Greetings to all our students, parents, families and friends,

On May 5, 2012 our dojo is host to the 2012 Pacific Northwest AAU Karate District Championships at Edmonds Heights (formerly Edmonds Homeschool Resource Center) located at 23200 100th Ave W., Edmonds, WA. 98020.  A volunteer sign up sheet is on the display case in the retail area and it is great to see new and old dojo supporters signing up to help.  Our events are a success when everyone from our dojo participates. 

The month of April will be dedicated to preparing for this event.  Students will be taught how to compete at a tournament in the kata (form), the kumite (sparring) and kobudo (weapons) divisions. 

The categories that athletes compete in are denoted by their age, gender, and time in training.

Athletes compete at the age that they will be by July 1, 2012.  For example, a student who is 10 years old today, but will be 11 years old by July 1, 2012 must compete in the 11 year old division.

We separate each division by gender.  Males and Females will not compete against each other in sparring.  However, in the children kata and weapons divisions we may blend the males and females which will be determined by the amount of athletes in those divisions.  Any division with less than 3 athletes may be combined with another at the discretion of the tournament director. 

Divisions are further separated by experience as follows.

Students with less than 1 year of training = Beginners

Students with more than 1 year but less than 2 years of training = Novice

Students with 2 years but less than 4 years of  training = Intermediate

Students with 4 years of training or more = Advanced

The registration forms are set up in way for us to capture this information ahead of time so that we can group the athletes in their appropriate category accordingly.  In general the categories for ages are as follows:

6 & Under, 7-8, 9-10, 11-12, 13-14, 15-16, 17-18, 19 – 34, and 35 & UP. 

Uniform Requirements for Athletes:

All athletes must wear a complete solid white karate gi. Sleeves and pants must be hemmed to appropriate length. Females must wear a white sport top or t-shirt under gi. (No rolled up sleeves or pant legs) An AAU Patch or NO patch may be worn on the left chest.

Uniform requirements of Officials:  Grey slacks with a black belt, white shirt, an AAU tie or blue or red tie, black socks and shoes, and a navy blue bazer.

Mandatory Safety Equipment for Kumite (sparring): Preferably White Helmets with attached face shields approved by AAU (Warrior Macho) for all athletes 18 years and under, mouth guards for all, groin protectors worn under the uniform for all male fighters, naugahyde knuckle pads for all, red, blue or white are acceptable, (No dipped foam or elastic cloth hand pads), Proper uniform and mandatory equipment required to participate. 

Optional Equipment: Shin and instep guards for juniors, shin guards for adults, chest protectors for female & junior fighters, certified sport glasses with strap or soft contact lenses only, face shields attached to helmets for adults, white chest guard worn under uniform for youth and females. 

Disallowed items: Headbands, jewelry, colored t-shirts, males must not wear a shirt under the gi, metal hair clips.  No long or dirty fingernails, no rolled up sleeves or pant legs.  Patches on gi must be adhered to the uniform (no pins). 

Registration forms can be found here on our website and can be picked up at the dojo.

Karate tournament participation is an integral part of our students development in goal setting, personal development, confidence building, sportsmanship, and so much more.  We encourage all of our students especially yellow belts and above to participate as a volunteer and/or and an athlete, and we rely on our students’ parents and family members to assist us as well. We will be having tournament training in class and will ask our family members to join in the fun to receive training in time and score keeping.