I entered sparring, forms and breaking again. I was a lot less nervous during my forms competition, but I was still nervous. I received second place again.
I remember that I only broke 5 of my boards this year. Last year, I broke 6, but I hurt my hand. I think I was afraid to hit it so hard this year. A friend of mine from Scappoose was also entered in breaking, and she powered through 8 boards! She's the only woman I've ever known to break so many at once.
This year, they found three women to put together in a sparring division. My friend and I and a woman our same age who was wearing a junior black belt that was too small for her. I suspect she earned it as a child and is now working towards her second dan.
My friend fought her first and lost. She was really frustrated, and she really wanted me to beat her. I did, but just barely. She was a tough competitor, and I was barely holding my own. At the end I was really tired, but I was frustrated, too. In the last seconds, I punched her really hard, squarely in the chest. She took a step back, stunned, leaving her open to a roundhouse kick which scored me the winning point.
I was really happy, but I remember that one of the referees said something which made me think that he was disappointed with my win. He said that she was really tired. True, she had just fought a round, and I went in fresh, but that is part of the sport. It wasn't very nice of him to say that.
I brought home one gold and two silver that day. My daughter brought home 1 gold (breaking), one silver (sparring), and one bronze (forms). She was really disappointed that she didn't do better in forms. She is always the first in our class to memorize her forms, but she likes to do them fast. She isn't very careful to them right. She was proud of her silver medal in sparring, and she wanted me to take her to nationals, but she didn't beat anybody. There were only two fighters in her division.
My son also competed that day. He brought home 1 gold (breaking), and two bronze (forms and sparring). This was his first sparring competition, and I remember that his opponent kicked him really hard in the chest. He said that his heart moved from one side of his chest to the other, and he did not wish to continue the match.
