Karate Tournament

Jaren participated in his first karate tournament at the beginning of May. He was so pumped to be involved in this tourney! First, he started out with his kata. For all you non-karate people, it is basically a series of choreographed movements that the club members perform. Then, they are judged on how well they perform each kata. Jaren did pretty well. He seemed a bit nervous (as one can only imagine), but he didn't even make any mistakes. He ended up placing fifth in his belt/age class.

Next came point sparring. This is where the fun begins! The kids (and adults too) don protective head, hand and foot gear and fight for points. Jaren did very well at the point sparring. He was having a great time - not me - I was on pins and needles! Not because he was fighting, but because I wanted him to do well. Once you lose, you're out and I just wanted for him to rock it! And, HE DID! He got first place in point sparring. He had to duke it out with one of his school buddies and then the last battle - for first, was against a very fiesty girl! In this picture above, Jaren is getting his trophy for weapons sparring. He got third place in weapons sparring. Funny thing is, his school mate that he beat in point sparring, got 1st in weapons (go John)!

Jaren with his hardware from a job well done! HOORAY for you buddy!

Here is video of one of his point sparring matches.