Kejurnas Karate Solo Cup VII

Alright, now I will share my experience joining Solo Cup VII which is a national Karate competition.

   I’ve ever had Karate class when I was at the elementary school, I held green belt at that time. And 2 months ago I restarted my Karate routine by joining UKM INKAI UNS, but I decided to begin from the yellow belt since it’s been years I didn’t practice karate. The first week I joined UKM Karate at the campus, I practice some ‘katas’. And then the second week, Senpai asked the students who wanted to join Solo Cup VII. Hearing what he said, I raised my hand enthusiastically.

   Let me cut this short, and so the following weeks the Karate training was focused for the Solo Cup VII competition. I practiced 5 days a week along with Senpai and other fellow students (in UKM INKAI UNS, we call our trainer ‘Senpai’ which means brother, there’s only one man who deserved to be called ‘Sensei’, he is Mr… I don’t remember his name hehehe). I actually felt a bit discouraged because when the training came to the fight simulation session, I saw that my friends had far better skill and techniques than I did. But then, I threw that mind away. Senpai always encouraged us, “for those who had never joined competition, now is your chance to get more experience. Don’t mind about your techniques, spirit comes first and techniques later. That’s Bushido”, that was one of his speech that I still remember.

    So after 3 months of intensive training, the D-Day had finally come. My friends from UKM INKAI UNS and I went to Manahan Sport Center to enroll the competition. After all the bureaucracy was done, we went home to prepare for the competition the next day.

    The competition itself was held for 3 days, from 15-17 April. The competition was opened ceremonially on April 15^th in the afternoon. And wow, I was amazed by the atmosphere. Everyone was very enthusiast. There were nearly 1,000 Karatekas from all ages, according to my disposal. And I was among them, standing inside the sport center joining the ceremonial opening. “Dung… Dung… Dung”, the sound from the Gong started the competition officially. The sound “Oss” from the 1,000 Karatekas almost made me shiver, it was like surrounded by a herd of roaring lions.

    And the Solo Cup VII competition began. Unfortunately I couldn’t watch my friends competing in Kata class on the first day of the competition.

Okay, cut this short again. I think I’ll write this as dramatic as possible

I got my turn to fight in Kumite match on Sunday, April 17^th

I was very nervous when my name was called by the announcer. I walked to the Tatami as I tightened my karate belt. I remember my enemy’s name was Edwin Gustafo, sounds like from Latin American name, doesn’t it? And damn, he looked like the fussion of Sylvester Stallone and Dolph Lundgren, cold face and pretty sturdy body for someone joining the -55kg Kumite class.

    The judge called both of us into the middle and told us to bow to each other. Then he stepped back, my heart beat slower. My nipples hardened. I felt that a fight was about to happen (Of course it was about to happen, I was in the middle of a karate competition right? :v). Okay that one is not funny.

    Then the judge shouted “Hajime”, signal that the match was started. Alright, I stepped forward, I tried to corner my enemy. And.. got him, he was open.

*Landing my punch*

*Duagg…*

    Damn he was fast, his punch landed on my stomach. Soon I knew that he was more experienced. He stole the first point.  Alright no problem, that time was my first experience though. Continue…

   I tried to buy sometime and learn my enemy’s movement. Then I could dodge and avoid some of his punches. I stroke back.

*Bhamm*

    My kisame  landed on his face. “Yamai!!”, the judge shouthed .Okay 1-1, we got same point. Continue again…

    I provoked him to strike first, I pretended wanting to strike him. And I did it, my kick land hardly on his back. I got 2 points. I was leading, the score is 3-1. “Yamai”, back to our positions. Continue again…

    I stroke him, but he dodged my every punch. My defense got loosen a bit and then..

*Whamm*

    A kick landed on my right cheek. Damn that was a kick to the head, my opponent stole 3 point. He was getting serious. It was 3-4, my opponent leading.

    I tried to buy time. But eventually I failed on the last 10 seconds, I couldn’t avoid my opponent’s kick. He got 2 more points. The final score was 3-6. I lost the match.

    Never mind, for I had no experience in Karate competition before. At the end of the match we shook hands and have a little chat together. We forgot what just happened in the match, my opponent was really friendly.

    I’m glad and proud of myself to ever join such competition. I learn what sportivity is from Karate. Now I train myself to join the next Solo Cup competition in 2018.

Children's Gadget Usage Control Needed

The phenomena of children being well-versed in using gadgets has been considered   these days. We all live in electronic – era and we all aware of that. It is no more surprising if you see a 5 years-old boy watching video from Youtube from his own tablet.

Now we are all faced with the fact that children can’t be separated from gadget. You may say that a lot of entertainment from gadget gives happiness and joy to children. But is that really true? If we look back to when we were little, we had far happier childhood times without the existence of electronic gadgets. Playing outside with our friends till sunset, catching fireflies, swimming in the river, etc. Those kinds of activities are rare to find in today’s children.

Some parents who don’t know how to take care of their children’s fussiness, will usually let them play with gadgets to calm their children down. Indeed gadgets will overcome the situation, but can also give both the parents and children bigger problem. For the parents, they will not learn how to handle their children when they are fussy and somehow their children will not get the affections needed from their parents. In other words, the role of parents will be replaced by the gadgets.

There is a research stating that excessive gadget usage in children will increase the obesity risk. Children who are allowed to play with their gadget in their bedroom are likely to get 30% higher risk of suffering obesity, because gadget will make them lazy to move and do activities. We all know that obesity leads to stroke and heart attack.

Furthermore, gadget addiction will make them difficult to socialize with their surroundings. Children who have been addicted to gadgets have the tendency to become introvert. They don’t care about anything but their gadgets.

It is why, regarding to these bad effects of the uncontrolled gadget usage in children, I hope parents can pay close attention to their children. Affection from the parent is the thing that children need in their growth. It is alright to teach the children how to use gadget, but don’t let gadgets replace the role as parents to them. 

Koordinator Tingkat : Enak dan Eneknya

Koordinator Tingkat (n)

Sebuah gelar prestisius yang diberikan kepada mahasiswa UNS yang menjadi orang kepercayaan / pemimpin mahasiswa satu angkatan di program studinya.

Well, kalo di SMA kita menyebutnya dengan ketua kelas. Syaratnya jadi korti cukup gampang, kalian aktif - aktiflah chatting di grup Line maupun Whatsapp fakultas / prodi jauh hari sebelum masa ospek tiba. Setidaknya itu yang aku lakukan dulu, karena terlalu lama nganggur di rumah setelah pengumuman UN & SNMPTN, jadi kerjaanku ya banyak chatting. Niatnya sih mau cari temen-temen yang satu prodi biar kita udah akrab jauh sebelum masuk kuliah dan cari kenalan baru sebanyak-banyaknya (maklum mau jadi mahasiswa, temen harus dibanyakin :v).

Nah kali ini aku mau sharing sedikit gimana sih rasanya jadi korti itu, according to my point of view.

ENAKNYA :

1. ADA KEBANGGAAN TERSENDIRI. At least that was what I felt when 44 out of 56 students appointed me to be their coordinator. For me whom always being underestimated and have never been trusted to hold such position even from, it was something amazing. I suddenly remembered what my headmaster said at the graduation ceremony, that your life will change a lot once you enter the college. It's like "Wow, damn, so what he said is true. From now on, you should call me Pak Korti."
2. JADI ORANG PERTAMA YANG DIKENAL ANGKATAN SENIOR. You will hear many seniors say hi and behave nicely to you (although it turned out that all the seniors in my major are nice). But it will make you feel that you are very respected, at least for few days.
3. JADI ORANG PERTAMA YANG DIKENAL DAN PUNYA KONTAK PARA DOSEN. Once the normal day begin after the Students' Orientation Time is over, usually the lecturers will ask the same question in the first meeting of the class, 'Who is the coordinator?'. And then the lecturers will remember your name for eternal, because you know that lecturers don't always remember the names of their students. You will also be the first to keep in touch with the lecturers. Again it's about self pride, for being the first.
4. AKSES UNTUK DAPET MATERI PELAJARAN DARI KAKAK SENIOR LEBIH GAMPANG. Being a coordinator means that you will automatically become more 'intimate' with the seniors. Although you don't socialize often with them or even just to have chit-chat, you will always have that 'intimate' with the seniors. I don't know is it only in English Literature major which happens that the seniors are very nice to juniors or it also happens in the other majors. And, intimate means that you can borrow or ask for the learning materials such as books and journals easier from them. For 'perantau' like me, it is very helpful. If you can borrow, why buy? Isn't it right? Hehehehe.
5. (MUNGKIN) NILAI-NILAIMU AKAN SEDIKIT TERDONGKRAK. Well it is quite impossible actually, because lecturers are demanded to always be objective to their students, it is professionalism. But lecturers are also humans, aren't they? Hehehehe kidding ^_^V 

ENEKNYA :

1. KADANG SUKA DIMANFAATIN TEMEN. For example when my friend wants to know information about the academic calendar, then he will ask me to find the information. Well okay, I'm always ready to help. But as the time goes, some of my friends start asking my help for unimportant things. For example, one day our class had a mid-test. One of my friend and I happened to finish the test before the given-time was over. Then she asked me to ask the lecturer whether we could leave early or not. That was a bit annoying, because when I asked her back "why don't you ask it yourself?". She answered, "because you are the coordinator, aren't you?".
2. PUSING CARI GANTI RUANG KULIAH & JAM KULIAH KALO DOSEN NGGAK BISA HADIR. Usually, this happens in the last month of the semester. Because sometimes the lectutrers have some 'personal-business' that make them can't attend the class. Then they will ask you to find the replacement time for the empty class . College is very different from highschool you know. SO DON'T EVER FEEL HAPPY WHEN YOUR LECTURER CAN'T ATTEND THE CLASS.