A Little Old Man Kicked My Butt at a Tournament
A little old man kicked my butt at a tournament in Keokuk, Iowa in 2000, and it is one of my favorite memories from my years competing in martial arts tournaments.
It was a hot, August day in a gymnasium that was not air-conditioned. I had been out-pointed by a black belt from Georgia in a match for first place, so I was next paired with a nice old guy to fight for the third place trophy.
My opponent was short, feeble, very slow, left himself open, had slow reaction time, and could hardly get a kick above his own waist. He wore hearing aids in both ears.
I had seen him perform at the tournament at least two other times, but he never went home with a trophy. He didn't even come close. It was a fluke that we were put in the ring to fight for some hardware.
The center ref told us to bow to each other, then bow to him. He signaled us to begin.
In that moment, I felt a connection to my aging opponent. In other tournaments, I had encouraged him to stay with it, even though he competed a...
Congratulations to Student Kim Kruse
Kim Kruse showed a bit of spunk this weekend when she was the only one of our little core group to travel South to Keokuk, Iowa, for a great annual tournament that attracts martial artists from several states -- Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Georgia, and more. It's always a great tournament with a lot of talent, and it's hosted by my friend Frank Pennington.
Kim has a blue sash in our system, and she won first place in empty-hand forms with a Hsing-I form called "Five Element Mountain Storm." She also won first place in weapons with a tai chi form. She competed against karate and TKD folks. She also won 3rd place in sparring.
Kim started in 2006 when Nancy and I had our school in Bettendorf. We closed it in 2007 to move to Tampa but Kim and a few other students kept practicing and improving. She's living proof that if you have a passion for these arts and keep advancing forward, step by step, you can begin developing a reputation for your skill.
Congratulations, Kim. Hopefully, I'll be...
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Karate Tournament
Back in the late Nineties and the first couple of years of this century, I competed in several Gen-Ki tournaments in Chicago. They were big affairs, with hundreds of competitors. It was fun to go up against mainly karate people and win first place. My students and I brought home quite a few 6-foot trophies.
At that time, there were several really great tournaments in Chicago. One was a huge open tournament with internal arts divisions that attracted Hsing-I, Tai Chi, and Bagua competitors.
Gen-Ki was mostly devoted to karate but at the time, I was building a winning track record was felt that I needed to compete and win. One of the great things about Chicago tournaments is the contact that is required in sparring. In brown and black belt competition, you can't score a point unless you hit or kick your opponent. It isn't a game of "tag," like critics call tournament sparring. It gets rough and it's fun.
For the second time this year, I had a completely different reaction when I wen...
A Good Day at an Illinois Martial Arts Tournament
Four students and I attended a tournament in Moline, Illinois, yesterday, hosted by my friend John Morrow. I hadn't competed in over a year-and-a-half, and after two heart surgeries this summer, decided to just enter for forms and weapons and wait a little longer, maybe next spring, to enter sparring competition. Photo at left shows me, Chris Miller (standing), his daughter Roewyn, and Colin Frye. Kneeling are Kim Schaber and Kim Miller.
We had a good day. Chris Miller won first place in the brown belt empty-hand forms competition, second in sparring (he was a much better fighter but didn't get the calls), and third place in weapons. He ran a bagua form in empty-hand forms and ran the Chen straight sword in weapons.
Kim Miller won 1st place in women's sparring (under black belt) and 2nd place in brown belt forms. Kim ran the Chen 38 form.
Kim Schaber won 1st place in empty-hand forms and 1st place in weapons. She performed Hsing-I in both competitions.
Colin Frye won 1st place i...
Students Win at Day of the Champions Tournament
Three of my students went to the Day of the Champions tournament near Chicago on Sunday and represented us very well in the internal arts and sparring divisions. The photo at left shows, from left to right, Kim Schaber, Kim Miller and Chris Miller.
Kim Schaber in the novice division placed 3rd in weapons, 2nd in sparring, 1st in Tai Chi, and 1st in the Interal Arts.
Kim Miller in the intermediate division placed 2nd in Tai Chi and 2nd in the Internal Arts. In the advanced divsion she placed 1st in sparring.
Chris Miller in the intermediate division placed 2nd in weapons, 1st in Tai Chi and 1st in Internal Arts. He also brought home the Grand Championship for adult under black belts.
Read more about it on their website. Chris and Kim Miller are leading the instruction in the Quad Cities since I fled to a warmer climate last June.
Congratulations, guys. I'm proud of your hard work!
--by Ken Gullette
Looking Deeper into Martial Arts Forms and Katas
I was at a tournament a few years ago and some karate black belts were competing in my empty-hand forms division. I'm always interested in forms from other styles so I watch them carefully. Three black belts from one karate school did the same form and it ended when them bringing their right foot to their left and sort of stomping it two or three times as it pulled in.
After the judging, I went up to the three, who were standing together, and told them I liked their form but wondered what the fighting application was of the little foot taps at the end.
They looked at each other, then at me, shrugged their shoulders and said they didn't know.
I know a high-level black belt in another karate style who does a powerful staff form. He wins first place in a lot of tournaments. I asked him one day if he ever practiced the fighting applications and he said he had never actually done that with the staff -- he only knew the form.
I was judging at a tournament and a young guy with an Asian ba...
Finding the Pace and the Heart of a Form
How to Make a Kung-Fu Teacher Proud
I'm blown away by what I learned tonight. At tournaments in 2007, five of my students walked away with a total of more than 40 trophies and medals. They are Kim Miller, Steve Rogers, Kim Schaber, Jon Stratton, Chris Miller, and Jay Stratton. They've carried on, through the leadership of Chris and Kim Miller after I moved away. My only black sash student, Rich Coulter, has started working out with them again (I think Kim and Chris will be reaching that point in the next year or so). We've also been trading videos through YouTube -- I've watched their performances and offered coaching tips to keep them moving forward. But they've worked hard on their own, each of them dedicated to kung fu and to the internal arts that we study.
The greatest thing about these guys -- they're each outstanding human beings; kind, considerate, helpful, fun, and they welcome anyone who seriously wants to learn. They're the kind of people that always made our school, as small as it was, a fun place to learn. ...
Congratulations to Our Tournament Winners
I've been teaching for nearly 10 years, and one of the most enjoyable parts of that experience has been seeing my students compete successfully in regional tournaments. A week ago, my friend John Morrow hosted a tournament at his school in Moline, Illinois.
Four students competed and walked away with 8 trophies between them. They're pictured here--from left to right--Chris Miller, Kim Miller, me (I didn't compete due to a lack of black belt competitors), Kim Kruse, and Rakeem Johnson. Kim Miller is 6 months pregnant and placed with the Chen 19 form, an appropriate selection since the tournament was held on World Tai Chi Day. I'm very proud of these guys.
--by Ken Gullette
Winning with Tai Chi in an Open Tournament
In the last couple of years, I've enjoyed performing Chen tai chi forms in open martial arts tournaments. I'm often the only kung fu person in the black belt division, and I get a charge out of doing something so completely different than the karate and TKD forms done by other black belts. I've done the Chen 38 form several times, putting a little more fajing into the movements to show the martial side.
Yesterday, I won first place at a tournament in Illinois with a shortened version of Xinjia Yilu, the form I'm studying now. It's so much fun to compete with these forms, which blend the smooth, relaxed strength with sudden bursts of power, while the forms run by other black belts are so "tense" throughout every movement.
I have a Google search running every day on the keywords "tai chi," and almost every article I receive from around the world talks about how tai chi is so good for senior citizens and for relaxation. Very rarely does the article mention that it's a martial art, and w...
Author - Instructor
Ken Gullette
I have practiced martial arts since 1973 and began studying the internal arts in 1987. My goal is to cut years off your development time by coaching you in the real skills for high-quality Tai Chi, Xingyi, Bagua. To see more about my bio, click the "About Ken" link on the menu at the top of this page.
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