Karate State Championships - Austin 06-04-11

Last weekend we headed back to Austin for, you guessed it, Mattie May to compete in another tournament. Not many from our dojo went this time so Shihan rode with us and split the cost of the hotel too. It was a nice trip. We were able to do some planning for the US Open coming up in a few weeks.

Of course Mattie May went to sleep in the car and slept the rest of the night. Saturday morning it was up and at 'em bright and early. It was unusual but this tournament didn't start until 10:00 AM, so we had time to watch a few cartoons before we headed down to breakfast.

I'm not sure who is more entranced by the cartoon...

Shihan or Mattie May!!

This was another tournament in the Givens Recreation Center. Nice but crowded. Even though it is a smaller tournament, we had to stake out a spot to spend the day!

After quite a delay, they finally called for Mattie May's division in kata. This time she was the ONLY girl competing!

kata

Watching the first contestant.

Bowing to the judges

She had been at karate camp all week
and the work she has done really showed.

Nice, high kicks

I love that she doesn't get intimidated by the judges

Um, splits are a bit off,
we will make sure she stretches more next time!

Second place!

Great job Mattie May!

Your second trophy in kata!

Way to go!

A short rest then on to sparring

Shihan ordered her a sparring vest and it came in before we left. I wish we would have left it at home! She had not practiced in it, but we let her wear it anyway! Shihan put it under her gi trying to get it to lay down a bit more.

Yes, she looks like a little line backer!

But this is karate not football!

She came out strong and put the first four points on the board,

then he kicked her in the chest and it didn't hurt so she left herself open!

It was all over after that!

Believe me, she will either practice in the vest or it will be left at home!

Oh well, she still had her name called!

Third place sparring!

Yay! First time she has won two trophies at one tournament.

We are all very proud of you Mattie May!

Keep up the good work!

She now has points in all three regions of the AOK!

We had planned on having a bit of a break before the US Championships and the US Open, but this Saturday, she will be competing in Midland at the Matthews brother's tournament. It is a fun tournament for the kids, and I do believe I heard Po (Kung Fu Panda) was going to be there along with some other super heros!

Hope you have a great rest of the week! Until next time,

God Bless!

Dragon Rock Classic - Austin 04.02.11

Austin, Texas!!!! I love this city!! The capitol city of the Great State of Texas! I am one of the few people around that can say they have been as far up in the rotunda as a person can go. This was many years before they shut it down to tourist and I was a senior in high school the last time we were allowed to go up that far. I can also say that is the first time I realized that I was afraid of heights! I don't really remember how they got me down the spiral stair case, but they did! I have a few pictures from our visit to the capital building on this trip that I will post later. But now, let's talk karate.

We are still very new to this sport and we learn something new with each tournament we attend. I always compare them to track meets; you spend a lot of time waiting for your child's event, enjoy about 30 seconds watching them before it is over, then it is back to waiting for the next event.

This affects Mattie May more than it does some of the other participants because she is only entered in two events. We don't enter her in the demo event any more and she is not ready to be in specialty forms. But she will get there. Because she does spend so much time waiting, she looks like this a lot of the times... Yes, that is a yawn. I wish I could tell you she was cheering on a team mate or even singing, but no...it is a yawn! LOL

This time she was to have been last in her forms (Kata) but because a little boy went when he was not supposed to and the judges missed a little girl, she was second to last. As with anything where you are judged, the advantage with being last is 1)you are the last thing the judges see and 2)they are more free to score you higher because they don't have to wait to see what is coming up.

Now I'm not saying that this would have helped her win anything. If you look at the following pictures, you can see she needs some work on her forms.

See those thumbs? They are not supposed to be inside her fist.

See that bent right leg? Yeah, it should be straight and her foot should be flat on the floor.

Again with the thumbs in the fist and this time her left knee is bent! And believe it or not, she really shouldn't be smiling!

I know! She's only five! But so are the other competitors and some younger than that! She competes in the 5 and under division! But it is just like any other sport, get rid of the bad habits while they are young!

So I'll make you think about where she placed in this one - there were five competitors, they awarded four places and she didn't get a prize! But we really know what she needs to work on now!! And she is getting better every day!

Now on to sparring. And again, this just wasn't her day! Here she is getting ready for her first round. Let me know if you see anything a little strange in this picture...YES! That is one tall five year old! Now I'll tell you, Mattie May is not the tallest child we've ever had in our family and I know a five year old can be tall (Katie was always tallest in her class), but this kid was really up there! The perspective of this picture does make him look a little taller than he really is, but...

...it wasn't just his height, he had some amazing skill for someone in the beginner division! But Mattie May did not seem the least bit intimidated, so the fight ensued.

Kick #1 - it was pretty hard, but look how she is standing straight on! Kick #2 - Blurry picture, but same result

Kick #3 - finally realized she was standing wrong, but the damage was done.

Look at Momma's face in the background! He did to her exactly what we had been telling her all week to do, three strong kicks and the round was over.

Now, in this grandma's opinion (and I have more to say on this in another post) I don't think she really stood a chance against this boy. But I was very proud of her for staying in there and trying. Did she try her hardest - probably not, especially after that first kick. Did she ask to quit - absolutely not.

I will tell you, when she came off the mat and took off her head gear, she was definitely not happy. And once Grumpy asked her if she was OK, she started crying and told us that first kick really hurt her stomach. Some of you will probably think we are terrible, but she did the right thing and finished the fight.

After the tournament, I had wanted to get some pictures in her gi in front of the capital building (yes, I had permission!) but this girl was hot and tired. I did get one cute shot even though she looks more like a dancer than a martial artist... And she was a little miffed at me because I wouldn't let her get IN the fountain! She and I both have some practice to do!

Her next tournament is right here at home (yeah!)! The Tumbleweed Karate Championship on April 15 and 16. Breaking will be on Friday night at the dojo and forms and fighting at Sears Park Rec Center on Saturday. Mark you calendars and let me know if you want tickets!

God Bless!

WWW (What a Wonderful Weekend)

As usual the weekend was just not long enough, but it was nice. Of course Frank got home Friday from Boston and we spent time that night going through all the give aways he collected at the conference and all his pictures. I have started his scrapbook for this so I will have it posted as soon as I can.

Saturday, he decided to fish the Stillwaters tournament over at Hubbard and I stayed home, watched a couple of movies, did some light house work and started on Katie's dress.

Sunday, Frank took Kauy to the Spring Jamboree at UT. I messed up a little so they didn't get to attend the Kids Club pizza party, but they still had a good time. I went to church in the morning then Mattie May and I took a nice nap. Sunday afternoon, we went to Makaley's TLC practice then to the grocery store. And last night to bed at a decent hour.

So not to eventful for me anyway, but a nice relaxing weekend. God is so good to us.