My Martial Arts Tournament Prep / myLot

United States

June 3, 2018 9:01pm CST

Right now, I am a 2nd degree black belt in taekwondo and am planning to compete in a tournament in Slidell, Louisiana (New Orleans suburb) when I make my annual visit down there this summer. I did not get to go last year because I did not save up enough money (if you see my post about my family's old hotel, you'll see why I make myself save far more than necessary just so I can stay there), so I really want to go this year and do well. I hope to be competing in the following events: Traditional Forms Traditional Weapons Sparring Creative Forms Creative Weapons XTreme Forms XTreme Weapons In addition to my regular training, I am doing HIIT every other day, and calesthenics every third day. In fact, I am going to do my calesthenics workout shortly. Every week I also have a certain section from one of my routines that I focus on, and sometimes a specific move that I practice. This week's move is my jump split kick. By the way, that is me in the photo above, from an exhibition I did some four years ago.

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6 responses

josefina

@josie_ (9763)

• Philippines

4 Jun 18

Taekwondo is normally associated with high kicks although some Dojang might incorporate weapons training for the advance student. Could you explain more about the XTreme weapons and Creative Weapons event. How do they differ from the Traditional weapons?

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skydancer

@skydancer (2101)

• United States

4 Jun 18

Hey there! At my dojang, the beginner through intermediate students have the option attending a special class specifically for weapons (and more if they're in the leadership program), however, it doesn't become an integral part of the training until black belt. For the traditional weapons competition, you must do a black belt weapons routine that is part of the curriculum. For creative and XTreme, you get to choreograph your own routine and have the option of setting it to music. In XTreme (also called XMA), you are allowed to do gymnastics/acrobatic moves and are also allowed to release the weapon, whereas with creative you are only allowed to use traditional martial arts skills and no releases of the weapon are allowed. Thank you for asking!

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skydancer

@skydancer (2101)

• United States

4 Jun 18

@josie_ You're exactly right -- the weapons are used the same - just the style of the kata differs. Traditional katas are generally a "mock fight" with each move serving a specific purpose while creative/XMA ones are mostly just for show. "Release" moves are any move where the weapon leaves your hands (ie. tossing it up and catching it). The photo I posted isn't actually from a tournament but from an exhibition performance I did. The tournaments are indoors, usually in places like stadiums, community centers, hotel ballrooms, etc.

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josefina

@josie_ (9763)

• Philippines

4 Jun 18

@skydancer _Thank you for explaining the differences. So the weapons use are the same in the different categories only the manner of executing the kata or technique differ. Although I'm not clear on the "release" aspect. Judging from your photo, the tournament would be in an open field and some kind of target put up around the contestant to hit?

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