first tournament

[french fri25]

hey guys. tomorrow im competing my first tournament. im a little nervous though because im going to be the youngest and lowest rank in my division. im doing point fighting and a form. im a green belt ( 6th kup) adn im fighting people with 6th, 5th, and 4th kups. also, im in the 16-17 yr old division, and i just turned 16 not too long ago, so im kinda worried.

does anybody have any last minute tips for sparring and forms? i am going to practice like a madman today to try to perfect my form, but i dont know what to do to practice for sparring.

if anyone has any tips, please feel free to post. i have no idea what to expect so any info would be helpful. thanks.

[The BB of C]

Can you describe the rules of the sparring to me?

[USCMAAI]

Good luck! But remember it is not important that you win, enjoy yourself....RELAX. Your sparring and forms competition will get better as you gain more experience. I remember (a long long long time ago) my first tourney. I didnt place in sparring, forms or self-defense. After about 3 or 4 tournaments I began to do well though. Take the time to learn from each competition. That is what they are for after all...Learning from other fighters of different schools/styles. I have learned some very useful things by being at the loosing end of a match. Now if you win that is great, but the most important things are: building friendships with your fellow competators, learning and sharing what you have learned. Again good luck and have fun!

[french fri25]

thanks a lot guys. ummm, the rules are point sparring rules. the fight will be stopped after each point is scored, the fight is up to 5 points. there is medium contact, light contact to the head. kicks and punches are only counted as 1 point even if you hit the head. there are no elbows or knees allowed. thats basically it.

i have no idea how im going to stay calm out there. im gonna be scared to death out there. i wanna prove to all my classmates how good of a fighter i really am. my instructor says it constantly to the new students. ooo the only way your going to learn to fight is to fight someone like john, and stuff like that. i just want to be able to show that his words are true.

[Kante]

Hold on now.. Are you doing this merely to prove yourself to your classmates?

Will proving yourself to them make you better as a fighter? No it wont, you are doing this for your own self. So act like it, and always thinking that winning is not important will pretty much hurt you in the end.

Do your best to WIN, only that way will you gain experience and learn from your mistakes, but if you simply go there and play like a 5 year old I guarantee you that your next tournament will not be any better.

Push yourself as much as you can and try to get as much performance out of you as you possibly can.

Also, you don't suddenly remember to get ready for a tournament a day before, your preparation is what you were doing at home/dojo the last few months.

Waking up at the last minute will not change anything, for tomorrow that is.

[ps1]

You can't carry the weight of the dojo on your shoulders and expect to be able to keep good posture in the tournament. Unload the expectations of yourself, your sensei, and your fellow students. Go out there, fight like you always fight, and just do your best.

If you win, great! If you don't win, that's even better! Because then it's a great new learning opportunity.

As everyone else said, HAVE FUN!! That should be your number one priority.

[The BB of C]

thanks a lot guys. ummm, the rules are point sparring rules. the fight will be stopped after each point is scored, the fight is up to 5 points. there is medium contact, light contact to the head. kicks and punches are only counted as 1 point even if you hit the head. there are no elbows or knees allowed. thats basically it.

i have no idea how im going to stay calm out there. im gonna be scared to death out there. i wanna prove to all my classmates how good of a fighter i really am. my instructor says it constantly to the new students. ooo the only way your going to learn to fight is to fight someone like john, and stuff like that. i just want to be able to show that his words are true.

Here's my sparring advice: There will always be an open spot. Find it and hit it withing legal limits. Close the distance by moving in with kicks, and then collapse on him and find the most open spot and nail it. Repeat until you win

Also. Clear your mind and don't be nervous. You're only going to choke like that.

[USCMAAI]

thanks a lot guys. ummm, the rules are point sparring rules. the fight will be stopped after each point is scored, the fight is up to 5 points. there is medium contact, light contact to the head. kicks and punches are only counted as 1 point even if you hit the head. there are no elbows or knees allowed. thats basically it.

i have no idea how im going to stay calm out there. im gonna be scared to death out there. i wanna prove to all my classmates how good of a fighter i really am. my instructor says it constantly to the new students. ooo the only way your going to learn to fight is to fight someone like john, and stuff like that. i just want to be able to show that his words are true.

John dont worry about proving anything to anyone. Your instructor has already demonstrated his faith in your abilities. Go have fun and dont worry so much about winning and loosing, just let things happen. The sparring and training you do in class will take care of itself. Learn from your wins and losses and HAVE FUN!

[french fri25]

thanks guys. i just got back from the tournament. ok, heres what happened. there were 4 groups. beginner which was 10th, 9th, 8th, and 7th kup/kyu. intermediate was 6th, 5th, 4th kup/kyu. advanced was 3rd, 2nd, and 1st kup/kyu. and there was a black belt division. i was supposed to be in the 16-17 yr old intermediate division, but there was nobody in my division. so, they said i could either have my money back or i could move up in divisions. in the new division, there was only 1 person for me to fight. he was a 2nd kyu, im a 6th kup. lol. i did really good against him and only lost 5-4, i had a really nice kick to his head which boosted my confidence a lot. i came in second place in the sparring. in forms, it was the same thing, except there were 2 other compeditors and i came in 3rd. so, i was pretty happy with my results. i never thought i would have done that good against 2nd and 1st kyus.

[ps1]

Great work!!! Did you remember to have fun also?