Tournament time..... :)

[dvcochran]

Ah crap! Hope he's alright mate that's no good... all the best, and hope it's not too bad

I hate to hear that. I hope it is only a bad strain and recovery time will be minimal. It is much easier to work through the pain when you are very young. But is may still lead to problems down the road so make him hold the line on the rehab. Let us know how he is doing.

 

[_Simon_]

......................... WELL!!!!!


Tournament was today, and it went... so well .

Am tearing up just writing this.. but yeah won 2nd place silver in kata/forms, and 1st place gold in point sparring.

Am absolutely over the moon, and still can't believe it.

It was a long day.. I was feeling a bit yuck still and coughing a bit, but much better than during the week. Had to wait until about 12:30pm or 1pm for my division. For some reason I was quite nervous this time.. had so much nervous energy and just could not relax. Don't know why! Maybe because I wasn't really well enough to be able to train properly for this one, and was sick for the whole week so perhaps felt unprepared..

------->

 

[_Simon_]

Forms:

3 people in the forms division, the two others were in the earlier round this year. I was up first and performed Pinan Go (5), and it went pretty well. Didn't get as much hip snap/rotation as I would have like, felt a bit tense, and in the jump I didn't really lift the knees up like I usually do, but all in all I was pretty happy with it. The 1st kyu was back for this one too hehe and he did Sepai (a Dan level kata again like last time), and did it well, so I won 2nd place which was great. Hard to match or do better than a black belt kata (depending on how well they know and perform it of course) so it was a tough ask, but I'm happy with how I performed.

(Got vids of everything too!)

 

[_Simon_]

Point Sparring:

Then came point sparring, 5 competitors. First match was with the fellow I faced in the other round this year! The kicker! I was determined to not get caught by them again, and really tried to do what I could, even if it meant just simply backtracking to avoid them, but I also tried to just kick first as I could see when he was gonna launch. It seemed to work and I won 4-2!

1st fight-

Was pretty gassed after it, and could feel fatigue from being mostly immobile all week, and it's been awhile since I've done proper consistent sparring too, so I felt out of practice a little.. but nevertheless I got the victory, and after it I remember thinking... "... hey... maybe I can actually get this..."

Second match was the final... and it was actually against the fellow I lost to in the 1st place match last year in round 2.... such a bizarre coincidence all these... I knew he was a bit taller than me, and usually a much more rooted and grounded fighter (waiting and counter-attacking type) so I really had to rely on my speed, footwork and try and fake a few. You could see as I was scoring points just how frustrated he was getting and how he really ramped up the aggressiveness to try and regain points. I wasn't 100% happy with how I fought at times, and it felt like I was flinching a bit much and in reactive mode, just didn't know how to handle the sudden change in aggression. Reeeeeally didn't like how I spun around a couple of times... that's really not like me, but yeah, all happened so fast, and I was just trying to adapt as fast as I could to the change in circumstance.

But I scored 2 good head kicks and others, I think because I figured he was charging in so damn fast he wasn't expecting them, nor even focusing overly on defense. Originally I wasn't going to throw any head kicks as I wasn't sure if I could get my leg up that high haha but I managed .

Second fight-

Final score was 6-3, and I think you can see at the end of the match as I glanced at the score that I started tearing up haha...

Seriously after the match I had a fair cry... just was so emotional and I just didn't expect to win it. It meant so much to not only win, but all the **** that I'd gone through the past year and especially the last few months and how freakin hard they were, to get this was just... can't even describe. No one there watching knew the journey leading to that, but could see it after and how much it meant to me to not only be able to compete, but to become State Champion is ridiculous, and nice that I could really trust where I was at.

The fact that I'd grown and learnt how to beat those two fellows was also really cool!

And also a cool side note, the head referee and the one who awarded me the medal is the instructor I'm currently training under as part of my trial! Felt really honored to receive it from him!

Am so darn glad I decided to enter it... still really emotional and raw at the moment. What a day...

Thanks for listening

 

[_Simon_]

Ah yes, and throughout the matches I copped a few hits:

- I rolled my ankle in the first match (wasn't sure if I could do my second match as it was fair painful, but i pushed through, hurts quite a bit now though!)
- Got punched in the jaw/face a couple of times
-Kicked in the ribs

And at some stage my lip was bleeding haha. Noncontact ain't always so noncontact .

 

[_Simon_]

Fun pics, what's with that veeeiiin... hehe

 

[JR 137]

As Col. Hannibal from The A-Team always said at the end of each episode..

“I love it when a plan comes together.”

 

[CB Jones]

Congrats

 

[dvcochran]

Good job. Glad it went well.

 

[JR 137]

Forms:

3 people in the forms division, the two others were in the earlier round this year. I was up first and performed Pinan Go (5), and it went pretty well. Didn't get as much hip snap/rotation as I would have like, felt a bit tense, and in the jump I didn't really lift the knees up like I usually do, but all in all I was pretty happy with it. The 1st kyu was back for this one too hehe and he did Sepai (a Dan level kata again like last time), and did it well, so I won 2nd place which was great. Hard to match or do better than a black belt kata (depending on how well they know and perform it of course) so it was a tough ask, but I'm happy with how I performed.

(Got vids of everything too!)

I see you took my Pinan 5 advice.

I’ve got a few pointers if you’re going to do it again in competition, or just in general, but I’m off to bed now. Let me know if you want any advice.

 

[_Simon_]

Thanks so much guys! Am still in shock and can't believe it turned out like that, especially when I was simply wanting to enjoy myself and just be a part of it. Still feeling the emotions of the day...

I see you took my Pinan 5 advice.

I’ve got a few pointers if you’re going to do it again in competition, or just in general, but I’m off to bed now. Let me know if you want any advice.

Thanks bro appreciate that very much. Am always up for pointers! Next comp would be next year (unless I attend the nationals in December...), but yeah it is probably one of the freshest katas I've learned so will for sure will let ya know. You thinking of doing Pinan Go for your tournament or Saifa/Seiunchin?

 

[Buka]

Simon! Rock on, dude.

Not a bad day, I'd say. Congrats, my brother, you worked for it. Bask, bro. Seriously, you earned it.
And then...you know, back to f'n work.

 

[JR 137]

Thanks so much guys! Am still in shock and can't believe it turned out like that, especially when I was simply wanting to enjoy myself and just be a part of it. Still feeling the emotions of the day...Thanks bro appreciate that very much. Am always up for pointers! Next comp would be next year (unless I attend the nationals in December...), but yeah it is probably one of the freshest katas I've learned so will for sure will let ya know. You thinking of doing Pinan Go for your tournament or Saifa/Seiunchin?

My only options are Pinan 5, Tsuki-No, and Seido 4. Rules state I can only do kata within my current rank (or one lower if I just promoted). Saiha is one rank above, Seiunchin is two above. Not a bad rule in the whole grand scheme of things.

I’ve been working on Tsuki-No, but will most likely do Pinan 5 as it may score higher and I’m far more confident with it as I learned that one quite a few years ago vs Tsuki-No which I learned about 2 months ago.

 

[_Simon_]

Simon! Rock on, dude.

Not a bad day, I'd say. Congrats, my brother, you worked for it. Bask, bro. Seriously, you earned it.
And then...you know, back to f'n work.

Thanks so much, means alot! You always have such a kindhearted way with words, I will cherish it as it meant so much more than a medal.

Hahaha yep, was definitely feeling sore all over today and my rolled ankle is swollen like a ball, but still trained at the dojo tonight, hard session too XD

 

[_Simon_]

My only options are Pinan 5, Tsuki-No, and Seido 4. Rules state I can only do kata within my current rank (or one lower if I just promoted). Saiha is one rank above, Seiunchin is two above. Not a bad rule in the whole grand scheme of things.

I’ve been working on Tsuki-No, but will most likely do Pinan 5 as it may score higher and I’m far more confident with it as I learned that one quite a few years ago vs Tsuki-No which I learned about 2 months ago.

Ah yep fair enough, makes sense to be honest!

 

[JR 137]

Ah yep fair enough, makes sense to be honest!

I like Tsuki-No better. I guess just the way it feels. I feel like I can punch through walls doing that one

Last week was the first time I’ve done it without a count and facing a different direction in the dojo. We were taking turns doing them in front of each other, acting like judges by scoring and then critiquing. I lost where I was in the kata twice. I recovered pretty quickly, but it was still obvious. When I was done, they looked at me funny, like “are you sure you want to do that one?” I told them it was my first time doing it like that, and then they were like “that was great if that’s the first time you’ve done that.” Everything was how it should be, but I just stopped and had to think where I was twice. If that happens at the tournament, I’ll get buried in scoring.

When I walked up to those guys in class, I didn’t even know which one I was going to do. They looked at me like I forgot the name of the kata, then in my head I said “F it, I’ll try Tsuki-No.”

Seido 4 is a no way, no how for me. Too many high roundhouse kicks to even try doing that one in tournament. I only found one video of it online, and the guy doing it doesn’t do it any justice at all. It’s not a tournament video though.

I really want to do Tsuki-No, as I like it more, but I’ll probably score higher with Pinan 5. Going to steady heavily training both in the next few week. Tournament is October 20th.

Edit: I forgot about tips for you. Just ran out of time; I’ll get to it this afternoon.

 

[JR 137]

Time for a breakdown of your Pinan 5...

Look before you turn. Make it a strong and obvious head turn. During the opening few moves, your head turned with your body rather than looking before turning. You corrected it after you got to the middle of the embussen. That strong turn of the head when done right just adds an element of power somehow that I can’t explain.

Slightly pause between the block and punch in the beginning (on both sides). It kind of looks like your punch started before your block ended, and you never stopped the block itself. A very slight pause shows off the power of the block and the punch. Add power rather than speed here.

The gedan juji uke at about :37 - bring both hands high and tight right next your ear, then drive them down hard. Like a punch. I like how you went right into the jodan juji uke right afterwards like it was the same count; I’ve got to incorporate that into mine

The crescent kick-elbow-backfist combo around :50 - I’m not sure if you intentionally paused between the elbow and backfist or you kinda lost where you were. That should be a smoother transition. We do it as one complete count; not sure about you.

The landing after the jump - keep your back straight. There will be some rounding of the shoulders, as you’re doing a low area block, but your low back should be straight. That’s something Kaicho pointed out to me when I did that kata during his class. It’s a kake daschi/hook stance that you’re landing into, only significantly deeper, if that helps drive the point home.

At about 1:05, when you came up from kiba daschi into musubi dachi: you didn’t come all the way up into the musubi dachi stance; your knees were still bent before you went into the next count. Come all the way up, pause, then go into the next count.

When you naore: keep looking where you were looking right before the naore. Don’t move your head until you’re almost done, then look forward. Nit picky, I know, but it’s one of those things I hear constantly in the dojo.

At about :54 in: you did the move correctly, and it’s pretty standard across most styles. The way I was taught it looks much prettier IMO, which is good in tournaments - rather than raise up and bringing the hand straight up as you turn, stay in kake daschi, look up and punch up (while keeping the other hand where you had it on the arm). After the punch upward, slowly rise up into stance, look and turn. Not sure if that’s really clear though. Basically, stay in the kake daschi, punch upwards rather than a slow hand raise, then do exactly what you did while holding your arms where they are.

I’m going to try to get someone to record me doing the kata tomorrow night at the dojo for a sort of reference, especially the last part I mentioned. I don’t know if I’ll be able to Youtube it (I’ve never done that), but I’d imagine I could email it to you somehow. Please don’t take that as I’M the reference for anything I can critique far better than I can actually do.

Overall your kata was quite good IMO. I would’ve scored it pretty high The things I’m suggesting are minor tweaks that could help you add some points here and there. Reading it over, it seems like I’m tearing your kata apart; not at all. I’m just relaying stuff I’ve been told and have seen classmates get told.

 

[_Simon_]

I like Tsuki-No better. I guess just the way it feels. I feel like I can punch through walls doing that one

Last week was the first time I’ve done it without a count and facing a different direction in the dojo. We were taking turns doing them in front of each other, acting like judges by scoring and then critiquing. I lost where I was in the kata twice. I recovered pretty quickly, but it was still obvious. When I was done, they looked at me funny, like “are you sure you want to do that one?” I told them it was my first time doing it like that, and then they were like “that was great if that’s the first time you’ve done that.” Everything was how it should be, but I just stopped and had to think where I was twice. If that happens at the tournament, I’ll get buried in scoring.

When I walked up to those guys in class, I didn’t even know which one I was going to do. They looked at me like I forgot the name of the kata, then in my head I said “F it, I’ll try Tsuki-No.”

Seido 4 is a no way, no how for me. Too many high roundhouse kicks to even try doing that one in tournament. I only found one video of it online, and the guy doing it doesn’t do it any justice at all. It’s not a tournament video though.

I really want to do Tsuki-No, as I like it more, but I’ll probably score higher with Pinan 5. Going to steady heavily training both in the next few week. Tournament is October 20th.

Edit: I forgot about tips for you. Just ran out of time; I’ll get to it this afternoon.

Ah nice! Yep I feel exactly the same while doing Tsuki no kata

And there's nothing like doing a kata being watched by others and facing a different direction to screw things up hehe. It is a really fun kata to perform but yeah gotta go with what might work best, but what feels good to you too.

 

[_Simon_]

Oh wow, thank you so much for all that advice, that's really generous of you and super helpful! Now watching my kata back with your words in mind I can absolutely see all those things which I didn't spot before, and I know some actions I did were on purpose but definitely sacrificed something else in the process. But some I just completely didn't even realise I was doing too!

Look before you turn. Make it a strong and obvious head turn. During the opening few moves, your head turned with your body rather than looking before turning. You corrected it after you got to the middle of the embussen. That strong turn of the head when done right just adds an element of power somehow that I can’t explain.

Haha you know what, that is so strange that I didn't do the head turns, something I remember working on with Pinan Yon, but I totally see what you mean.

Slightly pause between the block and punch in the beginning (on both sides). It kind of looks like your punch started before your block ended, and you never stopped the block itself. A very slight pause shows off the power of the block and the punch. Add power rather than speed here.

Ahhh I see... I think I did do this on purpose in a way to really show a flow between block and punch, thinking it demonstrated more speed and hip rotation, but I see what you mean, it was maybe too blurred for sure. Was trying to make it really snappy and explosive, but sacrificed that for it.

The gedan juji uke at about :37 - bring both hands high and tight right next your ear, then drive them down hard. Like a punch. I like how you went right into the jodan juji uke right afterwards like it was the same count; I’ve got to incorporate that into mine

Ah yep, I could driven it down more rather than go through the motions, I think I was really focused on that jodan juji uke after it so just flowed them a bit much. But yeah I love moving from one into the other like that

The crescent kick-elbow-backfist combo around :50 - I’m not sure if you intentionally paused between the elbow and backfist or you kinda lost where you were. That should be a smoother transition. We do it as one complete count; not sure about you.

Ah yep I intentionally paused in kiba dachi as that's how we were taught it in Kyokushin. I have seen the Seido version and others and I've seen that smoother transition, I might try that version and see how it feels.

The landing after the jump - keep your back straight. There will be some rounding of the shoulders, as you’re doing a low area block, but your low back should be straight. That’s something Kaicho pointed out to me when I did that kata during his class. It’s a kake daschi/hook stance that you’re landing into, only significantly deeper, if that helps drive the point home.

Ah yeah I definitely rounded a bit haha, duly noted!

At about 1:05, when you came up from kiba daschi into musubi dachi: you didn’t come all the way up into the musubi dachi stance; your knees were still bent before you went into the next count. Come all the way up, pause, then go into the next count.

Ah yeah am not sure why I did that, for some reason I thought we keep the knees bent when going into musubi dachi, makes sense to come up in proper stance though.

When you naore: keep looking where you were looking right before the naore. Don’t move your head until you’re almost done, then look forward. Nit picky, I know, but it’s one of those things I hear constantly in the dojo

Ah yep fair enough!

At about :54 in: you did the move correctly, and it’s pretty standard across most styles. The way I was taught it looks much prettier IMO, which is good in tournaments - rather than raise up and bringing the hand straight up as you turn, stay in kake daschi, look up and punch up (while keeping the other hand where you had it on the arm). After the punch upward, slowly rise up into stance, look and turn. Not sure if that’s really clear though. Basically, stay in the kake daschi, punch upwards rather than a slow hand raise, then do exactly what you did while holding your arms where they are.

Ahhh I see, I do like the way you describe. Again we were taught the other way, but that would look better I think, will practice that for sure.

I’m going to try to get someone to record me doing the kata tomorrow night at the dojo for a sort of reference, especially the last part I mentioned. I don’t know if I’ll be able to Youtube it (I’ve never done that), but I’d imagine I could email it to you somehow. Please don’t take that as I’M the reference for anything I can critique far better than I can actually do.

That would be really cool, only if you wanted to! Nah i truly appreciate your advice, it definitely helped me to look deeper at it, and alot of that stuff I couldn't even see when looking at it!

Overall your kata was quite good IMO. I would’ve scored it pretty high The things I’m suggesting are minor tweaks that could help you add some points here and there. Reading it over, it seems like I’m tearing your kata apart; not at all. I’m just relaying stuff I’ve been told and have seen classmates get told.

Thanks so much mate, domo arigato gosaimasu

 

[pdg]

The landing after the jump - keep your back straight. There will be some rounding of the shoulders, as you’re doing a low area block, but your low back should be straight. That’s something Kaicho pointed out to me when I did that kata during his class. It’s a kake daschi/hook stance that you’re landing into, only significantly deeper, if that helps drive the point home.

Might not be relevant given different style, but hey...

With that move (using my terminology - jump, land in X stance performing low section X fist pressing block) the feet are closer together, the back is straight and the block is about groin height. The 'external' height is controlled by the amount of bend in the legs.

What I found helped most with getting the position was to keep my shoulders rotated back and to keep eye contact with the fabled imaginary opponent.