3 posts tagged “tournament”

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>

I've been struggling for weeks whether or not to write this blog, but honestly, no harm no foul.

For the past 4 or 5 years or so, I looked forward to "tournament season". Working on a kata to near perfection and making people sweat at the thought of being in the same division, being faster in "tag" (point sparring), and displaying that size is, in fact, not an advantage when it comes to fighting and all of the kudos etc that go along with competing.

For some reason, this year, I just don't care.

I am smack in the middle of planning a wedding, I'm a shodan now, which means, it's an "x" man race to third of fourth place, behind all of the third and fourth degrees in my division (luckily, Picklez and Latino Heat are getting old and will be moving up in a year or two O-: --yea, I went there), and my focus as far as karate goes is on making sure other students are doing their best. I am so totally unmotivated about competition, that it's sickening to me. Pressure has nothing to do with it; I don't feel any, but I don't have the "killer instinct" that (I think) I'm known for. I even seriously suggested purposely dropping my weapon, for the sake of not having to do the kata. Fight training is not as fun as it was in the past, nor is it a priority to me. I don't know if it's the wedding, the rank, being burnt out at the thought of competing, knowing I'm out matched or what, but if it's down to waking up @ 5am to train or sleeping in, I'm sleeping in.

This lack of motivation isn't across the board in terms of training, I'm very motivated by testing in January, and even more so than normal because Overboard and I will be Mr. and Mrs. Hangtime, and she's aiming to be ready to test then too. I just can't put my finger on it. Maybe it's that my focus is on the wedding, and in September, I'm going to want to hit the ground running for November (Dothan), but I can't say...I just don't know.

Fighting Knockdown in July is not going to happen, and fighting Semi is just not as...sexy...to me any more --> am I going to fight Semi, who knows; am I seriously going to train for it, nope. No desire to.

In closing, I guess this was just to get it off of my chest. Overboard and I have talked about it before; I think she finds it kind of odd too. She shrugged it off, but I could kinda tell by the look on her face she found it weird. I guess we'll see what happens September 1...after the honeymoon.

-HT

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