Should my child be in the school tournament?

Now, I am asked often about whether 'my child' is ready to participate in a tournament, or what are the benefits of doing so? All excellent questions.

First, it is really never too soon to enter a tournament, especially an interschool one. People will often express the concern about experience. "My child is only a Yellow Belt, so I think it is better to wait" The truth is the experience level for all the Yellow Belts is about the same. Maybe one or two tournaments, but basically the same. Waiting till Green or Blue Belts means that the competitors they are starting against could have several tournaments under their belts by then. So again, the sooner the better.

Next, what if my child loses? This could be very hard on his or her self esteem! Competing in "OPEN" tournaments, like our tournament team does is a demanding thing. An interschool tournament is designed as a support system, to allow the child to discover what competition is like, in a friendly, low pressure, supportive environment. A place were if you do your BEST, you know win or lose, that you are a winner because you TRIED. Winner and losing is part of life. In fact we fail more often that we win everyday. Learning to deal with these losses as well as victories in a positive way is so very important.

These tournaments are not big money making events for our school. If we were looking for a big payday then hosting an Open Tournament, where people from other cities, styles and school participate is the way to go. An interschool tournament has only one purpose, further the education and experience of the student.

In the past we have hosted 2 such tournament per year. One in the fall and one in the spring. Starting with this tournament we are cutting back to one per year. This one scheduled for Saturday February 10th. A date for the event in 2008 has not been set. If our participation level is good for the years tournament, we will sit down and look at a date for next year. As our school continues to grow available time slots become scarce.

Our tournament is well run and fair. The children are grouped by age, size and belt ranks. The more participants we have the easier this job is, and the better the experience for all the children involved. If you have not participated in this great event as of yet please consider supporting it. If you have handed in your application already I thank you.

If you have any questions, comments or concerns please feel free to contact my office, either in person, by phone or email.

Yours in the arts,

Master Art Mason