# My 2nd Tournament...an improvement...



## Bill Mattocks

So, I said I took third place at the tournament.  Yeah, kind of.  I was third out of three competitors!  On the other hand, there were only three guys who were advanced kyu belt and over the age of 18, and both the other guys were in their 30's.  So here I was, a couple months shy of 50, sparring young ones!  But it was great.

Unlike my previous humiliation, which lasted all of 42 seconds and I never scored a single point, this was rock-em-sock-em and I did score a few points.  I don't mind losing; I learned from my past mistakes, and I learned some new lessons for my next attempt.

Here's my first match against Tim, who is 31.  He went on to win first place.

http://youtu.be/DlmFdbCncHE

He found my weaknesses pretty easily - I don't guard my midsection well enough.  He kept planting kicks there, which was smart of him.  Unlike the previous tournament, when he kicked me, I knew I had been kicked.  I did manage to score a few points against him, so that's an improvement.

Here is my second match against Brian, the Kung Fu stylist.  I believe he was 37.  In any case, he got me pretty good; but I scored a 'flip kick' to his head that had the judges buzzing - one of them congratulated me on my control and one of them came up to me later on and bowed and called me 'sensei' and told me how great that one kick was.  It's hard to see - about 48 seconds in I think.  It was a front snap kick that I turned over and opened my hips and shot right at Brian's head.  Brian also told me after the match how much that kick had caught him by suprise; he really liked it.  It was my point for that.

I also experimented a little.  I fought out of the Chinto kata in two openings.  The second was more successful; I used the crane stance from Chinto and when Brian came in at me, I pivoted my hips and ripped the snap kick into his groin.  I do not think I was awarded the point on that, but Brian told me later that yes, that was a hit.

http://youtu.be/FKCUGgKFyWA

I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed that match!  Looking at the videos later, well, I'm not as impressed with myself.  But being there is not the same as looking at yourself.  I really loved it.  I love to spar.  Eventually, I'll get better.

Anyway, your comments would be most appreciated.  Feel free to offer advice or criticism.  Most of you know I've got thick skin and can take it.  Thanks!


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## Stealthy

Looks like you had a great time.

I am not in the mood to go criticizing anyone, so I'll just say it was unlucky that guy in your first bout had such a pronounced range advantage.

You seem to relish the idea of deflecting your opponents attacks so keep it up you will get fast enough.

It looked like a lot of your range closing was not so much a committed attack as a form of deception, it was a shame to see them take advantage of all your hard work by waiting until you had closed the distance and then just delivering one well aimed committed strike.


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## Touch Of Death

Hi, thank you for posting. I have watched the first vid so far, and was wondering why you drag your rear arm behind yourself. They look like powerful punches but if you watch the vid at about 1:30 in your punch had to travel some serious distance, and was just a bit to slow for that game. 
Sean


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## Touch Of Death

Stealthy said:


> Looks like you had a great time.
> 
> I am not in the mood to go criticizing anyone, so I'll just say it was unlucky that guy in your first bout had such a pronounced range advantage.
> 
> You seem to relish the idea of deflecting your opponents attacks so keep it up you will get fast enough.
> 
> It looked like a lot of your range closing was not so much a committed attack as a form of deception, it was a shame to see them take advantage of all your hard work by waiting until you had closed the distance and then just delivering one well aimed committed strike.



On that note, linear battles against longer range weapons is less safe than circling for a better angle. Plus it gives your opponent the chance to make a mistake.:ultracool
Sean


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## Bill Mattocks

Touch Of Death said:


> Hi, thank you for posting. I have watched the first vid so far, and was wondering why you drag your rear arm behind yourself. They look like powerful punches but if you watch the vid at about 1:30 in your punch had to travel some serious distance, and was just a bit to slow for that game.
> Sean



It was an experiment (apparently not a good one); I was attempting a fighting stance out of Chinto kata.  My thought was to clear the kick with both arms moving from my right to my left, then deliver the attack with what was formerly my trailing rear right arm.  This did not go as planned; but I chose a defense out of kata, and I worked it.  What can I say?


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## Touch Of Death

I watched the second one. Good fight but you had two things working against you: linear attacks against taller people, and, again there were moments where you had the opportunity to strike but your arms weren't cocked. I hope you don't take offense. I am saying to you what I would say if you asked my opinion at the tourney in person.
Sean


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## Bill Mattocks

Touch Of Death said:


> I watched the second one. Good fight but you had two things working against you: linear attacks against taller people, and, again there were moments where you had the opportunity to strike but your arms weren't cocked. I hope you don't take offense. I am saying to you what I would say if you asked my opinion at the tourney in person.
> Sean



Trust me, I am serious when I say I welcome your criticism!  I do not suffer from a thin skin or have an ego problem.  I'm good at some things - this isn't one of them.  But my goal is to improve, and to do that I must continue to practice, continue to spar, and seek advice.  Thanks for sharing your thoughts.


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## Touch Of Death

Bill Mattocks said:


> It was an experiment (apparently not a good one); I was attempting a fighting stance out of Chinto kata.  My thought was to clear the kick with both arms moving from my right to my left, then deliver the attack with what was formerly my trailing rear right arm.  This did not go as planned; but I chose a defense out of kata, and I worked it.  What can I say?


The important thing is that you had a reason. I think I see some elements of kata in the second vid, as well.
Sean


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## Bill Mattocks

Touch Of Death said:


> The important thing is that you had a reason. I think I see some elements of kata in the second vid, as well.
> Sean



Yes, I tried two techniques in the second bout, both from Chinto.  The first was the same as you noted before, the second was a crane stance that hides the back foot, which will be used to deliver a front snap kick.  It is supposed to appear as if from nowhere; the karateka uncoils his hips, which straightens the legs and then delivers the kick with force and power.  I did this - the gentleman I was sparring told me later that it would have been a point if the judge had seen it; I nailed him right up the middle with the resulting snap kick.

Funny thing - after the tournament, I was loading my car and I was approached by a distinguished gentleman who is now a sensei and was once a student of GM Willie Adams, an Isshin-Ryu sensei in my neck of the woods.  He complimented me for using kata in a match; he chuckled and said _"Old school!  Nobody realizes that everything you need to know for self-defense is IN THE KATA!"_  He thought it was a hoot and told me to keep working on it.

So it was cool.  That last Chinto crane stance I tried got me a lot of comments from people - maybe they thought I was being an idiot!  I was most proud of the flip kick I threw in that second match, though.  My only called point in that match - but it was a beauty.  I just need to work on doing that some more!


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## tshadowchaser

Working with techniques out of a kata is great training. You may not always win but it gives you a better feel of the form.
Being only your 2nd competition I think you did well.
One hand blocking works better and your counter should be at the same time or a split second after. Remember change direction  and never start the same way twice with techniques unless you are setting your opponent up. When fighting a long legged person get inside his legs but watch for his hands as you go in.
Keep competing and having fun


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## WC_lun

Bill, grats again on getting in there and banging. That in itself takes a kind of courage and is the only way youll get better.

You are opening up your own center. For experienced fighters, they work toward this goal, but you are giving it away. This is why you are getting hit in the body so much. It apears to me that much of this is due to lack of experience, which can be fixed easily. Keep your hands up and elbows in. 

Also, I caution you against staying in any static position for long. That invites your opponent to attack and if they are decent, you'll never get that static body part into a secondary position to deflect thier attack.

Single attacks, such as your many front kicks very rarely land. If your opponent notices you are only throwing single techniques, you are gonna be in for a long round. It is like a neon sign that goes off when you throw that technique that say "Hit me!" Combos brother! Keep them geussing 

Keep up the good work!


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## cdunn

Bill Mattocks said:


> It was an experiment (apparently not a good one); I was attempting a fighting stance out of Chinto kata. My thought was to clear the kick with both arms moving from my right to my left, then deliver the attack with what was formerly my trailing rear right arm. This did not go as planned; but I chose a defense out of kata, and I worked it. What can I say?


 
Im my experience, clearing the fast midsection kicks is as much, or more, a function of shifting the hips to where he thinks they won't be, in circular mobility, while the hand guides the kick somewhere else. Once you've made contact, you can start to both assert control and find your way to the other guy via the sense of touch alone, but the key is that your feet and center are not static through the defense. Take that moment where he's committed to the strike to put yourself in the new position.  

I am not familiar with how you are taught footwork, but remember that stances are starting points and ending points, the fight is in moving between them. To my eye, which may not be appropriate to your style, you spent a lot of time in a weight forwards stance not very far from the classic 'front stance' - You got caught in it at 1:11 - 1:14 in the first video, where he comes up with a fast side kick to your midsection, and you're too far forewards to respond to it. Ideally, you want to get out of the way, and strike him in passing when the rules disallow grabbing and sweeping.


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## Bill Mattocks

cdunn said:


> To my eye, which may not be appropriate to your style, you spent a lot of time in a weight forwards stance not very far from the classic 'front stance' - You got caught in it at 1:11 - 1:14 in the first video, where he comes up with a fast side kick to your midsection, and you're too far forewards to respond to it. Ideally, you want to get out of the way, and strike him in passing when the rules disallow grabbing and sweeping.



Not to disagree, but I looked at that again - it looks to me as if my weight is more to the rear leg, but I certainly did have my midsection open and he stuck his foot right in there.  I was way too slow - not to mention it looked like I didn't know what I wanted to do with it when I got there.  It half-way looked like I wanted to catch his kick, and half looked like I wanted to deflect it; but in either case, my hands were 100% too slow and I was facing right at him, inviting the kick in.

FYI, the rules did disallow sweeping.  Checks to the back leg were allowed, but not knee strikes or sweeps, and grabbing was only allowed for as long as it took to deliver a blow and release - they said 2 seconds tops.  No grappling.


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## cdunn

Bill Mattocks said:


> Not to disagree, but I looked at that again - it looks to me as if my weight is more to the rear leg, but I certainly did have my midsection open and he stuck his foot right in there. I was way too slow - not to mention it looked like I didn't know what I wanted to do with it when I got there. It half-way looked like I wanted to catch his kick, and half looked like I wanted to deflect it; but in either case, my hands were 100% too slow and I was facing right at him, inviting the kick in.
> 
> FYI, the rules did disallow sweeping. Checks to the back leg were allowed, but not knee strikes or sweeps, and grabbing was only allowed for as long as it took to deliver a blow and release - they said 2 seconds tops. No grappling.


 
It's hard to really tell from video, and we're taught to keep our mass much further back, which is why I commented. But yes, I do agree that you need to commit to whatever defense you choose to enact.


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## Steve

Hey Bill!  Nice job.  I'm really confused though.  I thought this was a fighting tournament... but... you guys weren't on the ground.  I don't get it.  How can you lose if there wasn't any grappling?


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## Steve

Hey, Bill.  Who's the cat reffing in a jiu jitsu gi?  

http://www.youtube.com/user/wiggyjones#p/a/u/0/775SovXN69c


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## Bill Mattocks

cdunn said:


> It's hard to really tell from video, and we're taught to keep our mass much further back, which is why I commented. But yes, I do agree that you need to commit to whatever defense you choose to enact.



Ah, I see!  We're taught to try to keep our 'one point' which means to us centered over our chinkuchi.  If I understand it correctly myself.  We don't use a terribly low stance, but we keep our legs bent and our center of gravity under the tanden for the most part.  One of our precepts is _"a person's unbalance is the same as a weight."_


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## Bill Mattocks

stevebjj said:


> Hey, Bill.  Who's the cat reffing in a jiu jitsu gi?
> 
> http://www.youtube.com/user/wiggyjones#p/a/u/0/775SovXN69c



Dunno!  We went to Akron for this tournament, held under the auspices of this dojo:

http://www.ikakarate.netfirms.com/

Other than that, I'm afraid I don't know, sorry!


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## Steve

Bill Mattocks said:


> Dunno!  We went to Akron for this tournament, held under the auspices of this dojo:
> 
> http://www.ikakarate.netfirms.com/
> 
> Other than that, I'm afraid I don't know, sorry!


No problem.  Just curious.  I was digging through the other you tube vids you posted of this tournament and that jumped out at me.  It's a Gameness Pearl.  Pretty specific to BJJ.  Took me by surprise... seemed out of place.


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## Bill Mattocks

stevebjj said:


> No problem.  Just curious.  I was digging through the other you tube vids you posted of this tournament and that jumped out at me.  It's a Gameness Pearl.  Pretty specific to BJJ.  Took me by surprise... seemed out of place.



The tournament was advertised as offering grappling for the first time. I am not sure, but I don't think any grapplers actually showed up.  So the BJJ instructor may have been there to judge or compete at grappling and just offered his services as a judge of everything else when there was nothing for him to do?  Just a guess!

There were lots of styles represented there, including some Kung Fu and lots of Kempo - some of which resembled karate and some of which resembled Kung Fu to me in addition to Isshin-Ryu.


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## cdunn

Bill Mattocks said:


> Ah, I see! We're taught to try to keep our 'one point' which means to us centered over our chinkuchi. If I understand it correctly myself. We don't use a terribly low stance, but we keep our legs bent and our center of gravity under the tanden for the most part. One of our precepts is _"a person's unbalance is the same as a weight."_


 
This is all as I understand it, and I may be in error in some points, but:

The line from the your center of gravity to the floor dictates exactly where your balance is. This has some consequences: Any time your center of gravity is directly between your feet, you are extremely stable along the line between your feet. If you are on one foot, you cannot fall unless your center of gravity shifts away from overtop your foot. Mechanically, at its very most basic, a person walks by picking up his foot and shifting his center ahead of the foot that is still on the ground, so that he falls forwards onto the lifted foot. Now, it rapidly gets more complex than that, but that's the basic model. 

When we keep our 'fighting stance', we keep the the center of gravity directly over the back foot. This allows a very rapid shift from the back foot to the front foot, wherever you choose to put the front foot, enabling the slip as best we can. When the center is not over a single foot, the distance and direction that you can move are constrained by the distance and direction that your center is away from a foot - because that's a portion of the movement you have to deal with first. You have to 'undo' the stability you have gained to move.


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## searcher

Keep banging Bill!!    If it makes you take a step back and then two steps forward, then it is a win.


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## Stealthy

Bill Mattocks said:


> I was way too slow - not to mention it looked like I didn't know what I wanted to do with it when I got there. It half-way looked like I wanted to catch his kick, and half looked like I wanted to deflect it; but in either case, my hands were 100% too slow and I was facing right at him, inviting the kick in.


 
Don't make the mistake of assuming this is your fault Bill(unless you never train). It is the fault of your training partners as a defence is a response to an external stimulus and in the absence of that external stimulus you can not effectively condition your defences. It is your training partners responsibility to determine your current ability and "draw" your potential out. It is a rare skill set and an effective training partner should be cherished as you may go through a lot of people before you find one. That's not to say you should stop training with your current partners just be on look out for a good one while trying to be a good one yourself.


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