Martial artists to compete in national tournament

Six students from Outlaw Martial Arts, the Taekwondo school in Sisters, will compete in the USA Taekwondo (USAT) National Championship Tournament at the end of the month in Dallas, Texas.

The competitors, Taylor and Brenden Sickau, Nick Manley, Shawn Kelm, Dillon Tucker and Tate Kaczmarek, qualified for the national tournament by "medaling" this year in a USAT State Championship tournament. Also competing will be their coach, founder and head instructor of Outlaw Martial Arts, Master Marty Kaczmarek.

"This is a huge event," said Master K, "the biggest in the country."

The week-long tournament begins on June 29 at the Dallas Convention Center. Hundreds of Taekwondo practitioners will come from around the country to compete on the national stage. Grouped by age and belt rank, the Sisters "contingent" will compete in two events: sparring and Poomsae.

Poomsae is a series of defensive and offensive techniques (movements, stances, blocks, punches, kicks, etc.), performed in a specific pattern and sequence. Judges for the Poomsae competition are very critical and the slightest deviations from proper technique will result in score reductions.

"Poomsae at the national tournament level 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, 5 for technical and 5 for presentation.

Judges deduct points from the baseline of 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.

For big mistakes, like doing a down block instead of an inward block, a half point is deducted.

Small mistakes, such as a bent wrist instead of a flat wrist in a high block, result in tenth-of-a-point deductions.

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Sparring, for all age and rank groups, is full contact. Competitors wear protective gear and Electronic Body Protectors (EBP) and "sensing socks." Scoring is electronic, like in fencing. Competitors score points by striking an opponent with "jarring impact" to a legal area on the torso. For older youths and adults the head is also a legal target.

"We do well in tournaments," Master K says of his students. "For their age and belt ranks, they have lots of tournament experience."

Fifteen of Master K's students qualified to compete in the national tournament as well as assistant instructor and third-degree black belt Sherri Hermens.

"This is a testament to their hard work," said Master K. "These are six of my strongest students. They come to class and really commit to their training. I've added a special class for them to train specifically for this tournament."

"I'm honored and proud to be going to the national tournament and representing Outlaw Martial Arts," said Taylor Sickau, age 15. "I wouldn't have this opportunity if not for my teacher, Master K."

"I'm honored to go," said six-year-old Tate Kaczmarek. "I'm excited and I feel confident."

"Tate has lots of tournament experience for his age," said his father Master K. "He's already competed in more than 10 tournaments."

Ten-year-old Brenden Sickau said of competing in the biggest tournament: "I think I'll be nervous at first, but once it gets started I'll get over it."

"Sparring is my favorite event," said Dillon Tucker, age 10. "Sometimes you get kicked hard. When I get kicked hard it makes me want to try harder."

Nick Manley, age 8, said, "I didn't want to compete in tournaments at first. I like tournaments now and have been in five. I want to compete now."

Shawn Kelm, age 7 said, "My favorite tournament event is Poomsae."

For Master K, it will be a busy week. He'll be coaching both Poomsae and sparring for all of his students while competing in the Senior National Tournament and in the U.S. National Poomsae Team Trials.