Connecticut Open 2007 - Tournament Notes

Tournaments are great. The video above is your intrepid author, laying it on the line to bring you information and insight about learning Tae Kwon Do.

My opponent was a black belt, more experienced by at least a year, but I learned quite a bit.

My insights for you:
1) Tournaments involve a lot of waiting
2) You should bring a jump rope and some targets for kicking so you can warm up
3) Tape your feet under your foot pads
4) Be prepared for some black and blue marks

There are a few typical events in a tournament:
1) Forms competition
2) Breaking competition
3) Demonstration team competition
4) Sparring competition

The first 3 are largely one-performance affairs - you choose your form, or your breaking techniques, and you do them once. The best wins.

Sparring is more complicated - it's like a typical bracketed competition. The winners of each match move on to fight the other winners until the gold/silver bout, and the bronze/fourth place bout.

Good times.