Tull’s Olympics dreams still alive

National men’s beach wrestling champion Lemar Tull is not giving up on his dreams of one day qualifying for the Olympics.

The talented martial artist who is versed in Sanda, Muay Thai, boxing and also beach wrestling for which he is the number one ranked in the 70kg class, said that he realised the kind of hard work, dedication and discipline it would take to achieve his Olympic dream.

The 33-year-old who has represented Barbados well on the international stage over the years and has several accolades to show for it, said he would not rest until he arrives in national colours on the biggest stage of them all.

Like many of Barbados’ top athletes, Tull is

happy that the restrictions have eased so he can get back out and train. Even better, he will be able to get back out and possibly take part in a few local tournaments as the government last night granted permission for sports to resume on the island but without spectators.

In an interview with Barbados TODAY, Tull explained it hadn’t been easy during the national lockdown because of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

“It has been challenging not being able to prepare especially during the lockdown. It has been pretty hard but I still managed to keep myself active and fit. Coming out of the lockdown, since some restrictions have been eased I have been able to get back into running to keep preparing for upcoming competitions,” he said.

Undoubtedly one of the best combat athletes on the island, Tull has certainly delivered for his country. At the 2018 United States of America Open Martial Arts Championship, Tull represented Barbados in sanda and won gold. He later defended his title in 2019 at the same competition and repeated as champion. In 2017 he brought home silver from Orlando, Florida after a wonderful performance at the International Chinese Martial Arts Championship in sanda. The Pan American Wushu Championship held in 2017 in Texas also saw Tull earning bronze.

There were a couple of international tournaments he was expected to be part of this year but these got cancelled or postponed because of COVID-19. Among those was the Pan American Beach Wrestling Championship in Barbados. That was scheduled for last month but got postponed for a later date. This would have been his first outing for Barbados at the Pan American Beach Wrestling event.

Tull was also expected to make a trip to New York for kickboxing later this year followed by a Muay Thai competition. But with those plans pushed back and no updates given as yet, he is uncertain how the remainder of the year will go.

“All plans have been pushed back and I have not been updated per se by coaches. So what I am basically doing is focusing on keeping fit while still working,” he explained.

Explaining how he manages Sanda, boxing and beach wrestling, Tull said: “My main thing is sanda which incorporates all three types of combat. So, in preparing for the beach wrestling, that lends itself to the wrestling aspect of sanda, in preparing for beach wrestling I am preparing for sanda. In terms of boxing that also lends itself to sanda because you have to be able to box well.

“All of it works in unison. They kind of gel together. The three combat sports that I do, they all gel together to make up the full sanda fighter. So there are three different dimensions to my game and it all lends itself to keeping fit as well. Boxing is a lot of fitness and movement, changing angles and being able to shift and control the body movements a lot better.

“Muay Thai allows me to do the kicking and get the actual correct form of kicking technique. It is not as difficult as it sounds because all three of the different sports blend. It is just a matter of knowing the rules for each and they are not that different when it comes to standard rules,” he said.

In February this year, Tull competed in Muay Thai and won the fight by knockout when he competed in Martinique. Calling it one of his best fighting experiences, Tull said: “I take all the experiences I had overseas and every competition as an opportunity for growth. That was a really good opportunity to grow especially since in Muay Thai I don’t use the knees as often. But it is good to learn and see how the knees are actually applied in terms of that competition.

“Also, seeing the atmosphere and how the people in Martinique really come out and support one another and the actual event was really good and enjoyable.”

On his return to Barbados, Tull featured in the Ronald Wilson Boxing Classic held February this year and was victorious.

Despite feeling disappointed that he is unable to compete at this time, Tull is taking everything in stride and said he was looking forward to the future.

“I take everything in stride. I look forward to the future. So, I am taking it one step at a time, looking forward to what will come next and keeping myself ready and prepared to go when that time comes. Yes, it is hard but at the same time I am still motivated and still confident that things will resume to some semblance of normalcy so I can get back out there and compete to the best of my ability,” he said.

morissalindsay@barbadostoday.bb