My Experience at the 2010 Gay Games

from the November, 2010 issue of Kiai!

by Erin Marks

In early August, my partner Ellen and I competed in the martial arts competition of the 8th Gay Games in Cologne, Germany. After months of preparation, I returned with two medals, a black eye and my first few hours of international mixed-style competition judging experience. After competing in the Chicago Games in 2006, I felt fortunate to be able to travel to Germany to compete again this year. I’m grateful to Kyoshi Sarah who helped me with my musical form, Sensei Wai’s Monday night sparring classes that probably kept my injuries to a black eye instead of a broken rib, and to Ellen's support and more importantly, her German skills.

From the minute we arrived in Germany, I could’ve sworn the Gay Games had taken over the whole country. The guy sitting next to us on the plane was competing in the Games, and one of the organizers of Team Chicago was on the train platform with another group of participants as we departed from Frankfurt to Cologne. In reality, it turns out that we had only taken over Cologne, and that is no exaggeration. By the time we had made it through the Games registration and reached our hotel that first night, we had met and seen competitors from all over the world. The next day began with some sightseeing, and again, from the train to Cologne Cathedral to a random bratwurst stand, we saw Gay Games badges (which also doubled as free train passes) everywhere.

That night was the opening ceremony. I have to admit that running onto Soldier Field as an athlete instead of a fan during the 2006 Gay Games opening ceremony in Chicago was a major part of what made me want to compete again in Cologne. This year’s ceremony at RhineEnergie Stadium was the same once in a lifetime experience that I’ve now gotten to do twice. The Gay Games Cologne website estimates that 10,000 participants from 70 countries marched onto the field that day to be greeted by fans and cheerleaders. The Thai team outclassed all of us all with their "team uniforms," and I was impressed with the sheer numbers and obvious enthusiasm of the group from Cologne.

The beginning of the ceremony was tense as the German Minister of Foreign Affairs took a moment to acknowledge the Love Parade tragedy that days before had resulted in the deaths of 19 people in nearby Duisburg. By the end of his speech however, the celebratory mood had returned and everybody cheered the seemingly never-ending all-star lineup of speakers and performers. Highlights for me were a performance by a samba percussion group and some fire jugglers. The headliner of the evening was a performance by Taylor Dane who sang the anthem of the Cologne Games, "Facing A Miracle".

The next day, Ellen and I made our way to the "smallest brewery in Cologne" for a meet up organized for all the martial arts participants. Proving that it really is a small world, we met Heather, a Thai boxer from the San Francisco bay area who trained briefly at Hand to Hand Kajukenbo. It was Heather’s first Gay Games, and her partner Daniela was there to support her. We also met Gabriele and Barbara, a couple from Cologne who were both competing in forms. What I really appreciate about the Gay Games are events like these meet ups that make the competition much less about who wins or loses, and more about participating together.

Weapons forms kicked off the first morning of the competition. Since this was my second Gay Games and I was a black belt (and I volunteered), I spent the entire day judging. Although judging was hard, I got the best seat in the house for some impressive forms. Among my favorites was a self-titled form "Bad Day at the Dog Park" performed with two tennis ball throwers, and a karate fan form that captured everyone’s attention.

The empty hand forms that followed were equally strong. If there were a spirit award, it would have gone to the kung fu team from GLMA in Sydney, Australia. This large group of all beginner and intermediate students and their teacher took home a large share of the day’s medals. I wasn’t very happy when I wound up judging my two new German friends, but they performed well, and I was able to give them high scores. What came next was even worse as I realized I wouldn’t be able to get out of judging Ellen’s group. This group of women black belts was probably the best group of the entire competition. I wasn’t able to give Ellen the highest score, but I thought she deserved it for doing the best job I’ve ever seen of covering up a mistake. See if you can spot it here.

Next came musical forms, and it was my turn to be judged. I hate performing solo, but I have in the Gay Games because I love the fact that musical forms are included in the competition. They’re so much fun to watch, and everyone gets to be creative. Of course, I wanted to win, but as my form came to an end, I was extremely pleased because I performed it exactly the way I wanted to. When I found out later that I had won the bronze medal, it was just icing. You can see a video of my form here.

After an exhausting day, it was time to go out and have some fun. Our new friends Gabi and Barbara were gracious hosts and led us around Cologne. We ended up at the "Gay Games Village" at Rudolfplatz. The Games organizers had set up two large street festival-type areas with food, vendors and stages. Even though it was a Tuesday night, the area was packed with both tourists and locals. We got to see the Cologne gay cheerleading team perform along with a bunch of other local favorite acts.

The next morning I found myself judging again, this time for sparring. Although many of the competitors were unused to point-style sparring, everyone was respectful of the rules. There were few contact errors, no disqualifications, and all-around good fights. When it was my turn to spar, I was in the middle of judging a round, so I got a bye, which counted as a win for me. This meant that after winning only one round, I found myself in competition for the gold. That round started with a hook kick in the eye for me, and ended with me getting one point to my opponent’s four. It was still a silver medal, so I considered myself very lucky. Watch me get kicked in the eye (and then the rest of the round) here: .

Even though the self-defense competition was that afternoon and there were more seminars the next day, Ellen and I were done. I couldn’t really watch or participate anymore with an ice pack on my eye. Since it was my first time in Germany, we had some more sightseeing to do. We also had front row tickets to the ballroom dancing competition (which was amazing). I had a great time competing, judging, and watching the Games in Cologne, and I’m looking forward to participating again in Cleveland in 2014.