Naomi Ali née Wood
This is the first woman to ever perform the 100-man kumite. Not only that, she was also the first woman to do the 50-man kumite! Here are the details in the words of Shihan Gary Viccars, as reported in the August 2004 edition of the AKKA Newsletter SHIN:
The big day arrived (July 4th, Castellozorian Club, Anzac Parade, Kingsford, Sydney) and from the moment you walked in the air was just electric. Consider the quality of the fighters present: Shihan John Taylor, 8th Dan, Sensei Ritchie Saunders, 4th Dan, Sensei Glenn Gibbons, 4th Dan, Sensei Jim Sklavos 3rd Dan and Sensei Robert Lauretti, 3rd Dan as well as 15 other black belts. Naomi weighs just 60kg and 17 of the 20 fighters weighed much more than that. After I arrived I was honored to be asked to be the official adjudicator and my job description was to
* ensure that all fighters were conducted under I.K.O. rules
* that the rounds were 1 and ½ minutes each
* that the fighting was spirited
* that there were no undue or excessive breaks from fighting
* that the next fighter was ready and waiting and
* that Naomi had adequate opportunity for hydration.
1.02 pm and the fighting commenced. From the outset it was obvious that this was going to be a very hard day at the office for Naomi. Initially the crowd was not vocal and for about the first 30 fights things were fairly quiet. Naomi was giving a good account of her and was continually pushed to the edge by her opponents.
The crowd started to come to life from 30 fights in and the shouts and screams of encouragement were becoming more frequent and higher on the decibel scale. Naomi reached the 50 marks and I gave her 2 minutes to change her gi. She had previously completed the 50 man kumite so this position was not new to her. However, as I announced to the crowd, whatever happened from this point forward was a new frontier where no woman had gone before.
For the next 10 fights Naomi seemed a bit flat and was pushed very hard and some of us had doubts about whether she could go the distance. However, all of a sudden she seemed to get her second wind and she went into the “zone”. Those of us who have been in the zone will no what I am talking about. It is that place where you are on your own and you know in your heart you can do it because everything bad has already happened to you and you can take it and get through it. You become unaware of your surrounding, even of the people supporting you and your opponent. You just know all you want to do is keep fighting.
All of a sudden we were at fight number 80 and it seemed that there came upon the crown and everyone present a realization that she was going to get there. The emotion started to come out, the noise level went up considerably and all the black belts were there urging her on. It reminded me of Kieren Perkins famous swim in Mexico where everyone knew they were witnessing something special and even the supporters of the other swimmers were cheering for Perkins.
Naomi was off in a World of her own and everytime she hit someone (yes she was still hitting hard) the crowd screamed for more. And then we were at 90 fights and everything lifted. The tempo of the fights, Naomi’s attacks, the noise level of the crowd.
She was injured and hurting severely (later it was confirmed she had broken fingers and toes) but she was not going to be denied. And then all of a sudden Shihan Taylor was standing in front of her for the 100 fight. He gave her the rounds of the dojo but she continued to attack and actually hit him with a couple of good shots.
At 4.10pm it was over and pandemonium broke lose. The noise level was just indescribable. I looked around and here were all the big, tough black belts with tears in their eyes. Naomi was almost unconscious on her feet; she could hardly talk and was severely disoriented. Apart from the broken bones, she was passing blood (however, it was later confirmed that everything was OK).
Everyone I spoke to that day (after the event) was just so proud to have seen it and been a part of it. July 4, 2004 the day Naomi Ali became immortal (everlasting, not able to fall into oblivion). It is doubtful we will ever see anyone else attempt this in our lifetimes and anyone who does will be following the path that Naomi blazed.
What a day, what an event and what a fighter. We truly saw the best at her best and we were privileged to be there.
Naomi is a surgical nurse at Sydney's St Vincent's Hospital.
