Time for the debrief: Well, I didn't win, but that's actually OK. Came in second on forms and lost my first (and only) sparring match -- it was sudden death elimination. I have some video of the fight I can post from work on Monday, if anyone wants to see it.
Bad news: I didn't win.
Good news: I now have a proper nemesis-- the chick I lost to on both forms and sparring, so now I can train with her in mind. She's a high red belt and was actually quite nice in real life, but next time we meet in competition, I'd like to kick the shiznit out of her.
The competition itself: there was a whole lot of sitting around and wondering confusedly from place to place. I was in the zone and ready to go for the sparring, but then there was some confusion, where the ref had me change a bunch of equipment -- my helmet was the wrong color, then there was a scramble to find instep protectors (didn't think we needed them), so ended up with some borrowed point sparring protectors, which basically look (and feel) like giant clown shoes. And then it was on. Basically, all my strategy and pre-gaming went out the window; I mostly reverted back to "kill mode" and started wailing on her. It went by really, really fast, but the slightly messed up part is that I actually thought I was winning until I looked at the scoreboard. I think I lost by three points. My brother tells me I got in a lot more kicks, but most of them weren't "point" kicks (something that I definitely need to figure out before the next competition.) Also, seeing myself on video...I'm a lot stiffer than I thought I was (and, um, way goofier looking than I thought as well). And, the other girl was just better, that's all there is to it.
However, my whole family got to see me, my buddies turned out in force, and it turned into a surprisingly warm, fuzzy experience and into, heck, one of the better days of my life! Then we went out for Korean barbecue and polished off a couple of bottles of soju
Thank you all for being awesome and for the encouragement!
