Hey guys, well, today I entered in the California State Senior Tae Kwon Do Championships. I'm going to be competeing in Gyroogi in my belt class, cool huh? Anyone else going or competeing??
Hey, World Champ!!! Congratulations!! I'm not in Calif., but I just came back from the Maryland State championships this past Sat. This was my first state tourney, so I got a few valuable "lessons learned" that I'd like to pass on. I found that, unfortunately, you can't assume that things will be run strictly according to the rules, and you have to be ready to roll with it. WTF/USTU rules for competitions are available online, so you can know exactly what they are, but in my state comp there were some differences. First, the weigh-in wasn't as listed in the USTU rules. They had the scale out in the middle of the auditorium (not conducive to a weigh-in in your undergarments, or in the buff, as is allowed in USTU rules). I had trained for a couple months specifically to get my weight to just at the top of the Welter category, and missed the cutoff by less than a pound and a half. Because they combined two weight categories (heavy and middle), that put me in the "unlimited heavy weight" category. I would have had to spar someone who outweighed me by over 100 pounds. I was able to trim that much within the hour and get re-weighed (which they almost didn't allow), and I came in back in the Welter division. The next shock was with equipment. I know most tournaments only allow white headgear (some competitors had to drop out because they weren't prepared), but in this case, they also insisted on only white or clear mouth guards, and forearm guards that did not include any covering over the top of hand or knuckles. The last shocker was with glasses. The director of the tournament decided on the spot that no one would be allowed to compete in sparring with glasses (including sport goggles), for safety reasons. This wasn't written down anywhere or given out as information in advance to competition day. Most of the competitors in the "more mature" categories (over 40) had glasses, and ended up sparring without them. Being I'm about 20-200, it was a disaster for me. Even for those with better vision, it was difficult because it wasn't how they trained. Bottom line: if you know anyone (your instructor?) who knows those sponsoring/hosting the tournament, try to find out what small subtle rules might be out there, in addition to USTU rules. Good luck, and please let us all know how you do!!
new rules Hi, I'm new here. Actually I came accross some new rules a couple days ago online for WTF tournaments... and yep they don't allow anything on the face, that's including glasses...
Capt. Ann: Those are pretty standard rules...I'm surprised that your instructor didn't go over those with you.... As far as the headgear issue...it's never been a problem to wear different color headgear even if it was Blue,Red or Black...As a matter of fact some experienced fighters have both a Blue and Red helmet to match what color hogu they are , and some of my fighters have worn black helmets at National USTU events... As far as the weigh in issue...except at the National level they usually allow a pound or two (did you compete in the 18-32 year old Black Belt division?) The issue with the forearm guards, that is standard...we had an issue with that at our states last year...kids were wearing gloves and basically in the younger divisions that would give them an advantage.... I hope you had a great time..competitions can be rough
Actually, I'm officially an "old lady" by TKD competition standards. I was in the 40-44 year-old "Ultra Senior" Green belt category. And yes, I had a blast! enlwffl: can you please post a link to the new rules? I found rules posted, downloaded, read, studied, thought I was prepared, and obviously missed anything about glasses/goggles. Apparently, so did a bunch of other people, with prior USTU tourney experience.
http://www.calgarytkd.com/cta_2004_wtf_rules_v1.pdf this is very long and confusing, but go to page 7, its article 4 and under rule number 2: The Costume For Contestant it says "wear of any other items on the head other than head protector shall not be permitted" oh i found the other one i was looking at. Existing rules 2. The costume for contestants 2) The contestant shall wear the trunk protector, head protector, groin guard, forearm and shin guards before entering the contest area and the groin guard, forearm and shin guards shall be worn inside the Taekwondo uniform, and the contestant shall bring the WTF-approved protectors for personal use. New rules 2. The costume for contestants 2) The contestant shall wear the trunk protector, head protector, groin guard, forearm and shin guards and mouthpiece before entering the contest area and the groin guard, forearm and shin guards shall be worn inside the Taekwondo uniform, and the contestant shall bring the WTF-approved protectors for personal use. Wear of any other items on the head other than head protector shall not be permitted.
enlwwfl-- Thanks much. I compared the new rules to my older copy. I don't feel quite so badly, seeing these changes were only distributed to referees as of Jan. of this year. Still, I wish I had known before I went out and bought a pair of prescription sport goggles just for sparring. Looks like the glasses/goggles rule and the "only white or clear mouthguards" were added at the same time. Thanks again for the reference.
Glad to hear you enjoyed yourself. I should have forewarned you in my last post to you, the USTU is known for changing the rules at the last minute. I've competed in 3 of their tournaments and on the spot the director changed the rules regarding different points of contention. One of them cost me a chance to go to the national tournament last year. So don't be surprised if they change things around. Lots of tournaments to go to though, not just USTU. Look around and see whats our there. The USTU puts on a good program, the rules change are the only things I can gripe about with them.
