Micayla Johnson still managed to win the Warrior Cup, the ISKA World Championship AND the Diamond Ring--and she got stronger every time. This is her performance at the Diamond Nationals.

4. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e51WoZvn9Vo
His skill exceeded only by his determination, Jackson Rudolph dominated 13-under weapons in 2011. In addition to winning TEN Overall Grand Championships, he added a second ISKA title to his collection.

3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMdE7z512tw
After failing to win the Overall Forms Grand Championships at only two tournaments in 2010, Micah Karns increased his dominance in 2011, missing the win only once. This was his winning performance at the Diamond Nationals.

2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySWCSvfpGq8
Ever the showman, Matt Emig may be the only competitor in the world who would choose to take the stage immediately after Kalman Csoka's farewell performance. He may not have won the Diamond Ring here, but the performance was legendary.

1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBLRATj6Njo
After competing nearly his entire life on the NASKA circuit, Kalman Csoka added one last big win to his record at the Diamond Nationals. This is certainly a performance people will remember forever.

Top TEN from the Diamond Nationals

2011-10-04T06:34:00.001-07:00

Yes, Top Ten this time. There have been some tournaments this year when it seemed like many competitors were just going through the motions, and this made choosing the Top Five more difficult. Not so this time. I could have made this one a Top Fifty for all the amazing performances I witnessed this weekend.

But before I get to the picks, it's time for a rant. I'm noticing an unfortunate trend this year. People are becoming MUCH too sensitive. I can understand someone being upset if another competitor or parent insults them or puts them down. (Even then, best to let it go in one ear and out the other.) But the trend I'm seeing goes way beyond this. It's to the point where praise for one competitor is interpreted as insulting to that person's opponent. And this is simply ridiculous. I praise Micah all the time. But half of my team has to compete against him--does this mean I'm insulting my own teammates?! Please.

People have been upset that I've picked certain competitors for the Top Five and not others. It got so bad that for several tournaments I abided by a self-imposed embargo against picking my own teammates just to avoid seeming "biased." But you know what? I AM biased. That's the whole point. This blog is nothing but OPINION, and I'm very opinionated. But frankly, I'm biased in favor of people who aren't even on my team as often as I am for those who are. The fact is, there are a LOT of competitors on this circuit who I really like. Micah Karns and Matt Emig are to of my very favorites. Have I allowed personal bias to sway my decision to include them here? Certainly!

But here's the point. My choosing someone for the Top Five doesn't mean I wasn't also impressed by that person's opponent. It doesn't mean I think their opponent was bad, or undeserving of recognition. I try to pick those performances that move me emotionally for some reason. Those competitors who manage to touch me that way on a regular basis tend to become my favorites. And yes, I end up highlighting them here more often than others. If you don't like it, tough luck. I don't care. Don't read my blog. We do our best to cover as many people as possible on TNO. But this blog has nothing to do with TNO. This blog is my own personal, completely biased OPINION.

One more thing. If you win a division, and someone says to your opponent, "I thought you should've had it," that's not an insult to you either. So get over it. You won. Be happy. We all know the judging on NASKA is in dire need of reform. I've had competitors win when they shouldn't have as often as I've had them lose when they should've won. It happens; it's part of the game.

This weekend Adriana really impressed me. She won her musical weapons division--Dayna dropped, so it came down to her and Kensi--and they tied. The tie broke in Adriana's favor. But she was upset--she felt that she had a couple of big mistakes, and knew Kensi had nailed her form. Her honesty is, frankly, refreshing. Being able to admit mistakes, even after a win, is a sign of great self-awareness--and something you don't see too often these days. But I told Adriana that it was silly to feel bad about it. Take the wins where you can get them, because this sort of thing happens to everyone. As much as I love Matt, we all saw his little bobble on the ISKA stage. He still won, but those types of bobbles have cost competitors the win more often than not lately. I'm not going to pretend it didn't happen, but I was still psyched that he won. (There's that bias again--shame on me!) And Adriana deserved to be psyched, too.

But I'll tell you right now, sometimes that's how someone makes it into my Top Five: when I see an amazing performance lose when it should've won. Don't like it? Feel free to complain to my editor.

(And make sure to check out the two bonus picks from Twin Towers at the bottom.)

1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBLRATj6Njo
Kalman Csoka had already established himself in the firmament of NASKA legends. He could have come into this competition and done the same thing he's been doing all year and still won. But he chose to do something special instead. Why take this seemingly unnecessary risk? Well, that's what makes competitors like Kalman great. They're never content to rest on their laurels or play it safe. By innovating and taking big risks, they move the sport itself forward, and inspire the next generation in the process. Yes, everyone knew this was Kalman's swan song. Perhaps this explains the explosive energy in that ballroom that night. But the crowd reaction I saw here, and throughout the entire show, has convinced me this COULD become a spectator sport one day. Kalman, I wish you the same success in life you've achieved here. This sport will never forget you.

2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySWCSvfpGq8
Who in their right mind would want to follow THAT performance? Only Matt Emig. Matt actually traded places with another competitor to make sure he got to go right after Kalman. Why? Because he knew Kalman's performance would get him amped up like nothing else could. The audience was already electrified after Kalman's performance, but Matt turned in the form of his life and they went berserk.

3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMdE7z512tw
I'm a big history buff. I spent ten years tracing the lineage of the kempo style I practice, because nobody else had, and I couldn't find the answers I wanted. I love learning about the history of this sport as well. But more than that, I love watching history unfold before my own eyes. And this Diamonds night show was overflowing with historical moments. Kalman's was perhaps the biggest, but it wasn't alone. This was Micah Karns' final performance in the youth divisions. He's become the most successful youth competitor the sport has seen in a generation, and it may be decades before someone duplicates his dominance. I can't wait to see what he does in the adult divisions.

4. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13RKZVoKyHA
Sometimes, I am overcome with a sense of watching history in reverse--as if I've come unglued in time and I'm catching a glimpse of the future. This happened the first time I saw Danny Etkin at a little local tournament three years ago in CT--Mike and I knew instantly we needed to get him on the team. It happened again when I met Kensi at Quebec in 2008--watching her in runoffs, I knew I was seeing the future. And sure enough she won her first overall grands that very weekend. A similar premonition took place Saturday night as Dallas Liu won his first overall grand championship. I know, I know, I'm getting carried away by comparing Danny, Kensi or Dallas to Kalman or Matt, but you watch. These kids will become the next decade's legends.

5. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuIk4t9qxKA
There's no way around it, I love Micayla Johnson. You want to talk personal bias, it's hard not to have it for this girl. She's fun to watch in the ring, has an effervescent personality outside the ring, and is always very supportive of her fellow competitors. And she's certainly changed the game (pun fully intended) when it comes to weapons work. (I'll be honest, as a coach, I wouldn't mind unchanging it sometimes to get the judges' focus off the releases. But you've got to hand it to Micayla, she's transformed an entire division. Very few competitors can make that claim.) Already very successful on NASKA, some new kama moves helped her add a Diamond Ring to her extensive trophy collection.

6. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxvXmJ6wwo4
I've said it before and I'll say it again: Team demo is my favorite division. I'm saddened that Team Infinity and my own team had only one match-up this year--we should try to coordinate our schedules in 2012. But this weekend belonged to Infinity. They nailed their show like never before, and generated the most crowd energy I've ever seen on a Friday night at a NASKA tournament.

7. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTDcl6h3tqM
I dislike this whole argument about "real" traditional vs. "choreographed" traditional. It's a bunch of nonsense, if you ask me, because unless you're Andrew Cabilan (or very few others) even your "real" traditional would NOT pass as karate in Japan. Screaming and hitting super-low stances makes the anti-choreographed argument somewhat hypocritical. (In fact, the screaming wouldn't even cut it on other American circuits.) What we do on NASKA is not a traditional style--it's evolved into its own separate thing called sport karate. Yes, traditional is now creative, and nobody does that better than Will Cornell. He and Brendan Rasinski generated some huge excitement for their traditional form, which is no mean feat for a crowd accustomed to high-flying acrobatics. And they managed to outscore a JPM sync team, something that very few can claim. JPM came back to win on Saturday, but Friday night belonged to the boys from the Midwest.

8. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l57Jqby1YgY
I can always tell when Mackensi Emory has been training extra-hard. There's a certain intensity about her, and a solidness in her movement. We always see this after camp, but she's been home alone, with no teammates to train with, no school to call home, and no coach to guide her for the past two months. Just dad to design her form and mom to bring her to whatever hole in the wall they can find to practice. Results like this take supreme self-motivation: she earned straight 9s from five judges on Friday night and took the win in both musical and extreme forms. This is her runoffs performance from Saturday. The music was a nice touch for this event--kudos to Mr. Emory.

9. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-kZQTkSBLs
We haven't had the fortune of seeing much of Tyler Weaver this year. His busy schedule and involvement in ATA have pulled him away from NASKA. But wow, when he does show up, he means business. This was one of the first things I filmed on Friday night, and it kind of set the tone for the weekend. I think I said "Whoa" about a dozen times during this performance.

10. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSKrDP42h7g
Eric Rodriguez has been on my radar for well over a year now. His mom and I have chatted a few times, mostly over YouTube and Facebook. But I only got to meet them in person for the first time earlier this year at the Compete Nationals. I was very excited to learn they were taking the plunge into NASKA: Eric made his debut on Team Prorank this weekend. This is his creative weapon division from Friday night. Something familiar about the way he moves? Well there should be--he's another Matt Emig protege. Eric's good--and fast--but he's only 8, so you can bet he's going to get even better in 2012.

BONUS PICKS FROM TWIN TOWERS:
I attended this one only as a spectator, didn't bring a camera, and didn't stay for the night show. But there are two performances that certainly earned recognition here.

1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rNjfmPEkdE
Are you serious?! If I didn't know better, I would have assumed Jackson Rudolph's performance was rehearsed. Who can possibly think fast enough on their feet to do THIS after breaking their bo in half? It's not like he just threw a trick and then bowed out. He did a whole form with two half-bos! Crazy!

2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JhaGgsqhJI
Sammy Smith became only the third youth competitor this year to win double overall grands. (Amanda Chen and Micah Karns both did it at NEO, and Micah did it again at Twin Towers.) Her wins came after Jackson and Dallas both wowed the crowd in weapons and forms respectively, and I have no problem with an audience cheering wildly for their favorite. (See above.) But this audience BOOED Sammy--and that is unacceptable. To those of you who took part in this travesty, I can say only this: You should be ashamed of yourselves. Please do us all a favor, and do not show your faces at another NASKA tournament ever again. Sammy, don't let those poor excuses for human beings get you down. You get huge kudos for this rare achievement.

That's it for me this year--I will not be attending Miami. But watch out for my Top 20 of 2011 in the coming weeks!

Top Five from USCC

2011-08-11T10:43:00.000-07:00

How do you define success? Simply put, success is the act of achieving a desired outcome. So any person's particular definition of success will depend upon his or her goals.

Often, people come to NASKA after achieving some level of success somewhere else in sport karate--maybe a different organization, or a local tournament circuit. NASKA represents the next step--the most elite level of competition in the sport karate world. And in the beginning, the vast majority of newcomers find themselves placing third or fourth--or worse--against the best of the best. Such a competitor will usually set a goal of winning a particular division. Once that happens, the next goal is winning consistently, then winning runoffs, then making stage regularly, etc. But what happens when you reach the very top--when you're making stage all the time, or winning on stage all the time?

At some point, most people (both competitors and parents) fall into the trap of feeling they have to win EVERYTHING, all the time. In essence, they equate success with perfection; they may not consciously think of it this way, but that's what they're doing. No matter how many divisions or grands they win, they focus obsessively only on those they lost; it's as if the wins didn't even happen. And I've seen this happen at every level of competition--with those who are just starting to win divisions all the way up to those who are winning on stage all the time.

The trouble is that such competitors are never allowed to feel successful--either by themselves, or by their parents. And people NEED to feel successful to build future success. Imagine a kid first getting into basketball. If he or she NEVER gets the ball through the hoop, how long do you think that kid's going to keep playing? But when you make that first shot, you want more, so you build on that initial success and get better. It isn't the actual act of shooting the hoop that matters--it's the feeling that comes with it that makes the difference.

But perfection is UNATTAINABLE. It's like an asymptote in mathematics: you can move closer and closer to it, but never actually reach it. Look at Michael Jordan. He was arguably the best player in the history of basketball. Here's what he has to say about his own success: "I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed." Jordan was certainly not perfect.

I always like to use Micah Karns as an example from our own sport. He may be the most successful youth competitor we've seen in a generation. But is he perfect? Between 2010 and 2011, Micah has lost a CMX forms division only four times--once each to Tyrei Brown and Vincent Scarduzio in 2010, once to Tyler Powell AND Vincent earlier this year, and again to Vincent this weekend at USCC. He's lost overall grands only twice--to Danny Etkin at NEO 2010, and Mackensi Emory at USCC 2010. And he's lost the CMX forms runoffs only twice--at last year's Twin Towers, and USCC this weekend, both times to Vincent. Maybe not perfect, but close enough, you say?

What about his other divisions? Micah has won the runoffs for traditional forms at only 50% of the tournaments he's attended this year. And he's made it to stage for weapons only twice in 2011--he dropped once in overalls, and won the other time. Clearly, he's lost a lot in these divisions; his record is far from perfect. Still I don't think anyone would label Micah as "unsuccessful" in this sport. And yet using the (perhaps subconscious) definition of success that so many apply to themselves or their own kids, Micah's career would be considered a failure because those people would focus ONLY on the losses. Sounds crazy, doesn't it?

I can use my own team this weekend as another example. For the first time this year, we failed to win a single traditional division--except for Kaelyn. We got four competitors to stage, but won only a single overall grand championship. This would be a failure if we were shooting for perfection. But to my mind, getting four competitors to stage is a huge success, regardless of anything else. Add to that Jessica nailing her form, and Danny and Mackensi running their strongest stage forms of the year, and I'm thrilled with our results. We'll always work to improve, but this was certainly a successful weekend for the team.

Chasing perfection is a futile pursuit. And it removes all enjoyment from the journey. Always seek to achieve that next level, to constantly improve. But learn to enjoy the victories along the way--and allow yourself to feel them. It's like that half-full glass of water. Find ways to fill it the rest of the way as you savor the taste of success. If you focus only on the part that's empty, you're doomed to die of thirst.

Here are some of the victories I'm personally celebrating from the weekend.

1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pg7Ejyj2ME4
The Kahan Boys are local favorites at the US Capitol Classics. And they've been competing in the sync division together for many years. They've always been among my favorite competitors, and it's a real treat to see them as they don't make many tournaments these days. But they were still good enough to become the first team this year to beat JPM in sync forms.

2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMjAuEUCz-M
Vincent is the only competitor to beat Micah Karns in the CMX runoffs for the past two years. He did it for the second time this weekend, and went on to win the overall grands. There's no denying it, I take great personal pride in this victory; it's the second time in a row someone's come out of 100 Percent's summer camp to defeat Micah in competition--Mackensi did it last year in the overall grands. And this is a great example of what I'm talking about above--Vincent has been dominant in weapons this year, but lost every weapons division at USCC. But you'd better believe I'm counting the weekend as a success for Vincent.

3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAFImb-uJeE
Ross Kohnstam has long been one of my personal favorites. He's a great competitor and an awesome tricker. His double corks in his competition forms look effortless, and he's got some top-notch weapon work. He won the CMX weapons runoffs this weekend, making his second appearance on a NASKA stage this year.

4. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EBmBR-VjmE
Jackson Rudolph sets another great example of what I'm talking about in this article. After achieving crushing dominance for the majority of the season in CMX weapons, he's lost the runoffs at three of the last four tournaments. Yet he still found a path to ultimate victory this weekend, winning the overall grands with his traditional bo form for the first time this year.

5. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LubJVpgl7Y
Cole Eckert has made stage at nearly every tournament he's attended this year, for traditional forms, traditional weapons, or both. And after a wildcard win at the US Open, he made the ISKA stage as well. He has certainly achieved huge measures of success in my book. And this weekend he took the icing on the cake with his first overall grands win of the year.

6. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHCxuZ7ML1U
It's not often that someone blows me away with a creative form, but Tyler Powell managed to do it this weekend. He made it to runoffs with his creative form at the US Open as well, but unintentionally threw an extreme move right at the end. He made no such mistakes this time, and gave teammate Vincent a serious run for his money. Tyler ended up dislocating his elbow in the trick battle in the night show, so he's likely done for the year. But he sure went out with a bang!

I'll be taking a break from NASKA so won't make Dixie or Twin Towers. But look for the next Top Five at the Diamond Nationals!

Top Five from the ISKA World Championships

2011-07-24T06:38:00.000-07:00

The night show at the US Open is different from any other on the NASKA circuit. In fact, it's not part of NASKA at all--the overall grands finish up on Saturday afternoon. The finals that take place on stage are the ISKA World Championships, and the event is televised on ESPN2. This year, the initial selections for this competition were based on results from all the other NASKA tournaments leading up to the US Open, with one wildcard selected from the daytime competition at the Open.

But unfortunately, the youth competitors are no longer included in the ESPN show--they haven't been since 2008. While I understand that the shows are only so long, and there's only so much they can fit into two 30-minute blocks, the entire thing seems a little backwards to me. Most of the adults who made the ISKA stage are on teams that pay for their travel costs; and those who won earlier in the day also won prize money. The kids have to pay their own way (or their parents do) and they're not eligible for prize money. So all they get is their 60 seconds on stage. Given that they're the future of this sport, it would seem fitting to at least include them in the ESPN show.

I may not have any power to influence what happens at ESPN. But I do enjoy the freedom of speech. So this time, the Top Five is devoted exclusively to the kids.

1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcmzEVz9FTM
Danny Etkin has dominated the 13-under forms divisions this year, and made stage for forms more than any other 13-under male competitor. Prior to the Open, he was the only 13-under boy to win an overall forms grands--something he did twice. These accomplishments earned him his 2nd career appearance in the ISKA World Championships. And this time he won it all--in fact, he was the ONLY first-time ISKA winner in the entire night show. He was also one of only two youth competitors to compete in both forms and weapons, after winning the wildcard for weapons earlier in the day. (Sammy Smith also competed in both.) This performance clearly showcases his polish and "swag."

2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hjrCyjYQWQ
Micah Karns has become the Michael Jordan of sport karate. He's attended seven tournaments so far this year; he won the CMX forms runoffs, and the overall forms grands at EVERY one of them. He has truly been untouchable. And in addition to being ridiculously good, he's also incredibly consistent: he has yet to make a major mistake this entire year. Like Jordan, Micah's success has achieved proportions that eclipse nearly everyone else. Yet in the midst of all his other achievements, his second consecutive ISKA win certainly stands out.

3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OG6JGVZJmOw
After Micah, Jackson has unarguably been the next most dominant youth competitor this year. He's attended all ten NASKA World Tour events, and won the CMX weapons runoffs at eight of them. But he's undefeated in the overall grands, where he's gone 8 for 8. Jackson is part of the aptly-named team, Change the Game, and along with his teammates he has completely changed the game in the youth weapons competition, with his complicated spins and releases. After an extremely uncharacteristic drop in the runoffs on Saturday afternoon, Jackson came back strong to win his 2nd consecutive ISKA World Championship.

4. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3wmjv5qpz8
Micayla's had a bit of a rough year. She missed a few tournaments after an injury early in the season. And after a strong comeback, and an overall grands win at Gators, stumbled a bit from her usual consistency with drops at NEO and BOA. However her record this year was still strong enough to earn her a spot on the ISKA stage. Her CTG teammate, Connor Griffith, had his breakout performance earlier in the day, and beat her in the overall grands. But Micayla turned it on in the night show, and like Micah and Jackson, won her second consecutive ISKA World Championship.

5. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_OtK0kH_kA
The team demo competition on Friday afternoon was a mess: nearly every team had a major mistake, if not several. But when the smoke cleared, Team KIXXX, under the direction of Tyler Powell, had earned its first appearance on the ISKA stage. But Tyler is also a member of 100 Percent Performance. He literally walked off stage with his own team, changed uniforms, and returned seconds later with 100 Percent. In fact, the two teams had to coordinate their efforts to make sure Tyler was the first one to exit after the first performance, and the last one to enter for the second. Unlike Friday, both teams nailed their shows on stage, and Tyler became the first competitor in ISKA history to win both 1st and 2nd place in the same division. This is Team KIXXX's flawless performance on stage.

6. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qbYiKT29gI
The ONLY sync team (out of five) excluded from the ESPN show, Jessica Goldman and Vincent Scarduzio have been the audience favorites ever since their debut at the Quebec Open. Despite earning 9.99s from three of the seven judges, they were unable to edge out either of the JPM teams. But they stepped up their performance in the night show, and their new moves once again earned them very positive crowd reaction. ESPN may not have liked them, but they certainly earned the bonus pick in this edition of the Top Five.

Comment below and tell us what you think of these picks. Who would you have chosen? And look for our coverage of the US Capitol Classics, August 5th and 6th at Tournament News Online and ZenInc's YouTube channel!

First Female Tricker to Land a... What??

2011-07-20T05:28:00.000-07:00

Mackensi Emory landed a double cork at Loopkicks and many proclaimed her the first female to ever land the trick. Within a day or two, video surfaced of Casey Lesieur landing a gainer double full, and others claimed that SHE was the first female to do a double cork. So... Who gets the credit? I'm going to make a case for Mackensi. But a few caveats before I begin.

First, the trash-talking that goes on in this sport makes me sick. I'm not going to bash anyone here, and certainly not Casey. She's an incredible athlete and I actually think she also deserves credit for a "first," just a different one.

Second, people will accuse me of nitpicking or arguing about something in which I have no expertise, and both accusations are valid--to a point. I am NOT a tricking expert; far from it. But I am skilled at forming a logical argument. And as far as nitpicking goes, it's the nature of the beast. Little nuances or differences in how you throw a trick often make it a different trick. But this is important to decide. In any other sport you can look up a record--in mere seconds, you can search Google to see who landed the first quadruple jump in figure skating, or which baseball player has the all-time record for career home-runs. Establishing consensus about such things can only help legitimize tricking as a sport and help it gain recognition.

Lastly, people will say I'm biased. Kensi's on the sport karate team I help run. Well, guilty as charged, I guess. I am biased, and I do want to see Kensi go down in the "record books" as the first female to land a double cork. So read my argument and decide for yourself.

1. The Devil is in the Details

My first line of reasoning is that a gainer double full and a double cork are actually NOT the same trick. First of all, gymnasts have been doing gainer double fulls as beam dismounts for ages. Click here to see one from two years ago. That looks to me IDENTICAL to Casey's trick, except off a beam. Nobody ever called that a "double cork."

I recognize that the two tricks are similar--just as a raiz-gainer and a raiz-pop flash are similar. But those little differences make them different tricks. Casey gets fully inverted in her trick, as seen here:

While that's extremely cool, it's simply not something you see in a cork. Corks are slanted, and while they may approximate gainer fulls, they are not the same.

For further support of this argument, consider the setup. Casey throws this trick out of a cartwheel. If you search Google for "Cartwheel Double Cork" (with the quotation marks to make sure it returns the exact phrase) you come up with NO results. If you search for "J-step double cork," or "raiz double cork," (again with the quotation marks) you get THOUSANDS of results.

A cartwheel is simply not a setup trickers use for corks. But it IS a setup gymnasts use for gainer fulls. You can find loads of gainer double fulls thrown from a cartwheel on YouTube, used as dismounts from the balance beam. What you don't see are gainer double fulls thrown on the floor--which is exactly what Casey did.

I would actually suggest that Casey may be the first person--male or female--to land a gainer double full on the floor. Someone with much more knowledge of gymnastics would have to confirm this, but I cannot find footage of anyone doing this trick from any apparatus but a balance beam. And if this is true, it's exceedingly awesome--it's just not a double cork.

2. What Constitutes "Close Enough"?

The truth is Mackensi landed a double cork back in December of 2010. Click here to watch the video. In the first attempt, she clearly touches the mat with one hand. In the second, if you watch it frame-by-frame, it actually appears she doesn't touch the mat at all. There's no question these tricks aren't "perfect," but are they "close enough?"

I would argue that they ARE. In fact, I've been arguing this for six months. But Kensi wouldn't hear it. Last summer, when I posted one of her first boxcutter attempts, and declared her the first female to land the trick, she was lambasted on the Internet by people saying it wasn't really a boxcutter because she wasn't laid back enough--that in fact she'd thrown a swing-720. So Kensi has always been very careful to wait until a trick is "perfect" before claiming to have landed it.

However, if one insists that a gainer double full IS a double cork, then Casey's isn't perfect either. Look closely at the landing:

This is clearly under-rotated. If you're not going to count Kensi's December attempts because she gave the mat a high-five, then you certainly cannot count this, either. And this means Kensi's double cork at Loopkicks WAS the first one "landed" by a female. However, if you are going to say Casey's landing is "close enough" to count, then so was Kensi's back in December, and Kensi is still the first female to land the double cork.

In the end, I believe my first argument is the most relevant: double corks and gainer double fulls are DIFFERENT tricks. And if this viewpoint gains consensus, then we may have an awesome situation for the tricking record books. Because now we can claim that Mackensi Emory is the first female to land a double cork, AND Casey Lesieur is the first human being to land a gainer double full on the floor.

Now we just have to convince Ian Lane to write the actual record book...

Top Five from the US Open

2011-07-03T10:03:00.000-07:00

This time around, I'll be doing a double dose of the Top Five: one for the NASKA portion of the US Open, and another for the ISKA Night of Champions. We aren't allowed to post NOC footage until after the first ESPN2 air date on July 22, so my ISKA Top Five will wait until then. But there was plenty of excitement during the rest of the weekend, making these selections harder than ever.

I'll be doing a blog entry soon about perspective. Recently I've been finding more and more that competitors who are winning a lot feel like they're unsuccessful. Clearly this is a result of improper perspective, and I've got some thoughts on the matter. But this theme was relevant from a different direction this weekend. There were a couple of huge successes at this tournament that answer the question, "Why do we do this?" The answer is both exciting and inspirational. And while some seem to lose the ability to savor their own victories, two of these picks remind us that it's not the win itself that matters. It's the greatness that is achieved in striving to achieve the highest possible level that makes the effort worthwhile. And true greatness never comes easy; it takes dedication and commitment beyond what most will ever experience.

1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIitp-g_u4E
I can already tell you Connor Griffith's performance this weekend will be in my Top Ten of 2011, and likely on any top list of all-time I ever create. When I first started talking to Connor a few months ago, he was at his wit's end. He'd been told for years, "Your time will come." But it didn't feel like it was coming, and he was starting to believe it never would. In short, he was on the verge of losing hope. I could see his talent and potential and told him like so many others had that I believed he could become dominant. But it didn't matter what anyone said--it had to come from within. Connor had the skills, and the work ethic, and just needed the right state of mind going into competition. This weekend, everything finally clicked. Connor won creative weapons to make it into the CMX runoffs. Knowing he had to get through Jacob Pinto, Micah Karns and Vincent Scarduzio--and not believing he could--Connor felt he had nothing to lose. He pulled out all the stops and executed the form of his life. He won the runoffs, went on to win the overall grands--beating CTG teammate Micayla Johnson--and earned a wildcard spot on the ISKA stage. Yes, the kid who was ready to throw in the towel just a few months ago beat Jacob, Micah, Vinny and Micayla--some of the most dominant competitors the sport has ever seen--even when they all nailed their own routines. Connor is living proof to all those competitors with their own mighty struggles that ridiculously stubborn perseverance CAN pay off. This is Connor's performance in the CMX weapons runoffs, when his momentum really began to build.

2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8NpvpEkaTg
Carson Crawford's story this weekend proved just as powerful as Connor's. Carson's been very close to a big breakthrough for a long time now. He's another competitor who's done everything right, and "paid his dues." (Look for another upcoming blog entry about why "paying your dues" is a myth.) And his is also a story that is personally meaningful to me. Carson's mom, Lynn, is a truly great friend. She's always been incredibly helpful to me and the kids on my team. Being so close to them, I've WANTED to see Carson succeed so badly I could taste it. And as with Connor, it was only a matter of bringing everything together in just the right way. He went into the CMX forms runoffs knowing he had the potential to earn a wildcard spot on the ISKA stage. But he HAD to win the runoffs to make it possible. He not only won the runoffs, but went on to win his first-ever overall grands, beating both Sammy Smith and Amanda Chen--two extremely dominant forms competitors in the 13-under divisions. Carson certainly earned his spot on the ISKA stage Saturday night, and he did it with style. This is the video of his overall grands performance.

3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKGKHe-aJgk
Cory Lutkus and Nick Schneider's sync bo form is one of my favorite sync routines ever. It was one of the highlights of last year's Diamond Nationals. When I first saw Scott Cornelius at AKA Grands this year, and then heard that he'd be added to this legendary sync routine, I knew it was something I needed to see. They debuted at NEO a few weeks ago, but had a drop early in the performance. Not this time--they were on fire. This form didn't make it to stage, but still deserves recognition for its pure awesomeness. It is my sincere hope that these guys will do it again, and soon.

4. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UJ8d7aMou0
We haven't seen a whole lot of Audrie Donihoo since she moved to the adult divisions. And that's a shame--she's an awesome competitor in a sport that doesn't see many adult women stick with it. But she has done well when she has competed, and this weekend won the women's CMX weapons grands over Caitlin Dechelle and Becca Ross--no easy feat. This win also earned her a spot on the Night of Champions stage, where she went on to win her first-ever ISKA world championship. This is Audrie's performance in the CMX grands.

5. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_PuXMDUbdE
The way the numbers worked out, Matt Emig earned a spot for the ISKA weapons competition, but not for forms. This was stunning to many, as Matt's always been such a dominant competitor. But Matt's never one to back down from a challenge. He went into this weekend with a mission: to earn the wildcard spot for forms. And boy did he earn it. This is his performance in the musical forms division, which he won along with extreme forms. Matt also went on to win the ISKA forms championship. This is his musical form in Friday's division.

6. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzdk-u7_A3Q
I'm a big fan of Austin Jorgensen. I saw him for the very first time at last year's US Open, where he appeared on the ISKA stage. He made his debut this weekend as the newest member of Team Amerikick, and was widely expected to show up on stage again. Other wushu competitors ended up edging him out, but Austin still turned in some extremely impressive performances. This is his routine from the Chinese weapons division.

Check back after July 22 for part two of my US Open double dose--the ISKA stage was certainly not lacking inspirational performances of its own.

Youth Wildcards Finalized

2011-07-02T14:54:00.001-07:00

It was an exciting afternoon in the youth grands. After a rare drop by Jackson Rudolph, Danny Etkin won the boys CMX runoffs. He went on to outscore Carson Crawford in the overall grands, winning the wildcard for 13-under weapons on the ISKA stage.

Cole Eckert beat Micah Karns for the third time this year in the boys traditional forms runoffs. He then edged out AKA teammate Sarah Calande for the wildcard in 14-17 forms.

Connor Griffith won the 14-17 overall weapons grands, earning his wildcard spot in the same division tonight. And Carson Crawford won the 13-under overall forms grands, taking that wildcard position in the night show.

14-17 Girl Wildcard

2011-07-02T07:35:00.001-07:00

It'll be Sarah Calande against Jasmine Kitterman in the girls 14-17 traditional runoffs. One of them will have a shot at a wildcard spot. Jessica Goldman and Stephanie Figueroa will have to get through Dayna Huor in the CMX runoffs to be considered for a position. But it now looks like there WILL be a wildcard in this division.

Amanda Wins Trad Forms

2011-07-02T06:40:00.001-07:00

Amanda Chen has won her traditional forms division. There's a good chance she will win the 13-under wildcard in forms.

Wildcard Update

2011-07-02T05:16:00.001-07:00

With Friday competition behind us, ALL divisions have now been run except traditional forms. And the results have changed the landscape a bit for these wildcard candidates.

For the 13-under CMX divisions, Aidan Considine and Carson Crawford are the leaders for the forms wildcard. They'll face each other in the runoffs later today. Nothing has changed on the girls side; Amanda and Lady Jade will battle it out in traditional forms this morning. If Amanda wins, she'll certainly be the leader in the girls wildcard race.

Connor Griffith made it into the 14-17 weapons runoffs. I think the CMX wildcard there could come down to him and Micah, if either one of them can get through Vincent. And Jessica still has a great shot at taking a wildcard spot in CMX forms.

It'll be exciting to see how this all unfolds. Look for an update later today.

Trick Battle Cancelled

2011-07-01T06:55:00.001-07:00

The US Open promoters and Mike Chat decided not to include the trick battle in the ISKA night show because Anis and Danny aren't here. Only a few teams had registered for the event, and they were given the option of running the battle anyway, without a shot at stage, or getting their money back. Most had entered hoping for a shot at stage, so they opted for the refund.

Team demo will now be the first event of the morning, followed by sync. They have split sync into two separate divisions: weapons and empty hand. The top two teams from each division will advance to stage.

My Bets for Wildcards

2011-06-29T03:55:00.000-07:00

I personally like the way the initial selections were made for the ISKA Night of Champions this time around. Basing those picks on year-to-date results is the right thing to do, in my opinion. But it's also exciting to think about who might make those wildcard spots.

The 13-under weapons division will be tough. Sammy Smith, Amanda Chen and Jackson Rudolph have been so dominant in their respective divisions that it'll be difficult for anyone to get past them. But Jackson hasn't won the traditional runoffs for three tournaments now, and lost his very first CMX runoffs of the year at NEO. So it can be done. Carson Crawford, Dallas Liu and Alex Vecchio have each taken a win in traditional at the last three tournaments, Jake Presley did it back at Amerikick, and Dallas also won cmx at NEO. If anyone can get through Jackson, I think it'll be Carson for traditional and Dallas for CMX. On the girls side, Sage Sweeney earned her first traditional runoffs win in Atlanta. But Sammy's probably got the best shot of getting through Amanda--and she's already a lock for weapons. Either Lady Jade Miles or Kaelyn Whaley could have a breakthrough in CMX weapons, but nobody's beaten Sammy there all year.

We might be more likely to see a wildcard in 13-under forms. While Danny Etkin has been dominant with a total of 8 stage appearances over 9 tournaments, his wins have alternated between CMX and traditional. But he is the only boy who's had more than 2 stage appearances, and the only boy to win an overall grands in forms--which he's done twice. Austin Knuth, Jackson and Alex have all taken wins in traditional, and might do so again. And Dallas, Aidan Considine, Cody Sanders and Carson have each taken wins in CMX. Carson and Dallas probably have the best shots for the boys. But my bet is the wildcard will go to Amanda. She and Lady Jade have been trading runoffs wins all year; they're in division together and whoever's won there has gone on to make stage every time. It's been Lady Jade five times, and Amanda four. (Lady Jade's also done it in CMX.) On top of that, Amanda's also had two overall grands wins--something none of the other boys can claim.

14-17 forms will likely be as tough as 13-under weapons. Micah Karns, of course, has made it to stage for CMX at every tournament he's attended, and for traditional at all but two. It won't be easy, but either Vincent Scarduzio or Jacob Pinto could get through him in CMX, and Cole Eckert and Brendan Rasinski have a real shot in traditional. For the girls, Mackensi Emory has also been crushingly dominant since recovering from her injury earlier this year. She's won CMX at five of her last six tournaments. Other than her, Dayna Huor and Jessica Goldman have each won two CMX runoffs this year. Dayna's already a lock for forms because of her wins in traditional, so I'd say Jessica is the only girl who has a real shot. In traditional, Dayna's won every tournament she's attended but one. But Sarah Calande, Stephanie Figueroa and Jasmine Kitterman have all taken wins in this division as well. Any one of them could pull it off here.

The 14-17 weapons category has had the most variation so far this year, and may be the most likely division to see a wildcard win a spot on stage. Vincent is formidable in both CMX and traditional weapons. But if Micah hangs on to his weapon--something he's had trouble doing because of the insane difficulty of his big release move--he may well take the wildcard. Cole Eckert also has a real shot of doing it in traditional. I wouldn't count Austin Crain or Reid Presley out of this game, either. Austin made it to stage in Atlanta, and Reid did it twice earlier in the season. On the girls side, Mackensi is the only one who's made it past Micayla Johnson when Micayla hasn't dropped; she could do it again. And I think Jasmine Kitterman might take it in traditional.

For the adult divisions, the biggest omission has to be Matt Emig for men's forms. I'd strongly anticipate seeing Matt win a wildcard spot there. And let's not forget Austin Jorgensen. He was a huge sensation at the Open last year. If he shows up this time, he could very well win wildcard spots for both forms and weapons. On the women's side, Audrie Donihoo probably has the best shot in weapons. And Erika Dertinger may pull it off as well--she's looking very strong this year. But if there's anyplace we're likely to see someone completely unexpected come out of left field and earn a wildcard spot on stage, it's definitely in the adult divisions. The US Open truly attracts the best competitors from all over the world, so anything can happen.

How Youth ISKA Selections Were Made

2011-06-28T06:15:00.000-07:00

The selections for the youth competitors in this year's ISKA World Championship were made following a simple set of rules. There are four divisions for the ISKA Night of Champions: 13-under forms, 13-under weapons, 14-17 forms and 14-17 weapons. These match the divisions found in the Overall Grand Championships at every NASKA World Tour event. Therefore, points were tallied from the first nine tournaments in each division.

No distinction was made between traditional or CMX (creative/musical/extreme) divisions. So for example, Micah made it to stage four times for traditional forms, and six times for CMX forms. (In other words, wins in the divisional grand championships, a.k.a. "runoffs" are being counted here.) Points were assigned based on each tournament's rating: a win at a 4A earns 900 points, a 5A 1100 and a 6A 1500. The points for these stage appearances--e.g. runoffs wins--were added, yielding a total of 11,400 for Micah. Note that in cases where Micah won both the Traditional AND CMX forms runoffs at the same tournament, he earned the points from both.

These points were calculated for every competitor who made it to the overall grands this year. To be selected for ISKA, a competitor had to meet three criteria. First, he or she had to have a minimum of three stage appearances. Second, he or she had to be the #1 or #2 boy or girl in terms of point totals in a given division. And finally, he or she had to be in the top three overall, regardless of gender. (The fourth spot in each division was reserved for a "wildcard," to be determined at the Open itself.)

Using 13-under forms as an example, Danny earned 9200 points. No other boy made more than two appearances on stage for 13-under forms. For the girls, Sammy was in the lead with 8100 points, and Lady Jade was in second with 7300 points. These three had the highest point totals for 13-under forms, thus they were the selections for ISKA. The same method was implemented in each of the other three divisions as well.

Because the selections were made by rules, the choices were actually determined by the end of the Battle of Atlanta, two weeks prior to the US Open. My hope is that this system will be used again next year, and publicized well in advance. Ideally, competitors, coaches, parents--and fans--will be able to track results starting at the first tournament in 2012. As the results come in from each tournament, progress can be tracked for each competitor throughout the season. In the end, this should give us 100% predictability, removing any mystery from the process.

Adults selected for ISKA

2011-06-27T20:03:00.000-07:00

Yesterday they announced the youth competitors for this year's US Open / ISKA Night of Champions. And tonight the adults have been announced.

Follow this link to read the full story!

Heading to the US Open

2011-06-27T15:20:00.001-07:00

I leave early Wednesday morning for Orlando to attend the 2011 US Open / ISKA World Championship. I'm excited that the youth competitors for the night show have been announced in advance this year. (If you haven't done so yet, you can read about this on Tournament News Online.)

And I can't wait to see who lands those wildcard spots!

Beginning with this tournament, I will be posting my Top Five to this blog instead of directly to Facebook. But I've got lots more to say beyond the Top Five. And from now on, you'll be able to read it all here.