Tournament on South Padre Island

Our first tournament of the year was a real learning experience for the four team members who attended this very challenging tournament. Since we have been going to the ATMA Taekwondo Championship beginning in 2007, the tournament has grown by leaps and bounds. This year there were over 800 competitors. Each year the tournament has improved both in the running of the tournament and the officiating. Master McCloskey did a great job in educating the officials who worked the tournament. There are always challenges with volunteer officials; but, thank heavens we have them or we would have no tournaments at all. This tournament was long but that was because there were so many competitors, not because it was run poorly. Master and Mrs. Kang have done a wonderful job improving their tournament each year.

The competition in South Padre is fierce. Because competitors only have two one-minute rounds, they cannot wait a long time to set up their game. They must be aggressive at the start both with their offense and with their defense. A competitor cannot afford to be hit and must hit their opponent many times to win.

Jon was the first team member to fight. Jon has gotten confident at winning and found the level of competition in South Padre to be greater than what he has experienced lately. His smaller but faster opponent took Jon out of his game and Jon found it hard to recover. Jon needs to work on staying composed during his fights and not allow the other guy to determine how the fight is won.

Kyla was next. Kyla fought her heart out! The girl she fought presented a game style that Kyla has not seen for some time. As a result, Kyla was also taken out of her game. She knows what she needs to work on and is ready to begin tackling those drills with sparring intensity (a key factor in learning how to handle opponents like this) so that she will not be out of control of the match next time. Go Kyla!!

Will was next. Will won both of his fights but he was displeased with how he fought. All of us have those days. To quote Will "This is worse than loosing," referring to his displeasure at the sloppiness of his fighting. Will realized that he was focusing on just one aspect of the game too much and needs to be prepared for other fighters and other techniques.

Rashid was last to fight. His first fight ended in his competitor's injury ending the match and a win for Rashid. Rashid moved in to jam his opponent at the same time that the guy was kicking. As a result, the guy's shin/knee hit Rashid's shin. I could hear the contact from ringside. The poor guy crumbled to the ground in severe pain. Fortunately it seems that he either has a bad contusion or a bone fracture, not a knee injury or broken bone. Rashid was up 3-0 at the time of the injury. His next fight against a Brazilian did not end in a win. Rashid lost in sudden death. He fought really well and looked relaxed through most of the fight. Something he has been working on. Unfortunately some of the techniques he has been working diligently on do not work well without electronic chest gear. A lesson learned!

One thing that Master McCloskey, Master De Los Reyes and I have observed in that last few years is that the level of competition is rising at the tournaments we attend. That means that our kids have to work very hard to learn what is taught in class. They cannot just attend and expect to do better at each tournament.

• They MUST practice at sparring intensity when doing drills. 
• They MUST do the drills over and over until they can do them while sparring in class. 
• They MUST be able to recognize how their opponent is scoring and be able to shut down that aspect of their opponent's game. 
• They MUST fight their own match not match their opponent's fight. 
• They MUST have confidence that they can win. 
• They MUST let go of their fear and the things they cannot control and focus on themselves and what they can control. 

We've got a lot of ground to cover. Our kids CAN do it; but, they must be the one to do it. Master De Los Reyes and I cannot make them do it, we cannot do it for them. They have to WANT to do it and do it from their heart. Nothing less will bring them success in the ring.

PHOTOS TO FOLLOW