1st US Open/US National Hanmadang

[miguksaram]

June 20-21, 2009 the 1st US Open/US National Handmadang will be held in Chicago, Illinois (Actually Schaumburg, Illinois 25 minutes from Chi-town).

You can register and view divisions at https://usopentkdhanmadang.com/.

So who is all going?

 

[Errant108]

You buying the drinks?

 

[IcemanSK]

After last year's World Hanmadang in Anaheim (hosted by the same folks) I'll pass.

 

[ATC]

Shouldn't that be the 2nd?

 

[searcher]

After last year's World Hanmadang in Anaheim (hosted by the same folks) I'll pass.

Was it that bad?

 

[miguksaram]

You buying the drinks?

If your happy a$$ shows up brother...you know I will pick up a few for you.

 

[miguksaram]

Shouldn't that be the 2nd?

No this is the 1st US Open...last year was a World Hanmadang. It was the first one that was done outside of Korea. I believe part of the problem was the USAT decided not to support it because they weren't the lead on it. Plus the scheduling wasn't well timed either with the team trials the following week.

Iceman,

I did not go to last years but, yes there were a lot of problems. No doubt about it. Did you attend? What were your thoughts and what did you feel needed improvement? I have been involved in coordinating parts of this one which I hope will run a bit more smoother than the Worlds and any feedback would be appreciated.

 

[mango.man]

I did not go to last years but, yes there were a lot of problems. No doubt about it. Did you attend? What were your thoughts and what did you feel needed improvement? I have been involved in coordinating parts of this one which I hope will run a bit more smoother than the Worlds and any feedback would be appreciated.

Will your referees stay on the floor and referee this year, or will they walk off the competition floor in protest like they did last year?

 

[IcemanSK]

No this is the 1st US Open...last year was a World Hanmadang. It was the first one that was done outside of Korea. I believe part of the problem was the USAT decided not to support it because they weren't the lead on it. Plus the scheduling wasn't well timed either with the team trials the following week.

Iceman,

I did not go to last years but, yes there were a lot of problems. No doubt about it. Did you attend? What were your thoughts and what did you feel needed improvement? I have been involved in coordinating parts of this one which I hope will run a bit more smoother than the Worlds and any feedback would be appreciated.

Yes, I did attend several days of last year's event in Anaheim, CA as a spectator. Here's where disappointment came in. If this had been a large tournament in So. Cal., I would have thought that it was fine. There were about 1000 or less participants. But this was not just any world event, this was THE world event that the KKW attaches it's name to. Yet, the president of the KKW (Uhm, Woon Kyu) was not there. I had a long talk with an insider to the events who told me many Korean teams pulled out. The Korean Tigers were billed as going to be there, but they didn't get on the plane. In Korea, this event draws 2000+ competitors. All the officials tried to put on a happy face for the Americans, but even they couldn't hide that it was up to Hanmadang standards.

There were a lot of very talented folks there to perform. Yet, they had to beg Ernie Reyes to bring his team down from San Jose to do a "special demo" when the K-Tigers didn't show.

What could be improved upon? Well, since it's now called the US Hanmadang, that's a big improvement. Actually, since it's only billed as a US event, it can only draw 1000 folks locally & still be a success. Don't expect 2000 if there are no "big names" coming for sure. The problem was the organizers sold the KKW on the fact that they could draw top folks from the US within 2 weeks of a USAT qualifer in Detroit. How many hardcore Kukki-TKD folks were financially able to do both last year?

My understanding (from scuttlebutt at the Hanmadang) was that many Korean folks did not care for the organizer & weren't coming. I'd heard many Americans felt the same.

I know that you have your hand in the US event. I don't mean to bum you out. But it seemed as tho someone's mouth wrote checks they couldn't cash last year.

I sincerely hope you have a successful event this year.

 

[ATC]

Yes, I did attend several days of last year's event in Anaheim, CA as a spectator. Here's where disappointment came in. If this had been a large tournament in So. Cal., I would have thought that it was fine. There were about 1000 or less participants. But this was not just any world event, this was THE world event that the KKW attaches it's name to. Yet, the president of the KKW (Uhm, Woon Kyu) was not there. I had a long talk with an insider to the events who told me many Korean teams pulled out. The Korean Tigers were billed as going to be there, but they didn't get on the plane. In Korea, this event draws 2000+ competitors. All the officials tried to put on a happy face for the Americans, but even they couldn't hide that it was up to Hanmadang standards.

There were a lot of very talented folks there to perform. Yet, they had to beg Ernie Reyes to bring his team down from San Jose to do a "special demo" when the K-Tigers didn't show.

What could be improved upon? Well, since it's now called the US Hanmadang, that's a big improvement. Actually, since it's only billed as a US event, it can only draw 1000 folks locally & still be a success. Don't expect 2000 if there are no "big names" coming for sure. The problem was the organizers sold the KKW on the fact that they could draw top folks from the US within 2 weeks of a USAT qualifer in Detroit. How many hardcore Kukki-TKD folks were financially able to do both last year?

My understanding (from scuttlebutt at the Hanmadang) was that many Korean folks did not care for the organizer & weren't coming. I'd heard many Americans felt the same.

I know that you have your hand in the US event. I don't mean to bum you out. But it seemed as tho someone's mouth wrote checks they couldn't cash last year.

I sincerely hope you have a successful event this year.

To add, I heard that many of the top Universities and schools from Korea did not come because color belts were allowed. I think that when held in Korea this is a Black Belt only tournament. I was told this is one reason why the Korean Tigers pulled out.


Also not every US school follows the KKW prescribed forms and have very different techniques. Many schools here in the US don’t even know that KKW sets the way the poomse’s are to be performed. I sat right next to a school owner and master and he was surprised that his students were getting scored so low. He had no idea that kicks were not to go above the chin and were not to be held. In his mind the higher the kick the better.

Plus USAT did a bad job of promotion.

Also the judging was not consistent. We were there and there were many inconsistencies in the scoring. A few mistakes also. There was one individual that scored the highest marks and somehow did not place.

 

[Errant108]

If your happy a$$ shows up brother...you know I will pick up a few for you.

Then I'm there.

Non-competing, of course.

 

[miguksaram]

Will your referees stay on the floor and referee this year, or will they walk off the competition floor in protest like they did last year?

I believe we will have all ref's sticking around this year. We have snipers in the risers if they try to escape. ha.haha..

 

[terryl965]

Here is the problem I see, what have you done to make sure that the folks are going to be taken care of? How will this tournament be different than the last one? What PR has been done to promote it? I am in Texas and have not recieved anything about it, if it was not on here I would know nothing. Where is the promo pack and the rules of fair play? That is right you only solicit certain groups or people right? You will have maybe a thousand people there and that is good for today but a far cry for an actual Humadang don't you think? I wish and hope you all the success but without getting out to everybody about it, it will stay a joke in my eyes. Sorry if I am affending anybody.

 

[miguksaram]

Yes, I did attend several days of last year's event in Anaheim, CA as a spectator. Here's where disappointment came in. If this had been a large tournament in So. Cal., I would have thought that it was fine. There were about 1000 or less participants. But this was not just any world event, this was THE world event that the KKW attaches it's name to. Yet, the president of the KKW (Uhm, Woon Kyu) was not there. I had a long talk with an insider to the events who told me many Korean teams pulled out.

One of the biggest problems I believe they faced was the fact that it was hard to secure visas for the competitors to come over. That was one of the difficulties of the Korean teams had as well as other national teams. Granted this is what I have heard, and not 100% sure myself.

I really wish I could have seen the tournament for myself so I could asses the situation and know first hand what went wrong or what could have been done differently to improve the situation.

What could be improved upon? Well, since it's now called the US Hanmadang, that's a big improvement. Actually, since it's only billed as a US event, it can only draw 1000 folks locally & still be a success. Don't expect 2000 if there are no "big names" coming for sure.

Hey, I will be there. What bigger name did you need.

The problem was the organizers sold the KKW on the fact that they could draw top folks from the US within 2 weeks of a USAT qualifer in Detroit. How many hardcore Kukki-TKD folks were financially able to do both last year?

I agree. This was a point that I brought up in an earlier meeting since we are holding this close to the qualifiers this year. I believe the thought process is that they will bring in the folks who aren't going to be Olympic bound TKD folks. I hope they are right.

My understanding (from scuttlebutt at the Hanmadang) was that many Korean folks did not care for the organizer & weren't coming. I'd heard many Americans felt the same.

I heard the same thing. After meeting Pres. Lee personally and talking with him I don't see why others wouldn't like him. He really is a very charasmatic guy and knowledgable on TKD. I know a lot of higher ups in the USAT don't like him and this could have been the cause of a lot of the skuttlebutt. So I don't know if people's opinoins of are based on hear-say or actual interaction with the man.

I know that you have your hand in the US event. I don't mean to bum you out. But it seemed as tho someone's mouth wrote checks they couldn't cash last year.

I sincerely hope you have a successful event this year.

I have a hand in as far as helping behind the scenes. I don't have a financial or "political" gain from any of it. The hard part for me is that I am coordinating the 44th Annual AKA Grands which is being held just one week before this event. So right now I am running with my head cut off. Needless to say I would enjoy seeing you there in hopes that you would give it a second chance (I'll throw in a drink to make the offer more enticing.), but I completely understand where you are coming from.

 

[miguksaram]

Then I'm there.

Non-competing, of course.

Of course. Let me know if you make it in. We will definitely do drinks.

 

[miguksaram]

Here is the problem I see, what have you done to make sure that the folks are going to be taken care of? How will this tournament be different than the last one? What PR has been done to promote it? I am in Texas and have not recieved anything about it, if it was not on here I would know nothing. Where is the promo pack and the rules of fair play? That is right you only solicit certain groups or people right? You will have maybe a thousand people there and that is good for today but a far cry for an actual Humadang don't you think? I wish and hope you all the success but without getting out to everybody about it, it will stay a joke in my eyes. Sorry if I am affending anybody.

You are not Affending me...you are Offfending me. ha.ha.ha. (j/k). You know what, I am really glad you brought this promotional thing up. I am curious as to why you were not informed about it. I will follow up with more higher ups, since this was not my department. Thank you for letting me know.

 

[IcemanSK]

One of the biggest problems I believe they faced was the fact that it was hard to secure visas for the competitors to come over. That was one of the difficulties of the Korean teams had as well as other national teams. Granted this is what I have heard, and not 100% sure myself. There were enough large Korean universities there for me to question the visa issue.

I really wish I could have seen the tournament for myself so I could asses the situation and know first hand what went wrong or what could have been done differently to improve the situation.
After last year, & hearing that the same folks are in charge of a US version of the same event, it's highly unlikely that So. Cal. folks would make that trip again.



Hey, I will be there. What bigger name did you need.
I was born & raised in Elgin, IL (the next town over from the 2009 venue) & never miss an excuse to go home to see family. I've not heard anything that tells me it will be any better than a large tournament here in So. Cal.


I agree. This was a point that I brought up in an earlier meeting since we are holding this close to the qualifiers this year. I believe the thought process is that they will bring in the folks who aren't going to be Olympic bound TKD folks. I hope they are right. Yeah, it is what is being banked on (literally) isn't it?



I heard the same thing. After meeting Pres. Lee personally and talking with him I don't see why others wouldn't like him. He really is a very charasmatic guy and knowledgable on TKD. I know a lot of higher ups in the USAT don't like him and this could have been the cause of a lot of the skuttlebutt. So I don't know if people's opinoins of are based on hear-say or actual interaction with the man. Hearsay or not, few who did come from Korea headed back with a favorable opinion of the way it was run, I'd bet. Like it or not, that all falls on Pres. Lee. There is no scapegoat.



I have a hand in as far as helping behind the scenes. I don't have a financial or "political" gain from any of it. The hard part for me is that I am coordinating the 44th Annual AKA Grands which is being held just one week before this event. So right now I am running with my head cut off. Needless to say I would enjoy seeing you there in hopes that you would give it a second chance (I'll throw in a drink to make the offer more enticing.), but I completely understand where you are coming from.

You're helping out & I commend you sincerely. You don't have a task that I envy in any way. I think it would take at least a year of it being successful for the stink of last year to go away for many people. The economy also may be a large factor this year (as I'm sure you appreciate). A So. Cal. team who went last year might say, "Do we want to spend the $$ for an event that's more of the same?" Perception goes a long way (as you know).

 

[miguksaram]

You're helping out & I commend you sincerely. You don't have a task that I envy in any way. I think it would take at least a year of it being successful for the stink of last year to go away for many people. The economy also may be a large factor this year (as I'm sure you appreciate). A So. Cal. team who went last year might say, "Do we want to spend the $$ for an event that's more of the same?" Perception goes a long way (as you know).

Thanks. I don't know how I got involved at all to be honest. They knew I helped in the coordination of the AKA Grand Nationals and asked for a couple of items here and there and the next thing I know BAM! Here I am.

I know Elgin...I live in Aurora, IL (City of lights...though mostly they are police lights). I did submit yours and Terry's comments to one of the main coordinators. The same concerns you have, are concerns I have too.

 

[Errant108]

I believe we will have all ref's sticking around this year. We have snipers in the risers if they try to escape. ha.haha..

I think I found the event I want to compete in...

 

[miguksaram]

Real quick update, I just sent Terry's and Iceman's message off and they have been received by both the President of the USTC and the promoter of the Hanmadang. I can only hope it will some how be addressed.