My First Kyokushin Karate Tournament

I got a bye in my first round, but in the second round, I was matched up against a black belt. As of the time of the tournament, I had only been practicing martial arts for eight months, so seeing that belt definitely put me on edge. Since this was my first round in a tournament in any martial art, I was a bit nervous, and my adrenaline definitely pushed me through this fight.

At a great cost, though...my technique in this video is acceptable for the first fifteen seconds...and then the adrenaline rush makes me break down into silly brawling, and I start making white-belt mistakes. I'm surprised the guy didn't high kick me in the face...he had ample opportunity to, especially near the end.

But hey, I won the round by decision, which isn't bad for a first showing. It was a great learning experience, and I'm looking forward to the day when I can actually keep my cool in a fight.

I couldn't have done any of this without the help of some great friends and teachers. Kristian, thanks for introducing me to Kyokushin...from the first day of sparring to the present, I've been addicted, and I have to thank you for that. David and Rhett, thank you so much for the support at the tournament. Hyun Mok, thanks for making sure this silly foreigner didn't do something stupid. Gyu Hwan, thanks for having faith in me and for all the sparring in the last week. Paul, you're a natural teacher, you're well on your way to becoming a black belt--thanks for the coaching, sparring, advice, and instruction.

And of course, the most significant thanks of all are due to Sabonim Hong Park and his excellent dojo in Seongnam, Korea...I couldn't possibly have fallen into a better place with such powerful, humble, and intelligent fighters. OSU!

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• kyokushin
• steponsnyder
• snyder
• karate

[ybhutta]

Awesome job blue belt my first tournament is in 3 weeks, im 18 and ive been training for a year. i hope for some wins too like yours, except with a little more form of course ;) osu

[jrhall77]

a word of advice man. dont focus on getting as many hits in a possible kyokushin isnt known for that it is know for strong powerful good techniques. block a little more. i understand it was ur first match and everything but ull learn to keep ur cool. all u got to do it add more power. the judges will notice when the guys leg caves in rather than ur leg just touching his and that will get u major points and put the other guy at a disadvantage. focus on those one or two strong hit. gj btw man.

[sk317r]

I think it was a good sparr.