OMAA students competed at the East Coast Tae Kwon Do Open Championship held at Annandale NOVA Community College.

The start of the competition season for OMAA has begun for 2007-2008. The Tae Kwon Do tournament was held at the Annandale NOVA Community College in Northern VA. Attending for the competition was An, Bijon, Kian, Leila, Priyanka, Rachel, and Scott. This was a great season opening tournament for OMAA. The Tae Kwon Do tournament was small, but well attended with competitors from neighboring schools. First time competitors were An, Bijon, Leila, and Priyanka. All four did well for their first times on the mat representing our school. Returning competitors from last year are Kian, Rachel, and Scott.

We started the Saturday morning with forms competition. On the mat, Priyanka and her little brother Bijon both fell into the same division and competed with their forms at the same time along with one other school. Editors note: Both Priyanka and Bijon were not scheduled to compete on Saturday until Friday night; when their father asked that they have a chance to go. Both brother and sister practiced with the sparring class that night. Bijon worked overtime before the tournament Saturday morning with Mr. Dave to get him up to speed on his basic form. In the end Priyanka won the division with brother close behind with a solid 2nd. place.

Leila did very well in her division in forms as she went up against 6 other girls from other schools. At the end she pulled in a 1st. place. Leila did admit that she was concerned by everyone’s expectation for her, but was very happy to have won.

Later in the day after lunch, the sparring portion of the tournament began. Starting out was An, in her first match at a tournament. An was defeated by the end of the second round, but showed good promise in her aggressive style as she went after her competitor for the entire match.

Little Rachel was next up, and like last year in her first ever match, was equally if not more aggressive this time around. She defeated her more senior opponent withinin 30 second of the first round. 

In Bejon's division there was only one other competitor and he went two rounds with him, but lost in the end. Bejon was excited with his 2nd. place trophy, and did very well for his first tournament.

Priyanka (Bejon's older sister) also did well. However, she did not have anyone in her division to go up against. So she had an exhibition match with a more senior belt. Priyanka lost out in points in her second round.

Near the end of a long day Kian and Scott finally had their chance to compete. Kian was up first going against a 2nd degree black belt. Kian held his own in the first round, but fell behind in the second. By the end of Kian's division the kid he went up against came in 1st. place.

Scott, was the last to go and went two rounds and tied at the end 4 - 4. Instead of sudden death the head judge decided to allow Scott and his opponent to go a 3rd. 1 minute round to make the decision. Scott lost out 4 - 2. His opponent went on to win 1st. place.

Congratulation goes out to everyone that competed in Saturday's tournament. We’d like to thank all the families that came out in support of our kids. Pictures are also available for viewing in our photo gallery . If you see one of these kids in the weeks to come, make sure to congratulate them. For results click the "Tournament Results" page on the competition menu.