Random thoughts on the tournament season.

[Dijita]

As a few of you know, I participate in Kyokushin Karate. I like going to tournaments to test my knowledge and skills that I have learned over time. There are many different divisions in a tournament. There are even some divisions that I would rather avoid. This year there will be many challenging tournaments to enter, one in particular that will challenge my skills and spirit to its limit. Whether I do well or not, they're all worth it in the end because there is always something positive to take home with me.

 

There are normally two divisions based on experience; color belt and open. The color belt division is usually the biggest divisions consisting of almost everyone except brown and black belts.

 

In color belt division you are allowed to wear shin guards and often times it's mandatory to wear a foam helmet and mouth guard. Contact from the neck down, excluding knees and groin are full contact. By full contact I mean you are allowed to hit as hard as you can. From the neck up, contact is restricted to light contact kicks only. The color belt division is a great opportunity for people to begin their tournament experience at contact fighting. It is the division that I always enter.

 

The open division is where the brown and black belts fight, once and awhile you will see green and even yellow belt fighters if they have a lot of experience and the confidence to fight in this much more demanding division. Contact from the head down excluding groin and knees are allowed full contact. Punches to the face are also restricted. Fighters in this division are excluded from wearing any protective equipment at all. The fights last a minute longer at 3 minutes. You can probably see why this division is for those who have trained a very long time.

 

The divisions are also divided up by gender and weight. The men’s division usually has three weight categories where the women’s, because of fewer participants, have two. Normally I just squeak into the lightweight category, but this year may be an entirely different story.

 

It seems that a few of the tournaments coming up have toward the weight in the lightweight division. I'm not sure if I'll squeak in this time. It's a little bit scary to think about because being a "light heavyweight" is not the best situation to be in. Everyone I'll be fighting will probably be either taller or much heavier than me. It is really hard to fight someone who is heavier than you because they can move you around a lot more and their kicks are usually a lot more powerful.

 

I remember a time last year where there were not enough women to create two categories so in my second fight I had to go up against this girl who was about 20 lbs heavier than myself. The match ended just shy of the 2 minute mark with me laying on the matt clutching my thigh staring up at the air conditioning unit on the ceiling, wishing that it would just suddenly let go and drop on me to end the misery.

 

This year, I am contemplating on entering the Vancouver Cup. It is one of the biggest tournaments on the West coast of Canada. There are no color belt divisions but only the gender and weight categories. I want to train very hard so that when the time comes I can fight my best, do well, and take a bit of experience home with me. If I can't sneak into the light weight category I know that my competition will be much harder. I know a few of the fighters who fight in heavy weight. They are VERY well experienced. One fighter happens to be my friend. She has been training in Kyokushin since the age of nine and competing almost as long. Last year she fought at the Women's Worlds in New York City and took home 2nd. She is fast, powerful, and hard to read what techniques she will deliver next. If I have to face her, I know that I may be scared, but at the same time it will be interesting to face my biggest challenge ever up until this point.

 

A big part of Kyokushin to me has been about goal setting and pushing myself as hard as I can to achieve those goals. It could be as simple as being able to do 30 knuckle push ups in a row or as grand as coming home with a 1st place finish at the Canadians. I know that is why I like participating in tournaments. It's a good way to gauge what I have learned in order to set more goals for myself. The experience of fighting in a tournament often times gives me more experience than training for 3 weeks in the dojo. That is why even when I do lose in a tournament I still feel as though a part of me has won something more important; experience.

[manuelito]

good luck to you. i hope you enjoy.

[aefibird]

Good luck! Don't forget to let us all know how you get on...

[Thaegen]

Good luck:), yeah winning is not everything, it's the experience that counts.