Beppu Karate Tournament

4/12 Beppu. I went in my first Japanese karate tournament with not much success but it was good for the experience. I only went in the kata section but watched what would be my division in the sparing for future reference. I watched many bouts of different division and they all very competitive and tough. The men's open division I must admit was very brutal as they only wear groin protection and that's it. The guy pictured was the winner and as you can see there was a little blood spilt. It's normally just from knuckles as head punches aren't allowed, head kicks are but most of the time the kicks are blocked of deflected in some ways. Anyway enough of the blood and fighting. Karate is a really good sport! Really!!!