Father, son compete in tournament

Marty and Tate Kaczmarek of Sisters competed in the Washington State Poomsae Championship and National Qualifier tournament in Seattle last month.

Marty, or "Master K" as his students refer to him, is the founder and head instructor of Outlaw Martial Arts, the taekwondo school at SPRD. Tate is his 6-year-old son and a first-grader at Sisters Elementary School.

Tate was awarded the highest score of all color belt competitors aged 14 and younger. In the process he also qualified for the Taekwondo Junior Olympics in Dallas, Texas, June 29-July 4.

Tate has been practicing Taekwondo since the age of 3.

"Tate was very comfortable at the tournament," said his proud father. "For his age, he has lots of experience. He has already competed in over 10 tournaments. He loves to train and attends three to four classes a week."

Now holding the rank of High Red Belt, Tate is on track to test for black belt at the end of this year.

By finishing second, Master K qualified to go to the National U.S. Team Trials for Poomsae in Dallas at the end of June this year.

"It was a great experience," said Master K. "It is extremely rewarding to compete together as a family. To be able to watch your child grow with confidence in such a rewarding sport is incredible. In this format of Sport Poomsae, you compete one at a time, so everyone's eyes were on Tate as he placed first, and he did it with one of his best performances to date under that kind of pressure."

For the Kaczmareks, taekwondo is a family affair. Along with Tate, Master K's other two sons, Tristan and Tanner, and his wife, Jayme, are well on their way to becoming black belts.

The Washington State tournament was a competition for Sport Poomsae only. The USAT, the governing body for taekwondo in the United States (www.usa-taekwondo.us), has made policy that all state qualifiers must separate poomsae from sparring next year. Other martial arts tournaments include sparring matches, board breaking as well as poomsae.

Poomsae is a series of defensive and offensive techniques performed in a specific pattern and sequence. Poomsae is often referred to as "form" in other disciplines. In the taekwondo classroom, or dojang, poomsae is used to practice stances, blocks, kicks and punches.

As a student progresses through the ranks, the patterns become more intricate, and the variation, difficulty and number of movements increase.

"Sport Poomsae has very specific guidelines and rules governing where hands and feet must be placed for certain moves, and then also how those kicks, blocks, stances and punches must be thrown in order to not have points deducted," said Master K. "A competitor starts with 10 points, five for technical and five for presentation. Judges deduct points from their 10 as they are performing, like you would see in figure skating, diving and other sports where the closer you get to 10, the better you performed."

Competitors are judged on technique, accuracy, timing and how well they follow the fundamental theory or meaning of the form.

Master K began his martial arts career at the age of 12. He became a black belt in 1985 at the age of 15. He continued taking classes and then started teaching when he was in his 20s for about five years. It was a part-time position as an assistant instructor at a different school. To become a more complete martial artist, in addition to taekwondo, he has trained for over 30 years in kickboxing, Muay Thai and, for the last couple of years, jiu-jitsu.

Practicing taekwondo has many benefits: Improved physical health, conditioning and flexibility. It promotes confidence and self-respect as well as respect for others.

"Training together as a family is very rewarding," said Master K. "Our school has lots of sibling groups and children and their parents. It's a great way for families to do something together that's fun and challenging."