AAU Karate 12/10/06

[Sensei Tom O'Brien]

We just came back from the AAU Karate Tournament. 6 of us went & we took 7 silver medals. I’m so proud of everybody that my head can’t fit thru the door. I won 2 medals in the old man’s division in kata & kobudo. It’s the 1st time I did Bo. I worked my butt off on that Bo form & I felt good because I did not make any mistakes. The 48 yr. old guy from TKD, Tom (who trained with me for about 2 mos. now) won one in kumite. Tom lost to a 6th deg. Black belt in his 2nd tournament ever. The red belt, Josh from TKD who came with me from my friend’s Dojang won one in kumite in the 17/18 yr. old, advanced div. he lost to a black belt national champ. Steve my brown belt won 1 ea. in kumite & kata in the advanced division. My son Ben, a purple belt, won 1 in kumite. He knocked out a green belt with a mawashi geri to the solar plexus & beat a black belt. Tournaments can be very crazy. Ben folded up this green belt so that he took about 5 mins. To recover & didn’t even get a point for it. When I said “He should get a point for that.” his family & friends asked me why. I responded “Because he hit him with a clean shot that’s why!” That same green belt won the div. Isn’t that nuts? Anyway it doesn’t matter because I told Ben “Look, if it was a real fight there would not have been any referee to give him 5 mins. to recover.” The important thing is he discovered his gyaku zuki & he admitted that he should also be doing kata.
The martial arts are so wild sometimes. After the tournament I went home, took a shower & went straight to a wedding. Wow, talk about culture shock. One minute I’m in the middle of the chaos of a tournament & the next minute I’m in this really fancy wedding dressed in a monkey suit. I feel like a fish out of water. Then I find out this 23 yr. old girl, black belt wants to go back into training & she wants to train with me. Then my wife, who hasn’t worked out with me for 2 years, says to me that if Rachel comes then she is going to come back too. My wife was a yellow belt on the verge of becoming a green belt when she quit. Now tell me the martial arts aren’t nuts. I’m lovin it though. I took some pictures & I will try to post them. Talk about interesting! Thanks for putting up with my rambling nonsense. Anybody else got tourney stories? Happy New Year.
Sensei Tom

 

[terryl965]

Glad to see you had a wonderful time and yes you are right Tournaments can be very hectic

 

[Brandon Fisher]

Congratulations to you and your group. Tournament rules vary but it seems maybe it was a excessive contact issue. Just always remember if they say little to mid contact its a fine line.

 

[shotokan-kez]

Congrats to you, seems like you all did very well. I have never entered a taurnament before, so i wouldn't know on that aspect...something i have always wanted to do though.

 

[Sensei Tom O'Brien]

Thanks everyone. I agree that point karate has little to do with reality. The competition part does motivate me to be in the best shape I can possibly be in though. So for me it works well for my motivation. It also exposes us to more varied styles & techniques. One other benefit can be facing the unknown & facing fear. Believe it or not most people are more afraid of looking bad, being embarrassed even more than taking a beating. Even if you only enter kata, breaking, self defense or weapons it is still a challenge. When you face your fears & overcome them you have grown. Sometimes point karate is the closest thing you can get to a real fight 'legally'. I come from NY & I have seen competitors enter tournaments for one & only one purpose - to break your jaw. The hell with the points. You never know who you are facing or what his motives are. Deal with these fears & it might help you on the street. Again these are some of the things that I get out tournaments. Other people may have different reasons.
Thanks,
Sensei Tom