District Championship 2023

Dear Dad,

Yesterday was the Northeast District Championship for Taekwondo. We were both really nervous. I was hoping to walk away with a medal. With the season G3 had, we expected him to win a title–and he did, just not one we thought likely. 

On Friday night, G3 and I drove down to Lancaster to stay in a hotel. Kati was down in Delaware with her father–who is rapidly declining. On the way down, we stopped at Pudge’s–G3’s favorite cheesesteak place–to have dinner. We went there two years ago, the night before G3’s first District Championship and since he did well, it’s now embedded in our Districts tradition. The subs are stuffed with so much meat, Kati and G3 used to share a twelve inch. But G3’s gotten older and his appetite has increased. He was able to put away nearly the whole sandwich on his own. Since I’m not a meat eater, I opted for the grilled vegetables with cheese instead. 

After we ate, we continued the drive to the hotel. I planned to go to bed early and get a good night of sleep. However, a large group of people were having a party in the breakfast lounge area of the hotel. They were drinking and it seemed like they were celebrating something. As the night wore on, they got louder and louder, making sleeping impossible–even with ear plugs. Unable to sleep and getting grumpier and grumpier, I went downstairs to complain to the woman working at the desk. Miraculously, she managed to shut down the party–or get them all to be really quiet–allowing me to get the sleep this old body needed before competing.

In the morning, Kati drove up from Delaware and met us at a diner for breakfast. With nerves and anxiety having taken up residence in our stomachs, G3 and I weren’t very hungry, but we knew it was going to be a long day and if we didn’t eat we’d be famished long before our rings were called. As always, I ordered an omelet and coffee. G3 went with French toast and hot chocolate.

There were so many boys G3’s age and rank competing that they split the ring. When that happens at Districts, the winners of each ring have to face off. The winner of the face off becomes the District Champion in that event. One ring was judged by two Masters and a fourth degree. G3’s ring had two fourth degrees and a third degree. As far as judging goes, the rings were not equal–and we weren’t the only ones dismayed by how bad the judging was in G3’s ring. For the line-up, G3 drew the short straw. He was the first one called to do his form. Rarely, does someone who goes in the first three slots win. It’s just one of the pitfalls of competing in a subjectively judged sport. It seemed as if the stars were aligned against him. Even though he did his form as beautifully as he has all year, his score was the lowest it’s been in years–6-6-6. When G3 stepped off the mat, he was devastated. Last year he won the District title which earned him a spot at the World Championships. This year–after taking first in every tournament, except Fall Nationals–he wouldn’t even get a medal. He was more than a little discouraged and I could see tears in his eyes, but he refused to let them fall. G3 was not the only one who seemed to get an unfair score and many parents grumbled on the sidelines, telling us how they felt about the judges. One judge seemed to be randomly throwing out numbers with no regard for how the boys actually did. 

Weapons–the other event where we thought G3 had a shot at a title–went poorly as well. G3 was called to go second–usually when you get stuck in the first three for forms, you get to go later in the pack for weapons, but that was not the case yesterday. Luck was definitely not on his side, and Dad, I was beginning to wonder why you weren’t helping. As with forms, his scores were low, especially from the judge who didn’t really seem to know what she was doing. Again, G3 knew immediately that victory would not be his. He held on until the very end when he was beaten by a boy who visibility bobbled his weapon. Damn. At that point, we felt he was going home without a title. (It wasn’t as depressing as it would have been last year since he’s already qualified for the World Championship in three events, but still, it was achingly disappointing.) But it was not the first time we believed a tournament was over for G3 only to have him completely surprise us. 

As the boys were putting on their gear for combat, my ring was called. Damn. It’s the one thing about competing that I don’t like, the fact that I sometimes have to miss part of G3’s competition. However, his ring wasn’t far from mine, so I was able to watch a couple of his matches. He kicked butt in combat. When I looked over it was–I think–the semi-finals and he was going against a kid who was at least a head and a half taller than him. In combat and sparring, height is always an advantage–but it does not guarantee victory. G3’s signature strike is dropping low–so fast his body is a blur–and striking the leg of his opponent. It can be risky because it exposes his head and if his opponent strikes him they get two points. As a result, it’s only effective if you are super fast, which G3 is. He gets mad at me that I don’t try for that strike, but if I did, my knees would give out. I’d fall flat on my face, hand my opponent two points, and cripple myself for a month. Anyway, G3 is enjoyable to watch. He’s so incredibly agile that he seemingly dodges his opponent’s combat stick effortlessly. At one point though, he was down. But he didn’t let it get to him. He came back and claimed the victory. He won in his ring and then had to face off against the winner from the other ring. I am so bummed I missed it, but I did get to catch it on video. It was amazing. G3 was amazing. A mother of one of his competitors went over with Kati to cheer him on to victory. That’s one of the great things about this sport. You end up becoming friendly with other parents and competitors to the point where you support each other.

We were shocked back in October when G3 won Nationals in combat sparring. That shock was nothing compared to how we felt yesterday. He came back from two devastating losses to claim victory in an event he was so bad at a year and a half ago we had stopped paying for him to compete in it. But in the school he now attends–after 18  months of training–he went from getting slaughtered in the first round of every tournament, to becoming District Champ. That says a great deal about his instructors and his hard work and dedication. 

In sparring, G3 lost in the semi-finals to the boy whose mother cheered him on in combat. We all would have liked to see that boy win, but he didn’t.

As for me, I had spent the last month training obsessively. Every week, I had G3 work with me to improve my form and my combat skills. I would have liked to have earned a title myself, but I fell just short. I placed second in forms, losing by a point. But I did beat a woman who is ranked in the top ten in the world–a woman who beat me six weeks ago in Ohio–and I beat the New Jersey State Champion in forms. So, while I walked away without a title, my hard work–and G3’s coaching skills–earned me a silver medal and a couple of personal victories. I guess that’s not too bad. I also placed third in combat. Again, not as sweet as victory would have been, but definitely better than leaving without hardware around my neck. Considering this was my first season competing, and I only started halfway through the season, I’d say it was fairly successful. While I did earn the State Champion title in sparring, I opted not to compete at districts. The fee to compete is so steep per event that I limited myself to the two events I thought I had the best chance of placing in. I think I chose wisely.

To celebrate G3’s title we took him out to dinner at Miller’s Smorgasbord. I remember, Dad, how much you loved that restaurant. You took us there years ago when we were on vacation in Lancaster. I’m not sure what I used to like more, the taste of the food or the fact that we could keep going up and refilling our plates. I’m still not sure. I ate so much that I was definitely guilty of gluttony. I think the shrimp seasoned with Old Bay might have been my favorite, but I also really liked the vegetarian chili. Once I had sampled everything that looked good–Kati and G3 couldn’t believe I wasted stomach space on salad, but you know how much I love it–I helped myself to two desserts. Yes, they were small portions but I couldn’t decide between ice cream and tapioca pudding so I had both. The only thing that would have made the meal more enjoyable was if you had been there to eat with us–which, I’m sure, you would have been had you lived.

When dinner was over, G3 and I went home. Kati returned to her father in Delaware.

I miss you!