Our tournament was a success!

Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who worked so hard to make our tournament a success.

Our competition team --- or at least most of them. Some had not yet arrived in time for the picture, and at least one was already working hard getting our snack bar up and running.
(By the way, the food was GREAT! And our snack bar crew was the best ever!)

Sensei Maria Evans, our USKA California State Representative, co-sponsored our tournament.

Mr. Crothers, aka "Mr. Mr.", helped keep the tournament running smoothly and got all of our scorekeepers and timekeepers up to speed.

My Sensei, Danny Gilliland, came all the way from Louisiana to help out. I don't quite recall what it was that made us all laugh here, but it must have been funny.

Sempai Miriam was our main bracketing person.

Chuck Cody was our announcer and brought his own special flair to the event.

And then there were all my wonderful tournament volunteers who shopped and cooked and built trophies and made signs and handled registration and served as medics and hauled stuff and set up and cleaned up and worked and worked and worked. Thank you all!

I am also grateful for all the wonderful people who judged the competition.

And then the competitors --- you all did GREAT!

Thank you, each and everyone, for all that you contributed to make our first tournament such a fun and successful event!

Tournament: full speed ahead!

It's hard to believe that, by this time next week, our tournament will be a thing of the past!

I have been blessed beyond measure by all of you who have, in many different ways, been so quick and eager to show what our core values mean to you. So many of you --- students and parents --- have been helping out, and have promised to be of support in whatever way you can.

Our students have shown that they are ready to meet the challenge I set for them. Almost everyone on the list of eligible students has demonstrated their eagerness to compete by pre-registering early. What has truly amazed me is how many of our new white belts have been working so hard to learn their kata. Last night we had our Competition Class, and our dojo was full of students who wanted to make sure they will be as ready as possible to do their absolute best next week. I felt that it was a personal triumph for some of our very little ones, and some of our most shy students, to perform in front of so many people. I just know they will do well in competition!

If you are one of the handful of Shinjin Karate students who has not yet pre-registered, all is not lost. Although you've missed out on the discount, you can still register in the dojo this coming week and avoid having to wait in a long line to register at the tournament.

Today, a number of you showed up at our house to help build trophies. What a great crew we had! You were undaunted by the last-minute time change and by our lack of experience in trophy building. Very quickly, we had an assembly line going. If it weren't for the fact that some of the bases we needed weren't shipped, we would have all the trophies done.

Assembling the 1st Place trophies

1st Place trophies ready to be taken to the dojo

Previously assembled components

Our efficient assembly line working on the 2nd Place trophies

Thank you, thank you, thank you for giving up a big part of your Saturday to support your dojo!

All of the 1st & 2nd Place trophies are now in the dojo, awaiting transportation to the tournament next Saturday. I'm sure they will serve as an inspiration to all of our hard-working students as they spend next week training hard to prepare to compete. Our "factory workers" did a great job!

And, judging from the sounds I'm hearing right now coming up from my husband and sons in our garage, I expect that the Grand Champion trophies will be quite something...

IMPORTANT DOJO MEETING!!

DOJO MEETING THIS FRIDAY
AUGUST 8, 2008 AT 7:00 PM

THIS MEETING IS FOR:

ALL PARENTS
ALL STUDENTS AGES 14 AND OVER
ALL RESPONSIBLE YOUNGER STUDENTS

PIZZA WILL BE SERVED AFTERWARDS!!

IF YOU HAVE NOT YET REGISTERED FOR THE TOURNAMENT, DON'T PROCRASTINATE TOO LONG OR YOU'LL MISS THE SPECIAL STUDENT DISCOUNT!

Our Tournament!

Our USKA tournament is coming up on Saturday, September 27, 2008. Today we received our first pre-registration from an eager competitor.

Hope to see you there!

Click on the images to view the flyers in a larger format.

Upcoming USKA Tournaments

Our dojo is planning to participate in the following USKA tournaments this year. Ask Sensei about which tournaments would be best for you. Make sure you train hard and attend as many Competition Classes as you can in order to do your best! [Click on the graphic below in order to see it in a larger format.]

New poll: why do you compete in tournaments?

UPDATE: The poll was not working correctly, so if you answered it on October 18 or before, please answer it again. Thanks!

Please take part in our latest poll in the sidebar. Let us know why you compete in tournaments, or why you would consider competing if you haven't yet done so.

I've listed some of the more common reasons that competitors have given me for their involvement. A number of students, for example, have found that tournament competition helps them set short-term goals (or even long-term goals, if they are point chasing and hoping to place first in the national standings in at least one division). Others find that upcoming tournaments help motivate them to train harder. Some enjoy the healthy competition offered by the USKA circuit. Some students want to support their "team", and help their dojo place well in the national standings. A lot of students just think it is fun to compete!

Some instructors require students to compete in at least a minimum number of tournaments, because it is one of the safest ways to test and improve the ability to perform under pressure --- and this is valuable and necessary for self-defense. Tournament training and competition is also an excellent way to prepare for the kata and sparring portion of an upcoming belt test.

Parents often appreciate how tournament competition has helped their children improve their focus, gain more self-discipline, practice respect and proper etiquette, gain self-confidence, prepare for upcoming belt tests, and become better karateka.

If you are eager to reap the many benefits of tournament competition, please talk to Sensei. The USKA State Championships are going to be held in Riverside on November 3, 2007. Are you ready?

Friday at Worlds

The events we competed in on Friday were weapons, Chanbara (Samurai sports) and team sparring.

Hanna Vise - 1st in weapons (9 & under Advanced Division)

Jesse Prewett - 2nd in weapons (9 & under Advanced Division)

Trevor Maas - 3rd in weapons (9 & under Intermediate Division)


Jesse - 3rd in Chanbara (8-9 year old division)
Trevor - 4th in Chanbara (8-9 year old division)

Trevor Maas' team took 1st in team sparring.


Sempai Benjamin's team took 1st in sparring in his division.

Daniel Prewett's and Peyton Maas' team took 4th in sparring.

Everyone did GREAT! Sempai Benjamin and Daniel faced some really tough competition in their weapons division, which brought together National and World Champions as well as National and World Grand Champions. The important thing is that each student prepared beforehand and came fully prepared to do their best.

World Championships begin!

Last night was the first event in the 2006 USKA World Karate Championships here in Dallas, Texas. Continuous Sparring is a small event as many of the competitors are not arriving until today. It is also done a bit differently than the way we do iri kumi in our dojo. Instead of judging who dominated the match and fought most effectively, the judges kept track of individual points using clickers.

From our dojo, only Trevor Maas and Daniel Prewett had chosen to compete in this event. Both sparred quite well. Trevor was in the intermediate/advanced division and demonstrated that he could hold his own against brown belts. He won his first match and lost his second one by a small margin. Daniel fought his way to third place in his division.

We're off to a good start!

USKA Pacific Regional Championships

Our little team did GREAT! This was the best run Regionals that we've attended, and the tournament wrapped up well before anyone expected. Although the attendance was not as big as the last California States, competition was quite fierce in several key divisions.

By the end of the day, we had two double crown Regional Champions and four other Regional Champions. The trophy count:

• Trevor Maas - 1st place in both kata and sparring
• Peyton Maas - 1st place in both kata and sparring
• Jesse Prewett - 1st in kata, 2nd in sparring, 3rd in weapons
• Hanna Vise - 1st in weapons
• Daniel Prewett - 3rd in kata
• Benjamin Prewett - 1st in kata
• Miriam Prewett - 1st in kata

Travis Christensen, one of Soke Marx's black belts who now teaches at Just for Kicks, took 2nd place in black belt men's sparring.

Hanna Vise with her First Place trophy for weapons

Peyton Maas performs her championship kata.

Daniel Prewett performs his weapons kata

Taking part in the Youth Grand Championships:

Jesse Prewett

Peyton Maas

Trevor Maas

Sempai Benjamin

Sempai Miriam performs her kata in the adult black belt division

Mr. Travis, after scoring on his oppoenent

USKA California State Championships

Our Five Cities Keichu-Do team made an impressive showing at the United States Karate Alliance California State Championships held November 12 in Riverside. There were well over 400 competitors, and all of them were eager to win as many trophies as possible.

Our team may have been small, but we were impressive.

Sempai Benjamin Prewett, double crown California State Champion: 1st in weapons, 1st in kata, 3rd in sparring.

Daniel Prewett, California State Champion: 1st in kata, 2nd in weapons, 3rd in sparring

Trevor Maas, California State Champion in kata.

Peyton Maas, California State Champion: 1st in sparring, 3rd in kata.

Sarah Hickman: 2nd in both weapons and kata

Jesse Prewett: 2nd in both weapons and kata

Sempai Miriam Prewett competes with the "big kids" now. She took 3rd place in kata in the Women's Black Belt Division.

Tough competition! Sempai fought Cassandra Shults.

One of the benefits of competing is the people you meet on the tournament circuit. States was like a family reunion, with competitors coming from all across the country to help celebrate Maria Evans-Colgan's 40 years in the martial arts. Here Sensei Prewett enjoys conversing with Cassandra Shults while waiting to compete in weapons. Sensei placed 3rd in kata.

Keichu dominates youth grand championship at Arvin

At the Arvin tournament held on October 8, only two competitors in the youth grand championship were not Keichu stylists --- and most of those Keichu competitors were from our dojo! It was truly exciting.

Winning first place in their respective divisions in either open hand or weapons kata and competing in the youth grand championship were Trevor Maas, Peyton Maas, Jesse Prewett, Daniel Prewett, Sarah Hickman, and Benajamin Prewett.

Jesse presents Keri Zuke Waza.

Sarah Hickman performs her kata.

And the youth grand championship went to Benjamin Prewett!

Bakersfield Tournament Results

The Bakersfield tournament was, as always, a great experience for our competitors. This time, three members of our team, along with a student from Soke's dojo, made it to the Youth Grand Championships. After taking into consideration age and rank, the judges awarded the Grand Championship to Hanna Vise, a young Keichu purple belt from Santa Maria.

Trevor Maas competed for the first time and proved that he has what it takes to shine under pressure:

Jesse performs Keichu Kihon Bo in the grand championships:

Sempai Benjamin performs Keichu Keri Zuki Kama:


Sempai Miriam performs Keichu Kata Yudanshi Sandan:

Hannah Vise, Central Valley Invitational Youth Grand Champion:


Sensei competes in the Black Belt Women's division, performing Hateshinai:


The final trophy and medal count for Five Cities Keichu-Do:

Trevor Maas -- 2nd in kata, 3rd in sparring
Jesse Prewett -- 1st in weapons, 3rd in kata, 2nd in sparring
Philip White -- 3rd in weapons, 1st in kata, 1st in sparring
Matthew Miller -- 4th in weapons, 3rd in kata
Daniel Prewett -- 2nd in weapons, 3rd in kata, 2nd in sparring
Benjamin Prewett -- 1st in weapons, 1st in kata, 3rd in sparring
Miriam Prewett -- 2nd in weapons, 1st in kata, 1st in sparring
Sensei Rebecca Prewett -- 1st in weapons, 1st in kata