The thrill of competing

A few uncertainties yesterday afternoon as I gathered my clothes and sparring gear for the tournament. Would I be reffing? Did I need my ref uniform--black pants, white shirt, red tie? What should I eat? I generally follow a predictable diet on tournament days, eggbeaters, oatnut bread, sandwich, orange and macaroni and cheese. What time should I leave so as to allow enough time to center myself? I decided to leave 70 minutes before the tourney to allow time to stop and pick up some AAA batteries for my digital camera. And so I loaded myself and the equipment in the car and headed off. I was amused to see a sign in front of a local church "Drive thru ashes." I chuckled but was glad for the reminder that Ash Wednesday is tomorrow. I stopped for the batteries at a local CVS, happy to find them right away across from the checkout. I was disturbed by an altercation between two customers--one quite upset because he felt the other had cut in front of him. The whole thing was totally unnecessary because the one said she stepped out of line to get some bottled water. Why not stay in line and tell the cashier that she was purchasing water and picking it up after? Would have been too easy! Once at the dojang, I checked in and at 6 pm the event started. The first was the obstacle course. Little artists between the ages of 3 and 10 hopped over a couple pads, ran in and out of cones, kicked across banana pads and dove under a limbo pole before making a hammer fist to break a board and then running back. The fastest won the 1st place and so on down the line for each heat. Then the participants did poomse forms, two at a time. Three judges raised their arms toward the direction of the winner. My name was called along with a 17 year old 2nd degree in karate. I did my personal best, but lost to his very complicated, long form. After open hand forms, the sparring competition began. I kicked and punched as best as I could, but not well enough to win first. And so it went. As I drove to the tournament, I told myself that if I performed well, did not forget my form or make mistakes, I would be happy, that it really didn't matter if I took home a 1st place trophy. And I was successful. I did perform the techniques well and I showed good sportsmanship. As I look at the trophies I took home last night, I think back to my pre competition days. I yearned to compete and then as now, I thought, "I will do my personal at best. That would be the cake. And if I win a medal or trophy, that is the frosting on the cake." And little did I expect that I would enjoy the thrill of competing.