There was few great international HMB-tournaments in Finland in period of the end of the summer and at the beginning of the autumn. “Vanaja tournament”-2016 was one of them. HMBIA News have already written about the tournament and now we want to publish the participant`s review about this event. We asked Nick Møller Pedersen, participant from Norway, to tell us his impressions:
“I arrived on Thursday night, Anni Hiro picked me up at the airport. She was my host during my whole stay, (thanks a lot Anni, you are great). Anni is one of the finnish female fighters, and a captain. The whole friday we spent in Anni’s workplace where I sorted out some of my armor, again, thanks for the help Anni.
So on tournament day, we arrived on time and some of the finnish fighters were already there. a fighter’s hall was provided for us where we could leave our stuff and change. I was about to meet my opponent Teemu Juvakka in the pro fight. We were actually in the same team in the “5vs5″. The venue itself was good, the stadium was in the middle of the yard of the castle and benches was around the stadium for spectators to view, also the spectators could sit on the hill on one of the stadium sides. Everything looked quite good.
They also provided a fighter’s area where we could sit and relax, all around us were medieval tents with traders, so all in all there was a good atmosphere.The tournament started and Polearm competition began, which was also a sign for me and Teemu to get ready as we were the first pro fighters to compete. I was a bit nervous since it was my first time, but it was also Teemu`s first pro fight. I didn’t know what to expect. we started and it turned out that I had better stamina and was more technical in my hits which turned out to be a great advantage.
The fight itself, well you can find it on youtube. I ended up winning 45-28 which was a good domination I would say. “5vs5″, I was put on Jyvaskyla team which as I mentioned before also had Teemu on. This was a good thing because I had already known how he fights. I would say we did quite okay and it was fun fights and I enjoyed myself. The russian team (PLK) was of course the winners, they are the team which I feared, well because they are Russians. But after I fought them my nerves calmed down because I realized that they are not superhumans. Good fighters yes, with a lot of hard hits and good stamina. Thanks PLK for the experience.
My team got 3th place and I`m happy about it. 2 medals in one tournament is a fair enough result I would say. The organization team was also quite good. I was informed when needed and taken care off. Oh and great sponsorship by the Beef Jerky company. that was delicious
