Ammon's 1st Taekwondo tournament

Today Ammon participated in his 1st ever Taekwondo Tournament. He'd been on the fence about doing it until a few days ago when Master Choe told him he should do it and get the experience. That sealed the deal for him.

Ammon participated in both the forms and sparring competition. His forms group had 5 boys in it ranging from green belt, to temporary red. Each boy got to pick what form they were doing. It didn't have to be their current form, just the one they felt they knew the best. They were judged on power, grace and technique. Ammon choose to do his red tip form. He was the 1st one to go. He was really quiet telling his form to the judges. He did a good job on his form and didn't seem nervous. Ammon placed 3rd out of the group and got a bronze metal.

For the sparring competition they had all the peewees go together, then broke them down into group. Ammon was in a group of 4 boys again ranging from green belt to temporary red. All the boys were 7 years old. Ammon went against the boy who won the forms competition in his group and he was good. They both got some good hits and a few kicks in, but in the end the other boy had more points (even with 2 warnings for kicking Ammon in the back). Ammon was excited to get a 2nd place trophy  in sparring.

I was so proud of him for being such a good participate. He was kind to the other competitors  polite to the judges and did his best on both his form and sparring. During his waiting time he was watching the others competiting and being very respectful. He walked out of the tournament very pleased with his accomplishments and he had a trophy and metal to show for it!

The other kids did such a wonderful job being good spectators and cheering Ammon on. They were quiet when they needed to be and were patient with sitting on the bleachers for the few hours we were there. We did have some fun things to do for when being patient got hard like the tablet, books, snacks and coloring. Grandma was able to be there for the entire time, and dad was able to make it for the forms competition, then needed to get back to work.

As we were leaving Master Choe came and talked to Ammon. He was very excited for him and his accomplishments at the tournament. Master Choe can be tough on Ammon when he needs it, but also be so gentle and proud of him. It's the perfect balance to get Ammon to put forth his full effort. Master Choe told him "you are young, this was your 1st tournament." He sees Ammon's potential, drive and effort, and knows that he can go far.

When we got home he put his trophy and metal with his kick-a-thon trophy he got last year and was so excited for us to come see them all together. He told me "Now I need a 1st place trophy, because I have a 4th place trophy from the kick-a-thon, a 3rd place metal from forms, and a 2nd place trophy for sparring."

We love you Ammon Eli and are so proud of all your hard work and dedication. You're going to go great places in your life!