Houston
Well, we just got back from our trip to Houston. We went to participate in our karate school’s Nationals Tournament. This is the second year we went (and also the second time they have had this tournament). And by participate, I mean The Boy did. He competed in Sparring, Grappling and Traditional Kata. As a non-black belt, that was everything he could take part in. Once he becomes a black belt he can also compete in creative weapons or creative empty hands forms. That is where he can make up his own kata – with music if he wants.
The Hubby did end up participating, in a way. Sensei called me into one of the school’s offices and handed me a camera. He asked me to take pictures of the event as I was a “responsible” person. I was happy to help out, but pictures are not my strong suit. The Hubby shares this opinion – he has basically given up on training me on using his camera (hence, I have my own camera now). He saw me come out of the office with the camera in hand and immediately asked what I was doing. When I explained, he took the camera and became the official unofficial photographer. He went out onto the floor with all the participants – took shots of everyone he could.
As a karate student, he had a better understanding of when kicks, turns and moves would be performed. He showed me some of the shots he caught (it was a digital SLR, so he could do that) and they looked great. There was part of the day when the lights were off (it gets hot in Houston when you have 100+ people in a room in 90+degree weather!) so some shots may look like they were taken in the dark.
All in all we had a good time. There were about 20 or so students from our school that participated, and about another 10 or so that were there to help out and cheer their family on. The Boy had a good time hanging out with his karate friends. It was nice to be able to let him wander the hotel and hang out at the pool without worrying about him.
And now for the results:
The Boy has never grappled before. He was going to grappling class, where they worked on drills. But school got in the way, and he really hadn’t been to class since early May. He was just looking to get some experience in grappling, and that’s what he got. There were four boys in his division. He came in fourth. But he got to grapple twice – and the second time he did better than the first. I did not watch. I videotaped it. There is a difference – one way you are actively watching what is going on; the other you are making sure you get the action in the screen. I don’t think I can actively watch that.
Sparring: The Boy apparently got moved into the 15-16 year old division (he is still technically 14). There were three in that division once he was placed into it. He placed third. In his defense, one of the kids had a very long reach and the other used a style that was hard to defend against. Plus, he had just come back from his second grappling match and only had about two minutes to catch his breath and get into his sparring gear.
Kata: I think he was robbed. He got second place. He was very strong (this tends to be his strong suit, in my humble opinion). The kid who got first apparently “forgot” a move. He only won by .10 (one tenth) of a point, so maybe I shouldn’t be too upset. But still!
Here are some pictures (I know you are dying for pictures!):
above – Our School’s Participants
above – Sensei talks to the grapplers before things get started
above – here is the Kata scores being given out. The kid on the very left is the one who won.