Zander won bronze medal in kumite. Congratulations!!! Here is his experience from the event.
My overall experience at Nationals
The training was very hard but worth it. I liked training with the Senpai's and my favorite was Senpai Trayson. My least favorite part of training was running but after competing in kumite, I understand why we had to.
I was excited going there but the plane was boring. Once I got to Cincinnati, I was so excited and also excited to get to the hotel and sleep. When we got to the Duke Energy Center, it was so huge. On the day of the tournament, I was shocked that there were so many kids but nervous and excited. I heard them call for my age group and I was worried. I didn't get a medal for my kata and was disappointed in myself. I was scared that I wasn't going to get a medal for kumite and go home without getting any medals. I tried to wait patiently on the side and was happy when Zarian won gold, Zane won bronze, and Zena won gold.
During my kumite, I knew I made bronze and I was so happy but still disappointed that I couldn't get gold or silver. My mom was there to hold me and say she was so happy and proud of me. I didn't want to disappoint my mom and dad but they were proud that I won bronze. That day was super long for us and I was so tired and couldn't wait to get back to the hotel.
We went back to watch the black belts compete and that was so awesome. I learned a lot and it was so cool to meet Nick and Gunnar. We got to see them fight and they were so awesome. It was a fun but long trip. We also got to visit King's Island which was fun and ate at Sonic afterwards. We got to visit Cincinnati zoo where we all got to feed a giraffe and my favorite was seeing the vampire bat. Then later we saw a baseball game. I sat next to my dad and he told me all about the game. It was fun until the rain came. We went home the next day and that was so long. I went to Houston with my dad while my mom, Zena, Zane, and the rest of my family went to Chicago. It was so cool to meet them in Los Angeles then we finally came home. I slept for most of the flight home. Nationals was fun.
