This is a dedication to the worst tournament I have had the misfortune to attend so far.
Sunday, March 2nd, I took a ride to Tamaqua, PA for the COAL KICKIN' Tournament. I had discovered it online and decided to check it out. After a beautiful ride through the mountains with high hopes and high energy, I arrived a little before the 10 am SHARP! musical forms competition. Well the 10 am SHARP! turned into 10:40 give or take. They started with musical forms individuals and teams. What struck me as odd was 'musical anything' is usually for entertainment or demo only at the other tournaments. I was excited at the prospect of seeing it none the less. It was ok... I felt a little robbed when I found out they had this as competition but no breaking! NO BREAKING! I have never even heard of a tournament that had no breaking! Board breaking is a display of true technique. Without good technique, one cannot break boards. This missing was a good indication of what this 'tournament' was about...
That aside I also noticed not a single Korean or Asian Master. This in itself I found very unusual! Well after the musical forms they began with BlackBelt forms. This to me is an ART! Watching it is mesmirizing. Well expectations were dashed for me! I was standing near the judges, and they hardly even LOOKED at the competitors. They were looking right, left, behind etc... I was shocked. The first two competitors were in their own devision. A blackbelt performing a red belt form (poorly) won over another blackbelt performing an advanced blackbelt form. When the judges were asked how could that be they actually said (I HEARD THEM) ... "THAT DOESN'T MATTER HERE! THIS ISN'T NATIONALS" then they actually chuckled! OK, I was set to leave because this seemed like a backwoods thrown together "party" that was just for people who knew one another. If you were not known, you were actually ignored - even looked at funny! Well behind me was lower belt weapons. Imagine my surprise when someone who dropped their weapon during competion scored higher than another that didn't! OK. I'd had it at this point, but decided to watch ADULT BLACKBELT WEAPONS, since this is one of my favorites. 3 men and one woman. The woman had a sword, two men had bo staffs and one had an oar. The staffs were very clumsy! I couldn't believe how sloppy it looked. The oar was ok but nothing I hadn't seen a hundred times. The woman with the sword was Breathtaking! It was flowing smooth, lots of differnt moves, flawless IMO. The sword looked like an exstention of herself! I had seen her at another tournament a number of months ago -(Funny I never saw any of the other competitors before). I knew she would get first. Well when she didnt even place I gasped, along with the stranger standing next to me, who actually said under his breath, "are you kidding?".
My daughter will be doing tournaments soon... NOT THIS ONE! She was not impressed and actually asked me if they were all this BAD (shes 9). I told her NO. Im taking her to the Keystone State Championships in April where she may even compete. (Of course if she decides she's ready ;) ) The Keystone State Championships never fail to impress and the judges PAY ATTENTION. So don't ever waste your time with the COAL KICKIN' Tournament! Its not worth it!
12 comments:
I've heard about this 'tournament'. I think it's only for 3 or 4 local karate schools. You're right, it really isn't worth going to unless you're a member of one of these schools.
I had read this review a few weeks ago when I decided to attend 2009 Spring Coal Kickin. I kept an open mind and did not let this review bias me but I kept it in the back of my mind. Today was the actual event so now I can truly respond to your article.
First of all, there are a lot of tournaments without breaking. Not every style does breaking... just because your style might do it does not mean other styles are any less for not doing breaking. (On a side note, I currently train in TKD, so my school does focus on breaking.... i'm not just a "non-breaker" speaking without experience here).
Second of all, for you to say "[...] I also noticed not a single Korean or Asian Master" comes across as a very arrogant and perhaps even racist comment. Why do tournaments *require* Korean or Asian Masters? Are people of that race the only eligible to be a true master?
And now for my review of the day... it was a very well run tournament. Perhaps what you experienced was an instance of this event where they had an influx of new competitors... more than they had expected... perhaps because the tourney is getting more popular. Today the gym was PACKED and this wasn't just "3 or 4 local schools". This was many schools from the tri-state area and a lot of very good, very talented competition.
The tournament ran very smoothly. It started right on time and from what I could tell the entire gym full of people enjoyed the event. There was certainly a very small amount of instances where somebody won over someone else that seemed... a little out of place. But that happens at ANY tournament. It is entirely subjective.
I think this was a great local tournament (within 1.5 hour drive for me) and I plan to attend the Fall 2009 tourney as well with more people from my school (12 of us went today). After experiencing this tournament first hand, I would have to chalk your critique up to either a single bad instance of the tourney (doesn't seem likely based on what I saw) or you being overly biased and closed-minded to the notion of OPEN tournaments (very likely).
I happen to agree with Andres Becerra. I have attended many northeast PA tournaments as a competitor and the parent of a competitor, and this is, by far, one of the best run tournaments. It's fair, and the judges do watch the competitors, because I am there with them as a score keeper. I see it from the front line, not from a bleacher. These judges care, they comment about the competitors, and they are there to truly promote the art.
I'm sorry that you have such a bad taste in your mouth about this. We are in northeast PA, not New York, Philadelphia, or some other large city. There are many schools represented, and the camaraderie is there among the instructors and students. You can see it. The competitors have gotten to know each other through the years, as have the judges, and it's a wonderful day. Any issues are addressed immediately, and resolved quickly to make it a win-win situation for all involved. Maybe the writer of the blog should just stay where he is and leave us in our own happy little world...We like it here!
Racist?
many of these asians are grandmasters 7thdan + having devoted a liftime to learning marital arts and often many different styles.
they aren't 30yr old 4th Dans or 1-3rd Dan with little or no experience in any other martial art other than one. How could one with such little experience possibly fairly judge such a variety of styles (TKD, tang soo do, kung fu, etc) not to mention such a variety of weapons.
It's my experience that only asian Grandmasters Judge fairly. I just attended a wonderful tournamnet that I wll go to every year.
As for "he" staying where "he" is, I'm a she. I was at this tournament and wrote the truth of what I saw.
I am far from closed minded Mr Becerra, Those judges looked everywhere but where they should be. I'm glad your experience was a good one, but I'm keeping myself and everyone I know far away from this biased tournamnet. Judges chuckling at competitors does not seem fair to me.
Only Asian Grandmasters Judge fairly? LOL Amazing what you find when surfing the net. My next event is Sunday March 7, 2010.
Master K. Dillon
E. D. Coalkickin Martial Arts
Master Dillon! I was just looking for info on your Spring tourney! I will definitely be there along with a big group of my students. I look forward to seeing you again at your great event.
Cheers,
Andres Becerra
Oh My...I have also attended this event for many years. It has been going strong for as long as I have been competing (15+ years) It is a large event that is run very efficiently and fairly. Not sure what is up with the OP's perspective of this event.
I was at that tournament and I injured my knee warming up---it has been replaced. I was the man with the Oar kata, that you said, you have seen hundreds of times. 99% of most people don't know that traditional Kata. ( Sounds like a lie from you )
I was promoted by two Okinawan Organizations to 10th Dan,Hanshi. I won 8 years in a row: All Okinawa World Karate Champion.
You said you studied karate as a child, With all your wisdom, knowledge and great insite, how old are you now--age two???
After 30+ years of martial arts (not in Pa.) I can honestly say this tournament SUCKS! Just check out the history of the nonsense school that runs it. Goshin jutsu? Durant? Complete FRAUD! Google it all and enjoy the laughs.
I have not yet attended this tournament, my son is actually competing in it today, but I don't need to go to be completely outraged by this ignorance. First of all, karate is about respect and discipline, something that this individual obviously lacks. If you read the flyer it is a CHILDREN'S tournament. Not NBL, or SKIL, or any other high pressure competition. It is a tournament that is constructed to give CHILDREN the oppurtunity to get their feet wet in the competition world. I have taken my son all over this country as well as others; he is a national and world champion, and neither I nor he would ever speak so disrespectfully about a Master who has taken the time every year to organize an event for kids from our area and others to come out and have a good time. As for the event starting SHARP, I have never been to a tournament that started precisely when it stated it would, and it is usually not due to the tournament director. I was once at an event that started over an hour late because the Grand Master special guest was flying in from Korea and was running late at the airport. Another one that I was scorekeeping at had a school coming from 3 hours away with over 25 students and they got lost. The tournament director waited or them to arrive before starting the first event. I can see where an ignorant person would hold that against them on both counts. The bottom line is those judges, whether you or I agree with their decisions or not, have earned their titles and their seats. They don't need to be experts in all forms because they are judging technique..stances, transitions, cleanliness of moves. Maybe you sould have stayed in karate and become a 10thdan, well of course that is if you are Asian. Get a clue. This ignorance is exactly what's wrong with our youth.
I just wanted to follow up on my post from yesterday. My son competed at this tournament and had a great time, and would like to attend again next year. The thing about kids is that they feed off of their parents attitude.
So if your child had a less than good time maybe you should re evaluate the negativety that you are radiating to him/her. A child that is a true enthusiast would probably enjoy competing in someones backyard under a tent for a popsicle...I know my son would. It is the thrill of the competition. Great job Mr Dillon. We will see you again next year.
Constant Critic pretty much hit the nail on the head.
Sloppy training, sloppy teachers, a self created style with no real foundation on any specific style. (Ask for the history of the school or google it - google will give you an entertaining story of ego filled idiots and none of the teachers will be able to tell you a true history of the style). Lacking any real discipline or structure. The teachers are lazy and are prone to running their classes and tournaments like their schools, on their schedule.
This of course leads to their students behaving and learning those same bad habits. Lazy, unorganized and unstructured.
And yes, welcome to the backwoods of PA where it doesnt matter how well you train; only that you
-are a student of the joke of a style they teach
- lucky or unlucky enough, depending how you look at it, you got a judge who didnt know how to judge (which is common for them) or was too busy checking his iphone while judging or talking with other judges.
- the judge decides in the middle of judging a match he needs to use the bathroom so simply gets up and walks away (the founder of the style *snicker*)
The take-away from this is...avoid this school as a whole, as well as all of their branch schools, and avoid their tournaments.
The style is a joke, the teachers are a joke, their schools are a joke and of course their tournaments are an even bigger joke.
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