Spring Karate In-House Dojo Tournament

Good morning to everyone! How are you this beautiful spring day? I am trying to recover from my busy, crazy week!

Saturday w a huge day for the boys and I! We got up early and got ready for our major in-house dojo tournament. They only hold one tournament a year. We all did very well. I made two minor mistakes, but otherwise, I did great. Jordan surprised me at well he did. Aaron astonished us by how well he did (I'll tell you more about that later)!!!

We got there and we warmed up. Come to find out, he pretty much had the brown belts run the tournament! He used his black belts as judges and to help train us, but we did the announcing of scores, compilation of scores, general announcing, keeping the kids lined up and following the appropriate protocol. It was so much info, it made my head swim...but it was fun!

Aaron, Jordan and I competed in all three events...kata, sparring, and team kata. Actually, we were signed up for a fourth event in family kata, but it ran so late, Sensei Nagatomo just ran out of time and no one performed their family kata.

Jordan did very well on his kata. I was so proud of him, he has improved a lot lately. He did great in team kata. He, Aaron and Luke Drennan performed team kata together and they did Jion. They looked really sharp. When he did his sparring, he held his own and even dished some out! He got third place in kata, second place sparring and second place team kata! Yea Jordan!!!

Aaron did extremely well. He did very well on kata. He earned second place in kata and second place on their team kata. I need to tell you a little more in detail about his sparring "stunt"!!! Let me start off by saying, we all came home in one piece, no broken bones, bloody noses or detached heads!!! When Aaron and Jordan's age of brown belt division came up, Jordan sparred Luke Drennan. Jordan beat Luke, so that placed him in the next bracket against Aaron. So Aaron and Jordan were sparring for first and second place. When we semi-free spar, we are able to shift our position, but we still attack announcing in what order we are attacking (head, stomach, front snap kick, side-of-thrust kick and roundhouse kick). The person blocking has to block whichever attack is called and then counter attack. When we starting training, we always counter attack with a punch. Well, in this tournament, they changed it and said out of all the counter attacks, you must change one of the counter attacks with an elbow, knee to the stomach or a kick. Well, Aaron blocked Jordan's head punch and countered with a punch. Jordan attacked stomach and Aaron blocked and did a knee to Jordan's stomach. He did his one change and so we thought he was going to punch on everything else...so we thought...

Jordan did a front snap kick. Aaron blocked...he then (FULL SPEED mind you) did the most beautifully executed roundhouse kick I have ever seen! He stopped within a hairs breadth of the side of Jordan's head! If Jordan had moved or flinched, Aaron would've seriously hurt him, but do to our strict training, Jordan didn't move and Aaron was completely controlled and no one was hurt! I saw Jordan's life flash before my eyes! Me, as a mother, my heart just stopped! For those of you who have not witnessed Aaron's natural ability and skill in karate, he has the most amazing kicks. He is probably the fastest kicker in our dojo, except for our Sensei. His technic was flawless on that particular kick. His form, fluidity and execution (no pun intended!) was spot on! Our Sensei even told him that his kick was beautiful. Aaron kicked at full speed and stopped right next to his ear for a split second for us to realize he was in control, then contracted back. Wow!!! That's all I can say is wow!!! All of us standing in the back of the room, our hearts stopped and our jaws dropped and hit the floor! Needless to say, he won first place with that kick alone! If Aaron hadn't performed that kick flawlessly, Sensei said that Jordan was winning the sparring. Jordan was doing that well with his own sparring. I couldn't have been prouder of both of them! Scared all of us moms half to death, but they performed with dignity and honor towards each other and to our dojo. Wow!

As for me, I did very well on my kata. I made a very minor bobble on a movement, but it w enough of a point deduction, that I didn't score as well as I would've hoped, but over all, I was pleased with how I performed. I earned third place in kata. I wasn't too disappointed with that seeing as I felt very good about my kata. My Sensei even called me this morning to personally tell me that he was very impressed with my kata, Bassai Dai. On sparring, there was confusion at the tournament about when to change the counterattacks. I thought the first time we went up to spar, we just counterattack with a punch, then if we made it to the second round, then that was where I understood that we had to change at least one counterattack. I misunderstood and I punched all of the first round. I won hands down against my opponent, but since I didn't change one of the counterattacks, she won the match. My Sensei said if I had changed that one punch, I would win first place. I earned third place, but I am content with how I did. I also performed a team kata with Jeanne Drennan and Sam Hoffman. We did very well and earned second place. So, overall, we all did very well and our Sensei is very proud of us and how we presented our dojo.

Well, after all that was over, we rushed home because we had invited our friends, the Radigans, over for dinner. Saturday night was the only time they could come before we leave for our cruise that's coming up in less than two weeks! I made a huge pot of beef vegetable southwest stew and a salad. The Radigans and their kids came over and we had a ball! I was exhausted, but we all had a great time. We showed them around the farm. Then, after supper, I taught their girls how to card fiber and how to spin it on my spinning wheel! They had a blast! I don't think they wanted to leave when it was time for them to go! I think they would've been content to keep carding and spinning! What a wonderful day!

God bless!