Kade and I drove down to Charlotte on Friday, December 8th for a stay at Brian & Nancy's the night before the big tournament. There were a LOT of people at this event and he was feeling a bit nervous.
Finally after waiting over an hour, at 10:45am, 8 & under's were called to their rings. Kade was nervous and passed on the chance to practice or loosen up until he was placed in his ring, ultimately stretching out with the other boys right before.
First event - Forms. He was the very first one called out of 13 boys, alas I did not have my camera completely ready. We'll have to settle for photos this round. He completed "In Wha 1" as his Traditional Forms.
The first three competitors stand together to receive their scores whereas every competitor following gets their scores immediately. Kade scored 5, 5, 7 for forms from each judge respectively.
This nunchuck routine is his "go to" for traditional weapons. He feels very confident with it, which is why he felt he didn't need to practice as much.....
He scored fairly higher for this event - 7, 5, 7 from the judges.
As there were thirteen boys in this ring, forms and weapons took quite a bit of time to complete. The next event, combat sparring, did not begin until 12:15pm.
Combat sparring was very competitive - Kade had a bye the first round, then competed against someone who was already "warmed up". Our little warrior lost 5-10 in his first and only sparring match (single elimination).
I think he did better in Sparring, but time was not on his side....
When regulation time was completed, the score was 3-3 - next point wins. He ultimately lost out 3-5. I could tell Kade was feeling down - I cheered him on with comforting thumbs ups from across the mat when he sat down. Sometimes it's just not your day.
Shortly after his sparring match completed, two other competitors in the ring took the battle outside the mat.... landing directly on Kade. He went down hard and hit his head on the concrete floor. Not the best "black belt attitude", but after taking a break to the bathroom, the two of us snuck out of the arena before the end. It was legitimately going to take another 45-60 minutes for them to finish the sparring event and award medals and the two of us were sour from the day - I saw other belts get divided into smaller rings (and also by height), but not this group. Kade hitting his head was the last straw and that was a wrap for us.
Anyway - we had more people to visit!
We stopped in to visit Great-Aunt Carol and Great-Uncle Jeff (and Coco!!)!
We got to tour their new house and Kade was spoiled with mini cupcakes topped with a million sprinkles AND a mini Constitution! Kade has voiced about becoming a lawyer and I love that Uncle Jeff made him a little goodie bag for a would-be attorney! The best aunties and uncles spoil their nieces and nephews! ;)
A tough morning for Kade, but he has such a great attitude and understanding - I hope he learns that it would only help him with a little more practice. Visiting Brian and Nancy (and the big blue house) the night before and Aunt Carol and Uncle Jeff made the trip to Charlotte a big WIN!
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