Am I Ready for the Tournament?
First of all, tournaments are a blast. It is really a lot of fun and the kids have a great time. But one of the most common questions I hear is, “Is my kid ready?” Simply put, if they have been coming to class, they are ready to go. The next thing I always hear next is…”But they don’t have all their stripes yet.” They aren’t supposed to because being ready for a tournament is completely different than being ready for testing.
The goal of a tournament is to create a sense of urgency to expedite growth and development through positive competition. When a tournament is coming, students going to a tournament push themselves a little harder, come to an extra class or two, focus more in class and do a multitude of little things to prepare to do their best. Does that mean we have it all locked down and perfect? Far from it. But are we ready to take on the challenge? Yes we are, just like all the other students in the ring that are at the same level of preparedness. That is why the belt system was developed to begin with—to create a system where students on the same path can be placed in competition with people of similar training and experience.
When the day of the tournament comes, we get to show off our progress and see how we do under pressure. If we do well at the tournament, HOORAY! Then we can be confident we are on the right track. Should we mess up a little, it isn’t a bad thing because it lets us know what to fix before testing. Students that participate in tournaments, not matter the result, always go into testing with a finer edge and are far better prepared than students that don’t participate. While I love to see our students do well at the tournament, it is more important that my students try hard and have fun while they are there. Participation is far more important to me than whatever place they take, because that participation, no matter what the result, will lead to their future success. Parental warning: The number of complaints about sparring always increases around a tournament. Because they are trying to go “faster” some kids get overwhelmed. This is a normal part of their growth to black belt and it will pass.
