FAQ
1. Why is the Martial Arts Team divided into two styles?
Taekwondo and Karate are the dominant styles in the US and the world. They are also the styles that have the largest number of competitions, particularly in the North East. There is a separate Judo team who has their own number of authos, as well as a Kendo team, though they receive no authos and operate under the Martial Arts Team for funding and recognition. Due to authos constraints, we have combined the two sports rather than weakening the club with separate teams.
2. How do I get onto the Team?
The Team looks for experienced fighters during our mid-August try outs. We are primarily focused on granting authos depending upon the organization of the leagues. In TKD’s INCTL League for example, they operate by putting up 3-person teams in the light, middle, and heavy categories. Subsequently, the break down of the team roughly follows those weight ratios, but the general bottom line is we choose the best fighters.
3. How do I donate to the team?
You have several options, you can donate straight to the Department of Cadet Activies (DCA), and annotate KART (our team’s DCA club name). Through this process however, ODIA (Office of the Directorate for Intercollegiate Athletics) holds onto all donations for 1 year’s time, collects interest, and gives it to the team the following year. The other option is to mail a check directly to our cadet treasurer, Joseph Lapointe ’07. For additional information, please e-mail him at Joseph.Lapointe@usma.edu.
4. Who do you compete against?
The Ivy/Northeast Collegiate Taekwondo League (inctl.org) is composed of over 16 universities and colleges. To name a few, it includes MIT, Cornell, Harvard, UPenn, Brown, and Princeton. The New England Collegiate Karate Conference (nakf.org) includes MIT, Boston College, UMass, and Tufts.