Tournament Q&A

With this being the last week to sign up for the tournament, I wanted to address a few concerns that people have had about the event. 

1. I’m not sure that my student/I’m ready to compete. 

   1. Tournaments are definitely set up to see how students perform against people of similar age, ranks, and sizes do against each other. But it’s not always about the medal that they receive. Is your student excited to compete but you don’t know if they’ll win? Well, everyone goes to a tournament wanting to win, but only 2 gold medals get handed out in each division. Holding your student back because you don’t know if they’ll perform “well enough” starts a cycle of not thinking that they’re good enough to compete with other students who are at their level. All 3 schools in our region tested on the same days. Everyone is constantly learning something new. Have faith that your student can try their best, because that’s all that really matters.

2. My child doesn’t think they’re ready to compete.

   1. If your child had a test at school, and they had been studying daily up until it, but they didn’t think they were ready, would you let them skip school to skip the test? We put in the work every day in class. There are very few times when you will feel 100% ready to go, but you have to trust the work that you’ve put in. 

3. I’m nervous. 

   1. You will always feel nervous. Mr. and Mrs. O have done taekwondo for 21 and 20 years this year. We still get nervous before every testing and every tournament. Why? Because it’s important to us. We want to have a good time, and do the best we can, but sometimes, it’s just not our day.

4. I don’t want to lose.

   1. Winning is not the end-all be-all to a tournament. I can count on one hand the amount of times I’ve won a tournament in the last 10 years (Mrs. O), and I’ve been to about 40 in that time. What I can’t count is the lessons I’ve learned about being a good sport, the friends that I’ve made, and the personal accomplishments I’ve had. Just this past January, I made it a goal to compete with my form, even though I was recovering from a concussion due to a fall. I didn’t even place in my division, but I finished my pattern, which was the first time I had done so since December. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. But if you let the fear of losing dictate what you do, you will never try.

5. I’m uncomfortable being in front of people

   1. Growth only occurs outside of your comfort zone. There are so many times in your life that you will have to do something for school or your career, or even for self-defense, that you will be uncomfortable doing. That is why we make you go to tournaments. We want you to be uncomfortable and nervous. That is how you overcome your own negative mindset and move forward.