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!