Maine Coastal Taekwondo Classic

If you live in or near New England, circle August 10th on your calendar and plan a trip to South Portland, ME.  You'll definitely want to be on hand for the 3rd Annual Maine Coastal Taekwondo Classic, hosted by Master Dave Esposito of the Southern Maine Taekwondo dojang. 
   In addition to providing competitors of all ages with an opportunity to test their skills in forms, breaking, and sparring, this year's tournament will also be a fund-raiser for the Boston Strong Foundation.  A portion of each competitor's entry fee and spectator entrance fee will go to the Foundation.  But that's not all.  As part of the opening ceremonies, anyone attending the tournament can purchase one or more $5 "donation boards" and do some just-for-fun breaking in support of Boston Strong.  Never broken a board?  Not a problem.  Master Esposito and his staff will teach you a basic breaking technique to help get the job done.
   I happen to love Maine, and August is a fantastic time to be there.  But there are two extremely important details about this event that have put the Maine Coastal Taekwondo Classic on my to-do list. 
     1. All adult black belts will compete first in each event. 
     2. Poomsae [or forms] competitors will compete one at a time.
   Let me say a few words about each of these two key points.  First, it's a rare tournament indeed that has the adult black belts compete ahead of the younger set.  What normally happens is that the tournament begins with the youngest kids -- perhaps ages 4 and 5 -- and slowly works its way up by age and by belt color until finally, many hours later, the adult black belts get their chance to compete.  But here's the worst part: after the kids finish competing, they and their families generally head for the door, joyously carting off their medals or trophies.  And who's left in the stands to watch the adult black belts?  Well, hardly anyone.  In my experience, by the end of the day the few people left watching the tournament are the spouses and families of the adult black belt athletes.
   Doesn't it make more sense to have the adult black belts compete first . . . so that all the kids in attendance get to see what their futures might hold?  I think so.  By showing off the adult black belts at the beginning of each tournament event, you help raise the bar for all the younger competitors as well as for the older competitors who have not yet earned their black belts.
   And now I move on to a favorite complaint of mine: having two poomsae [forms] athletes compete at the same time.  If you want to know how I really feel, scroll back to my May 15, 2013 post, "A Change I Would Love to See."  Here's the short version: no judge, however experienced, can see every move of two competitors at the same time.  The judge can glance back and forth between the two competitors, but he or she cannot possibly see every technique that each competitor executes.  The judge is therefore certain to miss some big mistakes or some really splendid moves, and that's not a reasonable way to treat athletes who, especially in the higher ranks, have invested hundreds or thousands of hours mastering their forms.
   What these two competition details tell me is that Master Esposito has thought hard about how to make the tournament a learning experience for everyone in attendance and how to treat competitors as fairly as possible.  That's a rock-solid foundation upon which to build a successful tournament.
   For more information about the 3rd Annual Maine Coastal Taekwondo Classic, please click over to Southern Maine Taekwondo and download the tournament packet.  This is a great way to spend a Saturday in Maine.
   Hope to see you there.