Martial Arts Tournament

This past Saturday, Livvi participated in her first real martial arts tournament. We went into it with low expectations: 1. it's her first tournament and 2. she's eight years old. We thought this could be a great learning experience for her as she probably wouldn't win any medals and could see how good other kids are, outside of her club.

Her first event was board breaking. I think she was a little flustered as she wasn't sure about how to set things up, etc. That being said, she did OK. She was to break three boards. She was able to break two of them. However, at least three other kids performed better on this event.

Her second event was forms. This is actually one of her strong suits. She did fantastic! She got a silver medal. The girl that got the trophy was really good and deserved it.

Her third event was sparring. Before the event started, Master Strickland, Livvi's instructor/club owner, was called down to discuss something about Livvi. Sensing something wasn't right, I went down to see what was going on. In Liv's club, they don't allow kicking to the head as Master Strickland doesn't feel it is necessary at this age. However, it is allowed in other schools as well as this tournament. Livvi still wanted to do it. I gave my blessing with the knowledge we could stop the match at any point. Livvi then asked "Can I kick their head, too?!" That's my girl! She had to spar a kid who was as aggressive as she usually is. He was really good and ended up beating Livvi, but she didn't give up. In fact, the kid's father couldn't compliment Livvi enough on how well she did, knowing how good his son is. She was awarded the silver medal in this event as well.

We are so proud of Livvi and all her hard work and dedication to the sport. She is really coming along!

Here is a video of her events: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEupL1ILo-U

Also, our club, Cincinnati Martial Arts Club (CMAC), won a trophy for having the most participants!