August 3, 2021
By: Bill Conger
Middle Tennessee Tae Kwon Do school in Smithville earned the distinction of placing second in the national for overall tournament points at the recent national competition in Daytona Beach, FL.
Owned and run by 5th Degree Black belt Master George Lloyd and his wife, 2nd Degree Black belt Head Instructor Amy Lloyd, the school brought home 50 medals including 29 gold, 11 silver and 10 bronze. Three students placed in the Top 10 in the nation. Deana Jones was 5th, Kinley Fisher came in 6th, and Natalie Fulton finished 8th. Middle Tennessee Tae Kwon Do received a trophy for Most Improved School, and Master Lloyd was pinned for his Master Rank. Student Jacob Harrell performed his form on stage for the Night of Champions.
“When Nationals was announced and we were able to travel to compete in the first live in-person tournament of the season, we had 16 students step up to want to travel to Daytona Beach, FL,” says Head Instructor Amy Lloyd. “13 of the 16 students had never competed in a live tournament before. We held twice a week tournament specific practices plus held a few successful fundraisers such as a spaghetti dinner and auction, Penny Wars, indoor yard sale and students got to duct tape me to the wall!”
Four students competed virtually from home in Smithville. Over the past year due to COVID-19 restrictions the school’s association, US Chung Do Kwan Association, decided to offer virtual tournaments. This meant competitors could compete through Zoom against other competitors throughout the US. Middle Tennessee Tae Kwon Do was a host school, which meant the school set up rings where students came to compete.
“We averaged 15 students for the six virtual tournaments we held at our school.” In just one year during the pandemic the school grew from30 students to 120.
Below are the individual results from the nationals:
Individual results:
– Head Instructor Amy Lloyd
1 speed kicking, 2 forms, 3 team sync with son Bane Averitte
– Bane Averitte
1 speed kicking, 1 kama weapons, 2 forms, 3 team sync
– Ivanny Earlington
1 speed kicking, 1 point sparring, 2 forms
– Jacob Harrell
1 forms, point sparring and bo staff weapons
– Deana Jones
1 speed kicking, kama weapons, and form, 2 team sync with son Benjamin Jones
– Kinley Fisher
1 point sparring, speed kicking and bo staff weapons
– Destiny Earlington
1 point sparring, 3 forms
– Taylor Vincent
1 point sparring
– Logan George
1 point sparring and bo staff weapons, 2 speed kicking and forms
– Alexis Fulton
1 bo staff weapons
– Natalie Fulton
1 bo staff weapons, 3 forms and speed kicking
– Bryan Parker
1 point sparring, 3 speed kicking and Kamas weapons
– Benjamin Jones
2 team Synchronized Forms, 3 point sparring
– Braylin Chapman
1 forms and team Synchronized Forms with cousin Jordyn Baumgard, 2 point sparring
– Reagan Manness-Stephens
1 point sparring and speed kicking, 2 Kamas weapons, 3 forms
– Joseph Quistgaard
1 point sparring, 2 forms, 3 speed kicking
– Jordyn Baumgard
1 forms, point sparring and team Synchronized Forms, 2 speed kicking
– students Lily Quistgaard, Michael Fulton and Hadley Fulton also competed