Inviting chops and kicks had good reason to come a touch more forceful than usual, all amid a bitter cold Launceston that wound the Australian Karate Federation national championships up.
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It just proved one novel way of keeping warm.
Even tournament director Garth Hall, a Railton local, could see the funny side as the nation's best exponents of the martial art turned up the heat in the Silverdome.
"We had a lot of complaints about the cold," Hall said.
"We did hand out hand warmers and we also had diesel heaters going, so we did our best for them."
That, at least, is where the cold reception ended.
It was the first time that Launceston - and just the third time Tasmania - hosted the national championships.
"There has not been a better one and I am not just saying that. It wouldn't be just my opinion, but my opinion is that it has been great, just fantastic," Hall said.
"I certainly haven't seen a better venue for it, either.
"Launceston's Silverdome is just such a fantastic venue."
That did not surprise Hall.
The medal winners on the final day will be among the bona fide contenders to head to Tokyo next year for karate's debut at the Olympics.
"It was the open events on the last day," he said.
"So it is very hard to pick up medals, especially with injuries and things like that.
"Generally, most competitors are carrying some sort of niggle. It was still a very exciting day of competition.
"The final men's team event came down to the last fight, so that in itself was an exciting way to end."
The hosts finished fifth on the medal table, pulling more medals than South Australia.
"From a competitive point of view, everyone in the state improved; everyone competed very well," Hall said.
"That is in terms of team spirit, in terms of medals won and it wasn't just about the medals won or not.
"Everyone who didn't get a medal, their performance on the mats were full of personal bests, so we can say everyone performed very well."
TASSIE'S HEROES
GOLD: T'Meika Knapp
SILVER: T'Meika Knapp, Finlay Rossiter-Hill, Annalise Beechey
BRONZE: Matilda Andersson, Alec Slamen, Annalise Beechey
Andrew Mathieson
The day I realised I wasn't good enough to play for St Kilda or be the No.1 spinner for Australia was when I realised journalism was the closest I could come to follow my passion for sport. And it's not just about the scores for me. It's the back story behind the game.
The day I realised I wasn't good enough to play for St Kilda or be the No.1 spinner for Australia was when I realised journalism was the closest I could come to follow my passion for sport. And it's not just about the scores for me. It's the back story behind the game.
