Tae Kwon Do Tournament

Yesterday we participated in our second tae kwon do tournament, and walked away with seven trophies and a metal (they ran out and had to order more, so above is just a few of them). Besides Brian, who either really doesn't mind it, or puts on a good front, tournament really puts us all out of our comfort zone. We didn't participate in forms this year, since we were on vacation and missed a good amount of time from classes. Instead, we all did breaking and sparring. Here was the low-down of the outcome:

C // Breaking (step-over jump back, flying side kick) 3rd, Sparring 2nd
H // Breaking (reverse ax, flying side kick) 1st, Sparring 4th
B // Breaking (reverse ax, flying side kick) 2nd, Sparring 2nd
A // Breaking (step-over back swing kick, hopping hook, 360 back) 2nd, Sparring 3rd

The boys did really great, and I'm so proud of them. C absolutely loves sparring and has no fear. He also did well in his breaks even though he set up the boards wrong and had to do the highest back kick I've ever seen in my life. Before you break, you need to stand up and announce what you are doing. Because of his speech issues, he always gets so nervous to do that. H said he never needs to spar again, but you should have seen him break thought boards. He was confident and didn't waiver a bit (although, he said his voice was completely shaking). It was awesome. Brian and I compete at the same time, so I never really get to watch him which stinks.

You can see the carnage of my breaks along with the trophies. I broke every board first try. The other person I competed against did really well (I've gone against her before and she's extremely balanced and graceful) -- but then on her last kick she fell and hurt her ACL ... and still got first place. I'm trying not to analyze that too much. Sparring was fun. I got to compete against two other women from my school, and two from another one. Knowing all of these ladies, I knew it would be tough competition. I, along with two others, got a bye the first round. I really wish we could spar everyone, but it just takes too long (I still think I would have come in 3rd or even 4th though). In my first match, I got caught up in someone's gear. Made it through the last match, but I was in pain. As the night went on, my foot started getting bigger and black & bluer. Let's just say, I'm glad it's spring break and I'm taking it easy on the exercise front this week. Ouch. The thought of putting on shoes is making me cringe.

P.S. My little camera is dead (!!!) so I didn't get any photos of the actual tournament. Unfortunately.