Cael:
My son competed in his second tournament of the year. Overall this is his 5th tournament. He currently holds a blue belt in Taekwondo. His forms division held 9 players. He won the first two rounds with unanimous decisions (three judges award victory to either the "blue" competitor, or the "red" one). He lost the third round via a 2-1 decision, but came back and won his final round. This was good for a Bronze Medal. He was 3-1 in the head-to-head forms format.
Sparring was his game today. He was in the "heavyweight" division for age 6-7, intermediate belts (green, blue and purple belts). My son is not fat, but is rather strong, which puts him up against larger boys frequently. Of note is that before the match, Cael agreed to dedicate his performance to his girlfriend, Kaylee, who was unable to attend.*
The first match was all Cael. He scored early. He scored often. Olympic style sparring allows for a "mercy rule" if one competitor builds a 7+ point lead. Cael did just that. However, before the point judge could raise a hand to indicate to the head referee that there was a mercy rule, Cael scored with a head kick, and earned two more points. Final: 11-2 victory.
Second match went like this: Cael would build a small lead of 1-3 points, then the other boy would come back and tie it. this went on the entire match. Most Olympic style matches see each competitor getting 8-12 points. A match with both players in the teens is a high-scoring affair. This match went to overtime, tied at 24 points!
Of note in the match, Cael's opponent could not outscore him, and resorted to holding Cael's kicks (illegal), slapping Cael's face (illegal), and pushing (illegal). The head referee was either oblivious, or chose to ignore the rules on these. Despite this, my son elected to compete fairly, and not break any rule. It became almost sad when Cael was given a warning for "not staying on his feet" when the reason he had fallen was the fact that his opponent had held his kicking foot!
Nevertheless, regulation ended in a 24-24 draw.
In the sudden-death OT, Cael lured his opponent in, sidestepped a roundhouse kick attack, then landed a body-body-head three kick combo. The first kick was blocked. The second kick landed, as did the head kick. However, one landed kick was all that was needed to give Cael the 25-24 victory, and hug from his coach, Mr. Newman!
Austin:
Austin, a yellow belt, competed in the Winter Battle, and showed a lot of courage. He also competed in Georgia a few weeks ago and placed third in a division. Austin is a big kid, with an even bigger heart, and I really like him - and not just because my middle name (and my son's) is also Austin!
Austin came out like a lion in the forms competition. He was punching and blocking so hard, I thought he might tear his uniform. The uniform held together, but his opponent did not - forgetting parts of the form. Austin earned a victory. The smile on his face was huge!
Austin did not win again in forms, but he showed well, and gained more valuable experience. He also placed first in sparring, as there were no boys in his division. Instead, he got to do an exhibition match with a red belt - who, like Austin, had no competition in his division. Austin held his own against the much more experienced opponent. Austin finally lost in the second round by a score of 12-5. Nevertheless, he again showed great heart and also showed his skill is ever improving.
Laura:
I didn't get to see a lot of Laura's matches, but she won 1st place in forms, and 2nd in sparring. Well done, indeed!
Tyler:
I did not get to see Tyler's matches at all. However, my good friend, Richard, tells me his grandson Tyler dominated in sparring: 18-3; winning Gold. Tyler also won Gold in forms.
Christian:
Christian is about my son's age - just a few months older. However, because of birth dates, he competes in the next age bracket. Nevertheless, Christian was dominant today. Christian is not a large boy, but he is a tad faster than greased lightning. In class, sparring matches between he and Cael are always entertaining and inspirational.
Christian totally dominated forms and secured a Gold Medal. He was equally dominant in sparring and won Silver.
Chandni:
Chandni is a sweet, if somewhat quiet young lady, 9 years old. Her mother entered her in this tournament with some reservation. Because of the reservation, Chandni's mom elected to only enter her in forms - not sparring.
Like Cael, Chandni won her first two forms contests, lost the third, and won her fourth to take home the bronze. She was beaming!
Chandni's mom also saw that her daughter is more than capable of sparring in her division, and promised to let her do so in the next tournament.
Callia:
Callia is a very sweet young lady with very red hair. She is known in class for having very intense forms. We thought her a shoe-in to win her division in forms as she is precise, memorable, and very much a perfectionist when performing the forms.
Callia won her first forms match with ease. However, in a surprise move, she lost her second forms match via a 2-1 decision. My fellow parents from Spirit Martial Arts were crushed and severely disappointed in the judging, as Callia performed flawlessly, yet her opponent forgot parts of her form on three occasions!
Oh, well. That's part of life: learning to deal with unfair things.
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* Of note: Cael's girlfriend, Kaylee, was not present. Earlier this week, Kaylee's mother, who is on parole, ended Kaylee's grandparent's power-of-attorney, and therefore their custody of Kaylee. Kaylee's mother is a known drug-abuser, and has been arrested as many as 13 times in a single month. There is no doubt she will be arrested again, but for the mean time, the legal system says Kaylee must be with her criminal mother, instead of her loving (non-criminal) grandparents.
Kaylee's mother is not responsible enough to bring Kaylee to positive environments like Spirit Martial Arts, nor allow the poor girl to compete in tournaments like she so dearly enjoys.
I have learned that a state representative learned of this travesty, and plans to introduce legislation to allow grandparents certain custodial rights in extreme cases like this. Rumor has it, the representative will name this law, "Kaylee's Law."
I will certainly follow, track, and document the progress on this situation, as well as the legislation.
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