Question about your tournment classes????

[freedomfighter04]

I going to be starting up a tournement class here at my school and I was woundering do you guys set a minimum requirement before students can do the tournments, or if a white belt / beginning student is interested they can go ahead and do the tournements?

Thanks
Aaron

[moogong]

I have never had a tournament TKD class but back in my karate days the required age was 7.

[Gae-Bek]

It's more a question of what your goal is in going to tournaments. Do you see them as more of a learning opportunity for your students? Or more of a way to get your school's name out there?

For the latter, you'd want only your best students competing. Otherwise, I wouldn't put any kind of requirement on it. Geez, I know instructors who'll throw someone in a tournament after training for only a few weeks. For us, we don't restrict anyone. But, at the advanced levels, I do voice my opinion that they should not compete if they've taken a long period of time off.

The last tournament that we went to, two of our Red Belts who hadn't been to class for 5 months, just up-and-decided to compete. It was the Head Instructor's call to let them, and I flat-out told him it was a mistake. Not only could they have been hurt, but let's say they go-out and get their butts kicked...today's Red Belts are tomorrow's Black Belts. They're suppossed to be the best underbelts we've got. Anyone watching, will think that we (the instructors) don't know what we're doing, because our Red Belts stink.

[Tang-Soo-Architect]

5th Gup is the minimum rank for forms and fighting