cool presentation stances

yo. i compete and usually do my presantation in a traditional horse stance, but i was wondering if there was anything that was both TRADITIONAL and COOL and APPROPRIATE for a presantation.

thanks!

The horse stance traditional to the style you study is the best. A low wide stance during your presentation is the most impressive. A "cool" stance isn't as important as presenting a strong base to the judges.

I judge at tournaments and can't abide the elaborate "presentation" that competitors give before performing a kata.

I don't care what your name is, what school you train at, the name of your master or his master, how long you have been traing, translations of your kata, and the last thing I want to see is you in a horse stance while you're talking to me.

I require you to walk into the area, state the kata you are going to do clearly so I can hear it, do it, and walk off.

JohnL

if not a horse stance then what?

I'm with you John, A basic intro is all you need. I do see the purpose of Identifying the basics of who you are, and where you study and all that, but I can do it in one sentence. "I study the art of American Kenpo Karate under Sifu Al Myrtle at the Northwest Martial Arts studio in Anderson CA." No more than that other than my name. Keep it simple and get your form done, It doesn't impress me if you tell me that your sensei/sifu is 4 times removed from the original grandmaster of your system.

Hi bushinoki

I'm afraid even that's going too far for me.

I always wonder why people feel th need. For example;

"I study the art"

If you didn't study an art you wouldn't be standing in front of me.

"American Kenpo Karate"

I don't care what style you do. I'm there to judge you, not your style.

"under Sifu Al Myrtle"

I don't care who teaches you. Are you trying to impress me with your instructors reputation.

"at the Northwest Martial Arts studio"

It could be the micky mouse college of MA for al I care.

"in Anderson CA."

I couldn't give a monkeys where you come from.

I know I'm hard, but hey.

As for Xantos, Standing in a horse stance at the begining of your kata isn't traditional.

Feet shoulder width apart, fists held loosely in front are fine. And one more thing, don't yell anything at me either, my hearings just fine.

JohnL

This is the affect Open Tournaments have on competitors: style over substance. JohnL is COMPLETELY RIGHT. The traditional tournaments reject frill whether it's in the Gi (translation: "costume"), opening monologue or your 2-bit made-up kata complete w/ splits.

If all you want is whats "COOL", do a back flip, stomp your feet, spin around and end w/ a vein-popping, scary-faced loudly-yelled history of your life...SIR!!!

Just grow up.

> (I feel better now)

[This message has been edited by hedkikr (edited 04-16-2005).]

[This message has been edited by hedkikr (edited 04-16-2005).]

We don't completely disagree John, I just prefer going with the basics. I have had to sit through a few people giving these longa** intros about the whole history of the studio they belong to, where their art came from, blah blah blah. My favorite was the girl that introduced her entire kata in japanese. Not a good idea in front of a kenpo judge and an wing chun judge. As hedkikr mentioned, these are open tournaments, so something other than just the kata I'm doing is necessary, so the judges have some idea of what to expect out of the kata. And yelling at the top of your lungs won't always net extra points either, but making sure you project your voice so the judges can hear you over everything else is good.

Again, it doesn't matter what intro you do before your kata, if your kata isn't up to par, it won't score well. Period. I still say keep it simple. Nothing more than the basics, and that can be done in one sentence.