I’m proud of our competition team that represented Metamora Martial Arts at the 2025 Midwest Open yesterday.
This event was held at the spacious St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Decatur, Illinois.
Tournament Results
- Levi placed 4th in forms with Fukyu Gata Ni in the boys 9-10 division. This is Levi’s second tournament after last competing in the Midwest Cup.
- Sullivan took 3rd in forms with Fukyu Gata Ichi in the boys 11-12 division. This was Sullivan’s first competition.
- Sensei Adam took 1st place in forms with Gojushiho in the black belt men’s age 30-39 division. I was the only competitor in this division, so I also competed for the grand championship in black belt forms. This is the first time I’ve competed since March 2022, so it was a win for me just to get back in it.
Other Thoughts
- Knowing when it’s the right fit. Over the summer, a student came to our class who was looking to switch instructors. They chose another school. Honestly, I was a little bummed because the student seems excited to train and I thought she would be a good fit for our class. Her mom came up and talked to me yesterday. We had a great conversation about where the student wound up. I wound up judging her sparring match yesterday, and I realized that this student and her mom made the right call. The school she now attends is led by people I’m friends with, and I think she’s ultimately a better fit there. I let her mom know that. I can’t wait to see how she progresses in the future.
- Everybody has the right to an opinion. Judging forms is subjective, unlike sparring, which is supposed to be more objective. When I look at forms, I try to judge the student by the quality of their martial art at their rank, not by how well they perform their form (since I often don’t know their form). I had fellow instructors and longtime friends come up to me after a form competition and say they appreciated how I judged a forms division with professionalism. We had a fantastic conversation about how to judge and compete. The consensus was that judges should judge black belts more harshly than green belts, for example. We should be looking for things like rooted stances without feet coming up, and hands coming to a chamber position and not being limp noodles. These instructors happened to agree with me, but other judges felt differently. I say that not to toot my own horn, but to say that we all have a right to our opinions. And on this day, my opinion differed from the other judges, and that’s okay.
- Black belts should act their age and their rank. In between my forms divisions, I walked over to check out the breaking ring. I noticed an adult black belt who couldn’t break her boards. When she was done, she was visibly upset, said some expletives out loud, and angrily threw her boards in the trash. She even wound up having a pushing match with her holder over the ordeal. It was embarrassing. As black belts, we have an opportunity to show grace even when things don’t go our way. I don’t know if she had any students with her, but I hope they don’t follow her example. In fact, all of the kids I watched showed nothing but respect toward one another with high-fives, fist bumps, hugs, and saying “congrats!” It was only a black belt adult woman who lost her temper. She should be better than that, and I hope she reconsiders her attitude the next time she competes.
Overall, our students had a great time competing and learning.
We’re looking forward to the next one!
