What it's like to go to Tournaments
by Trey Sheldon
Let me tell you about what it's like to go to tournaments. Tournaments take a lot of preparation. I have to do forms, weapons and sparring.
In the black belt form, there are 81 moves. I have to get at least a 9.7 to 9.9 from each of the three judges to get the highest score. If I tie with someone else, I have to do my form again and also the judges have to point to the person who did the best form. If I get at least two of them to point at me, I win the tie-breaker. There are three judges. One of the corner judges is the hands judge. He or she looks at my hand techniques and scores me only on how I use my hands. The other corner judge watches my feet. He or she judges my kicks and stances. The center judge judges my overall performance.
For the next round, I get to do weapons. First degree black belts only get to choose between nunchuks and Bahng Mahng Ee, which is the short stick. I also am no longer allowed to do a freestyle performance. I have to do the designated Black Belt form for either weapon. If I tie with someone, I get to do a freestyle performance with my weapon.
The last round is sparring, which is another word for fighting in gear. First, I'm paired up with an opponent that is most of the time, a state champ, so I have to work extra hard to beat him. There are lots of rules in sparring that I have to remember. There is no punching in the face, but I am allowed to kick in the face and head. I can punch and kick to the stomach, but there is no punching or kicking below the belt or in the back. If I do a jump kick to the head, I get 3 points. If I do a standing kick to the head, I get 2 points. If I do a jump-kick to the stomach, I get 2 points for that also. If I kick or punch in the chest, I get 1 point. The first person to get 5 points is the winner. But there is a 2-minute time limit, so whoever is ahead when time is up, wins. I really like sparring, but I usually get hurt because all of the guys are so much taller than me. But I will grow, and in 2 years, I'll be the oldest in the category.
I have been to over 10 tournaments, and I usually place at every one of them. I have lots of trophies and medals to show for it. This year I am ranked 3rd in the state of Florida for weapons and 8th in the state for Forms. And that's only after 4 tournaments. If I had gone to more, I would be higher on the ranking. Next tournament season begins in June and we are going to a lot more tournaments and hopefully I will be the Florida State Champion.
Someone who goes to my karate school just became the Florida State Champ in forms, sparring, weapons, XMA forms and XMA weapons. She is in the Girls 11-13 year old, Color belt group.
Competing in tournaments is very fun even if I don't place every time. It takes a lot of practice and I'm getting there. Even if you don't take karate, you should find out when the next tournament is in your area and go watch. They're really fun to attend.
