about to compete in first MA tournament

[NeuroGrrrl]

Hey guys. I'm about to compete in my very first martial arts tournament, April 2nd, and I must say--I'm terrified.

Any tips from old pros who can remember being new to tournaments would be greatly appreciated.

Given how nervous I am now, I can only imagine how nervous I'll be on the day of the tournament. I'm imagining bowing to my opponent in my first point sparring match and throwing up on the mat. Not good mental status.

Help!

p.s. I did a search of the site for "first tournament" and didn't find much, so if this thread is redundant, I apologize.

[red5angel]

what are you doing in the tourney?

Relax, that's the best tip you can get, nothing to be terrified about. There are a ton of people who will be there putting themselves in the same sort of position you are. That and you'll come out the otherside just fine :)

[MasterKiller]

Forms...weapons...sparring...? What are you doing?

[NeuroGrrrl]

oh, sorry.

Forms and point-sparring. As yet, not advanced enough to have learned a weapons form.

Just tested for yellow sash on Saturday.

[red5angel]

well good luck in both and remember....relax :)

[Chief Fox]

My first and only tournament I competed in forms and sparring. Forms were first. It was an open tournament and I was the only kung fu guy in my age group. All the rest were karate guys. I knew the form I was going to do inside and out. First, I'm practicing out in the hall and I some how cut my knuckle on my wedding ring, so I'm bleeding. I have nothing to stop the blood so I wipe it on my uniform. I step up to the form area to wait to be called and I get called first. I step on the matt and bow to who I think are the judges. These people just look at me weird and point to the other side of the matt. I turn around and see three guys who are obviously the judges. The people I bowed to were the score keepers. I apologize to the judges, introduce myself and do my form the same way I had always done it. Then all of the karate guys went. I got second place and just missed first by only a couple hundredths of a point.

For sparring, I was not used to point sparring at all and had my ass handed to me.

The whole experience was fun. So practice as much as you can and remember this is suposed to be fun.

Have a blast.

[NeuroGrrrl]

I'm pretty sure it's the game of tag: one-hit.

In class we've done some one-hit sparring, but mostly continuous.

Is there anything you know now that you wish you could have communicated to yourself when you were first starting out in tournaments?

[NeuroGrrrl]

CF: lol and thanks. I'll make sure to know which way the judges are sitting. Good tip.

Also--this is a karate-school hosted tournament, so my school is likely to be the only kung fu school participating.

[MasterKiller]

Is there anything you know now that you wish you could have communicated to yourself when you were first starting out in tournaments? It's supposed to be fun.

[Mutant]

Find out if its 'point sparring' or 'continuouis sparring', theres quite a difference in format, its probably continuous if its a CMA tourny, start sparring a lot of rounds with those particular rules.

Since youre doing both forms and sparring don't let yourself get distracted by one event while youre getting ready to compete, keep them as mentally compartmentalized as possible. Tell the judges in advance that youre competeing in both events, find out when the tentative times of events are (theyll probably all run late anyway..) and try to space them apart as much as possible, if the judges know they may be able to schedule your times accordingly to some degree.

Bring music and get out of the building as much as possible and relax, being in one of these things all day is boring and mentally taxing, so once youve found out your schedule don't sit around all day waiting and don't warm up too early. Don't eat junkfood.

If this is your first event then it will be a novelty. The traditional events are sort of like if a sci-fi convention and an anachronist society meeting collided with a Chinese flea market. Fun for a while but you get burned out quickly.
Definately stick around for the master's demonstration if there is one.
Enjoy the event and good luck!

[GunnedDownAtrocity]

i have never done a formal competition, but i did do a demo in front of about one thousand of my highschool classmates my junior year. our japanese teacher told us that we had to come up with something to do for multicultural day in front of about 30 kids. we figured hell ..... we could do a martial arts demo and even get some of them involved and teach them some stuff. the day of the demo we find out that its not in the library but in the gymnasium. and that its not going to be 30 kids but half the ****ing school. we hadn't even really worked on anything .... we were just going to wing it. to make matters worse some kids from another school were also doing a demo they busted their asses working on for weeks. i have to admit .... all 3 of us were terrified.

the point im getting at though, is that once we stepped out and started everyone else disappeared. it was just me and my two buddies going through what we choreographed that day the best we could. the funny thing was that it was so raw that people questioned whether or not it was real. high kicks were all the rage at the time, so the very first thing we did was have me throw a spinning whip kick to my buddies head (my spin kicks were beautiful in highschool) while he just stepped into it and dumped me on my head. i do remember the entire gym going "oooooooo" at that and a couple other things. the other group looked real pretty, prettier than us, but no one questioned if it were staged or not.

so try to relax dude. i think that finding out your doing something that day, with 0 planning, in front of a thousand peers, is about as bad as it gets. and in the end it didnt turn out that bad at all. the performance itself could have been better with actual planning, but the part i feared the most was simply being in front of that many people and i quickly found out that it's not so bad once your actually out there. i cant imagine a formal event being much different. just try to remember that anticipation is the worst part.

[norther practitioner]

Make sure you know your form...

I usually work on it in sections, then all together, and in different ways.

walkthroughs are a great way to go the day of and day before... don't kill yourself getting ready.

[Starchaser107]

ALL THE BEST! :cool:

[Akhilleus]

enjoy the anxiety...it let's you know you are alive...and it will make you feel all the better afterwards when you can say that you actually did it despite the pressure...but don't put TOO much pressure on yourself...it's suppose to be fun...and whatever happens you will be a winner afterwards...think of all the people that don't have the guts to get up there and do their thing...

[Ming Yue]

Hey Grrl :)

the best thing to combat nerves is to feel prepared. Practice your forms over and over and over, spar the toughest people in your school and learn from what happens there. Drill your most effective sparring techniques ad nauseum (literally) :) and you'll be ready.

MK had a good point, get yourself a good game face. A solid display of spirit and intent makes a basic form look great.

One other thing, remember to breathe, especially when you're performing your forms.

Have fun, and bring home some hardware!
:D

[SevenStar]

the butterflies you get before sparring are natural - they will subside as soon as the action starts. practice hard in class, and you will be fine in the competition.

[NeuroGrrrl]

really appreciate this, guys. I'm writing it all down. I'll ask my sifu if the sparring is one-hit or continuous tonight. Certainly, I'll report back after the tournament to tell you how it went. I'll just remember to breathe, relax, have fun, put on a serious warrior face, remember which side the judges are on, bring music, and not eat junk food. This is after I practice my form in sections and alltogether, spar the best students, and bring my own gear.

THANKS!!

[Shaolinlueb]

just relax and go do your best. you know the form so jsut do it.

[spiraler]

be confident and do not be afraid, you can even slightly smile to encourage your face muscles to relax, also fear is associated with tenseness, if you relax and focus you will not be afraid, and remember to have fun! we all go through this, you will be battle tempered soon enough. no fear!

[DragonzRage]

Hi. I'm an amateur kickboxer/MMA'ist but my martial arts competitive experience actually started many years ago with continuous point sparring. Here's what I would suggest to you:

1) train hard and go there to win! Nothing will tick you off more than being defeated when you know you could've trained more or fought a little harder and won. Even tho point sparring is a joke compared to full contact fighting, its still a lot more intense than doing forms and training as usual. Work on your cardio and start sparring multiple rounds with the gloves and gear on, concentrating on the techniques you can use within the rules. If it is continuous sparring, the more strikes you throw, the better. If you fight defensively, you will almost certainly lose on points. Expect your opponent to immediately come straight at you throwing fast and intense shots. That brings me to my next point...

2) regardless of what they say about point sparring being "light contact", don't expect your opponent to go light and easy on you as if you are training buddies. From what I remember, these ****s always get all pumped up as if they're going into the UFC, and they'll very often display little control despite what the rules say. Even if the rules prohibit head shots, protect your head. Again, people get excited, forget the rules, and will head hunt. To prepare, have your training partners come at you aggressively and throwing lots of punches.

3) Focus your training more on preparing for the sparring than for the forms. Forms should be easy as long as the idea of performing in front of a crowd doesn't make you too nervous, and the sparring will ultimately be the more educational and worthwhile experience.

4) You'll ALWAYS be nervous before a fight, no matter how experienced you are. I wouldn't worry too much about being calm. The nerves will pump you up, and produce "fight or flight" responses in your body. Go into the match committed to "fight" and you'll be fine. Of course you're afraid. Anyone who says they're not is either lying or just very unusual. But as soon you hit or get hit first, your training will take over. So if you train properly, you will react properly. I can't stress this enough. If you don't raise the intensity of your training and practice specifically for the competitive sparring, you will lose.

5) If you lose on a decision, don't think too much about it. The judging in these tourneys is half-a$$ed and subjective as hell. Decisions will often depend on where your school stands in the pecking order more than anything else. Don't be disappointed in yourself unless you really suffered a miserable butt kicking.

Good luck man.

[wdl]

One thing I learned is to carry a water bottle with you onto the floor if it's allowed. Especially if you expect to fight alot of rounds. My second tournament I took second place in the division having lost the match for first place. I had to fight 7 rounds that day and they were moving competitors through quickly. The guy that took first place had brought a squeeze bottle of gatorade with him. He was in much better shape to fight that last round was than I simply because he'd brought something to drink.

-Will

[joedoe]

If it is not a full contact bout, then do not be too worried about getting hurt. Just concentrate on your technique and timing and be aggressive. Use the nerves to improve your performance, don't let them lock you up in fear.

And just remember that if you lose the only thing that will get hurt is your pride, so get back in and train for the next one. Enjoy the experience and learn from it.

[GLW]

For ALL competitions - Guideline # 1

KNOW the Rules....get them up front. Train to them.

In sparring, KNOW the ring size. Know the penalties for leaving the ring. In Sanshou, for example, if they use a LeiTai stage, you get thrown off, step off, leave, whatever, 3 times, you lose....

Then, knowing the ring size, train with a smaller ring (that is of course, unless you use the ropes...then you need to train how to use them so you use the exact size ring...) But if you train a smaller ring, you will have MORE room to use and can feel like you have all that much more freedom. Train WITH the equipment you are required to use. NEVER use lighter equipment. If they call for 8 Oz. gloves (or whatever) use 12 or 16 oz. Make it where you are going to an easier thing for the real deal.

If the event is 3 rounds...train 5 or 6 at a time. If you can, switch out sparring partners each round. That way, the opponent is always changing...and you are getting tired...but they are not.

For forms, KNOW the rules. KNOW how to lodge a protest so you don't get disqualified for doing it wrong - the worst thing you can do is start a big argument with the judges.

Know how they evaluate forms. The ranges, etc... Know the time limits and stick to them. A sure way to bore the judges is to do a 5 minute routine in a 2 minute limit event and NOT stop.

Practice your routines over and over...but NOT at the event.

Once you get there, NEVER show your entire routine or do the entire thing unless you are in front of the judges for a score.

First, keep your level a mystery to your opponents.

Second, Judges, believe it or not, are human. If they see you do it once, they will remember it and be more aware of places to look for errors. also, the freshness will be gone. Fresh is best for a judge's impression of you.

It is fine to do pieces with speed and power. Not too big of pieces though.

It is also fine to WALK through a form...just don't do it all with speed, power, etc...

When you are called, follow the rules about greeting the judges. In Karate events, it is considered the thing to do to scream your name, form name, etc... (God, how I HATE that). In Chinese events, you typically can get a deduction for saying ANYTHING. The head judge KNOWS your name. You are in the correct division...so they do not need to know anything more.

In fact, if a person is at a CMA event with me being a head judge and they scream all that junk...BAM...instant deduction. I DO tell all competitors how to enter and leave the ring...I also tell them that if they do not do it the way spelled out in the rules...I WILL deduct points.

When you are called, KNOW where you will go in the ring. Greet in with pride and confidence... Do not let that pride and confidence lag until you are totally out of view of the judges. You are still being viewed even after you get your score. (You may still have to do a weapon or other routine in front of the same judges....leave them with a good impression).

When you take your place in the ring, DON'T look around, move to a different spot, look around, etc... YOU KNOW where you need to begin to have the right amount of space to do your routine. To move around shows a lack of concentration, confidence, and a lack of knowledge of the routine you are doing.

AND...

above all...show GOOD posture. Nothing looks as bad as a guy walking out slouching....

[Gangsterfist]

Well before I took wing chun and taiji I did a bit over 3 years of ryukyu okinawan kempo. I did a few tournaments and I was nervous too, now I was a younger kid (about 12 to 14yrs old) when I did my karate stuff.

In my very first tournament ever I was only a yellow belt (2nd belt in my system). I did kata and sparring competition. I was very nervous, and did not know all the proper etiquette(sp?) and got point deductions from not introducing myself, even though they called my name, and not saying who my sensei was or what kata i was performing.

The sparring I just decided to go in with an attack every round, and I took 4th place (out of about 40 kids) my very first tournament. I got a few points deducted for striking in illegal spots, and sometimes blocking a kick with your leg does not count as a point. It was really kind of whoever was fastest won type of thing.

After it was all done and over with I kind of thought competing was not anything like I thought it was.

Just relax and go with the flow. On forms, remember to have intent and especially if you practice an internal form, the karate people will think you are crazy if you don't have the strong movements and the kiais. Remember to be steady too, I have gotten points deducted for having a off stance or a shaky leg, or my elbow was slightly out of place because I was not totally relaxed. I know its easier said than done.

Good luck to you though,

GF

[Brad]

And make sure to save the partying until AFTER you've competed :o

[Vash]

Remember, it's okay if you fall down, so long as you get the yell out. :eek: :D

And if it is a karate tournament, please casually mention to one of the red-n-white belts, "hey, the sparring would be a lot cooler if it wasn't tag - I like MMA rules myself."

Please? :cool:

[Becca]

Remember, it's okay if you fall down, so long as you get the yell out. :eek: :D

And if it is a karate tournament, please casually mention to one of the red-n-white belts, "hey, the sparring would be a lot cooler if it wasn't tag - I like MMA rules myself."

Please? :cool:
:D :D :D

One thing I have noticed at comititions: Many first time competitors loose track of where they are in thier form because the markers they use while pracicing are not there. If pracicing in the kwoon, turn around. Say you always orient yourself to the front. Start off facing the back or one of the sides. Many people find they can't do the form very well because they have changed the orientation, they no longer have the visual markers they usually use to gauge how they are doing. If you can change your orientation at will and have no troubles, you should have no trouble performing in a strange place, either.

[GunnedDownAtrocity]

so how did it go?