DJ's First and 2nd and 3rd Martial Arts tournaments (Updated)
Well, As I mentioned before, about month and a hlaf ago, DJ started his Tae-Kwon-do training. Before that he did attend Karate school for a short while, but since it was located across the town, we couldnt drive his there, so he had to quit. But this time we are so lucky, since the school is just block away from our house, and teacher there is really a great guy, and very experienced one too. DJ loves it there, and he hasnt missed one class since the start, and even when he had a cold few weeks ago, he was there training. He got his Yellow belt(and very proud of that) and now in training for his High Yellow belt test, that will be done early April.
So last week we found out that there would be a martial arts tournament in Watertown(about 55 miles from Milwaukee, where we live). DJ was very excited about it and wanted to go soo much, so while neither I nor my wife ever been there, we decided to drive him there. He spent the rest of the week practicing hard, in both Forms and Sparring, so he was very comfident to do good.
When Sunday came, we got into our car, and embarked on the our great journey :) Took as about hour to get there, and we didnt get lost, which was a good thing since the directions I got from Yahoo maps were totally wrong. The tournament was starting at 9 am, and when we got there it was about 10 am, so we were worried that it might be late, but as we discovered, childrens part of the tournament wont be starting untill 12 pm. So we pretty much had like two hours to kill, and ended uo sitting there watching weapons and black belt competitions which were pretty fun to watch. Still those matches took longer than it was anticipated, and Childrens performances got bumped to almost 2 pm.
By that time DJ started to get tired, since he was on his feet since the time we got there, but to keep him busy, we had him practice the form he would be showing to the judges. Our teacher came in about 12 pm and stayed around the end of the tournament. Too bad no one else from DJ group attended, so he couldnt really practice against them while we were waiting. There was another guy from higher age group(who was 15) there, so DJ and him ended up sparring abit, which was good.
Then finally the time came, and all the kids were called to the floor. Judges went through the rules of the tournament, and then separated children into age and belt groups. There were about 7 kids in DJ group, and after they got seated and judges took their spots, the Form Exhibition began. DJ went 5th, and as he did his Yellow Belt form, we were standing on the side and outside his view so we wont distract his attention, and he would start laughing or get nervous. But he did very well, and get a very high score. At the end judges announced the final scores and DJ got 2nd place. I think if his form was bit longer, he would have definatly won, since the kid who got first place did much more complicated one, involving multiple punches and kicks, while DJ's one was only punches and blocks.
After that, the group started preparing for sparring matches, and by the time it was ready, DJ was alreadt suited up into his gear and with mouth guard and ready to go :) Kids go separated into pairs, and DJ was in the first sparring pair. He handled himself very well during the fight, and mostly stayed on the defensive, scoring some punches here and there. He did missed one kick, he pretty much walked into, and that gave his opponents 2 points. After the fight was over, we werent sure who actually won, but then DJ got called again, this time to fight againt the kid who scored first place in Forms, and who was obviously much more trained than him. Still he handled himself very well, and while he lost at the end, the point difference wasnt that big. Few more fights were held after than, and then DJ got called for the 3rd time(none of other kids foght 3 times :p), and as our teacher told as later on, it was a fight for the 3rd place. Once again, he held himself very well, and blocked all the attacks the girl he was fighting against(and who was bigger than him) was throwing at him. She went for some low kicking, and after doing that for a few times, she got penalized for it. DJ was able to sneak few punches in, to score some more points, and at the end it helped him win the match. Too bad judges didnt score his final punch, which was very good, but I guess came little after the time ran out.
Still, He did great for his first tournament, getting 2nd and 3rd places. He is so fond of his trophies that he won, and now eager to train more for few other upcoming tournaments(one in 3 weeks, and another in early April).
