Saturday, March 24, 2012 was the Texas State Championship, a USA Taekwondo (USAT) National Qualifier. Over 900 competitors attended competing in a variety of forms competitions, board breaking, weapons, and Olympic-style sparring. Normally, this tournament is conducted over two days. We now know why it MUST be run over two days. After arriving at the convention center at 1:00 pm on Saturday, we did not leave until 1:20 am on Sunday. We had never participated in a USAT tournament before, we were drawn to have the team compete as there would be many new competitors for the kids. In addition, the 12 through 32 black belt divisions would use the Daedo Truescore electronic chest gear. Although, 12 rings were in operation most of the day, the electronic chest were only useable in five rings. This lack of equipment lead, in part, to the late hour of the tournament.
Sparring began at about 1:30. Twelve rings were in use and since everyone had weighed in the previous evening, all competitors were sorted into divisions before arriving at the tournament. Occasionally, as was the case with Brittaney, there was no one in their division. Unfortunately, because this tournament was a nationals qualifier, according to USAT rules, that lone competitor could only get one exhibition match. They were not merged into another division as we usually do at AAU tournaments. That means that even if there were more that one competitor in the division above the lone competitor, he or she would not be able to gain additional matches through winning.
Our first competitor was Kyla. She began her first match at around 9 pm. She won her first match and fought well. Unfortunately she lost her second match and earned a silver medal. Congratulations Kyla! Ben was the next competitor at around 10:15 pm. Unfortunately, the late hour and a very aggressive opponent were a combination that Ben could not surmount. Ben lost his match. After review of the match, hopefully Ben will gain some insight into what he needs to work on. Kelsey was next at nearly 11:00 pm. Again, the late hour was visible on Kelsey's face. A taller and more aggressive opponent lead to Kelsey's defeat. Perhaps after some reflection, both Kelsey and Ben will see the need to become more aggressive. Go Kelsey and Ben!! We have faith in you and know that the aggressive fighter is alive and well in you. That fighter just needs to be brought out!
After an hour or so, Brittaney was up. Because of the lateness of the tournament, Brittaney's first opponent backed out and Brittaney nearly went home without a fight after waiting for 12 hours to compete. Needless to say, her parents were mighty upset. Fortunately, another girl agreed to a match. Brittaney won that match handedly. The girl had won her own division as she was able to hit her opponents in the head multiple times. Brittaney denied that girl her headshots and instead Brittaney delivered her own headshots which gave Brittaney her victory.
Will, along with our guest athlete, Rashid, were our final competitors. Will won his first fight as did Rashid. A interesting twist was that Rashid competed against Trevor who, years ago, was Master De Los Reyes' first private student before Trevor's family moved away! Despite the height advantage that Trevor had, Rashid was faster and a much more talented fighter. Although it took four tries to get one of his headshots to be registered, those headshots were key to Rashid's victory. Will and Rashid's second fight was against each other. It is always difficult when people who train together, even occasionally, must compete against each other. Will was victorious in this meeting. Rashid took home the bronze. The last match of the evening was Will's in the final, gold medal round against Paul Li, the first opponent Will had in his first 18-32 age division just over a year ago. Unfortunately, the short match time (two one minute rounds), Paul's habit of falling after each kick volly, and the late hour lead to Will's defeat. Will took home the silver. We left the convention center at 1:20 am.
The key to wining in USAT tournaments, especially those with electronic chest gear, is landing headshots. Headshots are worth three points. A spinning headshot is worth four points. As a result, denying your opponent headshots and landing your own will make you victorious. It is nearly impossible to make up the point deficit that results from multiple headshots with body shots alone as they are only worth one point and can be difficult to earn with electronic chest gear.
It is unlikely that we will be returning to this tournament again unless they go back to a two day format. It is simply too difficult on everyone to leave a tournament at 1:20 in the morning. One interesting observation was that despite the late hour and everyone's frayed nerves, officials, competitors, and coaches all behaved respectfully and with good sportsmanship. It could have easily been very different.
See you all next practice!! Check out the photo album of this tournament on the photo album tab.
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