Tournament Time

This weekend, Alpha Martial Arts hosted an in house Tae Kwon Do and kickboxing tournament.  Both kids and I competed, and Bec took 2nd place in her form (where she actually competed a level above her actual belt level).  Both kids made me very proud.  I competed in traditional forms and two different sparring events.  As I mentioned in a previous post, my stamina is by far my weakest area, and that tends to show when I spar.  Needless to say, I was very excited when the tournament was over and I had sparred about 10 matches and I wasn't sucking wind at the end.  I don't know if it was because I was more relaxed, since I knew everyone I was sparring against (it was only for Alpha students), or if the week of P90X really made that much of a difference.  Whatever the reason, I felt very good throughout the tournament, and that is the first time that has happened.  My last tournament, I sparred TWICE, and after the second match I could honestly hardly stand up. Definitely some improvement, and that is the goal.

I saw a lot of other things this weekend as well.  Seven women competed in the kickboxing competition, and every one of them looked fantastic.  Everybody cheered and supported everyone else, and everyone looked very strong doing all the exercises.  They represented the Alpha kickboxing program superbly, and I couldn't have been more proud.

My friend Ashley competed with me in several events.  Our forms differ primarily in that I tend to have more power, and she tends to have better technique, but she has closed that power gap substantially.   I've trained with her for several years, and it has been really great seeing her constant improvement.  We've sparred many times, and did again this weekend.  Even though we know each others' strongest moves, I still couldn't escape a beautifully executed axe kick/round house kick combo in one of our matches.  She always pushes me, and she is a great martial artist.

Another friend, Erika, has been off the charts in her physical improvement in the past year.  She very nearly withdrew from this tournament, but ended up competing in the kickboxing event and sparring.  She has lost over 50 lbs and is definitely one of the strongest students in the kickboxing program.  And as luck would have it, I had to spar against her this weekend.  She has been sparring for maybe 2 months (not that you could ever tell from watching her), and  I have been sparring for several years.  She was the underdog, and she knew it, but she didn't let that get in her way.  I did not hold back in our match, and at the end of it, I had beaten her by literally a couple of punches.  As her confidence grows, she is going to be scary good in the ring.


Jacob is younger (8th grade), and I had to spar him a couple of times, one of which was for the grand championship in point sparring.  Again, on the surface, he was outmatched by a more experienced opponent, but that didn't stop him.  He displayed great technique, and it was very difficult to get in on him to score any points.  In the end, we actually sparred to a tie, and the final, sudden death point could have easily gone either way, but the judges awarded me the point.  I hear compliments about Jacob's sparring ability all the time from other adults in the class, and I agree, the kid can spar, and he is only going to get better.

Ever is an adult in the class I don't know very well and have never sparred, but I had to spar him a couple of times this weekend.  I don't think he has been doing martial arts for more than a few months, but he sparred very competently and looked like he was having a great time doing it.  He is a very humble and gracious opponent, and he is going to be very good when he gets some experience.

I saw two sisters spar, one of which was half the size of the other one.  A clear mismatch, but the older sister got just enough points to win, then let her younger sibling get some shots in herself even though she could have easily dominated the match completely.  It has been good to see the older daughter mature over the course of the past year.

For me, one of the most rewarding aspects of being an instructor is watching people improve, and seeing how happy they are when they actually realize and can admit to themselves how much they have improved.  And there was a TON of that on display at the tournament this weekend.  I think everyone learned something about themselves and got to know some new people as well.  The support and camaraderie among the members there is simply overwhelming and addicting, and I love being around it.  Congratulations to all on their great performances this weekend!