By Cardell "Cheppelle" Thomas
Some of you have read about GVN from the Perfect Legend recaps, yeah yeah I was there too :). Honestly, I had been looking forward and planning for this tournament for a while. Placing 2nd at the last tournament this month was a nice accomplishment, but this would be the place to play. This is where so many of the players who I admire and play against in CGS would be. With the Combine coming up, it was important to show the progress I had made through all those sleepless nights playing.

Sometimes, tho, things don't go as planned. Right off the bat, the start of this tourniment was a very hard for me.


Very first match, Rikuto Caught me off guard with a very aggressive Bayman, sweeping me (2-0).

...

After this loss, for a minute, my world almost instantly came crashing down on my in my mind. It felt as if I had lost all hope, not only of winning in this tournament, but my career as a Dead or Alive player all together.

I went into the bathroom and spent a moment feeling sorry for myself. (I totally didn't cry, and if anyone tells you I did, they are a lying fool.) Anyway, like i was saying -- lol -- after coming out of the bathroom to face the real world again, I ran into Dave Geffon, who came up to me and said "What the f--- is sitting around moping going to do? You know your game. Get out there and play. Pick yourself up and spin like a top."

The guy at least made me laugh a bit, but in my mind all was still a bit lost.

All of the sudden, the man who taught me how to play DoA and Ayane all together, my Sensei, Silent Legend, took me outside and gave me his MP3 player.

"Listen to this track for a minute and thirty seconds." he said. "While your listening don't let anything destract you while you listen. Imagine an Ayane beat-down."

Getting ready to stand up for one last go in the tournament, I did what he said, and listened and visualized and as I did a feeling came over me that is very hard to describe. My doubt in myself and the tourniment had gone away now, and it was time for me to stand up like my invisioned Ayane and fight.

I went back in and went on the winning streak of my life all the way up to NinjaCW, a very good gen Fu who trained with Tom Brady in VA for a month. The match was intense and it went down to the wire with NinjaCW winning (3-2). In retrospect, I feel I spent too much time training to beat Offbeat, since we never actually faced off, however, the come back for me meant taking 4th place in GVN.

My mind feels solid and so is my game. I am hungry for competition, and I hope things at the Combine go the way I want, and I get my OptX family back, but all I can do now is play my game and wait along with every other player in CGS.