Hudson Valley hosts 10th annual AAU Taekwondo Championship
Hudson Valley hosted the annual Adirondack Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) District Championship tournament on Saturday, Feb. 15. The 37 opposing martial art academies lined up and prepared for their eight hour day of competing starting at 9:00 a.m.
“This state championship decides which schools and which individuals qualify for the AAU Nationals and Junior Olympic games,” said Adirondack AAU district sports Director and Coordinator Joe Hasan.
Nationals take place in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. in July, with the time and day for this year to be announced.
Those five and up could compete and qualify for the championship and all level belts were welcome.
The competitions included team forms, all level forms, sparring (by point) and Olympic sparring.
The medals of bronze, silver and gold were distributed immediately after a competitor’s floor performance and other awards including Top Supporting School award and Top Supporting Traveling School award.
The Adirondack AAU Championship hosted schools from several different states which included New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Virginia.
“There are no restrictions to the states each school competes in for their National qualifier,” said Hasan. “We’ve hosted teams from Ohio to Illinois.”
Saturday marked the 10th annual Championship held at Hudson Valley.
“Square footage wise, fitting six separate mats, room for vendors, side tables, bleacher seating and enough room for athletes to practice, this is the largest and best facility we could have ask for,” said Hasan.
Not only is this championship highly recognized, but for the first year, Adirondack AAU will be scoring points using the KP&P wireless electronic scoring system. KP&P has been endorsed for the past two years by the Korea Taekwondo Association and has now been fully developed by WTF Optimized Taekwondo Electronics.
The KP&P detects weight, balance and forced pressure from the companies electronic padded sock detector. Each competitor is recalibrated on the system and immediately scored.
“The past two years it’s really only been used for top training elite athletes,” said Hasan. “We are pleased to have this technology for our competitions.”
Being director and coordinator of the Adirondack AAU Taekwondo, Hasan is able to still practice and teach the skills that have been passed down to him.
“I’ve been training since 1984,” said Hasan. “My father had trained me starting at the age of four.”
Hasan has won many high ranked titles and medals and teaches at Pil Sung Taekwondo in Guilderland.
To track further events, visit http://www.adirondackaau.org.