Why You Shouldn't Go To A Tournament
1) If a trophy is the only thing that you care about.
-Honestly you can go to your local trophy shop and purchase nearly the exact same type of trophy for $5.00. Trophies are nice, they're sparkly and make great bragging rights, but they're really not that important.
2) If you're going with the intention of harming your opponent.
-Really this should need no further discussion. If you're only training in karate so you can hurt someone than shame on you. I've known a few people who refuse to participate in tournament sparring because they've had one bad experience with an overly aggressive fighter who didn't respect the rules. If all you're concerned with is harming your opponent to prove how macho and tough you are then you need to reconsider your priorities mate.
This is a short list, but I feel my two reasons are absolutely necessary. There's no room for egos, especially in a tournament.
Why You Should Go To A Tournament
While I really only have two main reasons for why you shouldn't participate in a tournament, I have tons of reasons why you should. Here's my top ten!
1) You get to meet new people.
-This is my absolute favorite part of tournaments. Especially open tournaments! Not only do you get to meet people from different places but people who train in different styles too! Some of my greatest friends I've met at tournaments. Even if you train in different styles, the world of karate truly can be like a family if you let it.
2) Receiving tips from outside sources.
-Judges who are kind enough to offer suggestions and comments after I compete are my favorite!! 9 times out of 10 they aren't instructors from your school, so they're able to provide an outsider's opinion on how you performed.
3) Being exposed to different arts.
-It's so interesting to me to see how other styles train. Watching other arts compete especially in forms is always a fun thing to do. After your heartbeat slows down and you don't have to worry about your own competition anymore of course!
4) Having the opportunity to train hard in preparation for something.
-Every January I get the itch. Tournament season is coming, soon after I start catching myself running through my form in my head whenever I can't work on it physically. That extra nudge just makes you better and makes you train harder.
5) Learning about other events in the area.
-Often while tournaments are running they'll announce other upcoming tournaments and events in the local area. It's nice being able to learn about other events you may not have heard about otherwise.
6) The adrenaline rush.
-When I line up and the judges are seconds from calling my name my heart races, blood thrums in my ears and I'm terrified. Something happens when I step into the ring though, it's like my blood is lit on fire. A good old adrenaline rush!
7) Seeing old friends.
- Earlier I mentioned meeting new people, one of the really cool things about attending tournaments for a period of time is you start to recognize faces. You begin making friends and look forward to reuniting with them at those annual events.
8) Watching the Black Belts compete.
-This one is obviously aimed at us under belts and its one of the best parts in my opinion. I definitely recommend sticking around for the Black Belt divisions, they always prove to be a good show!
9) The memories.
-Pretty self explanatory, you do make some great memories with equally great people or at least I seem to.
10) It's just plain fun.
- Karate is hard, and it's definitely a lot of work. So an opportunity to spend a day doing something you've worked hard at and love with others who love it to is bound to be a good day. The most important thing to remember when you go to a tournament is to have fun. Wether you win or lose there are always experiences you can take away from tournaments, having fun though that's the important part.
