has TCMedia ever hosted/sponsored a tournament?

it seems like if anyone could put together a nationwide, well-publicized TCMA tournament(and attract quality competitors), it would be them...

Tiger Claw, our parent company, hosted a tournament in the early 90's called TC 2000. It is very unlikely that we would run another one.

Frankly, we don't have the time or the manpower to organize such an event. Unlike the school organizers, we don't have a body of students to call upon to volunteer. While we all love the arts, this is how our employees make their living - it is a different mentality when your job is inside the industry. Our employees work hard here - our office is open six days out of the week from dawn until dusk. No employee here is going to volunteer beyond their means, and we wouldn't expect them to do so.

Tournaments are a lot of work - almost as much as publishing. I think all of the magazines have their hands full nowadays simply with the task of producing a magazine. However, TC Media does work closely with many tournaments, big or small and for all styles, on various levels. We have sponsored international teams, covered events in Kungfu Qigong and Tiger Claw's internal newsletter Claw Marks, and, of course, advertised events. We have printed shirts and posters, supplied mats and gear, and donated prizes. We often have a presence on site - at the bigger tournaments (and local ones)we often have a table. Martha, Gigi, Patrick and I have all travelled to cover events and participate. Furthermore, we promote tournaments and events as a free community service in our magazine's news section and in our online calendar. We really do appreciate the intention behind your suggestion. However, running tournaments is the one (and probably only) aspect of the martial arts that we won't be doing in the near future. I think we do enough already.

Gene Ching
Asst. Publisher
Kungfu Qigong Magazine & www.KungfuMagazine.com

<<<here's a virtual pat on the back!>>> :cool: