What does an ATA Martial Arts Tournament look like?

Bowing In & Oath Recitation

Just like the beginning of every class, there is a bow-in for participants at an ATA Tournament. The process is a bit more involved and starts by having all participants (often hundreds!) line up in belt order. The entire tournament assembly recites the ATA oath used in ATA classes. There is a recognition of current and former military veterans, ATA school owners, higher ranking ATA members, and special guests in attendance. All participants then agree to abide by the tournament rules, most importantly, to act with respect to fellow participants and judges to ensure the safety and enjoyment of all in attendance.

Staging

Throughout the day, members of different competing classes are called into staging. These “classes” are defined by gender, age, and belt rank in an effort to put competitors into competition rings closest to their own levels. The competitor groups are called into a staging area where their registration information is confirmed. They are then split into groups for their competition ring. Once the specific groups are broken into rings, they are led out to the tournament floor to their ring for the day. Competitors will complete all of their events at the same ring – a nice benefit for parents and friends wanting to watch and support their competitor.

Forms

There are multiple types of forms one can register to compete in. You are not required to do any particular events. It is up to what you want to do. Traditional forms are the most common as it’s something every student must learn for each of their belt levels. Weapons forms are an optional form type utilizing Protech weapons. Where traditional forms have pre-designed routines, there are also Creative and Extreme form categories, with or without weapons, that you can choose to compete in. Creative forms are custom-made by the student and have specific guidelines you have to follow including things like not being allowed to release a weapon and note being able to be inverted. Creative Extreme takes those two guidelines away. This means you will often see things like weapons being tossed in the air and competitors doing flips and cartwheels in their Creative Extreme forms.

Sparring

There are also multiple types of sparring. White through Yellow belts generally participate in One-step Sparring. This is a no contact series of moves they learn at each belt level up to Yellow. They are also a requirement for testing, so each student learns them in class. For Camo belt and above, testing requirements move to traditional sparring – so that’s a popular sparring event at tournaments. In addition to those, there is also combat sparring that includes the use of a Bahng Mahng EE (a 2ft padded baton).

Rewards/Awards

One of the benefits of a tournament is to provide competitors an opportunity to test their ability against that of their peers. Students get this opportunity within their own ATA school, but a tournament extends that testing for personal development to the much larger group attending the tournament. Everyone walks away a winner regardless of whether they happen to take home a medal, but it’s still fun to earn a medal along the way. The greatest reward from a tournament is learning more about your abilities, where you can benefit from improvement, and where you excel and can help others improve.

Have Fun & Make a Friend

This is the running “tournament slogan” you will hear prior to an event. “Have fun and make a friend.” (It’s often followed with “and eat a hot dog” – a little joke at New Ulm ATA started as Mr. Schwab used to post a pic of him enjoying a hot dog at the tournament.) We see a lot of smiles, laughing, and joking at the tournaments. You will quickly start to recognize repeat competitors from tournament to tournament. You will also notice a lot of handshakes, fist bumps, and hugs after intense competitions. ATA Tournaments are a meeting with our extended ATA family – and it shows. If you keep your eyes open, you will also occasionally see a competitor helping someone they are about to compete against with something they might be stuck on at the moment. That’s a great example of how we not only want to test ourselves, but also build up those around us.

Interested in attending a tournament?

If this seems like something that you’d be interested in, talk to your instructor. They will help you identify upcoming tournaments to attend and what events you might like to compete in. Also, in the weeks leading up to a tournament, your instructors will help ensure you are ready to rock and roll with the events you will compete in.