Competing In Your Very First Martial Art Tournament

[Alan Armstrong]

Do you remember competing in your very first martial art tournament? Not something that can be forgotten very easily.

How did you do; win, loose or draw? How did you feel; before, during and after?

Did you have an adrenaline rush or a panic attack, or something else; perhaps an out of body experience?

How long were you training before competing? Was it unrealistically too soon for you to compete or was it just about the right amount of time?

[sensei8]

Do you remember competing in your very first martial art tournament? Not something that can be forgotten very easily.

Yes, you're right! It's not something easy to ever forget. I remember my first tournament. I was a 7 year old white belt. The tournament was an open tournament.

How did you do; win, loose or draw? How did you feel; before, during and after?

I lost!! I lost in both the Kata and Kumite divisions...badly!!!!!

Did you have an adrenaline rush or a panic attack, or something else; perhaps an out of body experience?

I was scared to death!! I did nothing right. Bowed in and out incorrectly!! Forgot my stupid name!! Couldn't remember Pinan Shodan!! I couldn't remember the Kata!! I ran away from my opponent right out of the ring over and over!! Butchered the name of our style, as well as my Sensei's name!! It was a disaster. I was ready to quit Karate all together, and for good!!

How long were you training before competing? Was it unrealistically too soon for you to compete or was it just about the right amount of time?

I had trained for 3 months, which is the total amount of knowledge/experience I had; I was still a 10th Kyu.

As far as the training being to unrealistically too soon to compete, well, both of our Soke and Dai-Soke (My Sensei) was dead against it, and didn't train us for sport karate because, according to them, sport karate was unrealistic. Still, he didn't prohibit it either because "We're not your parents!! Do what you want to!! But do not talk about your experiences inside the Hombu, ever!!"

So, I competed, as did many others of my dojo mates for quite a long, long time. I competed until my last tournament in Bakersfield, CA back in 1994.

Those were the days!!

[ashworth]

I do remember my first tournament, I was about 9, was a blue belt after about 4 years training. only competed in Kata, ended up coming 4th, I didn't really understand what tournaments were about back then so I was a bit nervous.

After moving to a different style I next competed when I was 15, felt much more comfortable this time! both kata and kumite, won gold in kumite and silver in kata. competed a fair few times since