Well I’m going to my second tournament this weekend….

[GeoGiant]

My first tournament experience is listed a few threads below & it was horrible! That day ended with me being DQed for aggressive fighting. I’ve done my research into the rules and I’ve practiced NOT throwing punches to the head. I’m hoping to walk away with a smile on my face this time.

[joesteph]

It's interesting that you said no punches to the head, GeoGiant, rather than no punches to the face. At the dojo, Shihon encourages the sparring rules of tournaments his school enters, and they don't permit strikes to the face, but strikes to the head, whether by hand or by foot, are permitted. The rule of thumb seems to be that where the helmet is, you can hit, except if it's the back of the head.

I did attend a fundraiser that Shihon sponsored last year, and he emphasized no strikes to the face. He also said no strikes to the back of the head.

Do the rules you have to follow specifically say no punches to the head? Not even a backfist? If so, then it's "kicks only" to the head to maintain the high kicking art aspect of Tang Soo Do.

Edited May 11, 2010 by joesteph

[Lupin1]

GeoGiant get disqualified and keelhauled for aiming a punch to the head at the last tournament he was in.

Good luck, better. Keep your cool!

[JAKEHE3078]

I remember when I used to compete in WKF tournaments. Some judges let you go all out, and some took the rules to heart. What I did was, in WKF competition it is very hard to get penalized for going very hard on the body or from the head down for that matter. So I aimed a lot of my head shots to the opponent’s throat. It did not score as often as a face shot would but they landed enough to affect my opponent, make him hesitate to engage. So I could work more scoring techniques.

[GeoGiant]

It's interesting that you said no punches to the head, GeoGiant, rather than no punches to the face. At the dojo, Shihon encourages the sparring rules of tournaments his school enters, and they don't permit strikes to the face, but strikes to the head, whether by hand or by foot, are permitted. The rule of thumb seems to be that where the helmet is, you can hit, except if it's the back of the head.

I did attend a fundraiser that Shihon sponsored last year, and he emphasized no strikes to the face. He also said no strikes to the back of the head.

Do the rules you have to follow specifically say no punches to the head? Not even a backfist? If so, then it's "kicks only" to the head to maintain the high kicking art aspect of Tang Soo Do.

For belts lower than black (thats me) it is supposed to be no contact to the head. We can pull kicks and punches but we can't make ANY contact. I would agree that light contact to the head should be assumed. For my own sake I intent to focus on the body so I stay out of trouble.

[GeoGiant]

Well its the day before my 2nd tournament.... and I'm hurt! I went to my mma class this morning, got hip tossed, and while landing the heal of my right foot banged the floor.... VERY hard. My healed turned kind of pale but i was able to continue. I went home and did some work around the yard then a few hours later it started to hurt. Right now its about 6 hours after the bang happened and I can't put ANY weight on my heal!

I'm supposed to preform kata and kumite in 16 hours! I'm going to spend the rest of the night online trying to find some way to tape my foot so I can get through the kata. I suppose I will be sparring using hands only.

I know this is a family friendly forum so I will spare everyone the long string of expletives that I would like to type. Man I can't believe this!

[still kicking]

Oh, man, that's really too bad, GeoGiant. I hope you are able to doctor it up enough tonight to be able to compete tomorrow. On the other hand, there will be other tournaments, and there's no sense causing yourself permanent damage. Good luck, whatever you do!

[GeoGiant]

Oh, man, that's really too bad, GeoGiant. I hope you are able to doctor it up enough tonight to be able to compete tomorrow. On the other hand, there will be other tournaments, and there's no sense causing yourself permanent damage. Good luck, whatever you do!

I'm applying ice and elevating it!

The reason I'm so hyped about going to this tournament is that my dojo is sponsoring it. My school doesn't typically go to tournaments but once a year my instructor has a tournament and donates all the money to our local woman's shelter.

Aside from our Christmas gathering this tournament may be the only time everyone from my dojo gets together. My instructor is really excited to see how some us of measure up against some of the other schools. On top of it, my instructor has been pulling me aside and feeding me hints for the last few weeks.

I appreciate the kind words and I'm not trying to be a baby but I am soooooooo disappointed.

[Toptomcat]

*Wince*

That's really tough, man. I'm sorry to hear that you've run into such rotten luck.

Remember- not just ice and elevation. Drink plenty of water, take some asprin or ibuprofen, and gently compress the injured area as well.

Don't leave the ice on all the time, either- twenty minutes out of every hour is identified as ideal in a lot of what I've read.

[still kicking]

GeoGiant wrote:

The reason I'm so hyped about going to this tournament is that my dojo is sponsoring it... Aside from our Christmas gathering this tournament may be the only time everyone from my dojo gets together.

Oh, I get it, so it's not just another tournament. I think anyone would be upset and disappointed -- even if you can do all of your events, having to deal with it gets in the way. Even so, I'll bet you will get through it one way or another. Let us know how it goes!