Tournament One

I had the opportunity to go to my first tournament here in town. Sensei was there being a very busy man. Being one of the main Karate and JKA people here in the Shizuoka prefecture I imagine the demands on his time were fair.

Just a few pictures here so give people a taste of the experience.

This the gymnasium where the tournament was held. 4 Tatamis were set up with tape and each square had a ref and 3 assistant refs as well as time and score keepers. Very serious business.

Little Yuki is the blue belt with the red tied around his waste. Here he is taking a crack at tournament fighting. He did quite well but lost the match. I don't think he was too happy about that, but he can't be older than 7. I'm sure he'll have lots of opportunities to work on his craft.

This is my friend, and Sempai, Taka. He is the one stretching out into the long Zen Kutsidachi trying to get off a Kazemi on his opponent.

And here is another friend and Sempai, Kaz. He did quite well, making it to the next round after this match.

All and all, the dojo had a good showing at this tournament. Takumi, a young black belt, placed third at the tournament. Also, 2 girls, Shiina and Chinatsu faced off against each other in the finals. Chinatsu had the height advantage but Shiina came out on top. The 2 placed first and second in the girls category. I think Sensei was quite proud.

I also had the opportunity to record Shiina and the 2 Takumi's practicing a team kata. Click on the link to see their Team Empi. They are quite good, and I think that my sensei's back home would agree, maybe even be a little intimidated by the skill of these youngsters.
What an experience this is shaping up to be.