hey everybody, my name is keith and this is my first post. i've been doing goju ryu for about 2 and a half months and my first tournament is coming up saturday. i'm a white belt but i'll be competing in blue/brown in sparring and kata. because of the belt gap between myself and the others in the division in which im competing i find that i;m really nervous. anybody have tips as to what i can do to calm down a bit before the tournament and really get focued? any help would be greatly appreciated. thanks.

Welcome to the Forums!

Focus on your breathing. Take deep breaths in through the nose, hold for a count, and control your breath out the mouth. Do this for several minutes. It should help you to gather your nerves, a little.

However, after many years of training, I still get nervous. It is natural!

Best of luck to you! Keep us posted.

Good to have you in the forums!

Breathing really helps alot, like Bushido_man96 said. The other thing is not to take it too seriously. Remember, you're there to have fun! The other guys should be the one with all the pressure. After all, it looks great for you, as a white belt, if you beat any of the blue or brown belts. If they lose to you, that's really embarrasing to them:) Just go in, focus, and let your training do the rest. You'll do just fine.

best thing to do in your situation... not care...

You are a white belt and cannot by any means be expected to beat any of your competitors... if you do its great, if you don't no1 expected you to...

just go to this tournament with a keen eye and try and learn from the other people in your division... cause they have been competing alot longer than you have so if you watch what they do you will pick up some great pointers.

thanks to everybody for your advice... i had a great time at the tournament and i just went in and gave it my all. i ended up coming out with 1st in kumite and 3rd in kata. i also learned a lot from watching the black belt division in the tournament. thanks again for all your tips.

Well done!