Let’s delve into the odd events of March 15, 2025, a day that will be remembered for the 80th TTCA Tae Kwon Do Tournament held at the Central City Convention Center.
First and foremost, the reference to “80th” in the title deserves attention. Traditionally, the TTCA has hosted two tournaments a year, but there have been occasions where the frequency varied. Given that the organization was founded in 1996 and is only 29 years old, claiming an “80th” tournament raises intriguing questions about its history.
The assertion of a storied legacy is noteworthy; however, since Grandmaster Choi passed the torch to the Cresulis, it would be more accurate to consider the TTCA’s timeline as beginning in 2022. Interestingly, both the TTCA and MCTKD, now under Mr. Edwards, face similar historical challenges. Following the passing of their beloved head instructor, MCTKD sought the expertise of an outside instructor, transforming it from Mr. Johnson’s MCTKD to what should be recognized as Mr. Edwards’. Yet, the overarching influence of the TTCA remains palpable. This reality was vividly illustrated by Mrs. Cresulis’s actions and remarks during this very tournament, further emphasizing the shifting dynamics at play!
As soon as the tournament was announced, we publicly expressed our support for the event that we knew we would not be invited to compete in. That’s okay; the TTCA has always been somewhat “xenophobic” in their invitation policies, and we have historically placed better than average at TTCA tournaments because of the lack of consistent standards in patterns and the fact they don’t allow their competitors to test sparring outside their tournaments, and we do.
There’s nothing wrong with this approach, especially for a large, well-established organization. The ATA Martial Arts (formerly known as the American Taekwondo Association) also holds closed tournaments, but at its peak, it had over 900 dojangs and 300,000 members! Their tournaments were massive, and you rarely faced the same opponent more than once outside of local or regional events. In contrast, the TTCA consistently draws the same set of competitors; this was one reason my oldest son (black belt) lost interest in competing at their events, as he often faced the same black belts on multiple occasions.
For several months, we consistently promoted our intention to cheer on all martial artists, especially those from MCTKD, whom we truly consider our brothers and sisters in martial arts. I hold no ill feelings toward Mr. Edwards, their head instructor, or the MCTKD students. This sense of camaraderie is why my entire school felt it was important to attend and support them. They did not indicate that we would be prohibited from cheering for our local brothers and sisters, as our posts were public, and we tagged MCTKD on Facebook.
Mr. Edwards, Mr. Spicer, and everyone involved with MCTKD and TTCA have my contact information. They didn’t post anything on their page indicating that we would not be allowed to support them as members of the general public. We understand they are facing challenges with low membership, and the tournament might not be well-attended, given that there are only two TTCA schools and two TTCA clubs, which seem to have few, if any, students.
Our first signal about the unfolding situation didn’t come from Mr. Edwards, who was identified as being in charge of the tournament, but rather from Mrs. Crecelius on their TTCA Facebook page on March 10, 2025, at 1:28 PM.
In her post, she stated: The phrasing Mrs. Crecelius chose, “We will have people posted at the doors to maintain safety for our competitors and attendees,” struck us as quite peculiar. It seemed an odd thing to say, yet it aligns perfectly with her modus operandi. Earlier, in a separate text to Tooter Howton, she had claimed that one of the groups that departed would show up “wearing their shirts to fill the stands in retribution.” However, the Master Instructor of that school has categorically denied her claim, stating that it is entirely false.
Our posts remain public for all to see, and it’s clear that we issued no threats whatsoever; instead, we expressed our unwavering support for every martial arts event. An additional curious incident transpired: several parents, along with my own personal Facebook page, found themselves blocked from the TTCA Facebook page by Mrs. Crecelius around 2 PM on March 10. This decision didn’t cut off our access to the TTCA Facebook page. Thanks to the safeguards we have in place, we were notified of this block and could still view the page. Moreover, at 4:11 PM that same day, Mrs. Crecelius quietly updated her original post, removing the unsettling line about having people stationed at the doors for safety, acknowledging that it was indeed a threatening and ominous statement.
Our posts convey that we had no intention of causing any disruption; instead, we were there to wholeheartedly support our “sister schools.” Our public statements, readily available for review, express our commitment to MCTKD and, by extension, TTCA. On the day of the tournament, I rallied those students and their families eager to attend, and we met at our school. A total of thirteen of us traveled to the tournament together.
Upon our arrival, we positioned ourselves at the back of the upper deck, deliberately blending into the crowd, as our primary goal was to cheer on the competitors from MCTKD and give my students—who had yet to experience a tournament—the opportunity to witness the excitement firsthand. We settled in around 11:30, enjoying the display of talent from both local and distant martial artists. Engaged in lively discussions about how this tournament might differ from our upcoming events, we were surprised when Miss Elizabeth Kidd, the daughter of Mrs. Onoalee Kidd—both adult 3rd-degree black belts at MCTKD—approached Mrs. Crecelius’s ring to let her know we were there.
A word about Mrs. Onalee Kidd. She is a 3rd-degree Degree Black Belt with the TTCA. She is also one of the black belt instructors at MCTKD. She has competition credit within the TTCA and, according to past associates, has never competed outside the TTCA. However, she has been directly reporting to Mrs. Crecelius since before Mr. Johnson’s passing. She was circumventing her instructor and going to the association, which is always considered a breach of protocol. This she made clear in her post she sent out to the MCTKD webpage. However, it is our direct experience here that is a bit unsettling.
Mrs. Kidd is the director of the Greenville Tourism Commission. She runs the Facebook page for them. And since we offer dozens of free community events, like we do with every other page, we at times tag or mention the Greenville Tourism Commisson Page. Just last month alone, she removed our mention and tag no less the 8 times, thus affecting our reach to Greenville area residents. We gave all Greenville Elementary School students, faculty, and their families a free month of class in March 2025!
While I acknowledge that she is free to do as she pleases with her Commionssons Facebook page, when you look at similar people or companies doing the same things, its only her doing it to us, also, we tag or mention dozens of other local companies, or entities, and not one of them has removed our tag, but she does, we can even predict when, every morning by 10 am she will unlink our activities. Again, our posts or public to see that they don’t contain anything that would violate their procedures, however, she clearly feels it’s up to her to affect the reach of what she considers a competitor to her small school.
We are four times their size, while it disappointing that there are people in the business of promoting an area, in this case Greenville, and since we service and have many students from Greenville, and the area in general, she feels its appropriate to stifle our reach. We will continue to offer our free events, such as Womens Self-Defense, Free Martial Art Classes, and more, and she can continue to be that type of person who feels its in the best interest of Greenville residents and the larger community to try and hide our content and reach, we will carry on. Maybe it’s time for Greenville to consider a Director who will be for ALL businesses and missions that promote the health, safety, and wellbeing of ALL RESIDENTS? Maybe it is time for local residents to not support Greenville Tourism if they are not about supporting those who work, live and spend there too?
PART THREE (3) CLICK HERE
