Karate school tournament helps students test their skills
Kidsday reporter Uma Khurrum with some of her grappling awards. Credit: Silvia Khurrum
Twice a year my karate school does a tournament to improve your skills. I was in the Blue Belt Division. The first thing you do when you get there is you put on all your gear. Then you should head to your ring. You will be fighting in that ring.
Then you just sit and wait until someone calls you to wear a green or red headpiece. You wear these so the judges know who to give the point to. You get points by getting a position, which is when you are on top of someone or on the side of them and putting pressure on them.
When you are waiting to be called by the judges it is so suspenseful — it's a nervous situation and it is scary. When I got on the mat I was confident but one second later I had doubts in my mind. When the judges said “Fight,” I was so nervous, but I heard my family cheering for me. At the end of the day I felt confident and I won third place, and I was confident in myself.
Javan Howard’s writers workshop students, Usdan Summer Camp for the Arts, Wheatley Heights
