Chloe's Karate Tournament

Chloe wanted to sign up for this Tae Kwon Do tournament, so she did and we took her.

This trailer of wood was outside as back up supplies for all the people who wanted to break a wooden board.  We could smell that the wood had been cut recently.

Chloe was so excited about the tournament that she did not mind waiting in line to get in.  At all.

Even once we got to the tournament location, this boy still did not want to compete.  We wondered if there would be any regret over not signing up, but there was not.  He was quite content to just come along for the ride.

There were hundreds of kids, teenagers and adults who turned out to compete and to watch this Tae Kwon Do tournament.  We had to drop Chloe off behind-the-scenes earlier and didn't see her for about 15-20 minutes until she walked out into the gym with other competitors her age.

We had seats not far behind her.

The majority of the 5+ hours spent at the tournament was spent waiting.  Much of it with her turning around to make sure we hadn't fallen asleep or left her behind.

Finally it was her group's turn and she went out onto the floor to stretch.

Grand Master Lee and his wife came to the tournament and watched demo teams from every ATA school perform for him and the other lead instructors.

Once the demo team performances ended, Chloe's group was able to get down to business.  She was called up to show off her forms (a series of 16 movements in a specific order).

She is really good at her middle stance and others where she is supposed to sink down towards the floor with bent knees.

Ki-yap!

 Once she finished her forms, the judges rated her with hand scores.

After the other kids had all finished with their forms, the kids were called up for sparring.  We had a little last minute drama because Chloe did not have her mouth guard and would not be allowed to compete if she did not get a mouth guard.  Thankfully they were for sale at the front of the gym for just a couple of dollars.

Yay Chloe!

Even after she was done sparring and had removed her protective gear, she kept her mouth guard in.  Perhaps this child was afraid of losing it again?

Once her group was done sparring, each child was called up to receive a certificate for participating.

Chloe was awarded a special medal for competing.  Even though it was a really long day, she said she had a great time and wanted to do another tournament.  Owen said he still wasn't interested in competing in any tournaments.  And the parents made notes-to-self to bring snacks and seat cushions.