After that, I head back to the stands to wait to be called to the waiting room. I play some games on my phone while I pray my batteries won’t die. After I almost fall asleep from boredom, I finally hear the announcer call my group.
Each person from the advanced 15-17-year-old group, including myself, walks to the back room. I talk with some of the other competitors, including two girls who are friendly. They seem to enjoy our conversation and are quite energetic.
“What do you enjoy doing besides this?” I ask.
“Swimming and talking to cute guys like yourself,” they respond.
I thank them for the compliment and begin warming up again. This is more to impress them, though I have no idea if it even has any effect.
The lady who is responsible for putting us in our spots for sparring and kata starts putting our names in the chart. At this point, everyone is noticeably itching to get started.
After the lady enters our names onto the chart, we file into two columns. One column is the male division and the other one is the female division.
is the male division and the other one is the female division.
We bow into our rings and to the judges. The first part of this competition is kata. I wait and watch respectfully as the others go before me. They mostly use unsu, kankudai, and gankaku. Those are three high-level kata. When I go up, I start with bossai dai. Bossai dai means breaking into a fortress. I choose three kata by personal categories. The first I am using because of its refined power and ferocity. The second, unsu, I am using for its intricacy. The final kata is empi for its pin-point attacks and crisp movements. By the end of the kata portion of the tournament, I am sweating like an old man.
As the kata part is completed, we prepare for sparring. We don’t use padding due to our rank. I am lucky enough to be first up.
The first people sparring are at a significant disadvantage. I simply find it more fun that way. I start with a feint then side-step with a round house kick. The referee awards me three points. At the next move, I attack with a jab, and my opponent blocks and counters. I block his counter and sweep him to the mat, throwing three crosses before I am awarded the point. My final attack is a combination of kicks. After landing my hook kick, the referee names me as the winner.
14
Brandon mastering a flying sidekick,.