CoryKS
Senior Master
Me and my seven-year-old participated in our first tournament this weekend. My boy was really nervous, but he won a third place trophy for kata! He was really excited about that.
Kumite was hilarious. I was the only person in the adult White-Orange division to bring gear, so they were fishing around for someone to fight with me. They came back with this short, chubby girl who looked to be about twelve or thirteen. Now she was a green belt, but the instructors came over several times to remind me to be appropriate. So here I am having a Seinfeld moment - you know, where Kramer beats up the little kids? And I thought, there's no way I'm taking a trophy from a child. So I decided I would tie it up at 2 and then let her get the point to win. Make it look good. So we bow in, ref goes over the rules, and gives the command to begin.
Homegirl runs over and side kicks me for all she's worth. Point. I was stunned.
Ref starts us off again. Same move. This time I blocked a few shots, but the girl was fast. Point.
We start again. Same move. I moved to the side and hit her as she kicked past me. My point. The next one was exactly the same. Every single time the ref signaled to fight, she ran straight at me and kicked. I could have been there all day - dodge, punch. But it was 2-2, so it was time to go down. I blocked for a while, but she finally got one in. Fight over.
Now, here's the kicker: Turns out she was 17 and was supposed to be fighting in the adult division. Grrr. But she did look very happy to get her trophy.
Kumite was hilarious. I was the only person in the adult White-Orange division to bring gear, so they were fishing around for someone to fight with me. They came back with this short, chubby girl who looked to be about twelve or thirteen. Now she was a green belt, but the instructors came over several times to remind me to be appropriate. So here I am having a Seinfeld moment - you know, where Kramer beats up the little kids? And I thought, there's no way I'm taking a trophy from a child. So I decided I would tie it up at 2 and then let her get the point to win. Make it look good. So we bow in, ref goes over the rules, and gives the command to begin.
Homegirl runs over and side kicks me for all she's worth. Point. I was stunned.
Ref starts us off again. Same move. This time I blocked a few shots, but the girl was fast. Point.
We start again. Same move. I moved to the side and hit her as she kicked past me. My point. The next one was exactly the same. Every single time the ref signaled to fight, she ran straight at me and kicked. I could have been there all day - dodge, punch. But it was 2-2, so it was time to go down. I blocked for a while, but she finally got one in. Fight over.
Now, here's the kicker: Turns out she was 17 and was supposed to be fighting in the adult division. Grrr. But she did look very happy to get her trophy.
