2nd annual RBKI Championship

So, I had another karate tournament yesterday, this one being at my church, where I take karate. (We have a karate ministry at church. It might sound really strange to have a karate 'ministry'. We are required to memorize scripture for each belt, and we associate each belt with one of the Fruits of the Spirit, found in Gal 5:22-23. "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control; against such things there is no law." We use are physical skills as an outreach to demonstrate what God has done in us. And if you're thinking we're a bunch of Bible-thumping pansy's who think we take karate, you're sadly mistaken. We have one of the most comprehensive systems around. ATA Tae Kwon Doe, unless I'm mistaken, learn nine forms by they time they're black belt. We learn twenty-two. Not to mention we have Robert Blackstone as an instructor. That name probably doesn't mean a whole lot to you, but he's one of the best around, if not the best.) We had some of the most intense competition that I've ever seen. A lot more than the last tournament I competed in. I brought home two 2nd place medals, in forms and weapons, and one 3rd place in sparring. Every division was decided with about 6 tenths of a point, from 1st place to 5th in some divisions. I was beaten for first both times by 2 tenths of a point. That's how good we all were. And though I toke 3rd out of three in sparring, that was the most fun I've had in sparring. Talk about hard-core fighting. We had one tie in the younger divisions (who are surprisingly good, I'm glad they weren't in my division), and both were extremely awesome. Overall we had an incredibly good time, and I believe God was glorified through our sportsmanship and friendship.