Tourney coming up

JR 137 · Black Belt

This year is Seido Juku's 40th anniversary. There's a week long event with seminars, workshops, etc., and a tournament on the weekend. The event has just under 1,000 people attending, with a big percentage competing on the weekend. I wanted to spend a few days at the event, but being a middle school science teacher, I have state testing all week and can't make it. The adults' tournament is on Saturday, and I can make that.

I competed a few times back in my early 20s. I liked the training for it, but point fighting left a sour taste in my mouth. A small part of me wanted to compete due to the circumstances of this tournament - there will be people there from all over the world. My division has about 25 people registered from about 6 countries. I'm turning 40 in a few weeks; if I don't do this one, the next one this big will be in 10 years, when I'll be 50, so it's pretty much now or never.

What really got me to do it is my 3 and 5 year old daughters. They heard about it in the dojo and asked me to compete; I didn't bring it up to them.

I'll be competing in kata and kumite in the green belt (4th kyu) division. I wanted to do Pinan IV for my kata, but I'm going to get buried in points due to my inability to kick much higher than mid thigh (and it looks awful) on the 2 side kicks in the middle of the kata. I'll be performing Gekisai Dai, which I feel really good with.

I've been working hard training on a heavy bag the last few months. My hand speed and endurance have improved drastically. I've been doing 10 hard 2 minute rounds with 45 seconds of rest in between three times a week for the last almost 3 months now. I feel like I've improved so much the last 3 months that I don't care too much what the scores are. My teachers and seniors think I've got a great chance at winning the kata division and scoring a lot of points in kumite. Kumite isn't going to be tournament/bracket style. Since the event is so big, everyone fights 2 two minute matches and all points scored are added to the team score.

I've been asked to take part in the webcast on Saturday for KF's 15th anniversary. I'm going to try my best, as I feel honored to be asked and would love to chat about anything MA. Hopefully I can at least call in at some point.

sensei8 · KF Sensei

Yes...GO FOR IT!! Enjoy both the tournament as well as the KF LiveStream. I wish you the best for the tourney, and I look forward to hearing/seeing you this Saturday.

But if you can't to both or one, it'll be understood!!

_________________
**Proof is on the floor!!!

JR 137 · Black Belt

I'm going to do my best to get into the live stream.

As far as the tournament goes...

I've had a great time training for it. I'm in great shape (for me anyway:) ), and I've improved on a lot of things that I've been working on that'll carry over when the point fighting stuff is over and done with. One of my biggest self criticisms is I feel like I back up and let my opponent finish their combination before countering too often. I've really worked on moving forward with the block and countering simultaneously rather than going back and forth with my opponent. I think I've improved a ton in this area, as I was really mindful of it initially while hitting the heavy bag, and forcing myself to do it during sparring. I got caught quite a bit at first, but after making some adjustments on my own and my seniors and teachers giving great pointers, I've really come a long way with it IMO. Gotta keep at it!

Training for the tournament has been great. It's been the most fun I've had in the dojo in quite some time. If I do horribly on Saturday, I'll have no regrets. But I'm glad this phase will be over on Saturday, as I think it would start to get old sooner than later.

Going to give it my all and leave it all on the floor. I've got my daughters and wife in my corner. That's all I need. The judges don't matter, and I'm not competing against anyone but myself. My only goal is to surpass my own expectations; I can't control how good or bad the competition can/will be. That and make some new Seido friends and represent my dojo and teachers the best I can.

sensei8 · KF Sensei

Bulltahr · Brown Belt

JR 137 · Black Belt

The event was a great experience. Let me get the bad out of the way...

I was reminded why I don't like point fighting. I had that same feeling I had years ago (the last time I did it). Both gentlemen I faced were quite good, am I don't mean to take anything away from them. Against the first person I faced, I landed a few punches, but didn't score a single point. He had this very deceptive long reach, and combined with his timing, landed a single clean shot repeatedly whenever I came in. I got frustrated and over anxious, and kept trying too hard to get inside his reach, and he rightfully took full advantage of it as the clock wore down.

Two other guys and I were talking about how his reach killed me when they called me and my next opponent up...

I faced the tallest guy in the building next. Walking onto the floor, I had to shake my head and laugh inside. He was about 6'5. I'm 5'8. My strategy was to stay just outside his range, then get inside quick and counter. It was just way too much distance to cover. I lost 3-1. His first 2 points didn't come close to connecting. Walking off, he asked me if they landed. My response "I didn't want to say it because it would sound wrong, but they weren't close." We couldn't figure out how all 5 judges (each corner and center) awarded the point. We both laughed that we both landed stuff that didn't count, so it was what it was.

The kata competition was the highlight for me. I placed 3rd out of 24 (that wasn't the best part). The top 2 were outstanding. Both were New Zealand guys. The top guy did Seido III, which is a kata full of roundhouse kicks into and out of kokutsu dachi. That guy's foot seemed like it went a good 12 inches above his head, and it wasn't because he was leaning. I asked him how does he kick like that, and he laughed and said he used to be a dancer.

I did as good as I realistically expected to do. The only mistake I think I made was one foot slipped a very little bit going into my first kiba dachi at the beginning of the kata. But even if I didn't, it wouldn't have been enough to beat the top 2 guys anyway. I was pretty happy with my performance. I got 4 9+ scores, which isn't very common at kyu ranks.

The real highlight was sitting and watching the other guys during kata and discussing it with the guys next to me. We were all positive, and gave each other great feedback when we came off. At no point did it feel like a competition; we were just doing our thing and cheering each other on (we were quiet while people were performing).

So I guess I didn't come near meeting my expectations during kumite, and it met them during kata. The people were great, my wife and kids were there, we had fun and turned it into a weekend vacation.

But all in all, training for it was the best part.

Sorry Bulltahr, no pics. My wife was too far away to get anything decent, and her photography skills are atrocious even when she's close enough. Seriously, I don't think I've seen a worse photographer before.

Nidan Melbourne · KF Sempai

JR 137 · Black Belt

We use Seido rules. I competed in a few AAU tournaments a long time ago, and it was basically the same. A few notable differences than other tournaments...

Kata must be from our syllabus with no variation, and must be commensurate with rank. You can't do a higher belt rank kata, and a 1 belt rank lower kata is acceptable if you just promoted. One person did a 5th kyu kata (we were all 4th kyu), but he just promoted 2 weeks beforehand. Judges don't ask when that happens, but it's assumed that that's the case.

Kumite was 2 minute continuous time rather than 3 points (time stopped to award points). No half points. Everyone fought 2 matches, regardless of the outcome.

Due to the size of the tournament and event itself, there wasn't placing. All competitors' points were added to team scores. Seido's annual tournament is an individual tournament with elimination brackets and individuals placing. This was a week-long event for our 40th anniversary, with the tournament being held at the end. People were placed into teams, and the teams earned points for various things all week. The team with the most points from the entire event was awarded commemorative medals. This was reportedly how the 30th anniversary event was run too (I wasn't in the organization then, but it's what I heard).

The event had just under 1,000 Seido karateka attend, with students from dojos from all over the world there. In my division alone we had people from US, Japan, NZ, Australia, Chile, Poland, and India. The annual tournament is smaller, and most competitors are from a few hour radius of New York. You'll get a few people from outside that area because they're making the trek to our honbu and/or are visiting NYC, but it's not like this event.

JR 137 · Black Belt

I should add...

Each division was separated by rank in kyu divisions. The 24 people in my division were all 4th kyu. Black belt kumite and breaking is separated by weight classes (kata competition was dan grade specific). Yondan and up may have been separated in kumite if there were enough to do so. I think they were, but don't hold me to that.

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