Worlds 2009...

No glory for Carl yesterday at the 2009 American Taekwondo Association World Championships in Little Rock. I qualified in the Top Ten in the world in my age division for forms. Here I do my form. I guess I have to be content with the achievement of getting there, I did not go to many tournaments this year, but placed well in the ones I attended. Tall guy standing to my right, hands on hips took world champ forms and sparring.

Does standing on one leg like this make my butt look big? I may have to stop doing that. I did have enough points to win Texas State Champ for the second year in a row. Flags on the back wall in addition to the U.S. and Korean are from the ATA, WTTU and STF, the various ways our association is known around the world.

Two more students from our school qualified for Top Ten, Mrs. Willis and Miss Rowjee, but no place for them either. People ask me about our school and I tell them that the instruction is good enough to get you to the big show.


If you don't place you get a nice little ribbon, kind of like a military decoration that if you go on and spent a couple of thousand on instructor camps you can then get a blue suit like Senior Master Lee has on here as I shake his hand and wear the ribbons to let folks know your story.

One of my TKD friends from the Midland school joked that the Top Ten ribbon cost him $10,000. I hate to hear that because through the years Cathy was Top Ten Forms and sparring, Morgan was Top Ten (placed second sparring at worlds) Mary has been Top Ten twice and now me. That's a lot of late night driving, bad sleeping on hard hotel beds, fast food, getting up early, staying late, judging rings, and so on on a tournament trail that has lead from Orlando to Las Vegas through Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas.

I guess you have to take the journey in perspective. First time I went to worlds as a 1st degree black belt I thought I was ready. Got my hat handed to me, nothing. Since then I have continued to progress and work as I have been able to be competitive at world and national tournaments. May be by the time I hit that 60-69 ring I will be hitting my prime. You know how it goes, the older you will get...