It was a flurry of activity when we arrived at the field house, We checked in and took our packets with our event cards and scrambled through the throng of humanity inside the gym to a safehold in the corner high on the bleachers. There were events already in progress at the Mountaineer Martial Arts Team's arrival.. and with no times listed on the event cards we were totally in the dark as to when we would be called, just relying on understanding the loudspeaker crackling over the din of music, Kia'ing.. voices of many accents and languages melding into a cacophony of sounds.. Thankfully some of our teammates families guarded our perches as we wandered around quite aimlessly, making sure we didn't inadvertantly step into or across a ring with performers, just watching and taking in such things as a trio competing with Long 3 as a musical team form.. Very well done ~!
Mr. Conatser was flagged down, when I saw him next, he was Judging forms. The Brown men's 18 and up Forms division was 40 strong, the women's was to be held right after.. we waited forever to be called on deck..
Honestly I had been dreading this event since day one.. as I had real issues with being judged.. I would literally freeze up at our own school when put in the spot light ... my mind would lock up and I was jello... but when it was finally my turn.. I got up there.. walked in front of the judges.. (Edmund Parker Jr. being one of them) Announced myself.. my form, my system etc.. and Banged out the form .. I made a couple goofs.. but By God.. I finished it.. and though I didn't place.. I conquered my fear and in my heart.. I won
![Smile :) :)](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png)
As did everyone on our team ...we all put our total all into it.. ~!
Sparring was rather a farce... they put me in with the 18 yo's.. when I knew for a fact there were 3 other women my age in my division.. the Center Ref first told us the rules... (which by the way we had all copies of from the IKC website (none were enforced) NO Face Contact.. NO Head Contact.. we said.. Excuse us?? No Head contact in Brown division?? He went to confer with the other judges.. came back.. saying... Ok.. we are going to Use Black belt Rules.. and NEVER told us what those particular rules were.. just started calling us out.. (even though we asked what the rules were.. he had no Gi or Belt on.. but a Shirt that said.. REAL SEX on it.. ( instead of RED SOX) what a poor excuse of a Ref....
when I had my fist locked out on my opponent's nose.. they didn't break.. even though the judge was looking directly at me.. the hesitation allowed my opponent to come under with an upper cut and (I had a full face shield on) she hit under the mask..and cut me with the ring she wore on her middle finger.. (JEWELRY in a Tourny???) and I stopped.. my chin was bleeding.. Seig was standing right behind me on the sidelines.. he called for the arbitrator.. because she got the point.. they said.. it was NOT excessive contact. even though my head rocked.. and I was bleeding all over the place..
total rubbish~!!
Fuzzy (Jani) had a round kick locked on the girls head.. NO POINT~!! the girl came in with a punch .. guess who got the point.. Seig had an axe kick on his opponent's head.. NO POINT.. the guy came in with a kick to Seig's Butt.. yep.. guess who got the point.. Mr. C was sitting at the sidelines with me watching Seig's Fight.. the opponent was OUT of bounds.. Mr. C stated such to the Center Judge.. who in turn.. covered his eyes.. stating.. I DIDN"T see it.. it DIDN'T happen.. the guy was out of bounds 4 times.. with Seig pummeling him.. and guess who got the points..
So needless to say.. we know who really won the fights..
We had a great after party.. and Sunday toured around a bit of Boston Harbor area.. our flight was delayed from storms.. but got home by midnite..
We had testing by Mr. C Monday night at the studio.. and he and the boys took off for Arizona Yesterday ... All in all the wealth of his knowledge he shared with us and the opportunity we all had together.. made up for the shady dealings we met with at the tournament..
I was very happy to have met Sandor , Elfan and Kenpo Joe who all found me as I was wandering around amongst 100's of Kenpoists.. Great to meet you guys.. ~!!
I'll have pics to post of events soon.. as our Photographer Donna gets them to me
Tess..