Saturday was the first tournament of the 2012/2013 Karate year. This was the first time Sid went to a tourney as a colour belt and she turned seven just five days earlier. Her category for fighting and katas was orange, green and purple belts, 7 - 9 year old girls. For the first time Sid would be competing against kids who also train very hard. The white belt category she competed in last year was great to learn the ropes but there isn't a lot of parody in the skill level but once you start getting into the colour belt categories, you start to see the kids that continue to be passionate about the sport and are good at it. Also they are all SOOOO much bigger than our little one. In height she could still easily pass as 5 and is still only 40 pounds! The ref's asked her a couple of times how old she was at the start of their events just to make sure she was in the right place. Luckily her and Reece were in the same category so they stuck together!
First up was Kata. Sid was going to do kata two but at the last minute Sigung asked her to do kata one. She was looking forward to doing Kata two but he said she was so precise with kata one she should do it and do it well. He was right. Some of the other Kata's the girls did were much more complicated but Sid went up, did her thing and walked away with the top score and 1st place! Admittedly, I am a complete wreck during these events. I keep thinking, "this time I will be fine!" and then when she is on deck waiting to do her Kata, my heart flutters, my stomach clenches and my hands shake. What is she doing?
Grinning.
Then it was time to preform!
This kid LOVES this! She always gets a bit nervous when they are giving them instructions but when it comes to the competition part Sid is in her glory.
Waiting for them to announce the winners.
Reece did Kata 2 and preformed well but just missed a medal. She was still very happy for her friend.
Once the trophies and medals were awarded it was time to quickly get their fighting gear on. Kumite or sparring was next.
Sid was called up to fight in the first match and won.
It was a close call, 5 points to 4 points. Then Reece got to fight and won her match. After a few more matches with some of the other kids Sid was called back up and had to fight two fights in a row. She lost the first fight 5 - 4 and won the last fight 5 - 3 giving her a third place finish!
Reece made it to the final fight and won first place. It was nice to see Sid so happy for Reece. It is so great to see how these kids support each other!
One ref in Sidney's ring approached her after her kata's and fighting and told her she showed incredible potential. He said her kata's were amazing and she was a great little fighter. "Keep it up! You are awesome to watch!" is what he told her. Later he came and sat at our table to have a bite to eat and he said to Sid, "I saw you last year. I was far away and couldn't really see everything but I noticed you. This time I got to be in your ring to ref you and really enjoyed watching you. I am hosting a tournament in January and I want you to come ok?" Sid of course said "YES!" and luckily we had already planned on attending that one but it was really, really flattering.
All the first place trophies playing together :)
Ken helps the kids warm up.
Arianne and Sid.
Megan and Sid
No comments:
Post a Comment