See Calendar for tournament dates.

See TaekwondoAmerica.org for tournament results.

Taekwondo America tournaments allow Taekwondo students to compete against other students from around the region and nationally. Taekwondo America tournaments are closed tournaments (meaning the are only open to schools and students who are members of Taekwondo America). Since our tournaments are only open to Taekwondo America members, you may be assured that the same professional behavior, rules, regulations, and safety precautions used in our school will also be used in the tournaments. 

Tournaments are conducted four times a year: two regional tournaments (March and July) and two national tournaments (January and September). Regional tournaments are held within the different Taekwondo regions, so they may be easily attended by all students in the regions. National tournaments are held at various locations around the United States. Recent national tournaments were held in Greensboro, NC; Roanoke, VA; Orlando, FL; Tupelo, MS; and Lexington, KY.

Tournament sparring is a "game." As in other games, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, even if you are one of the best competitors. Tournament competition emphasizes participation, fun, and learning, not just winning. Everyone wants to be a winner, but if you do your best, then you may feel proud of your performance, even if you lose. 

Tournament competition is divided into two types:

• Sparring Competition

  • One-step sparring for white and yellow belts

  • Sparring combinations for orange belts

  • Free-sparring for green belts and above

• Pattern Competition

  • For all belts.  

As a registered competitor, you may compete in either the sparring or pattern competition, or both. The competition divisions are further divided according to belt rank and age so competitors will only compete with other competitors of the same approximate rank and age. In large divisions, competitors are further divided into subdivisions according to height. This helps equalize the competitors even further. 

In sparring competition, two competitors spar against each other and the winner advances to the next round, until a winner is determined. Taekwondo America uses single elimination, continuous sparring with foot contact to the head but no hand contact to the head. For color belts, no contact is required to score; a technique only needs to come close, not be blocked, and delivered with power and control. For black belts, the same rules apply except for a technique to score, it must touch its target.

Pattern competition is judged on an 1-10 scale. There are three judges and the competitor with the highest average score wins. In the event of a tie, the competitors who tied will perform their patterns again. Competitors have two chances to successfully complete their pattern.

All referees and judges are black belt instructors from participating Taekwondo America schools. Other ring officials are black belts or color belts who are interesting in becoming instructors. Although the judges are black belts and most have years of judging experience, they are still human and may make bad calls. This is a part of any competition, you accept the calls, good or bad.

First through fourth place trophies or medals are awarded in each division. Spirit trophies or medals are awarded to all other competitors to reward them for their competitive spirit.

To see how Olympic style Taekwondo sparring compares to our style of sparring check out this video Olympic Sparring Clip of the third round of a three-round match. Notice lack of blocking and lack of hand attacks. The clip lasts for three minutes so it will take awhile to download, even on broadband.