Tournaments! Although many people have different opinions on them, there is one undeniable truth. They definitely enhance your martial art experience. We do not consider ourselves a “tournament school” because we do not base our worth or student value on how we perform at these events. That would make us a “sport school” vs. a “martial art school.” We attend a lot of tournaments because they offer so many benefits AND if we train properly, we do very well at them. So why go to them? SOME of the reasons to attend a tournament include: seeing other martial artists and styles, testing your speed and technique, displaying Dojang pride, making friends, learning to work under pressure, becoming a better instructor, and so many more. Plus, if you participate with the correct attitude, they are just plain FUN!
This year Master Gorino has added a few new events to give our students a more varied tournament experience. There are our “inhouse” or learning tournaments which offer a nurturing environment for those new to the tournament scene as well as highly competitive divisions for our experienced students. We also host a national invitational tournament in May which brings competitors from all over the country to our venue. Additionally, we travel to select events as way to expand our horizons.
You can find a list of tournament sanctioned by our Dojang and how many “Pil-Sung Championship Series” point the events are worth, posted around the school. You must attend an inhouse tournament before you can travel with us. If you have any questions, see Master Gorino or better yet, attend our Dojang Social on January 17th, where we discuss such topics. You can also ask Master Gorino any questions regarding the Dojang at the social. And we also have movie night in Dojang 2 for the kids!
Attend as many tournaments as you can. You can ask Master Gorino which ones would benefit you most at your level. So train hard and always compete to be your best, Pil-Sung!
