3 posts tagged “competition”

This past weekend, our dojo hosted our annual Traditional Tournament. This tournament differs from every other tournament in that it's closed, correctness counts, it's little more relaxed and the judges are BRUTAL. If you've read some of my previous posts, you're aware that I wasn't looking forward to competing. As far as I'm concerned, divisions like kata and weapons for a first degree competing with 2nd, 3rd and 4th degrees was a wash. At that rank, you've been doing the material longer, your technique is more refined etc.

Boy did I ever get lucky.

At our tournament, black belts *randomly select* their kata from a bag and perform it on the spot; weapons are drawn at random but the competitor selects the form. If you lose your balance, drop your weapon, mess up or forget, you automatically get a zero.
Weapons were up first and I drew nunchaku first. My gut reaction was "Sweeeeeeet!". The only weapon I'd taught for the past few weeks was Shodan requirement for nunchaku, I thought it was a lock! Then I broke the ice on earning goose eggs. I hit the third turn and totally forgot what I was doing.I was smart enough to not move or make it immediately obvious that I forgot --after about 6 seconds of standing motionless,  in what could have been a quite epic kata, I made a face, and that was it. I bowed out amongst jeers of disbelief from the black belts behind me. I felt a little vindicated afterwards however: the next to competitors that drew nunchaku scored zeros as well. The only person to finish with nunchaku won first place.

Next up was open hand. I was totally nervous about open hand as I've been trying to be more precise in all of my strikes and more "correct" in my stances...wholesale changes like that rarely transition beautifully. I watched quite a few competitors (I was next to last) in my division do absolutely great, then it was my turn. All I could hope for was Tenchin, because I knocked it out of the park about three days prior. It was even better, Seisan, my favorite open hand kata. I was so shocked by the good fortune that I knew for sure I was going to mess it up. I thought about every time the stars lined up (looking Picklez directly in the eye, blue tape on the floor, or a combination of both) I screwed up. I knew Picklez was behind me and the ring (you guessed it) was marked off in blue tape. I was doomed for sure. I took three deep breaths and proceeded to look right through everything. I didn't see faces, I saw bodies; I heard trees rustling, I was in the zone. When I got my scores, I was little disappointed...I'm not sure why, but then again, I wasn't paying attn to the other scores, so I didn't really have a right to be. Scores were tallied, 3rd place. Not bad, but I still think it was luck of the draw.

Later on was point sparring, also known as "The only game of tag you'll ever play where you're likely to get hurt". I did pretty well. First match was lights out; best point sparring I'd done since I was a yellow belt. Second match I approached like a semi knockdown fight --I knew he had something up his sleeve, it was a matter of being patient. I found myself in the first/second place match --nice, especially since I HATE POINT SPARRING. I lost a close one, but it was a very good match with 3 E's: Entertaining, Exciting, Enjoyable. I received many complements on my sparring.

Little known secret: I managed to tweak the tendon in my left foot in point sparring. Why won't the damn thing heal? It's been like 3 yrs now. Any who, I digress, next up Semi Knockdown fighting. I was a heavyweight again this year (I got a slight reprieve last year because there were only 3 lightweights..I say slight because Dub-D was one of them and he hits hard) and had to fight a gentlemen who is pretty much *the* fighter in our style. He's big, he can take a punch (and throw a pretty mean one), he's an intelligent fighter and he's quick for a big guy. I wasn't intimidated, and I don't think he expected me to be.

I have a chip on my shoulder about big guys. I'm always outweighed, and I hate being bullied...this was not the guy to have that chip with. I got a lot of advice, some of which wasn't all that feasible given the condition of my foot:
"Stick and move Hangtime" --> gee thanks, but I knew that already.
"You can't fight toe-to-toe Hangtime, circle, circle" --> Yup, I was aware...
"Kick the legs Hangtime" --> What fight are you watching?

Any how, there was one highlight of the fight for me, which quickly turned into the end of the match; after throwing a few blows without retaliation, I realized he was trying to intimidate me by showing he can take a hit; what I think he doesn't know is that I knew that already...I also think that he doesn't know that I can be a really big smart ass, so I engaged him: two punch combination to the chest @ 60% power, then two to the solar plexus @ 80%...

...you're expecting two more at 100% right...WRONG, knee kick somewhere around the breast bone/solar plexus (I was aiming for the latter, but moving backward it's hard to get one right on target...) to which he aptly responded with a flurry of punches followed by a sweep and follow up; he managed to get part of my foot --OUCH! A few more sweeps and an inside leg kick and time was up. No brainer, he won.

At the end, the "Dojo Champion" was announced; as if there was any doubt, our dojo won; there's something to be said having the tournament in your own backyard.

All in all a good day. There are definitely things I need to focus one and get better at, but I can't say I'm the least bit disappointed about the day as a whole. Read Picklez post #200 for the hilarity that ensued afterwards; fun times had by all (even Overboard).

Now on to the fun stuff
In this post Picklez commented on my potential status as a "legend" in martial arts; well, I think legend indicates something far greater than one can set out to achieve; it's something earned, don't get me wrong, but you don't wake up and say "I'm going to make myself a legend". However, one can make moments in their life memorable. Those memorable moments can add up to becoming legendary, however it's a status bestowed not taken. I personally do not see myself becoming a legend in martial arts, our style, or even our dojo. Case in point; only I would make a comment like "he's having a Hangtime-like testing" (and yes I have said this about 1 student recently), but no one else would think of that. I say all of that to say this, I don't need nor really want to be a "legend" in martial arts; just knowing I took a medal over my fourth degree sensei is enough for me ----OOOOOOOOHHHH BURN, you like that don'tcha. </gloat>

Competition Update:
Nope, still not excited yet.

Yesterday, Overboard and I did something I don't think we've done since we've started dating; we did karate together. Surprising that I don't take advantage of having a Nidan at my disposal, but honestly, we just don't have time. It was fun and the experience kinda made me reminisce on my days as a yellow belt receiving one-on-one instruction. It's hard to believe that the tournament is less than a week away. I'm still not excited per se, but I have a feeling that "CM" isn't going to show up, but Hangtime...in other words, someone's going to get a run for their monies.

We point sparred in class last week and I had a blast. It was a change of pace leaving class after having sparred and not feeling like I just got pounded on. As much fun as it was, I'm not looking forward to "tournament tag" because I feel like I could take someone's head off with my best "tag" techniques. Picklez and I talked about it, I still don't have a warm and fuzzy. I just don't want to spar with someone I really like (which is probably a 99% guarantee at our tournament) and pop em one really good and turn something fun into warnings about attitude and contact. Semi-knockdown I have mixed feelings about.

Wedding Plans:
I really think I am in the worst stage of it all right now; groomsmen gifts. I hate gift buying. While I know that no one is going to say "You idiot, this is the worst give ever!"....wait, my mom *has* done that before --not using those same words-- but she did eventually give the gift back to me), but I digress. I hate shopping for other people. That and the point/meaning is a small token of appreciation and every time I look it turns into a "Christmas-esque" experience. I set a price limit, and it seems like the items that I say "...well, that would be a good gift...", it's way more than the set price limit, which I refuse to stray from by more than $5.

Otherwise, the next thing is tuxedo fitting. I don't need to get all of the guys together for this, but I think it might be kinda nice to turn it into a "manly" event. Overboard and the girls are having a "Bridesmaid Luncheon", which I don't really want to do, but if I could do a "Groomsman Kegger" I think it'd be fun...at least until the hangover kicks in. I'm still not sure what I'm going to do.

New Year's Resolution
One of my resolutions was to be able to do a few pushups (I think 5) with Overboard on my back. I think I am pretty close. The first step was to lose a little weight myself and not feel like my arms are going to separate from my body while doing one...

<tangent> I for the life of me could never figure out why I can lift weights etc with no problems but then feel like crap doing a push up. It's terrible....</tangent>

I've made 50 push ups and 100 ab reps my workout warm up. I have a hope to someday take on Mr. Tu's challenge of 300 a day...not very likely however. For grins and giggles, I did a few "modified" push-ups this morning, above my normal 50, to put a little more bodyweight onto my arms. I did about 25 in just under 30 seconds, not too bad. I think I could probably bang out five...I just might give it a shot.

Stay Fly,
Hangtime  

No, I'm not making some veiled reference to Overboard; we're just fine and will continue to be.

As most of you know, I achieved the rank of Shodan this year (read: I got my black belt); I used this year as a "comfort" year (save Superfights; I was out to win). I think it's time to end the honeymoon.

"But Hangtime, you've only had your black belt since May."
I'm aware, but truth be told, why should that matter? I walked into our dojo's Traditional Tournament this year with the mindset of "I'm just here to get that first time (as a black belt) out of the way; no expectations". I don't do anything without expectation; everything has a goal.

"Gee Hangtime, this is all a little random..."
Maybe it is, just a touch. While on the way home, I popped in my training CD, and I was reminded of a mindset I haven't had in quite awhile...July 28th, as a matter of fact. There has been a slight lack of desire to be the best, and when I say slight lack, I mean total absence. I can't have that. I've never been that way; complacency is not in my vocabulary.

Back to the Traditional: Picklez and I were placed in a very strange situation this year --we had to compete against each other. Throw in Latino Heat, and well, I automatically assumed I can do no better than 3rd. Why should I assume automatic 3rd or worse? Don't get me wrong Picklez and Heat are phenomenal Martial Artists, no matter how much Picklez may deny it. Let's face it (and I'm sure they know it too), they were competing against each other. No way was a "day one" Shodan going to run with a Shihan-dai and a Senpai. Don't get me wrong, I mean no disrespect, I'm just simply throwing my hat in the ring for next year to make it a competition for them. :-)

Be Solely!
Hangtime