MIT Sport Taekwondo wins home tournament with a 92-point lead over second place
MIT hosted the first of five tournaments in the East Collegiate Taekwondo Conference (EETC) Sunday, Oct. 15. Roughly 600 students from 18 different schools competed at the tournament, separated into A, B, and C divisions based on competitor skill and experience in order to be more accessible and beginner friendly.
MIT Sport Taekwondo member Titus Tsai ’26 explained that EETC is made up of two different match types: poomsae (forms) and sparring. “In poomsae,” he said, “competitors are judged on the accuracy and presentation of their form — a systematic sequence of moves demonstrating certain techniques (higher ranked belts perform harder forms). Meanwhile, sparring is made up of quick 45 second rounds with the first to three wins emerging victorious. Tsai explained that “in the sparring matches competitors score two points by landing kicks on the opponent's hogu (padding worn around the torso) or three points for (light) head contact (in A and B teams). Punches to the hogu also score a point, and technical points may be earned for more elaborate kicks.”
MIT placed first with 376 points overall (Northeastern finished in second place with 284 points — 92 behind MIT) at the tournament, which was attended by schools like West Point, Harvard, and the University of Michigan. Five of MIT’s teams won gold in their respective matches. This victory follows their winning performance in the last tournament of the 2022-2023 academic year, held at the University of Vermont, in which MIT ranked first overall with 468 points.
The next tournament will be at Cornell on Sunday, November 5th, and with this incredible and energetic start to the 2023-2024 EET Conference, I suggest tuning in to support MIT’s Sport Taekwondo team.