All Japan Shotokan Kanto Karatedo Championships & Tokyo Karatedo Championships

In May I competed in two karate tournaments in the senior divisions.
The first was the 10th All Japan Shotokan Kanto Karatedo Championships, held on 6 May, the last day of Golden Week. I won a few kumite bouts and came third. In the semi-final I faced F Sensei, a well-known local figure who is selected as the prefectural representative in the masters category every year. With a gap of about ten years in our ages I gave it my all, hoping I might manage something, but it was no contest at all. In kata I went out 2-3 in the second round, which is not even worth talking about.
The second was the Tokyo Karatedo Championships on 24 May. With All Japan champion Abe and other members of the national team competing nearby, I entered the masters kumite division 1 and kata division 1. In kata I was eliminated in the preliminary round, and in kumite I lost in the first round. It was a day with nothing good to show for it, and nothing but lessons to reflect on.
Over April and May I competed in three karate tournaments. It reminded me once again how wonderful it is to have competitions, but it also made me appreciate what it means that aikido has no competition, no competitive element. You train to raise your chances of winning, however slightly, and it is precisely because there is a tournament that you can engage with the sport. But precisely because there is no competition, you can also immerse yourself in yourself and your own technique without ever being conscious of training for a contest. I have always thought aikido is something like yoga in that sense, and I was reminded of how enjoyable it is to be able to train at my own pace, as if in a dialogue with myself and my partner.
Next up is the Kanagawa prefectural aikido demonstration in July, but there are no competitive events until the small karate tournaments in September and October. For a while I intend to simply enjoy training in both aikido and karate however I like.