Skip to content
the grown-up commonsPlay togetherBack to room

← Learn

Reading a Tournament

Three short lessons for parents at a first martial-arts tournament: brackets and byes, the repechage that gives two bronze medals, and what pediatric guidance says about contact.

For grown-ups, from what TourneyForge teaches children at Spark & Anvil.

  1. Lesson 1Brackets and byes
  2. Lesson 2Two bronze medals
  3. Lesson 3What the guidance says about contact
At the table · Four to sixteen, all ages

A paper bracket for game night

You'll need: A sheet of paper, a simple game such as noughts and crosses or rock-paper-scissors.

  1. Count the players and work out the next power of two: that is the bracket size.
  2. Draw the bracket and hand out byes so the first round is even.
  3. Before playing, everyone guesses how many games the whole night will take.
  4. Play it through and check the guess against "players minus one".
Where the numbers came from

A little history, and what nobody knows

Two bronzes

Olympic judo gives competitors who lose in the quarter-finals a second path, the repechage, which is why each judo weight class awards two bronze medals.

Whether two bronzes are fairer than one is argued, and not settled.

Source: Repechage (Wikipedia)

Your child's ladder · on Spark & Anvil

The same idea at every age

  1. Ages 3–5Which Belt Comes Next?
  2. Ages 6–8Count the Moves and 1 more
  3. Ages 9–14A Number Line With No Zero and 1 more
  4. Ages 15–18The Physics of a Board Break

Your child will meet this idea again at every age. The tools and courses here are the part for you.

Everything for a child who loves martial arts →

Print the guidebook (all lessons + the table activity) →