Region Championship (April 2013)

The championship was on Saturday the 27th of April 2013 and was located in Halden. In this championship I did participate in Kata and Kumite (Senior -75Kg). It was approximate a year ago that I did participate in Kumite, so I was exiting how it would be.

Preparation:
For the preparation to Kumite I did some running and strength workouts, as well I did focus on basic Kumite techniques. Since Kumite was the main focus in this period, Kata wasn’t prioritised that much. I only did focus on learning Kanku Sho.

The nutrition was fair in this period. The day before the championship the nutrition was not good and I didn’t drank enough water. But I did got a good sleep and was fresh in the morning. The breakfast was fair.

I got to the tournament location early to start the warm up. When the class started I was ready and focused.

Kata:
There were three participants in this class.

The first match was against Richard Fossum (Sakura KK). I chose Kanku Sho and it was my first Shotokan Kata. I felt that the performance was good, but I was a bit unsteady in the landing after the first jump. The match ended with a victory, 5-0.

The final round was against Fahim Azimi (Sakura KK). I chose Wanshu and felt that it was the best Wanshu I had performed. The Kata was steady and had good pauses than the previous time I did performed the Kata. I did lost 4-1 to his Empi.

I got good feedback that the performance was good. Especially Wanshu was much more steady than the previous time.

Kumite:
There were only three participants in this class too.

I got walkover in the first round and was directly in the final. In the final round my opponent was Stian Oldebråten (Nippon KK). Stian was fast with his Jodan Zuki and had good timing. I was calm in my mind and had good movements. Since I had no routine, my guard was down most of the time and I couldn’t find a good timing to strike. I was anyway pleased with the performance and thought it was a good match. The match ended with a lost, 10-2, 30sec before full time.

André said that I had too high stances. It would be difficult to performed a good strike. He also mentioned that I should practice knee lift so I could get the “whip” effect on the kicks.

Summary:
I had good focus and warm up for the Kata. When the class was finished I was tired. There was not enough time for me to calm down. Therefore I felt that the focus and “the good feeling” wasn’t good for Kumite as it did for Kata. Anyway I was very pleased with the performance and I felt that I did my best.

What to do for the next tournament:
Kata

  • Practice Kiba Dachi.
  • Practice Kanku Sho.
  • Practice on kimé.
  • Learn Sochin.

Kumite

  • Practice to have lower stances.
  • Practice knee lift for kicks.
  • Practice on the timing.
  • Practice to follow up with techniques.

General

  • Practice to use 5 – 10 minutes to calm down before warm up.
  • Practice to calm down after Kata so I get full focus for Kumite.

What has been improved since last tournament:
Kata

  • Wanshu has become more steady.

Results:
Kata
1. Fahim Azimi (Sakura KK)
2. T.Sang Tran (Trondheim KK)
3. Richard Fossum (Sakura KK)

Kumite
1. Stian Oldebråten (Nippen KK)
2. T.Sang Tran (Trondheim KK)
3. Nikolai Korizinsky (Troll KK)