Just last weekend was another karate tournament - a big one in terms of the fact that winners of the elite divisions won $50 in addition to their medal and that state team positions were on the line for kumite. DS had another big division in kata - 22 girls and boys. The last tournament he competed in was the Australian Open where he didn't do too well, in fact it was the first tournament ever, besides nationals, where he didn't gain a place in kata. Therefore I had him do some practising during the week as well as on the day, and gave him a few motivational speeches to get his head in the right place. He got things together enough to win overall, knocking out the current state champion for the 2nd time since the state championships. :-). I'd like to claim it was all my "talking him up" but I think it was the $50 prize on the line that did it!
Next up was kumite, but before the actual tournament the state team coaches wanted 4 boys to fight off for 3 positions in the state team. Just days earlier they had announced there would be weight divisions in his age group, which meant that instead of 6 positions being available there would be 12 as there were 2 weight divisions. Sadly DS fell into the one with the most kids in it, meaning some would have to fight for a position. DS had 2 fights to get through - the first one the scores were drawn at time, meaning the referees had to vote on who they thought was the better fighter and DS lost the vote. Next up he had to fight his good friend and club mate for the final position. Scores were even at 1-1 until DS's friend scored again in the last 30 seconds to win 2-1, meaning he made the team and DS did not. We were expecting it would be tough to make the team, I just didn't expect it to be so close. The way the weights have fallen I think he is the only one to miss a place on the team as there were 7 in that weight catagory and only about 5 in the light weight one, meaning they all got in. Too bad he's not about 6 kilos lighter! DS is disappointed but he's a trooper. I did try and find the right mix between encouraging him and preparing him for the worst, so it didn't come as a complete shock to him.
Anyway, right after this they had to fight in the tournament and DS had a really strong fighter first round, in fact his opponent went on to take 2nd place. He again put up a good fight and kept at it until the buzzer but wasn't able to score against him.
Next up is another tournament at the start of June - fingers crossed he can perform at his best again and put the errors of the earlier tournaments behind him. Here's his gold medal for kata:
Next up was kumite, but before the actual tournament the state team coaches wanted 4 boys to fight off for 3 positions in the state team. Just days earlier they had announced there would be weight divisions in his age group, which meant that instead of 6 positions being available there would be 12 as there were 2 weight divisions. Sadly DS fell into the one with the most kids in it, meaning some would have to fight for a position. DS had 2 fights to get through - the first one the scores were drawn at time, meaning the referees had to vote on who they thought was the better fighter and DS lost the vote. Next up he had to fight his good friend and club mate for the final position. Scores were even at 1-1 until DS's friend scored again in the last 30 seconds to win 2-1, meaning he made the team and DS did not. We were expecting it would be tough to make the team, I just didn't expect it to be so close. The way the weights have fallen I think he is the only one to miss a place on the team as there were 7 in that weight catagory and only about 5 in the light weight one, meaning they all got in. Too bad he's not about 6 kilos lighter! DS is disappointed but he's a trooper. I did try and find the right mix between encouraging him and preparing him for the worst, so it didn't come as a complete shock to him.
Anyway, right after this they had to fight in the tournament and DS had a really strong fighter first round, in fact his opponent went on to take 2nd place. He again put up a good fight and kept at it until the buzzer but wasn't able to score against him.
Next up is another tournament at the start of June - fingers crossed he can perform at his best again and put the errors of the earlier tournaments behind him. Here's his gold medal for kata:
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