Come see me get wopped upside my punkin' haid!

[Bill Mattocks]

I'm sparring for the first time on Saturday, Jan 22nd at the D-Lux Charity Challenge 4, an open karate tournament in Macomb, MI. I'll be sparring in the over-45 advanced belt men's division. Never done this before, it might over quick for me!

http://www.greatlakeskaratecircuit.com/

But you're all welcome to come see me get smacked around a bit. $6 for spectators at the door.

 

[Dirty Dog]

I presume there will be a YouTube posting, for those of us who are not close enough to attend?

 

[seasoned]

I'm sparring for the first time on Saturday, Jan 22nd at the D-Lux Charity Challenge 4, an open karate tournament in Macomb, MI. I'll be sparring in the over-45 advanced belt men's division. Never done this before, it might over quick for me!

http://www.greatlakeskaratecircuit.com/

But you're all welcome to come see me get smacked around a bit. $6 for spectators at the door.

Front kick low and deep, when they drop their guard punch toward their face. If your sparring is anything like some of your posts here on MT, you will kick some major butt, good luck.

 

[72ronin]

Good Luck Mr Mattocks
:btg:

 

[Blade96]

You guys are brave. I'd be too scared to post myself doing something. I'm a big wuss.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

I presume there will be a YouTube posting, for those of us who are not close enough to attend?

Well...I have a video camera, and my wife will be there, but I don't know if she'll be able to make a video. And I can't very well do it myself...hehehe. I am told that one of my dojo mates is planning to show up and take some photos. We'll see how they turn out. I promise to post 'em if they exist.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

Front kick low and deep, when they drop their guard punch toward their face. If your sparring is anything like some of your posts here on MT, you will kick some major butt, good luck.

Yeah, that's probably a good point - I *talk* a good fight! We'll see, eh? This is an open tournament, so I'll be facing guys from all kinds of styles. With 2 points for head shots, I expect some high kickers, which I ain't. But I will do my best.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

Some clips from last year's event. I have been looking them over, trying to get a feel for what to expect. I can't say I'm seeing great karate here, but that's not to say I can do any better!

Some kids and adults sparring:

Escrima weapons kata?

Young adult black belts (lots of head kicking)

Interviews, flashy weapons and open-handed katas (with backflips!)

These guys fight on one leg. I can't believe this can't be defended against more easily.

Seriously, 'Master' ??? I can see how the looping backfist over the top of the head gets two points, but in real fighting, that does nothing but get you clocked. Or am I wrong about that?

Well, there's a lot more like this, mostly younger guys. I don't know how the guys my age look, so that's a drawback. But I have been getting some advice from my instructors. I understand that they like to come at you as soon as the hajime is given, but they tend to come straight on; so circle and change the fightline. Same if the front leg comes up; once that leg is in the air, they're not going to be able to turn, they can only hop and kick until they put it down again. I've got to try to play to my strengths; I'm not fast, but I can see a kick coming and I naturally tend to get inside and try to jam it.

I'm told that in some open-style tournaments, the traditional karate guys tend not to do so well because a lot of the judges are tkd and tend to look for head shots and kicks; they don't do much punching in their MA, and so they sometimes don't 'see' punches that land to the body which would otherwise be a point.

I'm also told that our dojo has traditionally had a lot of disqualifications from open tournaments because we train sparring with rather solid hits; these are not allowed in this kind of match. So we tend to punch and kick hard enough to plant people on their keisters and get DQ'd even though it was a nice clean hit and good karate. I'm not claiming to be able to do this, but this is what I'm hearing from others in my dojo.

Open to thoughts, opinions, etc!

 

[Bill Mattocks]

You guys are brave. I'd be too scared to post myself doing something. I'm a big wuss.

If you happen to see a video of me sparring, it will most likely be a short clip of me getting hit and falling down clumsily. I don't mind. It's all in the name of fun. If I suck bad, I'll just try to get better.

 

[WC_lun]

Good luck, have fun, and keep your hands up!

 

[hilly1981]

Good Luck and have fun!

 

[jks9199]

Remember that tournament fighting is a game. What is your goal in doing this? To see how you do under a different sort of pressure? Or to win a trophy? If the trophy is your goal... you need to learn the rules to the game. As an extreme example, imagine the poor confused Brit football team that shows up to play an NFL football team... If they don't know the rules, even though the name is the same, they've lost before they've begun.

But if your goal is to try and see what you can do under a different pressure against other opponents... have fun! In that case, "winning" means doing your lessons against an unfamiliar opponent.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

Remember that tournament fighting is a game. What is your goal in doing this? To see how you do under a different sort of pressure? Or to win a trophy? If the trophy is your goal... you need to learn the rules to the game. As an extreme example, imagine the poor confused Brit football team that shows up to play an NFL football team... If they don't know the rules, even though the name is the same, they've lost before they've begun.

But if your goal is to try and see what you can do under a different pressure against other opponents... have fun! In that case, "winning" means doing your lessons against an unfamiliar opponent.

Yeah, not interested in a trophy. I'm preparing for my 50th birthday present to myself, which is to compete at the IHOF Tournament in Chattanooga, TN in July. Since I've never sparred before, I figured I better try it out a bit. I don't know where I stand in terms of my sparring ability; just want to find out. Test myself against others of my age and belt level. And knock some heads together if I can (just kidding)...have fun.

 

[Bruno@MT]

How did it turn out?

 

[Bill Mattocks]

How did it turn out?

It's this coming Saturday, the 22nd. I will of course keep everyone informed, presuming I can still type when I'm done getting thumped.

They just got around to posting the rules:

Definitely favors the high-kickers such as the TKD and TSD guys. I guess it's going to be a lot of headhunters. Unless they're also fast, though, I may be able to work my strategy of stepping in and jamming the kick. Some drawbacks are that my followup often has a backfist to the face; not allowed for underbelts in this tournament, so I'll have to restrain myself; also once I've jammed a kick, I like to hurl my opponent to the ground, which it looks like is also forbidden. Geez. I hope I can have any fun at all!

 

[stickarts]

good luck!!

 

[Bruno@MT]

Ah ok.
Well toitoi and break a leg as they say.
Good luck.

 

[jks9199]

Definitely favors the high-kickers such as the TKD and TSD guys. I guess it's going to be a lot of headhunters. Unless they're also fast, though, I may be able to work my strategy of stepping in and jamming the kick. Some drawbacks are that my followup often has a backfist to the face; not allowed for underbelts in this tournament, so I'll have to restrain myself; also once I've jammed a kick, I like to hurl my opponent to the ground, which it looks like is also forbidden. Geez. I hope I can have any fun at all!

While I like the sportsmanship rules -- I hate the silliness about 2 points for kicks to the head. Let anything that scores legally be one point. Keep things simple, and stop rewarding flailing high kicks that really have little to do with functional fighting.

 

[Yondanchris]

Have a fun and safe time at the tourney!

 

[Yondanchris]

while i like the sportsmanship rules -- i hate the silliness about 2 points for kicks to the head. Let anything that scores legally be one point. Keep things simple, and stop rewarding flailing high kicks that really have little to do with functional fighting.

amen!!