Competition is an important learning tool in Tae Kwon Do. It is a way to gauge whether or not what you have been studying in class, will work for you in application and under pressure. It is a way to determine whether or not you have practiced your techniques often enough to make them automatic. If you have to stop and try to remember a form half-way through it, your score will be low. If you become distracted, or if you worry about the outcome during a sparring match, you will probably be hit by your opponent. However, if you are focused, if you are calm, and if you have practiced until your reactions are automatic, you will be successful at competition.
Being successful at competition means learning from it. Many students believe that the person standing across from them in competiton is their enemy. This is a misconception. Your true opponents are your own fears and anxieties. The person standing across from you in competition is your partner and your teacher, not your enemy. From that person, you will learn to be a better martial artist.
Students and instructors of Two Rivers Martial Arts have several opportunites annually to compete in Tae Kwon Do tournaments. All black belts are asked to assist in running these tournaments by judging, refereeing, score keeping, or assisting the hosting academy in some other way. Tournament's frequently attended by TRMA students include Grandmaster Woo Jin Jung's in Cedar Rapids, Grandmaster Chung Eun Kim's in the Quad Cities, and the Northeast Iowa Tae Kwon Do Championships in Oelwein, Iowa. Two Rivers Martial Arts first hosted the Pil Sung Tae Kwon Do Tournament in the Spring of 2001 and hopes to do so annually in the future.
Grandmaster Jung is Master Heintz's Tae Kwon Do master. Master Heintz trained with Grandmaster Jung for more than 20 years. They maintain a close relationship and consequently many students from our academy attend Jung's tournament each year. This tournament is invitational so participants are generally members of the Jung's family of Tae Kwon Do academies or close friends. This tournament is conducted in a friendly atmosphere in which courtesy and competition go hand-in-hand. It usually takes place during November in Cedar Rapids and has been held annually since 1974. Competitors attend this tournament from Iowa and several surrounding states.
Grandmaster Kim is one of Grandmaster Jung's closest friends. He hosts the U.S. Open Metropolitan Tae Kwon Do Championship each year in Davenport, Iowa. This is an open tournament in which students from many different martial arts, academies, and locations compete together. The competition is very intense because many people with very diverse backgrounds and training attend. Grandmaster Kim's tournament typically takes place during Labor Day weekend and is held at Teikyo Marycrest College in Davenport, Iowa. This tournament was first held in 1973 and has been held every year since. Competitors from throughout the Midwest, and from a variety of martial arts, attend this tournament.
Students of Jung's academy host the Northeast Iowa Tae Kwon Do Championships each year in Oelwein, Iowa. This is a growing tournament primarily drawing students from the Jung's family of Tae Kwon Do schools in Iowa. It has been increasing in size each year and is regularly attended by students from our academy. This tournament has been held annually for more than a decade.
The Pil Sung Tae Kwon Do Tournament, hosted by Two Rivers Martial Arts, is an invitational tournament. It emphasizes friendly competition in a courteous atmosphere in the tradition of the tournament that was hosted by the Eric Heintz Black Belt Academy from 1983 until 1997.
At each of the above tournaments, students and instructors may participate in three different types of competition: forms, board breaking, and free sparring.