All About The Rice: MS and Medals

As regular readers of this blog will know, Kevin's Heroes has participated in the Tri Cities Walk for MS since 2005. Unfortunately, this year Bradyn and I had a conflict with the official MS Walk date.

Instead of participating in the official walk on Sunday May 15, Bradyn and I walked the 5 km course on Saturday morning. The wonderful part is that this year, Kevin did the walk with us. Not only that, Bradyn’s friend Alexander and his parents, Terry and Raluca, also joined us. The weather was a gorgeous 24 degrees and we had a lovely time visiting while enjoying the beautiful West Coast scenery. There might also have been a trip to Rocky Point Ice Cream afterwards (for the kids!).

On Sunday morning, Dallas and Ita represented Kevin’s Heroes at the official Tri Cities MS walk. I won’t deny that I felt twinges of guilt upon waking Sunday morning because I was going to miss the walk. However, those feelings were alleviated quite a bit by 10:30 am – more to come on that.

I’ve seen a few photos of the walk on Facebook, and wish that Bradyn and I could have been there because I know the love and energy we would have felt. Being at the walk always humbles me and reminds me just how lucky we are to have the opportunity to band together with a wonderful community brought together by the MS Society. This year, Kevin’s Heroes raised $4,565, bringing our 12-year total to $72,134!! Although we may not have been awarded the Tri Cities Walk Top Fundraising Team this year, I am so proud of our fundraising efforts. Every dollar counts in the battle against MS and contributes towards the life-changing research and resources for Kevin and the hundreds of thousands of Canadians living with MS. Thank you so much to Dallas, who is always the team’s top individual fundraiser, and who graciously stepped in as this year’s team captain in my absence.

The reason Bradyn and I completed our 5 km MS walk on Saturday is because on Sunday morning, Bradyn competed in the West Coast Combat Championship tournament in Maple Ridge. This was Bradyn’s 4^th submission grappling tournament in the 11 months she has been training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ), and her first as a yellow-white belt. To date, Bradyn has had several hard-fought draws, but has never won a tournament fight. In her very first match Sunday morning, Bradyn secured her first tournament win by armbar submission! I can’t even express the pride and love I felt for our ‘little’ girl in that moment. The ear-to-ear smile on Bradyn’s face was priceless. All of her hard work and training paid off. I didn’t think my heart could be any bigger. I was wrong. Although Bradyn had 2 losses and a draw after her win, the sportsmanship she displayed made me just as proud as I was about her win. At the end of the round robin BJJ (Gi) Submission tournament, Bradyn was awarded the Gold medal for her division! I literally thought my heart was exploding in my chest. I still remember the ‘pop’ feeling and the adrenaline high. Too much. After the BJJ tournament, Bradyn fought best 2 out of 3 rounds with one other competitor for the No Gi Submission Grappling Competition. The first 2 matches went to the 3 minute time-limit. The 3^rd match ended in Bradyn tapping out to an armbar. Bradyn received a Silver medal to add to her collection. 2 medals in one day! Unbelievable! Here are some photos of our amazing day on Sunday.

Love this photo.... little did we know she was warming up her spot while she was waiting for the tournament to begin.

At one point in her first match, you could distinctly hear Bradyn's opponent say "Oh no you don't" when she was trying to put a submission hold on him. But she kept trying, until it worked for her.

Bradyn submitted him with an armbar!

Although the video of Bradyn's first official tournament win is too large to upload here, Kevin accidentally hit the stop recording button but quickly recovered to catch the ref announce Bradyn as the winner - just look at that smile!!

Cheering on her team - with passion.