The Eve of the Seido Karate 32nd Anniversary & Benefit Tournament

I have less than 24 hours until I participate in the Seido Karate 32nd Anniversary and Benefit Tournament and I am feeling a couple of things right this very moment. Excitement, of course, because I'll be there with so friends and special people in my life and there will be plenty of new faces from Honbu as well as other from other dojos here in New York as well as from other parts of the world. Some anxiety because there will be so many people watching (I heard a rumor that nearly 600 tickets were sold...don't know if it's true) including Kaicho and all of the highest ranking seniors in Seido and because during the Interdojo Tournamnent this past May, I scored poorly coming in last place (7th) in the advanced blue belt women's division. I remember how upset I felt that night. 5 and a half months have passed since then, now I am a yellow belt and I can definitely say I trained and prepared much more for this tournament so I hope that I do much better. I have a bit of a different mindset. Before I was competing (and coming in last, I felt like I lost) and tomorrow I will be participating, meaning I am taking advantage of being part of something great, over-coming the fear of performing my kata in front of hundreds of people and, hoping to become better as a result of my focus, dedication and spirit. And getting that far should feel like winning no matter what place I come in.

I am doing Pinan II, a really beautiful kata with lots of fancy techniques. I have practiced it about 75 times outside of class. I have Honbu instructors like Kaicho, Jun Shihan Debra, Kyoshi Billy, Sensei Marc, Senpai PJ and as well my yellow belt peers, Max Gubin (3rd kyu, advanced green belt), and others I'm probably forgetting to thank for watching me practice my Pinan II kata over the past month and offer advice on technique overall, stances, strikes--anything, you name it--as well as answering my dozens of questions even when they had others things to do. I've made it this far--training for the tournament and actually taking the up the opportunity to participate again despite a poor showing in the May tournament--because of the support of so many at Seido Honbu. Best of luck to everyone competing tomorrow and hope see many faces tomorrow at Hunter College!