My first tournement.

[Dijita]

I did my very first Kyokushin tournement this weekand. I entered into the womens colorbelt knockdown class. I had a great time except for one incident (more on that later).

 

I was nervous sitting on that bench, waiting to be called up. I did some deep breathing to try and help calm my nerves. Eventually my name was called to come up to the matt. My first fight went well. My competitor was a very good fighter and took me off guard. She liked to stick very close, and I've never really practiced fighting that close. I had a hard time getting some kicks in.. so I relied on a lot of punches. Once I had her on the move I was able to get more kicks in. We were moving each other around fairly equaly. When the two minutes were up I was exhausted. All four judges called for a tie, so we had to rematch. The second time around I was more prepared and managed to be the one moving her around more predominently. By the end of that round, the 4 judges voted in my favor. I felt good, and I felt thankful to fight such a great figther. She was just terrific and had a great spirit.

 

My next fight was up against a yellow belt. I am only a white belt and I was quiet scared about fighting her. I had partnered with her a month prior at a camp, and I knew she had really powerful kicks. We were told 3 times prior to the match that it was full contact to the body but light contact to the head. When we started, I charged her and got a few strong kicks on her legs. Within 20 seconds *boom* she kicked me in the head with a lot of power, and she didn't pull back the kick. I was knocked silly, I kind of backed up stumbling, trying to keep my balance. Then I went down to my knee. The judges penalized her a point, and after sitting for a bit, I tried to get up and fight her again. It was no use though, my vision was blurred and I was just so confused. I lost that match quickly, and went and sat down. A paramedic looked at me, took my blood pressure and saw that my pupils were not reacting to light and told me to go to the hospital to get checked out. The girl who kicked me came up to the paremedic table and said "I told you I'd keep you guys busy."

 

I was soo crushed by the poor sportsmanship that was demonstrated. I didn't understand it. She had 4 years experience on me, we weren't supposed to kick hard to the head. I couldn't comprehend what she was trying to prove, or her purpose behind it. I always view martial arts as something spiritual. I want to become a good tournement fighter, but I want to do honourbly and respect everyone that I compete against. It bothers me when I see this in the martial arts.

 

I went to the hospital and was diagnosed with a mild concussion. I didn't lose my desire for tournement fighting after this, but it sure did put a sour taste in my mouth. All in all it was a great event and I had a great time meeting people from other dojos... it's just unfortunate that this had to happen. I did finish 3rd after all was said and done, and I am very proud of my accomplishments

[The Saint]

Well losing sucks, and poor sportsman ship after the fact is even worse. Did you learn any thing from this experience? Don't get down about the loss and train harder for the next one ! Maybe you'll even knock her out next time and then take the high road on winning by being gracious and not being a poor sport like your opponent demonstrated. It was your first tournament so don't take it to heart in the 3rd place finish. Get well and train hard

[SevenStar]

congrats on doing a good job. Don't worry about the poor sportsmanship - you may encounter alot of that, unfortunately. Just make sure that you keep the right attitude.

 

Also, don't spar for a few weeks - it's not good to spar immediately after receiving a concussion.

[SaiFightsMS]

Four years training and fighting in a yellow belt class? That should send off warning bells.

[Dijita]

Yellow in Kyokushin is fairly high. She is testing for her green belt very shortly. I'm not sure how long she has been training for, but I estimated about 4 years, as the students in our dojo who are yellow with a stripe have been training for roughly 3-4 years. I could be wrong though.

[WolverineGuy]

I just looked at your belt level progression...she should NOT have been fighting in your division to begin with. Second, that kind of remark should have gotten her disqualified. Oy veh.

[Dijita]

Her fighting in my division isn't the issue. Our tournements have two categories for knockdown division. Open, and Color Belt. Color belt consists of everyone but brown and black I believe. Then of course you seperate the weights and the genders. Open is just as it states, though you'd be crazy to enter if you were anything less than a brown belt for the most part.

[Jiyn]

congrats on doing well in your first tournament i havent been to a karate tournament yuet only a kickboxing one anyway i think that the yellow belt deserves to get beat so next time i hope you knock her silly and see how she takes it hehehe

[aefibird]

Congratulations on coming 3rd in your first tournament! I'm sorry to hear that someone with poor sportsmanship spoiled it for you. There was no need for her to kick you like that. It's always sad when there's someone who disregards rules and safety issues and ruins a competition for someone else. Competition fighting should be fun end exciting without being disrespectful to opponents.

 

Good luck for your next competition!

[Jiyn]

yes thats exactly what i think^