So it's been a while since I last posted. A lot has been going on in my life, to say the least. That and sometimes I get lazy/lose motivation.

I went to the tourament a few Sundays ago, and it was rad. I took home gold in points, and silver in continuous. That may sound great, but they feel like shallow victories. You see, in points, I fought the same woman I fought in the last tournament. Only she hadn't graded, still holding a yellow belt. As the only other competitor in my field, it felt a bit unfair to her. In continuous, my only other opponent in that catergory was a 2nd dan black belt, who was rumoured to be a K1 European champion or some such. Of course I was going to lose to her.

The thing about me is that I like to feel I've really deserved my wins, not to be handed them by default because there's only two of you in a catergory. I was given a shout out after my points battle because I'd 'improved so much', according to the refs, but my opponent still managed to get a head shot in. A head shot is a kick to the head, scoring the most points you can in a single hit, 3. I hadn't even seen it coming. Proved how low my guard was. That's irritating all by itself, since I was emulating a more WTF guard, and it didn't work much, haha.

In the continuous battle I fought two 2min rounds back to back. I lost both (against the same person). I'm not wholly self-degarding myself on this one, because her level was so much higher than mine. But I did make it hard for her. One of my team mates kept yelling "get your guard up!", and when I wouldn't, he'd yell louder and get angry, haha. I managed to get inside her legs, which she relied upon, and land a few good punches.

What I learned through this tournament is that stamina is pretty key. I managed to last both my rounds without dying, but noticed a fair few others there had problems. I work on stamina anyway, but I'd still like to get it up more. I'd like to be able to fight 5 mins without having problems.

Speed is also essential. I've dropped a few pounds since the tournament, and am aiming to drop more, since this is the quickest and best way to get faster. Before, I would drop fat, but gain muscle, making for a slimmer, but heavier body. I am trying to change this.

Lastly, I've realised I need to aim for more headshots. My fighting style often sees me pressuring opponents and getting in close to them, but then I don't do too much other than punching. It leaves their guard lower, since they predict I'll go for body kicks (only gaining 2 points), so I need to be less predictable and more risky. I've been trying a few, but I think I need to work on stretching a bit, too. This will come in time, I guess. We'll have to see.