Why are Tournaments so important?? Dont get it....

[Drunken_Boxer]

Ehm...well...there are some cats in my tkd team, and all of em got an yellow, green belt.I was in 2 tournaments...my first was 2 years ago when I had a yellow belt...and my opponent had a 2nd dan black belt...when my Teacher found out who am I fightin with, he said to my opponent that he have to go slowly on me (like a normal fight)...that he dont show his real skills, talent, whatever...I was like "Damn then rather cancel the fight or somethin if he doesnt show his full skills" my second tournament was the same, 2nd dan and I lost 7:2
Last 3 days we had an tournament, and this one guy (from our team), I really respect him, he is 15 years old, not skillfull, he has no ability or somethin like that, u know.
My teacher just let him go to that tournament, I knew he would lost, he was fightin with a guy who had a 1nd black belt, he had a concussion, a flying doljo chagi and he fell down, I will upload the video later.
Why have I to risk my life just because of a piece of metal? Its not that Im scared, Im not, I just want to train to feel good and live a good healthy life, u know?
So how yall see that...or maybe I have a bad Teacher, I really dont know, he is also young 26 years old...well :S

 

[StuartA]

What sort of tournaments has yellow belts fighting black belts... sound dam dangerous and stupid to me!

Tournaments ahve their benefits, but not when its sending lambs to the slaughter.. thats pointless and achieves nothing (except maybe putting students off training).

Stuart

 

[terryl965]

I would never let a yellow belt fight any BB they are not at that level. Your instructor brings shame to the tournament circuit, just my opinion here folks.

 

[Drunken_Boxer]

What sort of tournaments has yellow belts fighting black belts... sound dam dangerous and stupid to me!

Tournaments ahve their benefits, but not when its sending lambs to the slaughter.. thats pointless and achieves nothing (except maybe putting students off training).

Stuart

Yeah thats what I thought and talkin about dude, but nobodys listenin to me, our Teacher never gave to us a good advice, they come to me and sayin "is this good or bad?What do I wrong?" thats good, but Im no Teacher Master or somethin else, I respect that.
Yeah my first tournament was I had to fight a 2nd black belt guy I had at that time a yellow, and I couldnt tie my yellow belt, had to tie a green belt so I could fight him, u know.
If I was a Teacher I would not let him go to that tournament, hes not dumb, stupid or somethin like that, he is not ready for that, and my Teacher was like "So u want to go to a tournament?Okay no problem" lol I mean wtf...u cant say that, its not okay....Sadly we dont have a another tkd team so I can move to a another club u know....but I just train for my own good, for my-self, not for others or even for my Teacher....
Guys...thats just wrong....they dont use their brains, especially our Teacher, and that guy who had an concussion wants to go to Croatia (tournament) I called him and told him that he will not go to that tournament, I wont allow that, he can get serious injueries, he was like "damn youre right, I wont go, dont worry, I cant walk though...its killin me" I would do anythin to stop him goin to croatia

 

[bluekey88]

I'm in agreement with Terry and Stuart here...there is no point in having peopel with a great duisparity in skill,rank expereince go up against each other. No one is served by that.

Peace,
Erik

 

[exile]

This is plain crazy. Would a 225 lb. heavyweight boxer be allowed to fight a 145lb welterweight? What kind of boxing circuit would allow that? But this is the same sort of thing...

Someone is being criminally irresponsible, I'd say.

 

[Marginal]

So how yall see that...or maybe I have a bad Teacher, I really dont know, he is also young 26 years old...well :S

I don't go for medals. It's nice to get out of learning environment and see where you stand in an arena where the other guy's doing everything he can to shut you down. Helps give you a measuring stick of where you are, and a better idea of where you want to be.

(Assuming of course you're not getting clobbered by a guy 10 ranks above you etc.)

 

[TKDHermit]

What?! In Singapore, the Singapore Taekwondo Federation doesn't even allow 2nd and 1st Geups vs. Dans. Strictly at their own belt level, i.e. Red = 2nd Geup and 1st Geup, therefore for Red Belt tournaments only those 2 grades will be able to participate, and age group i.e. senior 18+ junior 14-17 y.junior 13-. For black belt category though, age categorization stays in, but no divisions among the dan ranks, whether you're a first or fifth, you're in the same category as long as you're in the same age category.

 

[granfire]

uhm what?

First the guy asking about kicking kids in the head, now yellows going up against 2nd dan BB in tournament.

I feel like I am in an alternate universe! (Hell even in World of Warcraft you don't get anything for killing the lower level players...)

Tournaments are - normally - a great way to see where you stack up against your peers! Some people have the ambition to be the best, others just want to see where their training is.

It is a great opportunity to see how you function under stress without it being life threatening - at least it should be safe!

I have competed against BB that were 2 ranks up, because I am in the old woman bracket, not many competitors there, especially on a regional level. But I was indeed a Black Belt.

but yellow vs black makes NO sense at all. neither gets a measure of where the training is and frankly the medal would not mean much handed over in a 'bout' against an inexperienced opponent.

To add the concussion thing into the mix (or was that the kids getting kicked in the head?!) life is too short as it is, why cut it down even shorter?! besides, quality of life is severely compromised when you are a drooling mess...


no wonder Martial Arts get a bad rep at times....and TKD at that...

 

[Manny]

Well, why tournaments are so important? there is diferent ways of thinking, a) Tournaments are benefical because the student cant aply the technikes learned againts another competitors and if he/she succed can be given a recognizion (medal) for his achivements and b) tournaments are playing games (score) whre the people who makes more points is the winner.

Do I like to compete? No, I don't like it, never liked, i'm talking of kyorugui (full contact sparring), it's simple, however there are people who are competitors and like to compete in a regular basis way and I respect them.

The teacher has to know wich ones of his/her students are fighters (competiors) and wich ones not, it's brutal to put to compete a yellow belt against a black belt, teh lowe rank can suffer a lot of damage if not a suden death.

I never felt in my life that wining medals would make me be a better tae kwon doing.

Manny

 

[StuartA]

Just notice Marginals quoted text saying the instructor is a 26 year old.

To me this possibly means a number of things, based on the OPs original post & follow ups:

1. The instructor lacks instructional experience - a lot!
2. Possibly lacks experience in tournaments - he might not, but I say this as anyone whose competed in BB divisions knows sending in yellow belts is mostly suicide
3. The instructor has an inferiority complex (makes him feel better that his own students are getting bashed up.. maybe like he did but on more equal terms)
4. The instructor got a BB with little effort and thus hasnt had the insights many others would have who actually ahve to work for BB
5. He simply hasnt got a clue
6. All of the above

In any case, it sounds a bad place to be... I would advise finding another school & instructor.

Stuart

Ps. All that said, no instructor should be entering students in tournaments that allow divisions so mixed in grade... whats next, all over 10s in one division or something!!!

 

[IcemanSK]

This is plain crazy. Would a 225 lb. heavyweight boxer be allowed to fight a 145lb welterweight? What kind of boxing circuit would allow that? But this is the same sort of thing...

Someone is being criminally irresponsible, I'd say.

One could also add the analogy of a 145 lbs amateur vs. a 225 lbs pro boxer. I agree, quite irresponsible.



Some instructors (younger & inexperienced, often) want to be known for bringing fighters to tournaments (note: I didn't say winning fighters). Some tournament directors give perks to instructors who bring "X" number of students to a tournament.

Those instructors often figure "I'll bring numbers & become "well-known". In time, able fighters will come along eventually."