Tournament season is upon us! My first tournament in at least 4 years is here! And what a turn out I had! I can't even speak about how much I missed competing. It was great to be back. I had all the emotions too. I was nervous, disappointed one of my divisions didn't have any one in it, but that happens. I was excited to see a new crop of young men and women coming up through the ranks. And I was on fire! Out of 6 divisions I managed to place first in all of them! I even won my first Grand Champion since I cant even remember!
The day started out kind of meh. My first division Korean Traditional Kata, didn't have any other competitors, and so I began questioning if I was going to have any competition at all. It had been so long, I had no idea who to even look for. I saw some familiar faces but knew they weren't competing. And so I just kept warming up and waiting for divisions to get called.
Eventually my next division Kenpo traditional kata, was called and I had another competitor! It was awesome! The draw went my way and I performed last which in Kata divisions is always the best spot. You get to see everyone else's routine and get a bearing on the judges. And even though I made up my routine on the spot I pulled down the first place spot! 11 am and I was already 2 for 2! The day had turned around and I knew it was going to be a fun day!
When the division that I felt the most prepared for came around, my old trusty rusty Japanese Kata I was riding high. Once again the draw went my way and I got to perform last. The competition was a little better here also. 5 competitors total and the performances were clean. I felt some folks were lacking a performative intensity, but I definitely need to bring my A-game. And once again I pulled down the first place spot.
As the day wore on I began to get nervous again. I am traditionally a mediocre fighter. And I still had no idea who I was going to be fighting against. I didn't see a whole bunch of fighters warming up. So I just did what I do, started my long process of getting loose! And then before I knew it, we were lining up. I ended up getting bumped into the heavy weight division. No fighters in the middleweight so I opted for rounds instead of a guaranteed win. And it was on! Right out of the gate I felt good. My set bounce was fluid, my legs felt strong, and I was almost scoring at will. with only 5 fighters I just needed two wins for the first place spot! Then it was time to fight in the senior divisions 30+ was just me and the only fighter I had any experience with. Brian Hendrixson. Another old dog from back in the day. And no slouch either. He looked great! His hit were accurate and he pulled ahead almost immediately. I had to slow him down with a back kick. But after that the fight was mine. then bam right into the 40+ division cuz I am in fact that old. 3 fighters I pulled the bye so I was automatically fighting for first. The guy was taller than me by a good 5 inches. But he wasn't as smooth as I was used to. he was also a bit gun shy. I did get a penalty for a low blow but was able to over come and secure the win!
All and all i ended up feeling good about my fighting. In my head, I knew my kata performances could have been better, but I "W" is a "W". SO i left feeling confident I could do this again. And that I can compete on a much higher level. The April tournament will test my ability for sure. SO I am looking forward to that. Vegas here I come!

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