Here is a picture of Waylon receiving his medal for his weapons form. I was so impressed with what he showed the judges this year. In a way he walked away a little disappointed in himself this year which makes me so sad as his mama. This year at the forms seminar he started to learn Lao Gar. This form is crazy and busy and completely different from anything else he has ever learned. He did get about 60% of the way through it that day. He really wanted to compete with it this year but he was told he could only do it if he knew the entire form. Off he went to learn the last 40%. He worked very hard and the form that he did for the judges was by far the best he had ever done it. Except... The dreaded pause near the end.... He has had many moments while practicing where he is blanked momentarily and then recovered but never where he had his moment during the Tiger Challenge. He knew when he came off the mats that that pause (right smack in front of the judges) was not good for his marks. Yet seriously!!! This young man learned a form in a month that really is way above his pay grade and then performed it for a panel of black belts. As his mom, I think he rocked it out of the park! So proud.
As far as Waylon's day, my only disappointment was that I couldn't be there to watch his fight choreography with Kobe. I was in the other ring cheering as loudly as I could without being a distraction to the people competing in my own category.
Then we get to Georgia. She also had an amazing day. My sweet girl really struggles with anxiety but you would have never guessed. She went out there and just shone as she did her Kempo form for the judges. She was a little concerned that she was the only yellow belt competing against all the orange belts but in the end she won a silver medal. The confidence boost this gave her is something that I can't even put into words. Then the icing on the cake was the white stripe she received right after her medal. I'm really not sure which she was more excited about.
The next division she competed in was musical forms. About a week or so before the Tiger Challenge she asked me to teach her Stick at open training. We started just playing around with it and before long she was dead set on competing with it at the tournament BUT as a yellow belt, it was not part of her curriculum. I am so grateful for the opportunity that the creative musical forms provides for people like her. It really motivated her to learn something new and then to step out in front of a panel of black belts. She had a couple of bobbles through the form but really put out a great performance. Maybe she will be the next family member to learn Sifu Playter's staff form....
I was so wrapped up with being a mom, that when my divisions started right after Georgia's I really was not in the head space that I perhaps needed to be. First was the weapons division and I was up first. The exciting news is I did not drop my staff! Really that was my main goal for the day. Do not drop the staff. Huge sigh of relief.
The other individual division that I competed in was hand forms. I had had a conversation with Sifu Playter about how to manage nerves and adrenaline. I have been practicing Kempo as my I Ho Chuan form so it was an obvious choice. The issue was that it is so long - leaving too much time for nerves and adrenaline to build. He recommended a few places to try to recenter and refocus throughout the form. I'm not sure how I did with all that because I honestly do not remember doing my form that day. I actually had to ask if I had skipped part of the form because I really don't remember much of what happened after I stepped out on the mats. Once I managed to bring my level of inner chaos down, I was watching Waylon compete from afar in the ring on the opposite side of the kwoon. I was hoping they would take a really long time to add up the scores so that I could soak in what he was doing. As we were lining up to receive our results, he was being presented a gold medal over in the other ring. I am so grateful that I have another crazy mom friend who will stand beside me and whoop and cheer - even at moments when it may not seem like proper etiquette. I honestly don't remember who won the bronze medal in our division. When Ms. Csillag won the silver I clearly remember thinking that she really deserved a medal. Her form was great. When they announced that I won the gold medal I was shocked, and I did not hide it very well at all. I have been trying to process this portion of the day for over a week now and it is still a total blur.
The team form was a ton of fun. We had such a great time. I absolutely treasure the ladies in the morning class and I am so blessed to train along side them.
The Tiger Challenge was an opportunity that I have let slip by in the past. I am happy that this year I took that opportunity. I learned a lot by watching others and I learned a lot about myself. It was a great day!
Well Done!
ReplyDelete