Inconsistent Experience - Part 2

In the previous post, I wrote about my experience learning Korean. It was a roundabout way of approaching my main point in regards to competitive smash.

I first purchased Melee in the summer of 2002. There was one friend of mine who knew the game rather well. He played a mean Falco in that he rolled quite a bit. I played the game for hours each day. After several months of practice, I finally developed the skills necessary to take him down. I did not stop there. I played with friends often and actively sought out new techniques. I even became a moderator at the Smash Bros. Online forums thanks to my "amazing smash wisdom".

In the summer of 2005, I joined my first real crew at college. We all lived in the same hallway of the dorms, so we had practice sessions just about every day. We would often stay up until five o'clock in the morning smashing it up. In the subsequent semester, I started attending tournaments posted on Smashboards. My lack of skill suddenly became oh-so-apparent! I started losing in ways I did not think were possible. My opponents absolutely annihilated me with L-cancels, wavedashes, SHFFLs, and every other trick in the book... and I thought such tactics only granted minimal advantages (hence why I never practiced them). I started playing the game with a new understanding. I continued attending tournaments and learning about my faults.

That is what tournaments did for me. They grossly exposed my weaknesses and forced me out of my comfort zones. They made my smashfests a hundred times more productive. I became able to view match footage in a new light.

And... my brain suddenly became empty... More on this later...