The Virginia State Tae Kwon Do Championship held Sunday, December 16 2007, was the second tournament of the 2007-2008 season.

Unlike the last tournament, this one was complicated with date changes for the competition and its venue being moved from Springfield High school to NOVA Community College. A few OMAA competitors were unable to attend this tournament due to the date change.

{However, before going too far into the actual tournament, the OMAA staff would be remised by not acknowledging the following parents for their contribution at the tournament. With all of the date and location changes, the tournament was very poorly staffed. If not for Jack Sawicki, Judith Wheat, Wade Scott, and Sudeep Bose, this tournament would never have started.

To comprehend this, in each ring there needs to be someone that sits at the head table of each ring. This person is responsible for totaling scores, organizing competitors, and keeping overall operations of their respected rings in check. These parents stepped into these roles with no preparation, and played a primary role in the successful operation of this tournament.

Furthermore, when a competitor from another school didn’t have the proper equipment, Mr. Bose offered his daughter’s equipment so this student could compete. This student later went on to place 1st in sparring.

Additionally, when the tournament date changed from a Saturday to a Sunday, This created a conflict for Mr. Dave as he was already scheduled to do the “Parents Day Out” on Sunday. Both Susan Mockler and Judith Wheat offered to stand in for Mr. Dave so he could coach the kids at the tournament.

These actions exemplify not only to their children, but every person attending this tournament the true sportsmanship found not only in our students, but in our parents. On behalf of the OMAA School we’d like to thank each of these parents for the roles they played.}

Attending the Virginia State Tae Kwon Do Championship were Scott, Rachel, Priyanka, and Bijon. The tournament started with forms competition. Both Scott and Priyanka gave solid performances with their forms and took 1st place in their respected divisions. Bijon placed 2nd in his division, and Rachel placed 3rd in hers.

Later in the day both Scott and Priyanka moved onto Grand Championship in forms. These Championships (when tournaments provide them), allow 1st place winners in all the divisions to compete against one another. Priyanka competed against 15 or so competitors in the color belt category from white belt to red-stripe, with ages ranging from 6 years old to adult. It’s unknown Priyanka’s final standings within her large group, but she was not able to take the Grand Championship. Scott competed in a similar fashion, but with all blackbelts. The person that won this Grand Championship was an adult third degree blackbelt. However, it was later discovered after going back through the score cards that Scott was 3rd runner up in this championship.

After lunch, all four competed in sparring. Rachel used a different tactic this time with her competitor, but was unable to obtain the points needed to defeat her opponent after the 2nd round. Rachel took 2nd place in her class.

Bijon also took 2nd place, but was eliminated in the 1st round of his match and was unable to rally enough points to go onto the 2nd round with his competitor.

Priyanka took home 3rd place, although determined, her efforts were not enough this time to move on to the final match.

Scott defeated his first opponent by two points in the 2nd round. In Scott’s final match he lost by one point in the 2nd round.

I would like to say that with all the miscues, delays, and chaotic organization of this tournament. The competiveness, sportsmanship, and spirit of competition were not hampered by our students or their parents. Medals and accolades are points in time recorded as achievements. With the life lessons learned from this, our students came away with so much more.

To see all the photos from this tournament click here.

To see a schedule of upcoming tournaments we will be attending click here.

If you or your child are interested in competing in any upcoming tournament, please contact Mr. Dave at " This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ".