...Then He Shouted "Ippon"

The first test of my newly learned orange belt techniques in Judo presented itself....a Judo ranking tournament! Down in the town of Bellinzona located in the italian part of Switzerland, hundreds of Judokas (people who do Judo), trainers and supporting friends gathered in an overcrowded gymnasium to find out who would come out first place. We were all separated into categories according to our weights and the fights began. I was the first person in my category and went up against a very friendly yet intimidating opponent. We approached each other and six seconds later I was on my back, the referee shouted "Ippon" (the Judo term for landing on your back) and the fight was over. My opponent won her second fight; therefore, I was back in against a second girl. She was less intimidating and we began. A small fight ensued still, ten seconds later, I was again on my back and for the second time my fight was over but this time for good. 

Though I lost both fights, I did not mind. I am just a beginner and will have much practice and hard work before I begin winning against those more experienced people. At the end of the day, after the other girl from my Judo club had her fights, we all gathered together in the sunny warm outside air and ate real italian gelato, one of the best consolation prizes :) I will have more chances coming up in the near future to hopefully do better in a tournament. But until then, I will keep practicing.