I also decided to try kumite (sparring) at the tournament. I was REALLY nervous about fighting since I never had done it before but I’ve been going to sparring classes for a couple months so I at least felt better prepared. I was bracketed with my friend Amanda from my class, a brown belt and a purple belt. I got to fight against the brown belt and we fought first in our division. The match was really close and as time went on I was feeling more and more confident about my ability to fight. We went back and forth most the match and time expired before either of us reached eight points so we went into sudden victory overtime. A minute or so into overtime and she scored just a split second before I did and won the match. I ended up taking a bronze medal but I am not at all disappointed about it. In my eyes it was a gold. I accomplished exactly what I wanted to at the tournament and hope to try it again the next time I compete.

The day was really fun and I walked away feeling very accomplished. It is the best I’ve ever competed and I’ve decided to compete in a bigger tournament in December and possibly in the State Games of America this summer. I never would have guessed that I would have this much fun doing karate. I can’t wait to be a black belt and compete against my black belt friends and my instructor.  Oh, one more thing . . . I just want to congratulate all of my Community Karate Club friends who competed. I was especially proud of my friends who competed for the first time. Can’t wait to see how you do in your next tournament. Hope you enjoy the videos. Please leave me feedback on what you think. I love to hear what others think of what they see.

Video of Heian Shodan at the 11/15/08 Tournament

Video of my very first Heian Shodan competition on 6/21/08

Yesterday we learned most of our kihon for yellow belt and I feel like I have three arms, two left feet and no balance.  Tyler was having too much fun laughing at me trying to figure out the elbo strike and I got really dizzy trying to learn the spinning back kick.  Guess it’s going to take a lot of practice at home to get these down before a stripe test or the final belt test.  We were also disappointed to learn at yellow belt we don’t learn any new stick flow drills but this will give us some time to perfect the ones we already know.   I can’t wait to see what else is in store for us ahead. It’s way exciting so far.

Check out the video slide show below of our belt test to get our yellow belts. There were several black belts at our test including Mrs. Cupples’ (my instructor) instructor, Kyoshi Haynes. We were all plenty nervous having so many turn out for our test but I was really proud to show them what Mrs. Cupples has been able to teach us since Rob and I started in May. We all love learning from her and can’t wait till the day she is there to watch us receive our black belts (a few years off still but a goal none the less).

Belt Test 9/24/08 - Adults from Tabitha Carroll on Vimeo.

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The wind awoken from the sky and it blew as fast as a stallion racing for a gold.
Everything fell on the ground as the wind rushed and flowed.
The wind flowed from the sky to all over the world.
Everything was twisting and twirling on the dry, rock hard ground.

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By:  Tyler Carroll, Age 9  -  4th Grade

I have submitted some photos and would really appreciate if you would look at them and vote. I am soooo excited at the idea that I might get a photo or two or three published. Everyone who submits a photo is eligible for some great prizes, and a discount on the book. Also, everyone who submits at least one photo gets their photo on the DVD. Registration, voting, and submission are all free and if you are a Flickr member you can easily transfer your photos to them. Check out their website. Most the photos on there are beautiful. It’s hard to decide who goes and who stays. Help shape the Capture My Colorado book and help me get my photos published today.

On Friday night, June 27th at 7pm I participated in the Central Colorado Springs Relay for Life. It is a fun event that takes place for 12 hours. They say “Cancer never sleeps and for 12 hours, neither will we” so we walk from 7pm to 7am as a team in order to celebrate survivors and remember those lost to cancer. I ended up walking 22.5 miles for the night around the track at The Grace Center and raised $200 for Zach’s Team and for cancer awareness and support.

The weather was wonderful and as the opening ceremonies got underway we thought we might see lots of rain. Instead, we had a few sprinkles for about 10 minutes or so and lots of rainBOWS.  It was soooo cool.  Read   We watched weather move around us all night long but it didn’t rain where we were.  At night, the temperatures were pleasant and around 2 am or so only light jackets were needed. That is way different that some Relay events in the past where we needed several layers of clothing and frequent stops in the bathrooms to warm up.  Texas Roadhouse served us a great dinner and Dominos and Louie’s Pizza provided us with a late night pizza snack.  Along with the walking, there were movies, games, singing and even line dancing.  We even had a silent auction for some great gift cards and treats to help raise money for cancer.  Some campsites had things you could buy like glowsticks and flashing lights for donations to the cause, others had services like massages you could get for a small donation.  There was even a poker game this year with all the money going to The American Cancer Society (ACS).

Around 9:00 there was a Ceremony of Hope. The lights go down at The Grace Center and the track is lined with luminaria bags.  Each one has the name of someone battling or lost to cancer.  Inside each luminaria bag was a glow stick and as we walked, the names written on the bag are read.  It is a really moving ceremony and in the stands, luminaria bags spell out the word “HOPE”.  Each person named on the bags represent a person who has been profoundly affected by cancer.  This celebration gives us a chance to reflect on how much cancer affects our lives and how we need to find a “CURE” for the disease.

I can take donations for this event through the end of the month so if you would like to help me in my fund raising efforts click here to Donate

Thank you to everyone who supports me and my team in our efforts to raise money for cancer research and support.  Because of you, lives are being saved and changed.  Because of you, the hope for a cancer-free future goes on.

I was searching last night through some of my groups on Flickr and discovered that there were tools to use to find out if your photo was ever on Explore. When I checked these tools, I found out in November one of my favorite photos ended up there. I was so amazed and happy. It doesn’t seemed to have stayed there long but oh well, it was there just the same. According to Scout, it was listed as 111 on November 20, 2007.

Pretty cool. I’m hoping to find that more of my photos were there someday but for now . . . I’m happy with just one photo on there. Thank you to all my Flickr friends for your support and kind words about my photos.