Eager to get in some extra practice before the first league tournament of the Spring at West Point, Princeton hosted a scrimmage with Taekwondo athletes from NYU and Columbia on Saturday, February 7th from 2-5pm. Masters Albert Lee and Tim Marmo also came down from NYU to help out. Carissa led the warmups, and athletes then paired off with students from other schools for hogu drills under Masters Lee and Marmo. Emphasis was placed on eliminating unnecessary movement, kick distancing, and fixing other common sparring mistakes. The last part of the session was devoted to inter-school sparring. The room was split into two rings, and students fought each other for single 2-minute rounds under ECTC rules, while observers shouted help and encouragement. The matches were competitive but friendly, and everybody got lots of practice in (including Coach Marmo, who fought briefly with Marc, much to the entertainment of everybody else).
The scrimmage was a really positive experience, giving students an opportunity to train under new masters and fight unfamiliar opponents. Opportunities like this allow us to learn from people we don't usually practice with, which is always a good thing. Princeton would like to thank NYU and Columbia's Taekwondo teams for coming to train, as well as Masters Hatfield, Lee, and Marmo for coming and offering their expertise. We hope that everyone found this session to be as helpful as we did, and that we can set up more of them in the future.
