The 2010 National Collegiate Taekwondo Championships will be held April 17-18 in Denver, Colorado at the Metropolitan State College of Denver. For more information, visit the official website.

We will be flying down to Denver on Friday and staying Friday and Saturday nights. The cost per competitor will be around $200. We highly encourage everyone to go--keep in mind that April 17 and 18 are the first two days of a four-day weekend!

General Information

There are several differences between Nationals and ECTC tournaments, including the following:

  • You will only compete in forms and sparring against those of your own rank and weight.

  • Sparring is individual, so you will not be sparring on a team.

  • The points you earn when medaling in sparring or forms is the same regardless of rank and will make up the school's total (a yellow belt placing first in forms earns as many points as a black belt placing first in forms).

  • There will be three rounds of sparring, as opposed to two in the ECTC. Color belt rounds are one minute long, and black belt rounds are two minutes long.

  • For sparring, there are four weight divisions for color belts and eight for black belts. For forms, there are two weight divisions for all ranks.

For a full listing of rules and weight classes at Nationals, visit the Nationals rules page.

Registration

If you are interested in participating this year, please follow these steps. If you have any questions, contact VP Becca Hung at beccah@mit.edu.

Note: make sure you are registering for the correct weight division! Unlike the ECTC, you will be disqualified if you do not make weight, and you will not get your registration fee returned!

  1. Make sure you're eligible! All students must be a minimum of 17 years old as of Jan 1, 2010 and also must be a full-time students at an accredited institution. Black belts interested in sparring or participating in poomsae team trials must also meet FISU eligibility rules.

  2. Sign up with the club using the form found here. The deadline to sign up is Friday, March 19!

  3. Register with the USAT Hang-A-Star system. If you are not already a USAT member, you will first need to join, which costs $35. After logging in, click the "Events" tab and find "2010 National Collegiate Taekwondo Championships" under the "Current" tab.
    Black belts competing in Poomsae Team Trials must also register for "2010 National Collegiate Poomsae Team Trials".
    Black belts who are not US citizens are still eligible to compete in the regular NCTA forms, which you can find under the regular registration.
  4. Pick up a copy of the NCTA eligibility form from Becca or print one out here. Get the form stamped in the Student Services Office in Building 11. This is proof that you are a full-time student at MIT. Please do this ASAP as it may take a day or two for MIT to complete the letter. Return this to Becca no later than Friday, March 19.

  5. Black belts competing in sparring or Poomsae Team Trials have several more steps to complete! You will need proof of US citizenship and proof of your black belt dan rank. Scan these documents and upload them to the Hang-A-Star system. You must also fill out the FISU Eligibility Form and return it to Becca no later than Friday, March 19.

  6. Forward your confirmation email from Hang-A-Star to Aaron (asampson@mit.edu) and Becca (beccah@mit.edu).

If you are not in Boston, please complete all of your registration yourself. The Metropolitan State College of Denver must receive all of your forms by April 7th. Please still sign up with the club using the form in Step 1 above, to help us coordinate logistics!