USEWF Annual Championships

March 11th was the US Eastern Wado Ryu Federation (USEWF) annual C.T. Patterson memorial championships! 

 On Thursday, Kody and I started to fall sick. Our throats were itching, my allergies were bad- it was no fun. At all. We were freaking out, because of tournament on Saturday. However, Tory and her amazing herbalist self, got us all together. She gave us essential oils, tinctures, and garlic. We ate garlic, and put onion slices in our socks. What?! I know, I know, but folks- God’s natural medicine is powerful. And amazing! We were all praying so, so hard…. because Kody and I were so excited for tournament, and had worked really hard.

   Saturday morning came… and we felt well enough! Praise Yahweh! So, we woke up around 7 AM, and got ready. We left around 8:15, and alas…. we got to the gym.

The above picture is every karate school there, in line up. 🙂 There were schools from Texas, Florida, North Carolina, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee of course, and more! It was amazing. So, we all lined up (my dojo is somewhere in the middle row… you can’t really see us here, haha), bowed in, and sat, while the awards were given out. And then…. the games begin! ;D Or should I start humming the Mulan song? Yeah. LET’S GET DOWN TO BUSINESS….

You choose to compete in kata/form, and/or sparring. Kody and I chose to do both. Once it begins, you have to find your ring. I was assigned ring 3, so was Kody. Then, you are dividied by age. My age group was 14-15, and Kody’s was 12-13. That’s the basics of what happens. I did get to watch Kody perform his kata, but after that, the 14-15 yr olds were moved to ring 4.

https://www.facebook.com/kim.watts.39/videos/10206035340042804/

The above video is Kody in a round of sparring! He did excellent. He fought 3 rounds! Awesome, bro! Kody won third place in sparring! Woohoo! We were all soo excited.  I only got to watch Kody spar one round (the above round), because the rest of the time, I was competing, ha.

We all moved to ring 4 like a group of ducklings…. and we watched the woman’s group finish up. Which was great, because a friend at our dojo was running kata, and I got to watch her (she won). Then, us 14-15 yr olds, white and gold belts lined up. 3 boys, 3 girls. I was fifth in line (aka, competitor #5), and after the 4 before me ran their kata (which was either first basic, or Pinan Nidan), I ran my kata!

I was actually not nervous at all. Which is weird. Very weird. I was nervous the week leading up to tournament- and then I get there, and bam. Not nervous. I didn’t blank once. It went very smoothly- just as we prayed. God is good!

How do you run kata?  If you’re interested, here’s an overview! Here’s how I did; you bow into the ring, walk to the center of the ring, bow to the judges, and say something along the lines of ‘Judges, my name is *so and so*, my kata is *so and so*, may I begin?’. Then you bow again, back up (you never turn your back to the judges ever!), and do your kata. Then, you bow, and the judges give you your points. After that you back out, and bow to the next competitor. So, it went well for me. I was confident.

And so, the girl after me ran, and we waited for the final scores. Well. Well. Well! The lead judge calls the last girl and I back up: and I’m sort of surprised. Why are we called out again? This isn’t normal, haha. It turns out, the girl and I tied. We had to run our katas again. OK, no biggie. We did.

https://www.facebook.com/kim.watts.39/videos/10206035522767372/

The video above is me running first basic for the second time! And then, we returned to line, and waited. And waited. And then, we were told… we had tied twice. We had tied both times! Wow! We were brought to the floor, and were turned around, back to the judges… I’m not totally sure what the judges were doing, but the final judgement was made among them, and the scorekeepers too. A black belt pal of mine (from my dojo) was watching with the scorekeepers, and one of my senseis came over to see the judges, so I knew I was in fair hands, in the end.

Once more, we were lined up. Third place, went to a boy. Second place went to the last girl…. And my name was called. First place! I WON FIRST PLACE!!!

After kata, it was sparring time. Once again, we were moved to another ring (because the upper belts  14-15 yr olds were still running their kata in ring 4). However, only one other girl was sparring. So, I only sparred one round. I won second place in sparring! It was a good fight, and though I think I could have done better if I had been feeling 100%, I am not too disappointed. Overall, I talked to fellow students and it was awesome! Everyone I know did wonderful. And I met new people! It was great!

When I was going to get the medal, Ma came down the stairs and I found her. She was freaking out excited, and I was so happy! I could barely believe it. Once I was finished competing, I went up to the bleachers to see my family. I was still feeling OKish, haha, but pretty flushed. My family was so happy for Kody and I! 😀 Tory and I went to the dressing room and I got dressed. Then, we all met upstairs. Kody met us soon after.

We were all starving, so we ate at Chick-Fil-A.=D And then, we went to Lowe’s! And because ‘nothing is sacred’ (as my Mother said it…), I took pictures in Lowe’s. Enjoy.

 And now it’s time for silly times with Angie. In Lowe’s. 

And then, we made off…. for home…. except…. we stopped….

OH YEAH, BABY! Doing well at tournament payed off. ;D We got doughnuts!

Overall, Saturday was a wonderful day. I am so, so grateful to Yahweh for helping us pull through and do our best! The glory be to God. We had fun, and I am thankful. The Scripture Yahweh put in my heart the past few days was;

Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord.

How amazing!

 

We may win medals and gold, but Yahweh has won us something far greater…. HE IS THE CHAMPION! He conquered death for us. No medals matter unless you had God in the picture! By His glory are all things made possible. 🙂

I hope you all enjoyed the pictures! And my rambles of how the tournament went. And the doughnuts. I have more awesome news, but that’s all for tonight, folks! YHVH bless!

-Angela Watts

 Did you enjoy the karate tournament videos/pictures?! What did you think? Are you excited Kody and I did well, haha? Did you enjoy the pictures? Thanks for reading!