We were in Boxboro, Massachusetts this past weekend for the annual IPPONE Kickoff tournament and IPPONE / Twin State awards banquet. This was our third consecutive year at the tournament but only our first at the banquet. The entire weekend was a lot of fun.
We debuted two new products that haven't even hit the website yet. (Expect them soon). The first is KickStrap - a small extension strap for your sparring boots that allows you to wrap the strap around your boot twice. It comes in different sizes so you can be assured of a snug fit - or a looser fit if you have a very wide foot and your boots currently fit too tight.
The second new product was our winter hats, which everyone fell in love with. We have them in two designs and we promise to have them posted soon. The KickStrap might take a little longer as figuring out how to determine the right size for everyone is proving to be a challenge.
The competition went well and was finished in record time. Despite a strong showing from the competitors and a few calls to get more judges into seats, everything was wrapped up around 1:30. In fact, we spent nearly as long setting up and breaking down our space as the tournament spent running!
We talked to a lot of people about our upcoming tournament - the 2016 Martial Arts Showdown - and, let me just say, everyone seems pumped. It's nice to hear that people trust us to put on something of quality. It sounds like we'll be attracting folks from quite a ways away, which we can't help but feel appreciative about.
The banquet was a fun time and had a very light, family atmosphere. This is a good group of people and we've been blessed to have their support since our inception. There were a lot of awards handed out including a few of our own. We gave sweatshirts to the 2015 champions in the Pushup Challenge and everyone seemed to like them.
The night concluded with some dancing and revelry, which was a nice way to cap off a long day. We'll definitely be back for the entire day in 2017.
Jeremy Lesniak
Founder