Competitions have always been my favorite thing to do. I love to go to the tournaments and show everyone my form and the sparring of course. Competitions are very intense though, there's one thing you should know; in every tournament, you will get injured. Some people don't have control when they're fighting because of their adrenaline. Which means, you need to be able to take control of the fight.
When I go into a fight I get so excited. The one thing I always do is black dot focus. And that is, if you focus on someones solar plexus, then you are able to see any movement they make on their body. And in a fight, that is very efficient. When I'm fighting in a tournament I like to focus on their moves before I think about countering. What I mean is, I like to figure them out so it's an easier win.
When I'm fighting, I never stop moving. I'm always switching up my foot positions, and tricking them out so they don't know where to go. Nic taught me if someone has length on you, you stop front kick them and keep pushing them back while throwing hands on them. At my dojo there aren't many young girl competitors...which means we don't really fight girls ever. But when I fight girls it's normally my karate friends. I like fighting the guys though, because my friends I have been training with the trainers and the trainer's friends...so honestly, it's kind of easy.
I've been fighting in ever since I was seven years old. I remember the first time I ever competed in a tournament. I was an orange belt and I took second place in forms (Kata) and 4th in sparring (Kumite). I've always had this fire inside me, and I'm always been ready for a fight. I've been gettin' more self assured than I've ever been before. Plus nobody picks on me anymore, I done put a stop to that, threw my first punch- end of story.And that's what karate brings me...confidence, security, and discipline. I used to have hard time with everything when I was younger. But as I grew, and as I got more comfortable with my strength, I finally just thought to myself...why not explore the dark and find the light in it? Because the way I see it, everything is always gonna be complex...but if you can find the light or be your own light then everything just so happens to fall into place for you. And that's what karate did for me.
That's why I'm recommending karate or some sort of self-defense for you guys, because the real world is horrible. And if you can't defend yourself or believe in yourself then it's gonna be a difficult obstacle. Well, I'm not saying self-defense will solve all your issues, but most of them. If you go around showing everyone that you're not afraid the wise become curious, interested and then take time to invest in you. Also, knowing where you stand is important as well because if you don't know where you stand then people will take advantage.
No matter how nice people might have made everything seem, when you take a step back and look at reality you learn for yourself that not everything and not everyone is so nice. And like I've said before...knowing that you're strong enough to push through a complex situation, a difficult fight, a bad day... etc., you eventually figure out that you're strong enough for the next obstacle coming your way. And each time you complete a complex obstacle, you get stronger than you were before. So if you let that sink in for a little bit....maybe you'll give it a try.
