Yesterday my family participated in our Kenpo Karate school's forms tournament. Forms are a choreographed collection of self-defence techniques that train principles of our art such as proper stance, proper weapon, proper height, and posture (all the p's). The forms are performed singly against invisible opponents--kinda like Karate air-guitar--and bookending the form itself are formal salutes and salutations. Picture a crowd of parents (60 people or so) four judging black belts (our instructors) and all the competitors in six divisions...watching your every move...knowing when you've screwed it up...We had three events in the competition, and at my belt level there were three of us pitted against each other: me, Hubby, and another woman. Kidlet was in a group of four in her division. She won second in her two events.
My awards:
Kenpo Forms & Sets (formal sets/forms known school-wide, passed down from Ed Parker and Skip Hancock) 2nd Place. Now, had I performed the same form as the other two competitors, I'd've kicked their butts, but I chose a different set due to the similarities between my made-up open-hand form and Short Form I--didn't want to confuse myself. And then I bobbled the first portion of my set (oops) though to my credit I kept going and didn't make a face.
Weapon Forms (made up ourselves. I chose to use the staff) 2nd Place. Tied for first with Hubby, who also used staff, but his routine was killer while mine was rather simple...we tied because he blanked out on part of his form the first time and didn't perform it like he'd practiced. He got 4x 8.6 while I got 2x 8.5 + 2x 8.7. when we faced off, he did his better and I was happy to see that--he worked hard on that form and deserved first place.
Creative Forms (made up ourselves; open-hand) 1st Place. I blew them away. This is the form I concentrated on in creation and practice. 8.6's across the board. And what am I thinking the whole time? "How could I have bumped that up to an 8.8?"
A good time was had by all. Glad the stress of preparation and performance is over. Much muscle soreness today--from sitting cross-legged for two hours.
