Watching from the sidelines

Well, this past Saturday was the NJ Summer Tournament. It was one of the closest tournaments - geographically, that is-- to me yet, and I didn't do it. Any regrets? Not really. I was rather tired from the workout at Pennington the night before. Gary taught class, and I hadn't taken his. He said he was going easy since Sandy and our friend Kathy were competing the next day. (Kathy had come down from NY state.) It was nice not having the pressure of having to remember my form, or worry about my knee, which is certainly acting up. I had taken it easy on Friday with my knee, but I swear the knee brace I have isn't working anymore, or not as well as it used to. Bleeh.

But anyway, I got to the gym where it was being held just as the color belt adults were being called to line up. For the first time as long as I can remember, they were actually called on TIME, which was amazing, so I had gotten there just in time. They were assigned to a ring almost immediately. There were about 9 or 10 women in my ring, which is still a little bigger than usual. I sat near the judges, so I could see things fom their perspective rather that from the sides or back of the ring. In general, it was amazing to watch it with different eyes. Both Kathy and Sandy were very good, as well as maybe one or two other people. Otherwise, it was generally a mediocre bunch. I watched forms go by me, and I knew them all, and yet the ones who placed SHOULD have placed. They didn't just walk through their forms, but rather did them as if they were in a fight, with some power behind each move, as they should do it. If it was a matter of just walking through it, oh yeah, I could've competed, but it wouldn't have been worth it. I'm one of the "power" forms people too, and I knew my form wasn't in shape to compete against what I saw. Close, but not enough. In that category, Kathy got 3rd, I believe, and Sandy got 2nd.

In weapons, it was different. there were only about 5 or 6 who were doing it, and of them, one was doing SN (Sandy), one person was doing BME, and the rest were doing JB. Well, Sandy kicked butt in that category, and I'm happy that I was able to help with that one. There was no question that she would win that one. Looking at the video later, I think there are places that we can tighten it up more, but otherwise, it was MILES away from any of the other routines. I believe Kathy got 2nd place, and she was one of the JB'ers, but even with that, it was clear that she was the only JB'er that truly had control of her weapon. One woman just kept spinning her JB, and hit herself in the face once or twice (once really hard), and hitting herself in the leg a few times. It was rather sad to watch, but at least she tried.

Sparring was par for the course. The woman who hit herself in the face with her JB won sparring. Sandy was out pretty early, but at least she lost her round by only 1 point. I can't remember how Kathy did, but I think she may have placed-- possibly even 2nd. Anyway, it's easier to watch sparring than to do it sometimes. One thing is for sure-- even just watching, I know that I'm still not that good at sparring, or even reading what kind of moves people are going to do. Gary was doing that in class, and I suck at that. Oh well. Good thing I wasn't competing!

After the whole thing was done, we stuck around for a little bit to watch the only adult color belt doing XMA. Turns out it was the gal who hit her head with her JB. Her stereo equipment wasn't working, but she did her forms and weapon stuff without the music. Of course she got 1st place simply for showing up in the event, but Sandy and I watched her closely. Let me tell you-- both of us felt that either of us could do better than this chick just improvising on the spot! Now, there is a rule that you have to do your traditional stuff in order to compete in XMA, and that's fine. Between Sandy's juggling and my dance background, either of us could do better. We thought it was really, um, obnoxious, that this gal was like, oh, well join me next time, and you could get 2nd place. I think we both raised our eyebrows at that one, and both thought, "Yeah, that's what you think, chickie!", especially after watching. Supposedly it would've made more sense if you heard the music, but I don't think it matters. XMA isn't necessarily about doing the gymnastics-- it's all about showmanship and style. Speaking for myself, I know I've got that! So, XMA is much more in my mind now than ever, knowing there is competition out there, and she's not very good-- at least that chick. Sandy, well, she's got the juggling stuff going for her, so that WOULD be good competition. Hmm...I'll still have to think about the DE tourney in September.

I saw plenty of people I knew, who were all surprised to see me in civilian clothes and not competing. I just explained that I needed a break and the knee was acting up, and they were supportive. It's nice to know I have TKD friends!

So, that's what's going on. There's no morning class this week, as they have fun day camp this week. Drew is going. They do TKD in the morning, and yesterday, he wasn't that into it, but SW was okay with that. I don't know. Drew sometimes likes it, and sometimes doesn't. I think in his mind, he's going to be stuck doing the same stuff, and he doesn't realize totally that he's bumped up that he'd be learning new material finally. I don't know. I'm hoping that by the end of the week, he might be interested in starting up again. We'll see.