It is 6:08 AM on Sunday morning, March 5th, 2017. Today is the day of our very first Fighter’s Cup. It seems to be more on my mind than my son’s who is happily playing on his iPad on the couch seemingly without a care in the world.
He is lucky because he is in the easiest division: beginners are white, blue and yellow belts and he is also in the youngest age group (4-6) when kicks and punches really don’t hurt much. He is a six year old yellow belt so at the best end on both criteria for the bracket
I however am not so lucky. The cut off for “senior division” is forty years old; I turn forty in just over two months so therefore miss the cutoff and am lumped in with guys all younger than myself! I’m kind of shocked that I’ve almost qualified for a “senior division!” That is the first time in my life that has ever happened to me and I am in complete amazement at how life has gone so fast. Senior division!!!??? Also, adults punch and kick very hard so I’ll have to be quick and keep a good kamae.
I’m still not nervous or scared. Perhaps I will be when I see how the fights go but I really don’t think so. I’m more concerned with stamina as the younger guys most likely will have more of it. I’ve got a pretty strong kick and punch though, I just cannot keep it up for too long. I wish I could use an ‘inside trip,’ which was my signature move in high school wrestling. It takes minimal effort, is very easy to hit and your opponent goes straight to his back. Watching the fight videos it would be a great move to hit when the opponent is backing up although there is the danger of a knee to the face which would be very, very bad. It is also not karate so I don’t know if I’d be penalized. The rules say no grabbing but attach and sweep are ok so perhaps it is a legal move? We’ll keep it in the cards if things are going badly for me. 🙂
I really wonder what I’ll be writing tomorrow morning when I’m bruised and sore. Did I lose quickly? Do I have a black eye? Did I win the whole thing? One thing I learned from wrestling is that a good portion of winning or losing is mental. I usually won the matches I thought I’d win and I lost the ones I thought I’d lose. I’m going into today with the attitude that I will win and I will win decisively. I’m not afraid and will go straight at them. But, I have no experience in this and my stamina is terrible so it is really hard to say how things will go even with a very positive attitude.
Aside from getting something broken, I’m more concerned with my son and I really hope he gets a metal, otherwise he will be really sad. There are no participation medals in full contact karate. 😀 I’ll remind him of a few simple rules: keep your hands up to block kicks to the face, do plenty of chudan and jodan mawashi geris and punch! He is getting so much better but still cries (like many kids) when kicked in the face (masks always on) so at the least I’m hoping he doesn’t cry. I’m more anxious for him than I am for myself. (I say that now, we shall see when I’m on the mat.)
Finally, I wonder how I even got into a tournament like this. Unlike many guys I hate MMA, detest violence and this would never, in a million years, be something I would seek to do. But I really wanted to learn karate and this is part of it. I think this is a bit of Japanese mentality but I’d be a little ashamed to show up at the dojo if I had not participated in its own tournament. This means I’ll most likely have to do this tournament every year as well. It is a requirement to advance to the higher belts so is something I better get used to.
The time is now 6:32 AM and we leave in an hour. Time to get ready for the day.
