2011 Qualifier for Extreme Forms

Another great tournament weekend

Ben is transitioning well into the black belt division. I was so proud to see him perform the new kata he choreographed and has practised so hard at.

Pennsylvania Tournament

Lightning Strikes!

8' Grand Champion Trophy

Proud Grandma with Ben and his Grand Champion 8' Trophy from this weekends karate tournament.

State Champion

Final tournament of the MSKC and Ben has successfully defended his title as Overall Underbelt State Champion. He was first in his division in forms and sparring and second in weapons for the year. At this last tournament he brought home a first in forms and second in weapons and sparring (DQ'd). Another banner year!

Tournament Circuit

Ben has been in fine form at his recent karate tournaments. He has brought home 6 first place trophies from the last two tournaments he has entered.
He likes to play with the videos we take by putting them to music and here is a sample from this weekend
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WR1Z7Skx_U&feature=channel_page

Karate Tournament

Today Ben won 1st in forms and 1st in sparring. Love the belts. I am glad each tournament has different trophies or belts or you might think I just keep taking the same pictures. Ben has won well over 100 trophies, belts and plaques since he started competing less than 2 years ago. Yay Ben!

Karate Tournament Results

This weekend Ben adds three more trophies to his collection. First place forms, 2nd place weapons and 2nd place sparring and 2nd place in Grand Champions (that elusive 6' trophy!). He should be extremely proud of himself for another fine performance. He was up against alot of great competitors.

Way down in Kokomo

This weekend's karate tournament took us to Kokomo, Indiana and as the song goes we got there fast and took it slow. Although it was one of the smallest tournaments Ben has competed at, his division was quite large as they grouped the brown and black belts together in his age group. This was a great experience for Ben as he gets closer towards the goal of achieving black belt status. He still placed at the top with a second in forms, 5th in weapons and 4th in sparring. Unfortunately we didn't get it on video. The rules were a bit different than Ben is accustomed to. He had to wear a face mask (which he never has done) and it was the kind that looks like a baseball umps mask...he couldn't see out of it. As well, the rules were extremely rigid with light or no contact. Ben is extremely aggressive in the ring and used to full contact. So, although it doesn't fly in Kokomo, he wowed everyone there with an amazing tornado kick to his opponent (would have gotten him 2 points on any other day) but got him DQ'd. He will always be the #1 karate kid in my eyes!

Another weekend, Another tournament

This weekend's tournament was a 2-day event. After a long drive Friday, Ben competed in the Weapons division and won 1st place. When we got back to the hotel we took in the feature cage match which was rather intense. Today Ben competed in forms and won another 1st place, sparring in his division gave him another 1st, and then he bumped up to the 15-17 year old division to find himself in 1st place again. Competing for grandchampions he was close but not to be this time. The competitors were all so amazing and the tournament ran quickly and smoothly. Way to go my karate kid!

Day of Champions Tournament

Great day for Ben. Here is one of his sparring matches. Today Ben came home with a 1st place sparring, 2nd place forms, and 4th place weapons.

Ben's Tournament Weekend

Here's Ben (14-brown belt)in red/white, sparring a 17 year old black belt. He took a lot of penalties, missed out on a lot of points but gave the kid a run for his money.

Overall, competing against black belts this weekend, Ben ended up with 3rd place in weapons and 5th in sparring. He held his own against the big boys.

Another Tournament under his belt.

Ben competed in another karate tournament after having a couple weeks off. He came back stronger than ever. He brought home four more trophies to add to his collection. He won 1st in Individual Forms, 1st in Team forms, and 1st in Sparring as well as 3rd in Weapons.

There was a bit of a scramble at the beginning, he was being called to 2 rings at the same time, so he was running back and forth literally between Team Forms and Weapons in separate rings. He signed in at each ring, ran back to Weapons and performed, ran back to Team Forms and performed, ran back to Weapons for scoring, ran back to Team Forms for scoring, ran back to Weapons to place and then back again to Team Forms to place all within a few minutes. It was crazy insane pressure but he did amazing. The day sure went by quickly.

Another Great Karate Tournament

Ben made us proud again with his performance at today's karate tournament. He placed 1st in Weapons, 1st in Forms and 2nd in sparring. Here is his sparring match against the winner. Ben is in the black and white uniform. The score was 4-2 .

What a great day Ben!!!

Karate Kid

Here is a video taken at this weekend's Karate tournament of one of Ben's sparring events. After receiving several illegal shots below the belt from his competitor, Ben went beast on him. Ben has the black and white uniform.

Karate Kid

Well, the start of a New Year means the beginning of Karate Circuit season for my son. Looking forward to seeing him challenge himself and reach his goals.