In truth I somewhat abandoned this blog. I have only been to one tournament since my last posting and I wasn't a competitor or judge. A fellow student of the martial arts decided to compete and we went together. The tournament was the Beach Blast Open held in Virginia Beach, Virginia. The tournament was held at a Holiday Inn, a very nice one I might add, but none the less was a disappointment. The one resounding success I would give them is it seemed to be over quickly. It was a two day tournament which had most of the under BB divisions on Friday evening and all BB divisions (with the exception of continuous sparring) held on Saturday. I didn't go back on Saturday.
The tournament was very small and there were not many competitors. I'd say no more than 60 or 70. In all there were probably 120 people there. The merchandise (t-shirts) were only double X and some other cheap martial arts crap. The judging was terrible and to top it off there were absolutely no competitors in the women's division. My friend was given an exhibition match against a Karate Student of higher rank, but lesser skill. She was able to easy kick the hell out of the girl, but still "Lost". I would have lost too despite being 200+ pounds and a BB. You have to understand, all the judges were from her competition's school. Realizing the complete and utter bias the judges had, I just felt the need to leave the room. I spoke to my mother on the phone and informed her of the mistreatment of a student from my school was clearly a more talented martial artist. Now you make think this is my own bias, but what happened next shocked me. The girl who had been the competition was being carried out by two fellow students. Although she had won the match she was escorted out crying and out of breath. My friend had punch and kicked her so hard during the match the girl couldn't take it. Now that is bias on the judges part. So I comforted my friend and congratulated her on her "loss" and we went home.
Since then I have tried to spur my interest in martial arts once more, but it is very stale around here. Although people are shocked that I know so much about the history of Dojo's and Dojangs, Masters and Instructors that I have never been to and never met. Hampton Roads has a rich history of martial arts and I'd say some of the best traditional martial artists. Look forward to more posts (periodically) from me as well as reviews of tournaments.
JoKyoNim Tim
