I Want A Trophy

I am in training.


If people out there have been paying attention, they’ll know that I’m studying karate. Not just training, I’m STUDYING…delving into the details and the history and the deeper Zen meanings of the whole kit and caboodle. You might call me a bit obsessive, and you’d probably be right given how often the subject of karate is slipped into casual conversation.

But now I’m serious (if serious is more serious than obsessive. Maybe I’m just a more focused variety of obsessive at the moment). There is a local martial arts tournament coming up in just a few weeks. Of course, me not being all that competitive (if you believe that you REALLY haven’t been keeping up with my posts), so I’m thinking I might kinda sorta wanna participate (translation: You couldn’t keep me away with hordes of rabid ninja tigers).

I honestly wasn’t intending to compete. There are five people in this family studying karate, so for all of us to participate, we’d probably need a corporate sponsor or at least a rich dead relative to pay our entry fees. Being the mom, I tend to cram myself into the self-sacrificing role that mothers tend to embrace. I figured my sons should get first dibs at competing since they are in their formative years and need the life experience and confidence that competing well might offer, yadda, yadda, yadda. Then my husband would be next in line since he’s a higher belt and actually much better prepared to do anything karate-like in public than I am.

However, that was until I was encouraged to compete by my fellow dojo-mates. And someone pointed out that there wouldn’t be much competition in my division (Can you believe at 36 years old, I get to compete in the senior women’s division? Keep your snarky comments to yourselves, please.). And we did a mock competition in class and my kata (definition: an exercise consisting of a sequence of the specific movements of a martial art, used in training and designed to show skill in technique) was scored higher than anyone else’s.

Wow. Now I’m thinking I might want to elbow the boys out of my way at the registration table. Maybe not, but I do want to find the extra money so I can compete, too. I’ve never really considered myself athletic, and I’m the only one in this family without some sort of trophy for physical prowess. I think a nice karate trophy would look nice on my mantle. Don’t you?