This is the first Regional tournament for the year. The first tournament is usually very quiet, with not too many students competing, so I don't expect to be up against that many people. My division this time (I suspect) will be 5th Kyu blue belt to 1st Kyu brown belt. I sincerely hope not, as I believe that all competition should be fair, and if you have students just months away from a black belt competing against students newly graded to blue belt, its the furthest thing from fair. I remember in 2013, when the divisions were a little more fair - everyone had a realistic chance of coming away with something. Last year, it was a bit of a shambles, many saying they don't know why they bothered to turn up at all. Its always enjoyable, but at the same time... Anyway. Five weeks to go until I compete and I think with my kumite I will just do what I can. Despite being a higher grade, I am not too confident with kumite (ignoring the fact two years running I have placed second and fourth in the State competition) as my reactions are slower than most. My kata is what I will be focusing on. Its certainly gotten stronger since I last performed it, and if I can walk out into the ring, lose the nerves and do a kata that impresses, I might just impress those judges enough. Not enough to beat those brown belts, though, sadly. But I must remember to tell myself that in just a few short years, I will be where they are. I shall keep y'all updated on how my training is coming along, and will let you know what happens come tournament day!
I am at odds when saying "good luck", as this has a way of seeming like to leave something to "chance". I would think, that someone who has studied well, should be able to rise from the occasion. I rather state, "Do your best and have fun"
Just GKR. One of the things that make me nervous is performing my kata in front of my Sensei's. We often do tournament training in the weeks before one and I always get so nervous, my legs wobble and I have actually froze on the spot and cried before. At tournament, I manage to get out there and do my kata, and the nerves are still there, but somehow more controlled. I am told that it is easier to do your kata in front of people you don't know, than to do it in front of people you have known for several years. Odd how that works!
I wish you to be able to perform to the best of your abilities and have fun at this tournament. As for the above, Tournament have some things that you can control- like how well you prepare. And they have things that are a roll of the dice that you cannot control, like how many people in your ring, or the makeup of those in the ring. Or sometimes the judging criteria to some extent. To me, tournaments are about putting yourself under pressure and coming out of the whole experience learning and becoming a better MAist. Some years you do better than other - medal wise. To me, those that only compete in tournaments to get medals, and don't participate if they don't think they can win miss the point. That is my perspective anyways.
Personally, I don't think it is about losing the nerves, it is about dealing with the nerves. It is an important distinction. I deal with fear and nerves a lot. I have OCD which means I obsess over things that I fear. I know this is geeky, but this quote from a Sci-Fi book is actually a very helpful thing for me. I use it like a mantra sometimes, repeating it a couple of times until I get the attitude expressed in it when dealing with my fears. The point is that pretending fear isn't there doesn't work. Accepting the fear and dealing with it and doing what you need to do anyways, has been a much better way for me to deal with fear. Also, my school has these things called "mega group" classes before our tournament. We get as many people from the school all together and we perform our forms in front of a huge group, usually much bigger than those watching at a tournament. We usually have about 8 or so of these. It is very nerve wracking, but gets you used to performing in front of others. If your school does not have something like this, can you get groups together to watch you? Classmates all taking turns or even family and friends? I know you said your perform in front of your Instructor, but this might help too?
We have tournament practice before a competition, where we have about ten people watch each other perform their katas. I find that even more nerve racking than actually performing on tournament day. You are right, though - it will get me used to performing in front of others, and at my level, I should be more comfortable than I am. We should start to do more practice in the next week or two. Hopefully I feel confident enough!
Think of it this way. Rather you win, loose, perform great or not, the experience is gained Go with the mind set to enjoy, like seeing other people perform.
Well, tournament is tomorrow and I am all packed and ready for it. My kata last night was probably the best its ever been, and if I can do it that way tomorrow, I should do okay - if only the judges weren't bias, but that is something I just have to put up with. I angered my Sensei on Thursday night. We were doing tournament style kata, and doing my kata in front of those I know terrifies me, as my Sensei knows. She wanted me to do my kata in front of everyone, and I refused because I simply don't have the confidence, and would wobble and generally not do a good job. She basically told me to suck it up and get over my fear, and that there are certain expectations that come with being a higher grade. Apparently I have to set an example to others, and that means doing things I am petrified of. I wasn't impressed with this and told her so later that night, via text message. She messaged me back and told me she didn't like being disrespected. Now, my Sensei (one of many) is amazing. I totally idolise her, and she knows it. She has sent me to my last five gradings and each time I have passed, so she knows me well. I understand why she pushes me, but she doesn't seem to understand that my fears haven't changed, and in order to get over those fears, one must be supported, not thrown in the deep end - at least, this is my view. Am interested in what you all think - is it best to force a student to confront their fears, even though it may reduce them to tears, or is it better to support them into taking small steps toward the bigger goal? In any case, I hope I do well tomorrow. Fingers crossed!
Half and half. If you chose to compete, you basically have to suck it up. If you weren't competing I would say nothing is expected of you, you are the paying customer, train elsewhere.
I think there is a fine balance she doesnt do it to you all of the time. Everyone coaches differently. My opinion is you can provide all the help and support to the person you can but when they are still not doing it then you do have to say take a big breath and just do it.
I get that you felt anxious, but since you are competing, that is something you will have to learn to accept and move through. Refusing to do something because you are nervous won't help. That said, there are times and ways to push someone and confusing "too nervous to do something" with "active defiance" (hence the disrespect) isn't great either. But I'm getting side tracked. Best of luck to you tomorrow! Just smile, relax, listen to happy music, eat, sleep and what will happen...will happen .
Well, tournament is over. There were ten in my division, most of them brown belts and black belts. No medals and I wasn't at all happy with my kata (nerves got to me) but felt I did okay with my kumite, although Sensei told me I need to fix a lot of things about it, as when I go in for a strike, I am in midair. I never realised that before so its definately something I need to look at. The scoring today was majorly biased though - and even my Sensei could see that. The woeful katas were scored highly (ridiculously so) and the better katas scored lower. Neither of were happy with it, but there isn't anything we can do about it. Still, I learned some new things today, I know what to improve on, and as the next tournament is around 8 weeks away, the sooner I start to practice, the better!
First off, congratulations for stepping on the mats! The learning experience you get from competing is very hard to match elsewhere and it can often be a great learning tool. Hopefully you can take some of the things you did and work on them and improve yourself . Biased scoring is always sad though. Presumably there are other organisations you can compete with in the future?
