first tournament strategy

[Greenfire54]

Hey guys. im entering my first tournament two weeks from now. im new to the sport of karate and point sparring. Do you have any training and preparing tips or techniques that are effective in tournaments? thanks

[Prostar]

Three points to think about.

1. Keep it simple. Take two or three techniques and use them. More is not better.

2. Watch what's going on around you. Find a good technique, take it home and make it yours.

3. Enjoy yourself. I always liked tournaments. I'm jealous.

[bushido_man96]

Those are pretty good tips.

Don't try to make things complicated, by trying obscure combinations or techniques that you have not yet practiced. Take what you have learned, and make it work for you. A good front leg front kick can help you maintain space. When you get close, the let those hands fly.

And, most important, keep your hands up!

Good luck, and let us know how it goes.

[the beast]

And, most important, keep your hands up!

Absolutely even though you will see alot of experienced point fighters keeping their guard down . This will show you who trains for tourneys and who actually trains for a real fight. " Keep em up!

Good luck have fun and let us know how you do.

[DWx]

And, most important, keep your hands up!

Absolutely even though you will see alot of experienced point fighters keeping their guard down . This will show you who trains for tourneys and who actually trains for a real fight. " Keep em up!

Good luck have fun and let us know how you do.

Even good point fighters need their hands up.. like my coach yells at everyone "nobody is good enough to fight like that.. hands up!". A good point fighter still needs to utilise a guard and blocks.

Greenfire54, its probably a bit late now to be doing this but make sure you work on "ring control". Learning to move your opponent and move around the ring is as crucial as learning to kick and punch in point sparring. You'll get penalized for stepping out of the ring so make sure you can side-step and move round instead of just going back all the time. Also be observant about how your opponent is responding to your attacks, are they going a certain way everytime you roundhouse off the left leg? If you can pick up on these things you can use it to control where you fight in the ring and maybe even get them to step out.

If you have the time there are some good drills to practice aspects of this. We train on a gym floor so there are lines all over the place. You can do stuff like find a bit of the floor where the markings cross and pretend its the corner of the mat. Start with one foot there and then try to fight your way out without crossing the lines. Or try fighting only in the centre circle of a basketball court. If your lucky enough to have a proper dojo you can still try these things but you'll have to somehow mark out the areas.

Good luck anyway. If you stick to everyone's advice I'm sure you'll do well.

[white owl]

Very good points given. One of the problems I have point sparring is I like to go to the body with punches well if your opponent is going for the head that person is going to get the point even if you scored first because most of the judges all see the head first. I found this out the heard way. And a friend of mine who does a lot of tournaments told me this so this is a very good piece of advise and if your entering as a novice hit the gear not the face that is illegal in the tournaments I do so find out the rules.

And enjoy yourself that is so important.

[ps1]

1. Have Fun. If you don't do this...there's no point.

2. Don't overthink it. It's no different than any other day.

3. Chances of ever making a million dollars at this are very slim. Don't take it too seriously. After the tournament...spend more time figuring out where you can improve than worrying about what place you got. That is, after all, the point of it.

[Greenfire54]

Thanks guys. For my first tournament i did alright. in point sparring we both threw a front kick at the same time. his legs were longer, needless to say i ended up on my butt. I also grappled and won that. In continuous fighting, i had to fight a black belt in taekwondo right after grappling. i was worn out but i did alright in that.

[bushido_man96]

It sounds like you had an enjoyable experience, and that is one of the main things. If you learned something, then you did not come away empty handed.

[Prostar]

Kool deal! I'm glad you had a good time. Are you going to do it again?

If you do, here is something to watch for.

Watch the other guys sparring. Look for the timing. They will square off, assess each other for a bit until someone makes a move. The trick is to find out how long that takes. Most people make it to about five by my count before the anxiety takes over and they have to do something.

Now that you have an idea of when someone will do something, you have an edge since you can be elsewhere when they start to move.

As you watch the fighters and start to get their timing, visualize what you could do if you were facing that person.

Quite often it doesn't matter what you do at that moment, just do something. The reaction can be priceless.