6th Annual Bob White Invitational

On Friday, March 25th, my dad drove Blake and I to compete in the 6th Annual Bob White Invitational the following day. The Bob White Tournament in Huntington Beach, was very intense. I did not place in anything- actually, no one from BLK placed. If Bao would have skipped whatever band event he had, and joined us, he definitely would have. Here's a list about the going ons of the Tournament:

• Bob White is an old guy with a hunch back
• I competed in forms, sparring, and team sparring
• There were three asian girls who were absolutely amazing in the kata division. Their forms were extremely intricate, they had strange hip movements and they hissed like snakes. Two of the three placed. They kicked butt!
• I slaughtered my form :( Sad, but true. I always get so nervous.... I messed up multiple times. When the division was over, it took all I had inside to keep from crying.
• Sam and I were on a team for sparring, along with another a cute kid named Zack. I felt a little bad for Zack, but he was a good sport about being placed on a team with two extremely nervous girls.
• Sam was kicked in the nose during her first match. It kept her from competing in individual sparring. We later found out that it was broken. 
• I did pretty well in team sparring. I lost, 6-7, due to some unfair points that were called against me. (Even Master Lawrence said so) I felt good about the match though. My confidence and performance are all thanks to Michael.
• There was a demo team from Idaho I believe. There demo was purely self-defense, and it looked mega painful. I would not want to meet a single one of those people in a dark ally way. Take that back, I wouldn't even want to meet them in a light ally way. Haha
• In individual sparring, I was put up against a third place world champion. I had no chance. I did score two point however. I was eliminated the first round.
• Michael Bartold was awesome in Sparring! He won his first three matches! He was doing fantastic until he got kicked in his already injured ribs. Even after that however, he should have won the next match. Anyone could tell you that. I swear the judges were biased against him. 

This was the first time I have ever competed (or even seen for that matter) an open tournament. It was a great learning experience. Now that I know what they are like and what to expect, I would like to compete again in the future. 

Once the tournament was over, I begged him to go to the beach. He agreed, so we went to see the ocean along with my grandparents, Blake, Sam and her dad. Grandma Decker had filmed my form, and was planning on sending it to my relatives, but I told her film me one more time on the beach and send them that one instead. That way, they wouldn't have to see all my many mistakes. For your entertainment, here are two videos that were taken on the beach, along with some photos from our trip to Cali. 

Nevermind. Vidoes not working. grrr.