Tournament

Saturday was a long day. We began taking a leisurely drive toward the Summit County Fair Grounds. When we had been on the road a while, we realized there was an error in our directions some where and we were not far from our destination, but not there yet either. Don't you hate that feeling?

To save time the Artist changed into her uniform in the car. That is quite a trick when wearing a seat belt.

We arrived at the tournament in time to register and to learn that the 3-5-year-olds were competing first. Tournaments are a lot of hurry-up-and-wait. Thankfully, there were other folks from our school to talk with and go through warm ups with. Some of the nine-year-olds from our school competed first. We cheered them on as they did their forms, and moved to the next ring to watch our ten-year-olds.

The Artist did very well. She gives a little something extra when she is on center stage I think. She earned the gold medal in her age group.

After the forms were done, board breaking competitions began. The Artist did not compete in this event, so she was free to watch her classmates, all of whom did well.

We all enjoyed watching some of the advanced belts do some spectacular breaks. Some competitors needed two large men to hold and brace a board, and a third behind them bracing the men's backs. The sharp sound of splintering wood was heard from all parts of the arena. The occasional dull thuds of limbs glancing off boards immediately followed by the mix of sharp breaths or groans by the onlookers were interesting to see. A couple of competitors hobbled on sore feet the rest of the day due to failed breaks.

The sparring ended the day. The tournament organizers were at a loss to find a sparring partner for the Artist. When she grows taller and heavier that will be easier. Since they started with the younger children, the others her size were finished before her age group started. Finally, they found a 12-year old boy, on the smaller side, but still taller than the Artist.

Our choices were for her to spar with him or not at all. She gave her best effort and held her own. She did not win the match, but we were very pleased to see how she battled an unknown competitor. His longer legs did give him an advantage. Her speed kept her in the ring longer than I expected and she executed some kicks she has never done in sparring matches before. Well done, Artist!

In all, we are much happier with the Artist earning a silver medal for losing her match than the meaningless gold they offered to give her had they not found an opponent. I'm surprised they would do that. To me it cheapens the accomplishments of others who earned their medals.