I just started competing with black belts. I have only fought twice with black belts in tournaments. Both times I lost in my first fight. Yesterday I fought against this girl that was a 3rd dan and also was part of the representative team of a college here in Mexico. I didn't get knocked out, but she beat me and the final score was 8-2. :cry: My instructor told me that I have had improved a lot since I was a blue belt. A friend of mine told me that when she started competing with the black belts she lost a lot of times and after some time she started to win. I don't know if this happens to everyone who starts fighting against black belts, or colored belts fighting is a lot different from fighting with black belts. I know that I have to train more and go to more tournaments if I want to win someday.
I've never competed in tournaments myself, but I'm sure it's tough transitioning from one major competition level to the next. Do you spar black belts in your martial arts class? Maybe you just need a little more practice fighting high ranks. Either way, don't let your two losses get you down. Stay strong, and keep practicing. You'll get better.
well i once did almost get knocked down by a 5th dan dutch world champion! i ended up with concussion adn whiplash. here's my competition history: started competing at blue tag, did really well at my first comp. then when i hit blue belt (massive change) i lost everything first go until black tag then at my first BB comp i was very lucky to make it to 3rd, but to be honest i faught the worst fighter first after getting a bye, and then got knocked out. after that, i lost a lot. then guess what? i started winning! so yes, you will start winning eventually, but you need to use all those lost fight as a learning tool! i found out that i was really bad at taking hits, and i would go all faint whenever i got hit hard. i practised in class as much as i could and just got used to it! i also worked on my strengths. i knew my combos were my strength, but i kept doing the same ones over and over and was becoming predictable! so i came up with some new ones, and practised them in class as much as i could. turned out i had a pretty good axe kick going. now, im still losing at national level competitions, but im identifying my mistakes all the time. for example i know i should be keeping my side kicks lower when fighting bigger people than me, otherwise i get knocked off balance. my best help, has been going to so many competitions. i enjoy every comp i got to even if i lose! i love the atmosphere, meeting people that i got to know when competing, meeting people off MAP. so if i were you, i'd compete as much as possible, and embrace every loss as an experience, and learn from it! good luck! and you will get there in the end!! (you'll be the 3rd dan knocking out the 1st dans eventually!!)
I'm only a green belt so I have no personal experience but I do know of someone who according to my instructor and the other black belts I know attended tournaments regularly from a yellow belt and only won 2 bronzes! Then at black tag he won his first gold and after that at the next 4 individual tournamnets he won the overall award. So I guess you just gotta keep on training hard and you'll get there.
Depends on the competition on the day sometimes. I've been in two competitions, GTI County Opens and the GTI English Championships, and I won two golds at both of them. [And now CarlyTKD's friend is gonna beat me up because I won in the finals. ] Sometimes it just depends on the competition. I've seen good fighters get nowhere because they fought one of the finalists in the first round, and I've seen people drop out because they can't deal with the stress when trying to perform patterns. So keep it up and don't be discouraged. Train hard and think positive. Ask your instructor what you did right and wrong and learn from your mistakes.
at blue belt i was placed with the black belts for sparring league i came 5th out of 12, i learnt alot and had a good time. Its basically olympic sparring rules. free sparring i get my ass handed now and again but as i progress (now purple) i am putting up more of a fight hang in there, the experiance is invaluable
Since the sparring is based on weight, does this mean since I might be competing with a green belt, that I could be put up against a black belt?
I like your story. I hope that one day I will be that 3rd dan knocking out 1st dans. I am trying to compete as much as possible, but sometimes I don't have enough money to pay for a tournament every week. :cry: I hope to at least go to 1 tournament per month. Thanks for your replies to everyone.
