Our First Judo Tournament

Warming up...

Jake had his first Judo tournament a few weeks ago.  None of us had any idea what to expect.  The practices the week before the tournament were unorganized and the last day, they didn’t even fight each other.  Things are a bit more laid back here and even after all these years of sailing the islands, it takes some getting used to.  So our expectations were pretty low for the tournament.  We were pleasantly surprised.

Explaining the rules...

First off, they actually started on time.   That’s unheard of around here for any event.  Secondly, they were very organized in their registration and when it came time for Jake to fight, he was evenly matched. 

"And in this corner....JAKE!!!!"

Now I don’t want to bad mouth my kid, but he’s only been doing this for a couple of months (and coordinated is NOT his middle name), so my expectations for him were even lower than the tournament itself.  He, too surprised me!  No, he didn’t win any of his fights, but he didn’t let anyone take him down either (he went down, but they both just fell).  Both fights went the full three minutes and he lost by ½ point.  Considering Jake doesn’t have a mean bone in his body and he’s the least aggressive kid I’ve ever seen, I think he did pretty good.  He was a little disappointed but I was pretty darn proud.  He showed improvement, good defense, and good sportsmanship.

Jake was determined not to get pinned (even if he had to lose his clothes).

I enjoyed watching the other kids too.  The little girls are the spit fires.  I think they won more matches than the boys.

Anyway, its still something he’s having fun at and I foresee another tournament in our future.