What
does it take for one to compete in a Kyokushin knockdown
tournament?
For me, in a word, serenity.
To be serene is to be calm, to be composed and to have inner
peace. Calm in the face of engulfing excitement. Composed in
the face of looming adversity. Having inner peace and trust
that you have been true to your training and that it will
carry you through.
I decided to compete in the 27th Canadian's tournament for
several reasons: to learn what it feels like, to know where I
stand and to improve. It wasn't long before I realized that my
performance wasn't where it needed to be. No trust. I talked
to my dojo members about the tournament and embraced their
advice. If I don't mention this elsewhere, I appreciate the
help of all those who trained with me.
My first task was to start interval training. Basically, run
as fast as you can, expel your energy, take several seconds to
recover and then do it again. And again. And again. I found
out quickly where my limits of endurance are. Next,
conditioning. Again, I quickly found my limits. Technique.
Stance. Balance. It goes on and on.
You do it until you can't anymore. You're collapsing. Then, do
it again, because this is when the real training starts. You
may not notice it, and you may not feel it. But over time, you
improve. I realized this by noticing how I became less anxious
during sparring. Calmer.
Then, the day comes. You step onto the mat. The spectators are
cheering. The officials are waiting. Your opponent is looking
at you. You should be nervous. But you're not. At least not as
much as you would be if you had not put in the sweat and blood
to train. The bruises you got when you were sparring weren't
without purpose. They taught you what it feels like to take a
punch, and to deliver one. You've been through all this
before. You know this. Nothing new. No surprises. You feel
composed. Just another hard sparring session.
Next thing I knew, I was stepping off the mat. Tired.
Sweating. Hurt. I had done what I was there do. It would've
been nice to win, but I didn't. I got second place. But I had
learned what it was like to fight in the open division,
experienced the caliber of the other fighters, discovered
where I stand amongst them and felt at peace with myself for
giving the tournament what I had. All in all, a good outcome.
Many of my dojo members competed that day also. I witnessed
struggles to overcome weaknesses physical and psychological. I
saw extraordinary feats of spirit. I saw great skill. Many
placed and we were all quite satisfied with our results. Where
we faltered, we will learn with the expectation that we will
do better the next time. Our mantra.
What's next? Well, the next tournament. Karate doesn't end
because this tournament is over. We start again. Try to fix
our weaknesses. Push ourselves a step farther and an inch
higher. Such is the way of the karateka as I see it.
Gerald
Gutierrez
Vancouver Kyokushin Karate
Results
Nicolas Perrigaud - 1st, KD Children(101 & over)
Nicolas Perrigaud - 1st, NC Children (86lbs & over)
Keegan Wong - 1st, Kata Division 5 Brown Belt
Michael Law - 1st, Colored Belt Men 17 & 18 Open
Chi Hsi - 3rd, CB Women 19 & over (135lbs & under)
Grant Mason - 3rd, CB Men 19 & over (165 & under)
Eddie Ahmadi - 2nd, CB Men 19 & over (165 & under)
Jack Shiah - 1st, CB Men 19 & over (165 & under)
Song Ren Ibuki - 1st Rd Loss, CB Men 19 & over HW
Mike Bell - 2nd Rd Loss, CB Men 19 & over HW
Tomomi Inoue - 3rd, Women Open Lightweight
Gerald Gitierrez - 2nd, Men Open Lightweight
Mark Berg - 1st, Men Open Heavyweight
Pasha Mykhaylov - 3rd, Men Open Heavyweight
Coaches: Michi
Nagase, Kris Erickson
Volunteers: Shannon Berg
Officials: Tats Nakamura, Mark Ray, Curtis Mason, Alex
Kleschelsky
Full results
can be viewed at
www.kyokushin.ca
