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.