Tournaments

Tournaments offer Taekwondo students a chance to perform in a new environment, to meet and make friends with students from other ATA schools, to see advanced black belt competition, and even to win trophies.

The ATA hosts three levels of tournaments:

	Nationals and World Championships
	Regionals
	State tournaments

Students of all ages and ranks are welcome to participate in all ATA tournaments.

Students at ATA tournaments are divided by rank, gender and height to ensure that all participants have a chance to compete with people with similar experience and skills.

Divisions are small and the competition is friendly, and the tournament hosts and judges strive to ensure that all participants enjoy themselves. Judges are specially-trained to conduct their divisions efficiently and to enforce all tournament rules so that the competition is fair and no one is injured.

White through yellow belts can compete in two categories: form and one-step sparring. Camouflage belts and above compete in form and point sparring. At the National and World Championship tournaments, black belts also may compete in weapons divisions: ssahng jeol bong (nunchaku), bahng mahng ee (short stick) and jahng bong (long staff). In addition, some tournaments offer board breaking competition.

The annual World Championship tournament, which Grand Master H.U. Lee hosts in Little Rock, Arkansas, every June is the world's largest martial arts tournament. The tournament regularly draws over 3,000 competitors and as many as 10,000 spectators. Competition lasts three days, and the highlights of the tournament are the international testing (at which black belts seek higher ranks before a panel of senior ranks and masters) and the Tournament of Champions (at which the top-ranked black belts compete to determine the year's World Champion in various divisions).

There are two National tournaments each year, one in the fall in Florida and the other in the spring in Nevada. Grand Master Lee and other ATA masters are present at both National tournaments. There also is an international tournament in South America hosted by the Songahm Taekwondo Federation (STF), which is the ATA's South American branch.

There are dozens of Regional tournaments each year throughout the United States. For information on upcoming tournaments, see the Tournament Schedule.

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Last modified: June 12, 2000

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