Texas State Championships - San Antonio

Before I get started, I want everyone to mark their calendars for April 15 - 16. That is when we are having our tournament in Abilene. I will definitely post more details as it gets closer, I just don't want you to plan something else.

Last Saturday, Mattie May attended her second karate tournament. She missed the last one because of the flu, so she was ready for this one. Of course, we got to stay in the H Hotel on Friday night and she always loves that!

We had to be there by 7:30 for her demo. When we got there we noticed how few cars there were in the parking lot. When we got inside we could see why. She was the only one there that was not from the host dojo! She was easy to spot! Every where she went, she was in black surrounded by red, blue and white. But as you can see from this picture, it didn't seem to bother her.

Happy as a lark and ready to go. From this picture it looks like she was the only girl, but there were several others, she just ended up surrounded by boys.

They gave her #1, which of course meant she would go first.

Again, didn't phase her. She did great, just fast as usual. I've been working on using my manual settings. I need some more practice! Most of my pictures turned out a tad blurry, but I'm using them anyway.

Everyone that participates in demo gets a trophy and medal. She displays hers proudly.

She has been working on sparring a lot. She didn't do well at her first tournament because she wouldn't block. Shehan has been working with her on following through after she throws a kick and blocking her opponents strike. Grumpy took the opportunity between demo and forms to work with her a bit. Protect your head!!!

She was so happy when Rayven finally got there. Here they are waiting their turn at forms.

I would love to know what this conversation is about!

She did slow down a bit from her demo to forms but she still needs more work. I also changed some settings on my camera and got a few better pictures.

She had a pretty long break between forms and sparring. Even though she was getting tired, we could not get her to lay down and rest. She was sitting in my lap at one point with all her gear on and was just about asleep. Thank goodness Autumn stepped in! She had her doing some exercises and got her good and awake.

There were only two girls in her division, so naturally they both had to face a boy for their first round. This little boys mom was not sitting far from me, and when he got up to fight, I could here her encouraging him. She said something close to "Oh look! You got a girl! You can win this EASY!"

REALLY?! I guess we'll have to wait and see. She got in some great kicks but as you can see in this picture, she is still dropping her hands.

And in this one too.

But all was good. She won 7 - 4! You go GIRL!! Maybe other mom will choose her words a bit more carefully next time!

Next round was not so good. She was ahead 4 - 0 when this little boy took advantage of her not protecting herself and not following through. He won 7-4. But she is definitely still learning and we can see improvement in her all the time. Her first tournament, she lost in the first round. Her second, she lost in the second round. Maybe we have a pattern forming here and she will make it all the way through soon!

Next weekend, Addison! It's going to be another fun weekend!