30 days to first tournament

[Sensei Tom OBrien]

This Sunday is the AAU karate tournament. I am taking an 18 yr. old red belt in TKD from my friend's Dojang. I sparred with him last night. He kicks like a mule & I am just getting slower. We tried to acclimate him to traditional Japanese style tournament fighting. He should do well. There are about 6 of us going.

Thanks,

Sensei Tom

[bushido_man96]

This Sunday is the AAU karate tournament. I am taking an 18 yr. old red belt in TKD from my friend's Dojang. I sparred with him last night. He kicks like a mule & I am just getting slower. We tried to acclimate him to traditional Japanese style tournament fighting. He should do well. There are about 6 of us going.

Thanks,

Sensei Tom

Good luck to you, Sensei Tom!

[Sensei Tom OBrien]

We just came back from the AAU Karate Tournament. 6 of us went & we took 7 silver medals. I’m so proud of everybody that my head can’t fit thru the door. I won 2 medals in the old man’s division in kata & kobudo. It’s the 1st time I did Bo. I worked my butt off on that Bo form & I felt good because I did not make any mistakes. The 48 yr. old guy from TKD, Tom (who trained with me for about 2 mos. now) won one in kumite. Tom lost to a 6th deg. Black belt in his 2nd tournament ever. The red belt, Josh from TKD who came with me from my friend’s Dojang won one in kumite in the 17/18 yr. old, advanced div. he lost to a black belt national champ. Steve my brown belt won 1 ea. in kumite & kata in the advanced division. My son Ben, a purple belt, won 1 in kumite. He knocked out a green belt with a mawashi geri to the solar plexus & beat a black belt. Tournaments can be very crazy. Ben folded up this green belt so that he took about 5 mins. To recover & didn’t even get a point for it. When I said “He should get a point for that.” his family & friends asked me why. I responded “Because he hit him with a clean shot that’s why!” That same green belt won the div. Isn’t that nuts? Anyway it doesn’t matter because I told Ben “Look, if it was a real fight there would not have been any referee to give him 5 mins. to recover.” The important thing is he discovered his gyaku zuki & he admitted that he should also be doing kata.

The martial arts are so wild sometimes. After the tournament I went home, took a shower & went straight to a wedding. Wow, talk about culture shock. One minute I’m in the middle of the chaos of a tournament & the next minute I’m in this really fancy wedding dressed in a monkey suit. I feel like a fish out of water. Then I find out this 23 yr. old girl, black belt wants to go back into training & she wants to train with me. Then my wife, who hasn’t worked out with me for 2 years, says to me that if Rachel comes then she is going to come back too. My wife was a yellow belt on the verge of becoming a green belt when she quit. Now tell me the martial arts aren’t nuts. I’m lovin it though.

I took some pictures & I will try to post them. Thanks for putting up with my rambling nonsense.

Sensei Tom

[obiwansbane]

haha congrats to u and everyone else that competed! continue pwning some nubs

[Sensei Tom OBrien]

Thanks obiwansbane. I still love it after all these years.

Sensei Tom

[bushido_man96]

Glad to hear that things went well for you, Sensei Tom!