Thanks again Cait, it looks like the XS size 1 should work. They claim on the website that the Height is 16". His 'dot' hogu (Adidas) is a size 1 (XS) and it's closer to 15". The width was about the same at 10". I'll just get the size 1. It'll work well enough for him now, and the way he's growing I'll be getting him a 2 soon enough. I'll try to get some stills from video of his last matches. He only sparred two guys and went 3-0, 3-0. We were hoping for some more competition at this tourny. Both were red belts from other schools. I'm sure he'll get more competition then he could hope for at the upcoming tournament.
Not really much I can offer in the way of equipment guidance as Cait and the others seem to have answered it already! However, if you get your son into Olympic style soon enough, with a good enough coach, he stands a great shot at representing his country at the Olympic Games. Check out http://www.usa-taekwondo.us/107_822.htm for approved USAT clubs in your state. A highly recommended one is Sport Taekwondo located in Sycamore. Not sure how far that is from your area. The web address is www.899kick.com. Best of luck to you and your son.
Got the order in. Everything fits great except his arm guards. They are just a little bit too long. I'm going to get him cloth ones till he grows into these. Quality of the stuff seems very good. I separated the shin guards from the instep guards, and they fit much better. The hogu rides a little "high" on him, but he's got lots of leg room now. This set should get him through this year. I'll get him the Adidas size 1 hogu for next year. Just want to thank everyone for their assistance and inputs. Special thanks to Cait for the links.
Wow, has it really been three months! My son was lucky enough to get a solid workout at another TKD school. They are more geared towards competitive sparring. I picked up a Mooto Hugo for him that fits perfectly. It was great to be able to have him try it on right there. I'm very grateful to everyone who replied here. And so is my son. The gearing suggestions were very helpful. He had his first "Olympic Style" competitive sparring event and he won first place! Six red belts, my son wasn't lucky enough to get the bye. His first opponent had been in many tourny's before and had always placed. It wound up a 9-9 tie, so it went to the "next point wins". My son got in the point and made it to the next round. Second opponent had a bye in the first round. My son did very well, jumping ahead 9-3 after the first round (7 point mercy was in effect). He wound up winning 11-4. Last opponent was pretty rough. He did a LOT of pushing around my son's neck. I noticed the refs let everything go, no warnings or penalties at all. I guess this was because they were colored belts. This kid actually smacked the sides of my son's headgear with his open hands! My son got him back though, a push kick got a little high and this kid got a whiff of my son's toes to his nose. No damage, play on. After the first round my son was behind 8-9. His coach told him to be quicker. Guess the advice worked because he won 12-9 with four quick points. Next tourny is middle of September. He's been working out all summer. Now he's getting back into his school schedule. Hopefully all his hard work will pay off in this next tourny and he'll do well. *Video of his tourny 1st - Red 2nd - Red 3rd - Blue
very nice vid, i'm impressed actually tell your son to bend his knee more and work on his chamber.... but he's doing very well for his age/rank you should be proud
Thanks for the kind comments. I'm very proud of what he's accomplished. He has a natural knack for TKD and a very positive attitude about training. I'll pass the note about chambering along. And yes Svart - beast would accurately describe him Next tourny in 2 weeks. I'll put that vid in the appropriate place. BTW if anyone wants to know about size or availability for gear, I can probably provide some advice. One thing I'd highly recommend: If you can, get your gear fitted. We ordered a hogu that didn't really fit, and he was going to have to use it. Luckily he got to work out at a Dojang that had gear available, and tried out the Mooto - perfect fit. *Forgot to mention, he won forms at the same tournament. Choong Moo FTW! Had a ref approach him afterwards and comment on his deep stances and power.
2008 Missouri Tae Kwon Do Invitational September 13, 2008 St. Peters, MO Directions are on the web site. Should be fun, but my son will have a bullseye on his Hogu. Two of the boys he beat in the last tournament were from Champion Martial Arts, and I actually think the third boy was as well. PM me if you can make it and I'll get you my phone number.
haha that's the one, i'll be the big bald guy fighting heavyweight bb it's my 1st tourney in a couple years though lol
I couldn't send you a PM. You must be J.M. or N.S. (They have the listing out.) My son is D.H. We probably won't be arriving until around 11:00am. Get checked in and ready for the events. My sons doing all three, Forms/High Jump and of course Sparring. We'll be with the UMACA crowd, red/black warmups.
