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23rd March 2008

The ITF Secretary General, Master Nicholls along with Master Hogan and myself travelled to Zhu Hai China were INO 68, 147 and 335 were hosting the first International Instructor Course.

Leaving from Heathrow we had time to stop for a quick bite to eat at the airport. After refuelling the tanks we made our way to the check in. With a surprisingly small queue (NOT), the three of us were all looking forward to the trip and time flew by, soon we were taxing down the runway.

After a short stop in Paris we arrived at Hong Kong International airport Friday Lunchtime. A 40 minute ferry ride and we were at the Chinese Immigration department filling out our Visa Applications. Finally checking in to the hotel we unpacked the cases and put a suit on for Friday Evenings banquet.

The organisers had booked the Banquet Hall for this celebration and it was full of extremely enthusiastic students awaiting Master Choi's entrance. After being seated we all enjoyed a superb Chinese meal. Over the evening we made some new friends and reunited with some old ones. Very nice to meet up with Dr. Zbiqniew Kurk who was assisting Master Choi and also Nelsun Cheah, Gary Lee who I had not seen since the World Championships in Birmingham. The evening ended with Master Nicholls making a speech and congratulating every one on making ITF history in attending the first ever IIC held in China.

Early Saturday Morning sore everyone gathering in the hall, for what turn out to be an intensive 8 hour training session. Dr. Zbiqniew Kurk took the group through an intense warm-up, when Master Choi entered he took command for the entire course assisted by Master Nicholls, Master Hogan and Mr Kurk.

The entire 3 day course concentrated on the basics of power generation and use of the sine wave along with utilising body mass and speed. Starting from Choi Ji the whole group went through each pattern by micro analysing every possible way to generate that last extra bit of power. Many of the students returning to the ITF after several years outside were amazed to see how easy it is to generate such power just by applying the basic principles to every single move in the pattern.

With Master Choi's unique teaching style everyone began to see an improvement in their technique and by the end of the three days they were still eager to learn. Master Nicholls and Master Hogan conducted a grading for Mr Jing Nan Xu were he successfully promoted to V Degree. Well Done!

After leaving china we returned to Hong Kong by ferry were we had a couple of days to relax and enjoy the sites. Hong Kong is an extremely vibrant city with a huge amount of night life. We strolled down the Avenue of Stars where we stopped for pictures by the Bruce Lee Memorial. Fining the hand prints of Jackie Chan and Jet Li amongst others cast in cement was a bonus, and the show where the buildings light up to music was spectacular.

On our final day we decided to visit a shopping centre on the boarder of Hong Kong and China in a place called Shenzhen. After a short train ride (Boy are there trains clean) we arrived once again at immigration applying for a visa. Once in china the sheer size of the shopping centre drops your jaw to the ground. Seven floors with over 1500 shops selling very cheap (All Original :-) items ranging from Watches to laptops, Shorts to Taylor made suits. Several hours and a couple of miles later we called it a day and headed back to Hong Kong with our bargains.

Arriving back Tuesday evening we have just enough time to empty the case and pack for Ireland this weekend. One thing to be said about Taekwon-Do, "You sure get to see the world". I had a great time and would like to thank Master Nicholls and Master Hogan for the company, and would like to ask:
 "When are we going back ?"

Mark Skyrme
More pictures available in the gallery

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6th March 2008

^{Grand Master Rhee Ki Ha, 9th Dan, OCM
Founder U.K.T.A., R.I.T.A., A.E.T.F.
Senior Vice President
World Pioneer and the Father of European Taekwon-Do}

Imperial students were invited down to participate in a dinner event to celebrate GM Rhee's 70th Birthday on Saturday 17th.
 

	Joined by Master Hogan the group was seated together just yards from Master Rhee's table were we enjoyed the good food and wine. Master Rhee made an emotional speech about our Taekwon-Do family and remembered his history with our President Master Trevor Nicholls.
	He recited how he took a young teenager (Trevor Nicholls) to the BBC Horizon show to demonstrate Taekwon-Do technique. He was particularly pleased to see our support and made a conscious effort to involve us completely in his celebration.
	We would like to thank Grand Master Rhee and the UKTA for our invitation to a very enjoyable evening.

Mark Skyrme
More pictures available in the gallery

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6th March 2008

Imperial Host Master Jose Maidana Workshop.

Master Jose Maidana VII, National Coach for Argentina flew over to London to train with Imperial students. Accompanied by Mr Dalton VI (IUTF) a training session was scheduled for Wednesday night at 7pm. Joined by Master Hogan VII and Mr Pat McCarthy VI Imperial students lined up eagerly awaiting Master Maidana arrival.

Mr Dalton run the group through a very disciplined and thorough warm up and we were all raring to go. Master Maidana entered the hall with Master Nicholls VIII to a round of applause, after a brief introduction it was straight to business;

Trying not to disclose too many Argentinean secrets Master Maidana explained that their sparring is broken-down and each part practiced separately and then combined. Asking the class to suggest different stances they use in sparring Master Maidana identified four important stances and numbered them accordantly. By practicing various combinations up and down the dojang we were tuning our bodies and movements to stay balanced when cover varying distances. Being able to move forward and backwards with great speed while maintaining equilibrium will help deliver a well balanced blow, making it more effective and harder to evade.

Moving on to kicking drills which were demonstrated by Mr Dalton, who after 8 recent workshops with Master Maidana in Ireland had become well versed in the combinations we were all about to practice. Master Maidana first distinguished between competition kicks where speed and delivery are paramount and the traditional kicks practiced in patterns took the group through several combinations. Paying particular attention to the most efficient means of covering distance, and the effective striking range of various techniques.

Now combining punching with the above skills the targets were no longer static. Moving up and down the dojang we practiced the combinations by advancing too and retreating from the moving pads.

Master Maidana's relaxed approach makes the techniques look simple and easy to perform, with his constant smile the two and a half hours passed in a flash. I would like to thank Master Maidana for his time and the insight he has shown us into the Argentinean training regime.

In closing Master Maidana thanked everyone for attending and expressed how it was a pleasure to train with us. He also announced that Master Nicholls would be conducting an IIC for his INO in June and invited us all to Argentina.

Mark Skyrme
More pictures available in the gallery

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1st Feb 2008

On behalf of the organising committee I would like to thank all competitors, coaches and masters who helped make this event such a success. I would also like to thank the ITF Executive for appointing us official sponsors.

In the interim we have uploaded the final results for your convenience click here.

Please submit articles, photo's from this prestigious event to ITF Administration for inclusion in our report. As members and competitors we value your opinions and comments on this truly exceptional event.

Mark Skyrme
www.trenic.com
(Organising Committee)

On behalf of the International Taekwon-Do Federation, it is my pleasure to confirm that the XIV ITF World Championships were a success. Now that time has passed and our great practitioners have made their journeys back to their homelands, a martial artist must reflect on this special experience. As I did so, I found myself thinking that surely the winds of Birmingham seem vacant without the sounds of our best and brightest to compliment it. I felt truly at home because of the way the city seemed to be alive with the spirit of Taekwon-Do. I will forever remember Centenary Square becoming a practice ground for dedicated athletes perfecting their movements. The sites of Birmingham are beautiful without Taekwon-Do, but somehow the beauty of Taekwon-Do with Birmingham as a backdrop has etched itself into my mind as one of my fondest Taekwon-Do experiences.

The profound impact of this event reflects the careful planning of our diligent hosting committee lead by Master Trevor Nicholls. An unyielding vision of what a World Championship could be may have been the driving force, however, it takes more than vision to make things reality. It takes a motivated team of hard working people, and to them I can say on behalf of Taekwon-Doists everywhere, job well done!

Canada will play host to the XV ITF World Championships in 2010. Champions must prepare themselves to retain their titles while those still hungry for one of the most prestigious titles in Martial Arts, "ITF World Champion" must press onward in their journey. The Taekwon-Do World Festival in Korea, the World Cup in Uruguay The European Championships as well as other Continental and International Championships along with World Championships provide the modern ITF practitioner with opportunities that did not exist not so long ago. Efforts of tournament committee Chairman, Master Nestor Galarraga must be recognized for establishing a working system for events of this scale.

The ITF continues to flourish due to our hard working Masters, dedicated Instructors and devoted students. The ITF is well.

In Taekwon-Do,
Choi, Jung Hwa
President

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