Oh yeah, baby!

This will be short, as I'm very tired from a very full day, to say the least. I will give more details of my run-ins with the Grandmaster and several high ranks, my first foray into scorekeeping and other fine details.

But-- I will give at least one huge highlight of the day. I WON MY FIRST 1ST PLACE TROPHY EVER IN MY LIFE! AND IT WAS AT AN "A" TOURNAMENT! I got it in weapons. As I said to many today, since this is the 3rd trophy I've received at a regional tournament, and all three were in weapons, I think I know what my niche is. ;-)

To be honest, I think what was more impressive was that Sandy, my cohort in crime, won 2nd place in all competitions. I mean, yeah, I got first, but it was only in one aspect. She not only got 2nd place in weapons (and she also did a ssahng nat/kama routine, and it was great), but she also got 2nd in forms and 2nd in sparring. Man, she's a pistol at sparring! She even half jokingly said, "I think if we had ended up going against each other, I would've beat you this time" (as I've beaten her in sparring every competition we've met up for so far). And my reply was, and it was an honest answer too--"I think you are completely right." It wasn't my day with sparring. I was the only one wearing one of those hot face shields, and I was so tired after doing that that I was thanking the deity of your choice that I was one of the first outs. I didn't think I'd make it through another round.

So while I'm enjoying the euphoria of my first 1st place win, I think I'm actually happier for Sandy, because in my mind, she got a great trifecta. :-)

More later!