Taking a hit!

This weekend we had our Tiger Challenge competition, a safe and friendly environment where you are able to stretch your comfort zones and face your fears.  I am still riding the emotional roller coaster with this years event.

Somehow I must have made the computer randomizer mad at me as I drew both gold medal winning opponents for point and continuous sparring.  Want to know the difference between point and continuous?  Point can be over very quickly but 1 minute of continuous is a LONG time in the ring.

This was the first year that I did continuous sparring and this is the event that continues to cause my emotions to swing.  Funny thing is that the last few months I’ve been thinking of talking with Sifu Brinker about learning to take a hit.  I’ve only had a few hits in sparring that were decent but didn’t really ring my bell.  That all changed on Saturday.  During the match, I clearly remember thinking “you need to use technique” as I was flailing about; receiving two good head shots; I almost took a knee twice when I got the wind knocked out of me but then I thought “it’s only 1 minute, you can hang on” ; and once when I knew I lost total control and needed to reset. Who knew a minute could last so long but it feels like forever when you are getting the stuffing kicked out of you, literally.  I left the ring with emotions swirling, glad I made it out but also wanting to cry because I hurt but the adrenaline wasn’t able to let my brain know where.

Afterwards, I had a lot of support and tips on how to improve which I am grateful for but as I sit here typing I know I have lost confidence and that bothers me more than I can express as I have always loved sparring. My ribs hurt so much I am not able to sneeze, my quad is so tight that I’m not able to bend my leg completely, and my abdomen is sore (but at least there are bruises o show for that AND my face does not hurt at all 😂).  I know the bruises will fade, the muscles will heal, and life will go on but if this wasn’t an example of being able to take a hit, then I wonder if this is really for me and that makes me the saddest of all. The competition is about creating calluses but this one felt like it created a blister (see my last blog if this does not make sense) so I need to figure out what to do next.

See you on the mats!