Well, as birthdays go…yesterday was the best birthday ever.  Except for one glitch which involved me causing excessive and unintentional bodily harm to my opponent.  But we’ll get to that.

     The day began with me rushing off to see one of my little Kung Fu brothers take second place in his forms division at Diamond Nationals.  He took second place in his first tournament ever.  The little guy was quite steady, although you could tell by looking at him that he was freaked out.  He kept his composure and gave a very good accounting of himself and the school.

     Many students from our school showed up, and SiFu was able to make it, despite some medical problems that have plagued him of late.

     I got a fantastic surprise in that my two cousins, Jon and Ben Anderson, came down from Bemidji for a visit, and came to support me in the tournament.  It was just so cool to see them there, and it meant so much to me.

     I took first place in my division for weapons forms (9.98, 9.95, 9.98)  I didn’t place in open hand forms, but felt very good about my form (9.93, 9.91, 9.95)  The top scorers in the division were unquestionably superior, having chosen very difficult forms (acrobatics, etc.), and performed them amazingly.

     I took third place in sparring.  I got a “buy” in the first round, so my first fight was with someone who had already won a fight, while I had not yet competed.  I think this let me a slight psychological disadvantage, but perhaps a small physical advantage.  I lost this fight in part because my opponant was quite talented, in part because three kicks that I landed were not seen by the judges, in part because I allowed a punch to my nose to wreck my focus for one whole exchange and I totally gave up a point I shouldn’t have, and finally because the final and winning point was awarded to my opponent because she lunged into my backfist, and her whole face exploded in blood.

     I felt horrible, of course.

     Kneeling with my back to her, as is proper form in these cases, I could hear the judge say things like “Take as much time as you need to, that’s a lot of blood.”  “You're going to need a new shirt” and “Do you think you can keep fighting?”

     In my peripheral vision, I had caught a glimps of her blood-spattered shirt, so...well, it was awful.  They gave her the final winning point due to excessive contact.

     So I lost my one fight of the day, but took third place.

     That’s the breaks.  The judges not seeing the kicks was just part of the game.  These judges were on the whole better about calling points than most of the judges I had seen.  Everyone has points missed.  The getting hit in the nose is also part of the game, and not something I should complain about, expecially in light of what happened to my opponent.

     I really do hate hurting other people, even by accident.  And I feel extremely sorry about what happened to her.  She was very gracious, friendly and sportsman-like about the whole thing, and I greatly respect her attitude and sense of fairness.  She also was certainly a tough competitor, and a fine martial artist.  She took second place.  Tha lady that took first was also quite good.

   The day ended with Jon, Ben, Rocky and the boys and I meeting my friend Sue, her daughter, and my friend Barb and Rick at Red Lobster, where I ate everything that I shouldn’t eat (cheesy biscuits!), and drank way too much.

     Barb came over and we had a great visit about all sorts of stuff, which hasn’t happened for so long because she has been busy with school and work and house renovations and stuff like that you just can’t argue with if you’re a real friend.

     All-in-all, once I get past feeling bad about all the blood, it was a good day.