Hey everyone. These past couple weeks have been so crazy. I know that there might not be as many people paying attention to the posts anymore but I'm going to keep doing this until I get my black belt hopefully. The blog for me is really fun because I love to write. I write music and books and poetry all the time and when I thought about writing for karate that would probably be as fun. So thanks to anyone who participates in it.
So, the tournament. It was at Sequoia Middle School and it was hosted by Mr. Scott Halsey. My Sifu, Mr. Myrtle trained with Scott Halsey for many years. We show up around 10:30 AM to register and get our hands stamped so the judges know who is a competitor and who isn't. I just got my new GI and I just put the patches on it too so it looked very professional.
They had like 9 rings I think. The tournament always has the little kids do their forms and spar first so they can get it out of the way and everybody else can do their thing. There were a lot of little kids there, you'll always see little kids who already have higher belts than you do but you know. I was stationed in ring 6. 14-17 division. Normally, there are 3 Divisions; Beginning, Intermediate, and Advanced. The Beginning Division is 1 year or less, the Intermediate Division is 2-4 years, and the Advanced Division is 5 years and up.
There were only two divisions in our ring though because there were not very many people. Just Beginning and Advanced divisions, so it went by pretty quick with the forms. Everybody did a good job and the whole time I was just counting down how many people until it was my turn to perform...I was so excited to show the judges that I came to win. The person who was before me was almost done so I stood up and got myself presentable for the Judges so it wouldn't take a lot of time for me to perform. Then they called my name.
I turned around quickly but sharp, I walked down the isle straight with my head up and made a sharp left turn and walked to the middle of the ring and bowed into the ring and to all the people I'm competing against, and of course the Judges. I walked all the way up to the judges and bowed and got into my formal horse stance and said... "Judges, My Name is Chloe Lane, I do Kenpo Karate at Northwest Martial Arts. My instructor is Professor Alan Myrtle, the form I will be doing today is Long Form 2 & Short Form 3 right side . With your permission...may I begin?"They nodded and told me to continue.
I bowed to them again. I never turned my back to the judges, but I walked back and bowed again did my long greeting to them and bowed again. Then I got into my stance and did my form. When I was doing my form I could see everyone looking at me from every angle in the room. My kiai brought attention throughout the whole tournament. I've never puked in my life but I felt sick to my stomach when I noticed.
My performance didn't exactly go how I thought it would. I accidentally messed up a little bit but I played it off so well that nobody even noticed. After I got done with my form I yelled "Judges!" and got low into a formal horse stance until they told me I could stand up. I took first Place.
After we got our trophies we rushed to get our sparring gear on and get water too. I got all my gear on and ran back over to the ring. The Advanced Division sparred first. They called my name and I was on the red side and my opponent was on the white side. The judges have red and white flags and when a point is called they throw up which color they saw get a point.
We bowed to the judges and each other and stood across each other. I never lost eye contact with my opponent the whole time. The judge yelled "Fight!" and we danced. ;) My opponent was a boy named Matt who was a big dude. He threw a couple punches and I dodged them and hit him in the ribs and the head, and then I round housed him in the solar plexus. They called break and gave me a point. He started to run at me immediately as the Judge yelled fight again. So I jumped in the air and knife edged him in the stomach. They called break and gave me another point.
I couldn't get hit, because if I land one more point I win and I can move on faster. So I used my black dot focus, and I moved around quickly and threw stop kicks and back knuckles. And I won match. I got about a two minute break before my next match. It was with a kid named Brandon, he is a blue belt.
We bowed in and started the match. I was waiting back ready for him to throw on me so I can counter. We moved around and he threw punches and I striked back. I got the first point but he got the next. It started get very intense. He hit me in the face a lot really hard but that wouldn't stop me. I was so focused and ready to show everybody what's up.
I got the next point after that with a kick to the stomach and multiple punches to the ribs. It was 3-3 and the time keeper called time, which meant...sudden death. The next point wins. They yell fight and we move around so fast throwing punches but dodging them at the same time. He came in and I stop kicked him and he pushed my leg after and came to punch me very hard in the eye. The Judges called break...but I was so mad. So I ran at him and he backed up and I started throwing hands and all the Judges stood in front of me to stop me so I stopped.
They called contact, which means that the point Brandon had was an illegal hit in. But they gave me the point for the stop kick and the punches to the head before he hit me. So I won that match, Brandon and I shook hands.
They had me fight immediately after that with a girl named Lexi. I was so mad and I was just ready to take my first place home. We bowed and I ran in and punched her in the ribs and the head and she fell. She got up and I got the point. They yelled fight and she ran at me but I dodged her and I jumped in the air and kicked her in the chest. I got the point and then it was the last one again so I couldn't get hit. She bowed and I got into my fighting stance and kiai'd loud to scare. We moved around and she threw one punch and I ran in and threw multiple and they called it. So that's it, huh? I finally showed you all who I am.
I took two first places at the tournament. Now we're back at the dojo and we're working for the next one in July! I'm gonna be starting college too and I'm taking a weight training class so I can be a lot stronger than I am right now. I'm so ready for this. I'll post all the pictures I have from the tournament and I'll show you guys my trophies. I'm gonna record a video of my form and add a link into my next post so you guys can get a visual on what I'm doing. I hope you guys enjoyed it, I'm going to keep doing this so check in every once in a while and see whats been going on. Thanks guys!
