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Feb 2001 Warriors News Letter |
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Congratulations to the following promotions:
I have the forms for joining the USTU.
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Promotion Ceremony-Wed 14 Feb at 7 pm If your name is on the promotion list on the left, please arrive early on Wednesday evening for a Promotion Ceremony. I encourage you to bring your parents. There will be a little party following the ceremony. If you plan to stay, would you please bring a 2 liter soft drink or some sort of dessert, chips etc. Promotion test are approximately ever 3~4 months. If you joined the class in the middle of a test cycle, I will schedule a test for those that look ready for the next rank. Remember that rank is not automatic-some will be promoted quicker than others. Train hard and learn the requirements for your next rank...so don't ask! Congratulations-See photos at www.vatkd.com On 4 Nov 2000, the following students competed in Master Owens' TaeKwonDo Championship at Ft. Belvoir, Va. There were over 200 competitors and our competitors did very well for their first time in the ring.
On 4 Feb 2001, the following competed at Master Grant's Friendship Tournament in Chesapeake, Va. There were over 400 competitors. Twenty different TKD schools from VA-NC-MD were present.
This is for all belts and ages 17 and under. If you are a green~black belt and place 1st-2nd-3rd in any of the3: sparring-forms-breaking, this qualifies you to compete in the Junior Olympic National TaeKwonDo Championship. This year the Nationals will be held in Tampa Fla. This is a 4 day tournament due to the volume of competitors. The state competition fee is has been around $65. To compete in the state and nationals you must be a member of the United States TKD Union (USTU). This is a governing body that regulates, rules and sanctions such events. It is the primary reason that TKD was in this past summer Olympics. Yearly membership for a competitor is $35. A $20 non-competitor membership is also available. Both memberships include a quarterly magazine, patch, pin, membership card. See http: www. ustu.com for more info. The national competition fee the last time we attended was $70. So if you are a green belt and wish to compete this May, see me. You will be expected to attend additional sparring classes at no-cost. If you place in the state championship, there is a training camp held on Saturdays somewhere in VA. In the past, usually in northern Va. We have also attended several of these. It may not be possible to make all the trips, but will make some. The camps are usually free and sometimes are the VA STATE uniforms. A few of us have competed in state and national competitions. It is really exciting, especially if you win. I won a gold medal in sparring as a red belt/38/welter wt. at the Dome in Atlanta, Ga. 1994. Matt Spencer has competed in Chicago and Florida twice as has Bobby Smith and Jerry Plain. Matt won a Bronze in sparring 12-13/Black Belt/Hvy wt. in Orlando Florida 1998. Jonathan Baines competed in Las Vega in 1999. You can see the official results on the USTU web site for 98~2000. These can be expensive trips. The state is usually in northern Virginia. So best to travel the night before and stay in a motel near the tournament. The nationals even greater! As an under belt, lets say you qualified in all three events. Well they may be done on two different days. As a black belt, you have to be there on the first day and get your package-weigh in and may not compete to the fourth day. This means lodging-food etc. Also a spectators fee to watch- a four day pass is best. In the state and national games you only compete in your age-rank and weight class. There are 8 weight classes and they are in about a 10 range-except the last heavy wt division. So if you compete in a particular weight class in the state games, then you must stay at that weight class to compete in the nationals. The Nationals use padded floors with computer scoring. There are monitors around the ring so you can see your score as you compete (sparring). |
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