Despite a lower player turnout than expected, TG-19 held at Hwa Rang Kwan martial arts in San Francisco was very successful on a number of levels. "These games involved more juniors than any prior games" noted Grand Master Marty Marcus, Tournament Operations & Procedures (TOP) international program director for TMAA. "They also formed the basis of preparations for our TG-20 Games and Martial Arts Gala scheduled for the first weekend of August."

"These games were seen as developmental in a large sense" commented Grand Master Ken Craig, president of TMAA. "We had a number of new players and quite a few officials taking on roles which they are relatively inexperienced in. The small size of these particular games allowed us to spend time making the new players feel comfortable, while we also developed our officials experience and abilities. This is essential in the creation and progression of a fully qualified and experienced corps of officials."

TG-19 saw students from four Triangle clubs participate in five divisions throughout the day. Opening ceremonies were extremely brief and the games got under way with the standard traditional forms division. Mr. Jacob Fisher presided as Tournament Director (TD) for TG-19 with Grand Master Marty Marcus and Grand Master Ken Craig providing support and guidance. Sadly the games did not see any players from Hwa Rang Kwan, Atomic, Progressive, or Gracie taking part but we hope to reach out and encourage broader participation for TG-20 in August amongst these groups.

The games concluded successfully by 3pm with a brief closing ceremony. Results of TG-19 will be posted to our TMAA website, including the top scoring players on our 2008 leader board which shows Triangle CACS club with two of the three top players at 1,200 points. Congratulations to those players who are officially on the leader board.

Registration packages for TG-20 Triangle Games and Martial Arts Gala are already available from your instructor or from TMAA. TG-20 will include a full weekend of events beginning on Friday August 1 and ending on Sunday August 3. Friday evening will involve orientation and welcoming out of town players. Saturday will see TG-20 Games and a social event in the evening and Sunday will be filled with a series of martial arts seminar led by local and out of town instructors in a varied number of subjects. As with all TMAA events, this will cost ONLY $40 per player for participation in ALL events and seminars. Ask for your registration package now, or contact TMAA at info@TriangleMAA.org to request your TG-20 registration and information package.