Provincials

On Sunday, Helen and I got going early and headed into the city. I was going to watch the Karate BC Provincial Championship. The tournament runs over two days, but Sunday had the elite events.


I got to BCIT shortly after thing started. Kata competition was well underway. Helen barely let me get out of the car door before she zoomed off shopping. She came back mid-afternoon, and seemed to enjoy the part she watched.


The competitors were mostly Brown and Black Belts. The vast majority were teens, from 14 years old and up.


The standard was very high, but there are some people that just take Kata to another level. True art.


This went on for a few hours; five rings in operation. Division after division marched in, and later marched out with medals awarded.


Then it was time for the fighting. Every type of competitor was present from deadly sharp, to slow and shuffling.


Strangely, there were few adult categories. In Men’s Kata, there were only 6 competitors. A couple were normal Black Belts and did fine Katas. The others were these tournament-style performance artists. Their forms are a joy to watch. They also took all the medals. Maybe that’s why there are not more ordinary adults competing. Really no point.


In fighting, there were more adult, but still not a large number.


I got to see several acquaintances compete. I also got to see a young girl from a neighboring club throw her hat into the ring. She had done well at the zone tournament to qualify for the big one.


Her rank is only Blue Belt, which is only about half the way through the colored belts. In her class she was facing Brown and Black Belts. By luck of the draw, her first match was against an experienced Black Belt girl who is not only the defending Provincial Champion, but the Canadian Champ as sell. Hardly a promising start.


One cool thing about the current rules is that everybody wears a red or blue belt depending on which corner they are assigned. Nobody wears their real rank. As a result nobody really knows who they are facing.


So our local girl looked as deadly as anybody else.


Coming out, she was moving well. The experienced girl was cautious. In this case, what should our kid be out for? Winning? Not a chance. Close fight? Not a chance. How about managing to score one point? This is very unlikely, but theoretically possible. How about not being outscored 8-0, which would mean an automatic early win? Possible.


The final score ended up being 6-0, but it went the full time length. She managed to look good enough to keep the other girl from daring to go for the early kill. It it were me, I’d be pleased as punch.


We left after the final Men’s Open Weight category. Caught the 7:25pm ferry, and we were home by 8:45. It was a long day, but very interesting.


I even bought a T-shirt.