Competing in first tournament!

[JasonW]

I will be attending my first tournament like the subject says... of course my sensei had to go out of town for the past week and had me go to his sensei to train while he was gone. I have received conflicting opinions of how I should fight. My sensei has placed alot of focus on training my kicks and tells me to use them. His sensei says not to use kicks and worked on my blocks and counters. This is an open tournament. Now a little background. I was originally an Aikido guy. Now I'm studying Isshin Ryu. I am very good at defensive fighting, which is why I chose an Offensive style to cross train in. I guess I'm not sure why one person would train my kicks and the other tell me not to use them. Personally I think I should do what I think I need to do to try to score a point. If I see an opportunity to land a kick why would I not take it? So all that being said, any advice, opinions, or whatever else you want to throw my way that may help would be appreciated.

[JGarner890]

I remember my first tournament. I got first in forms and sparring. I was very happy and proud of myself, mostly because I didn't have to pay my father back since we had a bet going haha.

But just be confident. Do what you do best.

[bushido_man96]

Everyone is different, and everyone experiences success in different ways using different approaches. Thus, one guy tells you to kick, and the other to do different.

Learn from both, and figure out what works for you.

Good luck!

[Evil Dave]

For the first tournament, enjoy the moment and try not to sweat the details. Then learn from there, and spend time with both your sensei and his sensei as you will end up a better martial artists.

[AdamKralic]

Aggressive people win 8/10 times.

It's "easier" to keep throwing combos until something gets through than it is to counter endless combos.

[DWx]

What rules are you fighting under? Continuous or point stop? Do kicks score more than punches? You should be tailoring how you fight to the rules you're fighting under and for who you're facing.

If it is a point stop competition, block counter is a bit riskier and IMHO a better strategy is to go on the offense and be first or you risk giving away points when you can't counter effectively enough. Likewise if kicks score higher it might be better to focus on them.

I would suggest looking on YouTube for past matches from the same circuit. Can then see what kind of things are working and scoring.

But don't sweat it too much and just enjoy it! Good luck

[JasonW]

Thanks everyone. Very solid advice. I am doing point stop. A point is a point kick or punch. I plan on being offensive. I especially liked the idea of YouTube. I learned alot from that. I am only a blue belt as of now although I do have quite a bit of past experience. I hope they have some better fighters than what I saw at my level. Maybe my sensei is just anal about bunkai and sparring because if I did anything as sloppy as what I saw, he would kick my behind Lol

[JasonW]

I do know he is very picky about how a kata is performed. He nit picks everything down to where my eyes are looking. It's good cause I know my katas are sharp, but sometimes it is irritating.

[steviewaddy82]

Just relax and enjoy yourself mate. End of the day ylur already a winner for entering

[sensei8]

Just relax and enjoy yourself mate. End of the day ylur already a winner for entering

Solid post!!