Judo

So, I competed in a Judo Tournament yesterday. It was a lot of fun and quite the adventure, so we'll start at the beginning. (some of these dates might be a little off, but in general they are right)

*Two weeks before tournament*
I hear about the tournament and decide it would be a lot of fun to get beaten up. I tell Kendall, our Judo Club President and person with paperwork, and she gives me a release form saying if I die it isn't anyone else's fault. I also hear about weight classes and how no one knows what they are, but they matter a lot. I injure my wrist, without known cause or known understanding as to how it hurts. I have to move it a very particular way to hurt it.

*One week before tournament*
I find out I need to register for the tournament, but no one has registration forms... Also, a guy in class, Corey, who does parkour and I might be going out with him on the town some night soon, tells me I need Judo Insurance. He is a bit of a jokester so I ignore him. I actually learn some throws this week so that I could actually compete.

*Week of tournament*
Test for my yellow belt, which I have been told I will never receive until I earn my orange belt. Finalize a ride to and from tournament. Decide to go down Saturday morning and weigh in then, instead of night before like most people. This means I will have to starve myself slightly in order to remain a consistent weight. I also buy boxer briefs. While incredibly uncomfortable (at first, I am getting used to them. It isn't that they aren't soft, they just cling/squeeze in ways I don't feel they should) they add a little protection while getting thrown around.

*Day of tournament*
Wake up at 4 am, in order to get ready and be on the road at 5 am, to get to tournament center at 7 or 8 in order to weigh in a register. I shower, pray (mostly for safety and for the team to do well), get dressed (boxer briefs are so weird feeling!), don't eat..., check my packing list, and meet my ride in the parking lot. Drive down goes fine. We get to the high school it is being held at and look around for entrance to gym. We can't find one, but we see a bunch of cars outside so we call a friend at the tournament and he informs us we are at the wrong school. We drive to another, nearby school that had people at it. It is the wrong school. We get directions and find out we were almost 10 miles away from school tournament was being held at... (We found out later that the driving form had the wrong address on it and mapquest has no hope of getting you to your destination if your destination is wrong) We finally reach our destination about an hour later than we planned on. I go in and start registering. I find out Judo Insurance is real and find myself despising a system that requires you to pay someone else to pay you if you injure yourself willingly... I pay for insurance and the tournament fee. I weigh in at 138.8 (YES! I am still under 140! Seriously, this was a very exciting moment. It meant not eating was worth it. It also means I've still gained almost 10 lbs of muscle since graduation, 20 lbs since junior year, and lost a little bit a weight since Christmas. Also, it meant I was in the lightest division at this tournament). I sit around. I continue sitting around. Tournament for children doesn't start until 10 am. Adults until noon. I wait around some more. I warm up. I wait around. Tournament starts for kids. Some very entertaining matches actually. Two boys ran at each other, one planted, turned, and flung the other boy. A very good and well earned point. They were 8. I was very impressed. Other Flagstaff people show up. Finally, it is my turn to start. I go in against a green belt and hold my own for a while, but he gets a throw in, we go to the mat, and he chokes me. I tap out as the judge calls for us to stop and reset. As he called it. Had I held out a second longer I could have continued the fight and done something. I was not pleased by myself, but figure the guy would have beaten me anyway. It is double elimination. I fight again. Go up against a white belt. He is bigger than me. He gets a really really messy throw on me and I land almost on top of him and immediately have him in a hold. But the judge calls it a full point (why, I am still not sure. I would have won had it only been a half point. Spencer was truly not pleased at this point, but accepts the judges ruling. The judging of much a throw was worth was very inconsistent throughout, but it depended on how much a judge saw and felt it should be worth) and I lost.

Most of the team did okay, but our two highest belts at the competition lost their two matches too. One of our guys took second in the novice light-heavy weight division. Tournament ended around 5 and they asked us competitors to help clean up mats. They are quite heavy and I felt kind of exhausted afterwards.

The ride home went relatively well. It could have been worse. No one died. But I got back about 9pm. It was a 17 hour day and totally worth it. I got to watch the sunset and talk with a fantastic girl, so I was happy.