I'm sore all over....well, sore in one foot and a little in the nose really. I entered my first karate tournament in the weekend, and (unsurprisingly) lost. Highlights included:
- Having my nose broken (just the cartilage, not the bone) by the New Zealand Karate team captain.
- Knocking down an opponent so hard when he 'came round' his first words were "what happened?" (he was only out for about two seconds - so I'm not so much of a bully as all that!)
- Losing a fight due to penalties
- Having two fights stopped early due to excessive bleeding (on my part - and these were fights I was definitely losing anyway)
I scored only a few 'real' points but I was pretty happy all up for a first attempt.
The exercise really showed up a few things for me too.
Key Learnings:
- It's really really hard to score with the legs.
- You need to be fast.
- It's all about gyaku tzsuke.
- No, faster than that.
- Club drills need to be faster/harder/meaner.
- Much faster.
- I'm not made of glass.
- Sideline parents are far scarier than the competitors.
- Stay lower - if you have to go high, move up, don't start high.
Generally a great experience, moderately painful, not great for the ego, but it should be a must for all club regulars.