regarding the banner.... i was supposed to of picked it up tues night at class, however im still off work sick this whole week with bornchitus, it sucks so unless T gave it to you monk for nick to pick up i dont think it will be this weekend sorry all.... i am the weakest link cough cough......
Well...I made it to the Texas Tournament but was not feeling well at all (also left my house at 3:30 am for the 3 hour drive to Houston). I served as a time keeper/record keeper all morning for the colored belt division. Once that was done (around 2:30) I was sick as a dog with a good fever. I tried to warm up...go through forms... and they looked as good as I felt. So I packed up shop and drove 3 hours back home and slept for 11 hours. There was no reason to sit in a cramped ring and spead the flu. I have placed my "entry cards" on my wall at home next to my medals from previous years. It looks funny. All of my students won medals so that was VERY cool! Now if I can just shrink the size of their heads!
In response to the opening query--I attended the Great Lakes Tournament this year, my first tournament as I have only been in Kuk Sool for six months. I am not sure what is considered typical, so I will fill you in on what a novice like me found interesting. The event was held in the gym of a fitness center. The gym seemed to be a bit larger than a full sized basketball court. There were 300 competitors according to my instructor. Despite the small size of the forum, I was impressed with how smoothly the competition ran. The school (or schools) from Sault Ste Marie loaded three busses with competitors, family and friends. This included 30 brown belts. I got there at the end of the morning kids competition so I don't have a lot to mention about that. The demonstration included the promotion ceremony for I believe were 9 blackbelts. The black belt demonstrations included board breaking and even one demonstration of brick breaking (the bricks resembled cement, could someone fill me in on what they are made from). Master Alex Sung Woo Suh narrated most of demonstration. He also performed a sword demo and a board breaking whereby he jumped up to a wall, kicked away from the wall, and then kicked a board held about seven or eight feet off the groud. Unfortunately, the video my family was taken went blurry during this breaking demonstration. I believe Master Harvey performed a Cho Geup Hyung with a female black belt and a yellow belt who appeared to be around 8 or 9 years old (possibly his wife and son?). They were set upon by two attackers whom they dispatched in a very comical manner. The adult tournament proceeded pretty smoothly. But there were a few other interesting points. -The third and fourth place medals were reversed. Copper was awarded for third and bronze for fouth. This seemed to have been decided very recently because the MC at the end of the tournament still referred to the "Third Place Bronze" and "Fourth Place Copper". -There was an informal air around Kuk Sa Nim, when we got there he was sitting outside the gym entrance in street clothes. My wife told me that he almost paid her entrance fee to him. -One of our red belts competed with an injured foot. She then aggravated her condition so that her husband needed to help her walk. At the end of the ceremony, our class took a picture with Kuk Sa Nim and Master Barry Harmon. When our instructor told Kuk Sa Nim how she competed injured, Kuk Sa Nim walked over to the medal table and brought back a gold for her--the KSW equivalent of a Purple Heart, if you will. Afterwards, Master Harmon told our instructor that this was a first. -I believe Master In Joh Su was the person who played with my 10 month old and asked her where her medals were. I have heard every now and again that he and KSN are a little too serious about themselves, from my limited experience I did not find that to be the case. -The Sault Ste. Marie school won the tournament and the right to hold the banner. Pictures were taken, if I can find any without gratuitous shots of myself I would be glad to post them. The Sault Ste. Marie web site has some good shots from the past three Great Lakes Tournaments--click on their tournament marker. Presumably they will be posting some from this year as well.
I'm really trying to remember. I think one was from California. Was the third from The Woodlands? I only ever remember KJN Foster wearing the red General's uniform.
