£1.99
* OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016 YEAR OF THE MONKEY
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The Korean Martial Art of Taekwondo & Olympic Combat sport in the UK.
DID IT ROCK IN RIO? now summer is over what next? How were the games perceived?
british nationals 2016
The Copperbox Arena - London
gb DISCOVER YOUR GOLD TALENT DAY
A day of trials at the National Taekwondo centre
freshers week AROUND THE COUNTRY Taekwondo Instructors busy promoting their University clubs
Kathy Hooks European cadet champion
Owen Turner went for Gold and got it at the Cadet Competition
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Have a Taegerific Taekwondo Day!
Calendar of events
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PAGE 3 OCTOBER 2016 YEAR OF THE MONKEY
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BRITISH TAEKWONDO TODAY by Master S.H. Blomeley email: steveblomeley@gmail.com Tel: 0161 456 1976
Foreword
TAEKWONDO TODAY Taekwondo Today
Bringing you information about WTF Taekwondo in the United Kingdom
Practise ‘Taekwondo Today’ in Great Britain for Martial Art or Combat Sport STEVE BLOMELEY 6th Dan Editor-in-Chief Contributors: Phill Payne Bill Darlington Steve Blomeley Derek Sumner Kathy Hook Mike McKenzie Rick Simpson
Testimonial “A big thank you to all those instructors and students who have encouraged and supported the magazine British Taekwondo Today from the outset and continue to do so today”
Foreword from the Editor.
• Local Clubs • Training Tips • Instructor Profiles
Welcome to the re-jigged edition of ‘British Taekwondo Today’ 2016, the Magazine for covering WTF Taekwondo in Great Britain. The downloadable online magazine is for all United Kingdom WTF practitioners to receive information, news items, training tips, competition details and selfdefence awareness from various practitioners in the UK. I would just like to say a big thank you to all my fellow colleagues who supported the magazine from the outset at the beginning of the year. Thank you for your encouragement to continue and for your advertisements in past issues. I have placed them again for you in this issue in recognition of that support and to Ki-ck off the new version of the magazine. Once again the magazine is not aimed at being political but more at being an avenue where instructors, clubs, associations and perhaps NGB’s can highlight what they are up to and promote the fantastic art of Taekwondo that we all love. There’s been a lot going on over the summer period for everybody and we all had the pleasure of seeing our art showcased at the Olympic Games in Rio. There’s been mixed reactions as to how it came across but one thing is for sure ‘we must congratulate GB Taekwondo in delivering three medals out of a possible four and many say that that 4th was robbed from us! but that’s the nature of sport. Please let me know if yo enjoy the online magazine or wish to contribute to it via advertising, articles, photographs or information about events coming up. Keep on Ki-cking!
• Competition Dates • Results • Seminar Details • Seminar Reviews • Grading Dates • Grading Results • Student Profiles • Kids in Combat • Health Tips
The Editor-in-Chief Taekwondo Today
• Book Reviews • Product Reviews • Equipment Suppliers
Steve Blomeley
• Club Profiles
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CONTENTS YIN
Page 3 Foreword Page 5 Back the Brits Page 17 The Coaches Corner Page 21 Dan Grading Nottingham Page 23 Taegers colour me sheet Page 25 Horizon 1-2-1 Page 27 Calendar of Events Page 29 Perfect vs Practical Poomsae Page 31 Ki Taekwondo Dojang back to normal
CONTENTS YANG
Page 4 Owen Turner Page 6 Poomsae in Peru Page 8 Ultimate Open Page 10 Discover your Gold! Page 12 Taegerific Taegers Page 14 3 Steps 2 Page 16 Martial Arts vs Bullying Page 18 Freshers, Freshers & More Freshers Page 20 British Taekwondo Nationals Page 22 Did it Rock In Rio? Page 24 BT clubs page Page 26 Control the Control Page 28 Ki-dz in Martial Arts Page 30 No Pain No Gain
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By Steve Blomeley
wen Turner aged 13 has recently been crowned the European Cadet champion. He began training when he was 5 years old and has been 5 x British Champion. He was Dutch Open Champion this year and Presidents Cup Bronze Medalist
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reviously Owen has won the Dutch Masters, Swedish Open plus all domestic events and Represented GBR in the last 2 Cadet World Championships being made GBR Boys Captain.
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is coach Kathy Hook of Ultimate says he has had some amazing performances in this years cadet European Championships - beat ing Bulgaria, Russia, Cyprus & Belarus in the final. Kathy states he had played maturely, sensibly and looked fantastic all day at the championships
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athy’s Ultimate’ team also had success at the British Championships and thoroughly enjoyed them this year saying it was a fantastic venue, well run and a great organisation team. They only had a small team this year - 13 with 1 girl doubling up junior & senior.
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BacktheBrits with
Owen Turner European Cadet Champion! O
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TAEKWONDO TODAY Article
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News and Events in the UK.
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he was pleased to come away with 8 golds, 1 silver and 3 bronzes. Steve Blomeley of Ki Taekwondo asked Kathy if he could coach one of theirs and she said it was nice to have Ismael Coulibali of Ki TKD playing with Team Ultimate this time and taking the bronze. They had a number defending British Titles and racked up more than 1.
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helsey Evans (7 times), Leah Moorby (Junior & Senior gold medalist this time & 5 times British Champion), Current Euro Champ Owen Turner for the 5th time. Owen Blunt -26 CBA - 2 times. Rhys Turner - 2 times. Great achievements, fabulous performances and a group of very proud coaches at Team Ultimate.
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athy’s team won the 5-person Novice Team Selection Trophy and were 3rd place team overall. They were extremely chuffed with such a small team.
ritish Taekwondo Annual General Meeting has been scheduled to take place on Saturday 26th November 2016. The venue has yet to be announced but will be on BT website once decided.
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ll of the clubs that attended the recent Ultimate open competition had a great time competing on the mat and many came away with some big performances and tall trophies from the Barnsley Metrodome complex.
is 24th October with shortlisted applicants being interviewed w/c 31st October.
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ukkiwon 7th Dan certificate was presented to Master Glen Culbert recently by Grand Master Shin at the UTA Dan Grading held in Falkirk, Scotland. Also Grand Master David Bailey was presented with his 8th Dan certificate also. Glen and David a very active Masters attending plenty of various championships, one recently being the Poomsae Worlds in Peru.
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urrent vacancies within GB Taekwondo as they are looking for talented individuals to join their Olympic and gold medal winning World Class Performance Programme team. The closing date of applications is 17th October and those who have been shortlisted will be interviewed at a later date (yet to be confirmed). Performance Medicine Practioner Lead Physiotherapist Sports Rehabilitation Therapist Training Environment Assistant We also have an opportunity for a Training Environment Assistant. The closing date for this position
DEADLINE HAS BEEN EXTENDED TO 28TH OCTOBER 2016, even though the paperwork attached says 14th October.
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orizon Taekwondo hosted the recent 1-2-1 at the Richard Dunn Sports Centre in Bradford and was attended by over 300 fighters from different clubs in the country. There was also a mini Poomsae competition to help players experience pattern competition on the mat. One senior Master and a few poomsae competitors were asked to judge the students taking part and it was a great experience for all with some very good performances.
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he National Poomsae, Freestyle & Para Championships 2016 Saturday 5th & Sunday 6th November Nottingham Wildcats Arena, Greenwood Road, Bakersfield, Nottingham NG3 7EB Competition Starts @ 9.30am Club Instructors must first email register@ tkd-regonline.com to register the club and receive a username and password for the website PLEASE NOTE THAT THE
nter early for the Quest Taekwondo festival EIS Sheffield. Deadline is fast approaching for this international event with full pss armour and headguards
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ramhall Ki Taekwondo club is now up and running in Stockport. If you are interested in starting Taekwondo why not pop along to see Instructor Andy McHugh on Wednesday evenings. Training begins at 7:00pm
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utherglen Taekwondo Club said a sad goodbye to a special
family from Malaysia who have been with us for the last 4 years. The children: Balquis, Danial, Qistina and their parents Zalina and Hashim have been a big part of the club over that time. The Insructors said they were loved by everyone and each one of them are an example of what taekwondo students should be like - well mannered, disciplined, respectful, focused, humble and most importantly genuinely nice people. We will miss them and wish them the all the best of good fortune and hapiness as they return to Malaysia. Malaysia.
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It is with regret that Pilsung Taekwondo announce that Dave Higgins has decided to step down as head coach of the Pilsung Crosspool Club. Dave has made the decision to stand down due to home, work, and other coaching commitments with SWLFC. The Crosspool Club will continue to provide its high level of tuition under the coaching of Martin Elliott and Steve Shirtliff, with assistance from Andrew Poulton. They would like to extend their thanks to Dave for his many contributions to the club over the last 20 years and wish him all the best for the future.
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here are plenty of competition opportunities coming up over the next 6 weeks with Poomsae and kyorugi events planned in various locations around the country. Check your calendar for the dates and get your entries in early.
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tudents of Taekwondo should endeavour to be the best that they can be with proper preparation for Kyorugi competition, Poomsae events or just general practice getting ready for kup or Dan grades. Apreciate your coaches and the lengths and efforts they go to, to help you achieve your potential. Remember how much of their time they give to you travelling, teaching, training, coaching, studying and developing themselves for your benefit.
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OCTOBER 2016 YEAR OF THE MONKEY
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Poomsae in Peru!....The World Championships
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n the final day of the World Poomsae championships that were recently held in Peru, The GB poomsae team secured a bronze medal and a silver medal from two of the squad who hail from the Stoke area. In what was a very high standadard tough competition for all candidates Peter Johnson performed well to take third place against world class opposition from all over the globe and then Mike Pejic went one better in another senior division and finished 2nd overall. Poomsae chairman was very pleased with the results from the squad overall in a competition where the diference between
medalling and not getting on the podium can equate to 0.3 of a margin in the scores. Overall the GB squad gained 1 silver, 1 bronze were in 4 preliminary knockout stages and battled it out in 1 semi final. The world rankings placed them at 35th against the likes of Iran, Spain, Turkey and Korea etc who are very strong poomsae (pattern) competition nations. Derek Sumner stated that the whole team were a credit to British Taekwondo and made some outstanding efforts and performances.
...... Medal success for two of the team
email: steveblomeley@gmail.com BRITISH TAEKWONDO TODAY by Master S.H. Blomeley email: steveblomeley@gmail.com Tel: 0161 456 1976
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PAGE 9 OCTOBER 2016 YEAR OF THE
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TAEKWONDO TODAY Article
BRITISH TAEKWONDO TODAY by Master S.H. Blomeley email: steveblomeley@gmail.com Tel: 0161 456 1976
TAEKWONDO TODAY Article
The The Ultimate Ultimate Open Open Barnsley 2016 2016 Barnsley Sunday October 16th and following on from last weeks Horizon 1-2-1 Kathy Hook hosted her yearly championship that is held within the Barnsley Metrodome sports complex. Over looking Barnsley Football club stadium the players here are not interested in kicking a football but more their opponents hogoo’s (body armour) to score. The Metrodome is a good location and easily accessible for many of the northern Taekwondo clubs to get to and attend the now very established event. It was a tall order for some and some tall trophies for others. The competition layout was of 4 rings in a straight line utilisng the length of the hall and the spectators have a good view of the players on the mat. The fighters were sparring three rounds to determine the outcome of the match with advances players using the pss body protectors. for electronic scoring of the body shots/kicks. A lot of clubs were in attendance like Horizon, Quest, Ki, Kangchul, Premier, Scorpion, WTA, St. Katherines, Harrogate, Lion, NTC, Cambridge, Aquila, Wigan, Manchester Aces, WTA, WLM, Chi, Tkd Academy Liverpool, and all the way from South Wales Llantwit Major too. Of course there was the Ultimate players too, who were hosting the event.
Three medallists on the day
Team winners were: 1 . TEAM ULTIMATE GBR 2 . ST KATHERINE’S TKD GBR 3 . TKD ACADEMY LIVERPOOL A good day and great sporting event was held by Kathy Hook and Ultimate. Without people like Kathy putting on the competitions players wouldn’t have the opportunities to compete and grow and anyone who goes on the mat are winners regardless of whether they achieved a medal that day. Experience is what counts and helps them to develop in their chosen Martial Art and sport. Friends, families and colleagues are all inspired by the efforts the students put in and perhaps it encourages more of them to give it a go. So here’s to the next one, which were sure won’t be too far round the corner as Novemeber has a 1-2-1 competition and the Quest international open.
ith tor w
host
y Kath
k
Hoo
Edi
Kangchul students had a good day
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OCTOBER 2016 YEAR OF THE MONKEY
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email: steveblomeley@gmail.com BRITISH TAEKWONDO TODAY by Master S.H. Blomeley email: steveblomeley@gmail.com Tel: 0161 456 1976
Discover your A talent day at GB Taekwondo or many Taekwondoists who like the sport side of WTF Taekwondo, Fis just then having the chance to try out on a GB Taekwondo talent day a great opportunity to see if they have what it takes or more importantly for the selectors to see if they have potential to aspire to the next level of the competitive combat sport.
took a couple of our students down on October the 7th as they had Ichance been accepted and selected from many candidates to have their to show the National Squad coaches what they were made of
. The Day for us began with arriving at Ten Acres Lane in Manchester where the newly refurbished centre is and although I have been there quite a few times it was nice to see how the young hopefuls responded. To qoute Mahammed Ouattara from our Ki Taekwondo Birmingham University club “ I would never have believed I would one day be here and having a test match” “I’m so excited and nervous at the same time”. The coach in me started to smile and tried to give a few words of advice about not worrying about the result but think more of what your objectives are and what they would like to see! “ Don’t worry about the result, show off your skills”.
fter the initial registration with the players bringing their letter A of acceptance they were then taken into one of the conference or meeting rooms and were briefed by GB Director Gary Hall. He gave
an explanation on what was to be expected and also how the scoring went in WTF Taekwondo on the pss as there were many ITF style practitioners giving it a go also. After this Parents, friends or coaches were allowed into one plushly matted area to help warm them up or just genuinely suport them in their endeavour. We’d now established Mahammed was one of the first to have a match and Ismael would be later on that afternoon as he was a lighter weight player and another group was scheduled to arrive later.
style or semi contact style players who were wishing to see if they could showcase their ability in the WTF style of competive fighting. Mahammed was called back in for another bout and you could hear the kicks landing on the hogoo’s of both players, so it did sound promising even though we couldn’t see it! Again I could just about see the scoring over the curtain and this time it panned out as a draw once more. Both players were then instructed to play Golden point which seemed to last for a fair while before they both reemerged from the sparring area. next stage saw the players taken into the strength and Ttestsheconditioning area which is very impressive and they had various and measurements done on them. Some of these simple
tests were height measurement, skin folds test and arm span etc. Mahammad had picked up a bit of a knock on his ankle but was quite pleased as I had mentioned to him to take that as a positive that they had you playing for quite some time even on Golden point. The GB staff were great and took Mahammed to physio to check his ankle over after his other tests and gave him some treatment and advice to hopefully have the swelling go down quite quickly. They also gave him some good words of encouragement saying they liked what they saw in the bouts. ime for Ismael Coulibaly’s turn to showcase his skills was due TGurumu and it was nice to see a friend of ours too, Gurpreet Singh from down in London. They both warmed up and it wasn’t long
before they were behind the curtain having their matches. Gurpreet was first to go in and he came out with a smile as we could tell it seemed to have gone very well for him. He’s very experienced and fingers crossed he will move onto stage two of the selection process. Ismaels turn came about and he trotted off to the sparring area to face his opponent. Being just about able to see the scoring screen he players had been allocated an opponent earlier out of their on the wall we could see that he had been scored against bit then batch of hopefuls and then spent the time warming up by it was very apparent he was dominating the match completely as themselves or with their coach. Soon it was time for Mahammad’s the scores were just racking up in his favour. Taekwondo is a tough match and the two adversary’s were kitted out in their PSS protectors sport which places many physical and mental demands on its players and headguards. At this point they went into another cordoned off and when the two opponents came back out we could see Ismaels area behind a curtain to play out a standard three round match in opposition had a bit of a bloody nose, so we went to check he was front of the selectors and various officials who were their to help. alright as none of us realy like to see players injured. He was fine Parents, friends, family members and coaches stay back from this and they went off to a debrief. and await to see them once their match has finished. I could just about tell Mahammeds match had finished 4-4 and as he came out he fairly long but enjoyable day was coming to an end for us as he was told that they would like to see him again in another bout. He yet another batch arrived for their test matches and so we headed was enjoying himself and the experience and was more than happy off to get some food, and then for the guys to get their train back to to oblige. We talked through what he had done and what he felt he the Birmingham University club. Best of luck to all the hopefuls that could have done better, which hopefully left him in a positive frame took part and we’re sure that everyone came away with something of mind and then we went through a few things that as a coach I positive from the experience which will no doubt make them all thought he could utilise a little bit more. better in the long term. Fingers and toes crossed again that ours make it to the next stage. y now the other batch of lighter weight category hopefuls arrived and Ismael had chance to catch up with Jack who he had just fought previously in the semi final of the nationals at the Copperbox arena in London. Again in this batch there were quite a few ITF
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!
The Taegerific! TAEGERS
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TAEKWONDO TODAY News
PAGE 13 BRITISH TAEKWONDO TODAY by Master S.H. Blomeley email: steveblomeley@gmail.com Tel: 0161 456 1976
martial art mascots
Taegers if you’ve never met them before are cartoon ith time they reflected and became the symbol of Ki TChiefhecharacters created and drawn by Steve Blomeley the WTaekwondo ‘The White Tiger’ and have grown as a Instructor to Ki Taekwondo. He originally drew them family from the original ‘Tiger Tae’ costume. The success to help inspire the ki-dz in his own clubs many, many years ago and put the cartoon strips in Ki Taekwondo’s club magazine. After a little while he hit upon the idea of turning them into a full costumed character that could be used at demonstrations that the club was doing, again to raise the profile of Taekwondo in his area and further afield. Steve’s mother Joyce was asked if she could produce one as her trade was in machining and she is a fantastic seamstress, making anything from dresses to htree piece suits amongst other things. Between them they drew up a pattern and figured a way to create the comical heads using a WTF headguard inside them and the occupier being able to see through the nose piece.
Taeger Merchandise
Taegers at the Grand Prix Manchester
tournament where the players accrue points for Olympic selection Master Blomeley was asked to help out and look after the visiting school children. He mentioned of the club parading in local carnivals persuaded Steve about ‘The Taegers’ and sent a small comical video in that he needed to have the whole set to create an even of them sparring. Immediately they were given the go bigger impact when they were out and about. So ahead to attend the very first Grand Prix delighting Joyce his mother set about creating another two and entertaining not only the children but the costumes representing ‘Taeger the Tiger’ and adults seem to love them too. Many ‘Tiger Kwon’ the female of the pack. Of olympic players had pictures course being the creative person with them too. that he is Steve added more and more characters to the Ta e g e r s for various scenarios and events. When GB
Taekwondo were hosting the very first inaugural Grand Prix in Manchester, a prestigious W T F
were swamped by the referees on the very TthishelasttimeTaegers day of the second Grand Prix for photographs and they also had a small amount of cuddly toys in their image available. They went like hot cakes and what was great was the Grand Prix winners or other well known players were signing them for the ki-dz.
hen Jade Jones won the third W Grand Prix that was held in Manchester, the next day she had a
signing period for fans and in true Taeger fashion they queued up for an autograph from the now double olympic champion. Jade and the rest of the GB squad are such good sports and we think they are now so used to seeing them cheering them on they hopefully are looked upon as part of the team. We know they are hoping and looking forward to GB Taekwondo hosting the next stage of Grand Prix events for the forthcoming Olympic Cycle - Tokyo 2020. So if your at a martial art event especially a Taekwondo tournament, keep your eyes peeled, you never know you just might be pounced upon by a cuddly Taeger up mischief and fun. They are Taegerific!
The Taegers and Martial Art legend Bill Wallace
Taeger the Tiger with Jade Jones & Bianca Walkden
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle and The Taegers
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OCTOBER 2016 YEAR OF THE MONKEY
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TAEKWONDO TODAY Article
BRITISH TAEKWONDO TODAY by Master S.H. Blomeley email: steveblomeley@gmail.com Tel: 0161 456 1976
Traditionally, beginning students practise our three step sparring methods, but is this method of training sadly neglected for more sport orientated methodology? or can we incorporate both and kill two birds with one stone!
Beginners Simple set 1
n a previous issue, we Ibasiclooked at the first simple kicking techniques
1: Attacker kihaps to signify ready
involved in the traditional 3-step semi-free sparring methods. This issue again and as a reminder, we can look at adapting it towards a more sport-orientated practice which can have relevance and value for a student who is competing in the ring. This method also helps to maintain focus for developing some of the skill sets required to score on the hogu but also keeps in mind the traditional aspects necessary for kup gradings.
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3: Attacker executes hopping forward 3 times left leg side kick 4: Attacker executes another hopping forward 3 times right leg side kick
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n this method the students are starting out Again, with a little imagination the student or coach can introduce the with the traditional method change of stance at any point of the sequence and of course this method of right leg back fighting of training can be done in full sparring gear to simulate competition stance, kihap to signify they are scenarios. The sequence can be practiced with all traditional kicking ready but, instead of executing a techniques and of course they can be mixed together to produce a set stationary kick such as side kick , of combinations which include the stance change. they go into the mode of hopping forward on the standing leg 3 times before executing the chosen kick. They repeat the process 3 times as is generally required in the traditional sense with the defender executing their counter-kick after the third kick has been delivered towards them. The attacker is helping to develop his timing and distance plus maintaining the balance and forward movement required which is more akin to free sparring or competitive sparring. It can also help the student’s internal clock for the length of time they are allowed to have the leg up before kicking in a tournament and being warned by the referee according to the rules of engagement.
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n practice, you can of course change from utilising the rear leg to practice using the front leg, which is a common feature now in modern WTF competition. The defender also can work on specific things like being able to perfect the right timing to be able to counter kick at the right distance, again developing that internal timing, knowing that his opponent has to eventually kick or put the foot down. Again, depending on the student’s grade or level they can practice the various kicking techniques that are for kup grade promotion or the techniques f you are a more advanced student, you can again add in various that will give them good scoring opportunities in the ring. Obvious factors and challenges to enhance the practice, such as double kicks choices are the bread and butter kicks of bit chagi and dollyo chagi with the stance change, jumping techniques before or even after being a favourite scoring method. the stance change even utilising body shift from the stance change nother method being demonstrated by the girls in the photograph or prior to it. The scenarios are limited only by your imagination or is a simple set of executing a basic bit chagi for practicing their initiative. A good challenge for intermediate students is to perform offensive techniques, but adding in one stance change for the third the three-step semi-free exercise with all jumping techniques chosen and final kick. After pairing off and exchanging the tradition kihap prior or even initiated whilst in full flow, picking and choosing which signal to start the attacker performs a right leg bit chagi followed by one to execute as you feel at the time. For the defender the best way a left leg bit chagi. On the the third and final kick of the three-step to counter a jumping kick attack is of course to reply with your own semi-free sequence she performs a quick stance change to change jumping kick to counter theirs. The more advanced or experienced the the angle of attack or merely confuse the defender as to which leg is practitioners the more you can increase the speed and complexity for competition practice also. being used. She then executes another left leg bit chagi.
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2: Attacker executes hopping forward 3 times right leg side kick
5: Defender execute right leg bitchagi/cut kick counter kick Sequence finished - defender now becomes attacker.
Beginners Simple set 2 1: Attacker executes single right leg bitchagi 2: Attacker executes single left leg bitchagi 3: Attacker executes change of stance 4: Attacker executes left leg bitchagi 5: Finish of sequence or defender can utilise counter attack Sequence finished - defender now becomes attacker who can work on same technique or introduce another that needs to be worked upon with change of stance.
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TAEKWONDO TODAY Article
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OCTOBER 2016 YEAR OF THE MONKEY BRITISH TAEKWONDO TODAY by Master S.H. Blomeley email: steveblomeley@gmail.com Tel: 0161 456 1976
www.kitaekwondo.co.uk BRITISH TAEKWONDO TODAY by Master S.H. Blomeley email: steveblomeley@gmail.com Tel: 0161 456 1976
THE C
Just recently I caught up with the son of an old friend from my early years in Taekwondo. Daley Richardson came up with an idea after becoming concerned like most of us do, about the current level of bullying that goes on especially against school children. He has now seen this take off - with 70 clubs around the country signing up to the Martial Arts V Bullying campaign The Taekwondo instructor who decided to offer free self-defence classes to children who are being bullied has seen his good deed snowball into a national campaign. Daley Richardson, 31, who teaches martial arts in Urmston went on Facebook to offer of a month’s tuition to any young bullying victims after he saw a video online in which a young girl was terrorised by some youths.
“He has got ADHD so he does get bullied quite often, unfortunately, but hopefully this will give him the self confidence to defend himself.” Oscar has been at Westfield Primary School, in Wigan, for 12 months and Ms Jones said this Monday morning was the first time she had seen him excited to get up and go to school.
of planning and preparation. You should have the ability to conduct engaging sessions; ensuring training is carried out in a safe environment.
Oscar’s mother, Holly, said after his first session with Mr Richardson there was already a marked improvement in his confidence and he was excited to go to school to tell his friends what he had learnt. She said: “We are an ex-military family so we are used to moving school every eight months or so which is hard for a seven-year-old.
they are not in school It’s good to talk, but not to shout; it’s good to listen, not to ignore; and it’s good to offer encouragement, not criticism.
ndisciplined students can create allsorts isruptive behaviour from a student ndiscipline: human behaviour is learned, just U of problems with your plans and be a Dis the spanner in the works that can Ilike a skill is learned. ‘Just because we tell a constant source of frustration. The period affect your ability to successfully meet these child once, for example, to hold the pads and in between activities is a major time for students to resort to poor behaviour and a coach or instructor should set the ground rules before the start of sessions or joining a club. The Instructor or coach has to keep in mind though that the students are there to have fun, as it is their leisure time and many are still developing their social skills and emotional ones too, albeit wanting to learn the actual martial art your teaching.
goals, as It wrecks the positive environment that is conducive to learning. Creating the optimum environment for facilitating effective coaching requires a skilful approach. Unwanted behaviours – often the source of headaches for coaches who are struggling to master behaviour management – must be managed before they disrupt a session and have a negative impact on a coach’s plans. ‘be prepared’ as adequate preparation can stave off the onset of disruptive behaviour.
Positive behaviour in a sessions should be one of your main goals, and the calibre of coach you aspire to become will be dependent on you forming and retaining a decent working nwanted behaviour often happens when relationship with your there is a break or coaches are talking for players. too long, maybe explaining the new drill or set-up Planning and preparation, then, are What makes a good keys to a successful session, while boredom coach?’ should become the taboo word for every coach. Youngsters get agitated when their interest levels drop off and this encourages a High on the breakdown in behaviour. Coaches should plan list of possible the make-up of their sessions in detail and set answers would the ground rules before the start of training, be: the ability to explaining what behaviour is unacceptable communicate and have an avoidance strategy, also avoiding effectively and reeling off a long list of commandments . Keep understanding in mind the fun element and you will not go t h e far wrong. Children Have a lot of energy impor tance running around their bodies so don’t play the strict schoolteacher as
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“It is brilliant to see the martial arts community come together and try to do something about bullying.
Daley, who grew up in Eccles but now lives in Hyde, said: “Taekwondo builds confidence, character and discipline as well as teaching self defence.
inspiring good behaviour in your sessions!
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He said: “My phone has not stopped.
Daley whose father Mark is a sixth dan black belt, has been practising Taekwondo since he was two years old and began teaching a year-and-a-half ago when he broke his leg.
OACHES ORNER!
ost Human behaviour is learned and developing a new skill can take time. A good habit to get into is Self-reflection after sessions. A coach cannot overestimate the importance of behaviour management in sports coaching.
After a fantastic response he set up a Martial Arts V Bullying campaign and Mr Richardson, who has competed on the world stage, has now had 70 other clubs as far away as Bristol, Oxford and Dublin sign up in just a week. Richardson has had dozens of clubs sign up the campaign
TAEKWONDO TODAY Article
LEVEL 2 COACHING COURSE
Daley Richardson has set up a scheme to tackle bullying “The bullying problem doesn’t seem to be getting any better, just worse so hopefully the campaign will spread and will help do something about it.” The instructor had five children sign up at his own gym within the first four days of the campaign, including seven-year-old Oscar Jones, whose ADHD has meant he has had problems with bullies in the past.
Educational
MARTIAL ARTS V n g i a p m BULLYING! Ca
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not bang them does not mean to say they have learned that lesson. That is so, so important. From a perspective of coaching, unless you get that, you won’t understand about integrating behaviour development alongside whatever martial art sport development it is you are involved in coaching.’ Coaches’ unwarranted expectations can often be at the root of their problems with misbehaviour. essential role of a Martial Art coach Tandheisn’tskills just to improve an individual’s talent and help in their pursuit of great
self defence skills and happiness through playing in the sport. A good coach will also develop their players’ emotional and social competence through years of nurturing to help sculpt them into decent human beings and citizens who are an assett to their community. Those are the sorts of behaviour that we say, collectively as a club, are really important and are what we work on.’
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email: steveblomeley@gmail.com BRITISH TAEKWONDO TODAY by Master S.H. Blomeley email: steveblomeley@gmail.com Tel: 0161 456 1976
September saw the higher education establishments open their doors again for the new term and of course it was time for Taekwondo!
Freshers, Freshers and more Freshers! sity
Ki Taekwondo Birmingham University Freshers Stall
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eptember for the University clubs sees an influx every year of new students arrive on campus for their first introduction about what their chosen higher educational establishment has to offer sports wise. It’s a place where the Freshers as they are termed can get to meet and join similar like minded people, befreind them and also possibly enrol at one of the clubs.
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hose of us who have University clubs have a great opportunity to promote the martial art and olympic sport to many of the freshers and waste no time in doing so. The best way is obviously on the freshers sports fair where we can put up a stall and hopefully get interested parties to sign up for a trial lessson or at least come and look what we have to offer. Ki Taekwondo and Quest Taekwondo are two such groups in WTF Taekwondo who were very busy and active on the same day this year albeit at different destinations. Chief Instructor Steve Blomeley has his Ki Taekwondo Birmingham University club which he established over 20 years ago and Mike McKenzie chief Instructor to Quest oversees Leeds Beckett University. So if your at Uni and looking for an exciting fun dynamic way to keep fit why not check out your club on campus or contact the chief instructors/Instructors there.
ett eck tall B S ds Lee shers e Fr
ver Uni
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British Taekwondo students giving their all to be crowned champion in London
email: steveblomeley@gmail.com BRITISH TAEKWONDO TODAY by Master S.H. Blomeley email: steveblomeley@gmail.com Tel: 0161 456 1976
The British Nationals The Copperbox Arena T
he British Taekwondo National Championships were held on Saturday the 24th and Sunday the 25th September at the Copperbox Arena Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Stratford, London. With the Rio Olympics having come to a close and GB Taekwondo athletes producing three out of a possible four medals it was time for the aspiring Taekwondo athletes from around all the BT clubs in the country to get on the mat and show their worth. For many a year the British Taekwondo Nationals have been held in the National Cycling Centre, Manchester but a change was felt necessary for 2016 and London was to be the city chosen.
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he Copperbox Arena is a fantastic venue to hold such a prestigious championships and the general feeling from most of the Taekwondoists, coaches and instructors was that it was a tremendous weekend of high action and good entertainment. Two of the GB Olympic players who were successful in Rio were on hand to help boost the event and give people the opportunity to be photographed with them and their medals. Many of the Taekwondo practitioners and their families also took the opportunity to have a good look round the Olympic park during their stay in the capital city too.
the 24th was the day for the B class competitors to take to the mat Swithaturday and try to work thier way to the finals of their respective weight divisions. So the majority of the British Taekwondo clubs in attendance their 9th kup
to 3rd kup students were keeping the coaches very busy over the ten rings that were laid out inside the arena. For the vast majority of the ki-dz it must have been a great experience competing in such a prolific venue and surely create even more hunger to do well for the future. Whether they medalled or not they were all winners fighting in such a great atmosphere and can be all very proud of thier achievements for their clubs, themselves and their families. All the kup grades fought 3 rounds at each stage they competed at and if they reached the semi final stage they were guaranteed a very nice medal regardless of it being bronze, silver or gold. Of course gold would have been the one they were aiming for. There was also a para kyorugi division competition on the first day with two WTF Para-Classes, K40 for athletes with upper limb deficiency and K60 for deaf/hearing impaired athletes. Again with great determination and impressive skills they strove to win the coveted title to be crowned the national champion in their respective divisions also.
unday the 25th brought the A class competitors to the fore with some SPickin fiercely contested matches in the senior Dan Grade divisions. Notably Jack a young and upcoming Taekwondo athlete took gold in both the junior
and senior division for his weight group, a tremendous achievement. My own student played him in the semi final and came away with a great experience of his first nationals and a new found friend. Gurumu Taekwondo came out the overall winners in the medal tally and so were once again crowned the National team champions for another year running. A tremendous achievement that they thoroughly deserve as they work so hard for each other in all aspects of training. With the vast majority of the British Taekwondo instructors at the event it was a good opportunity for discussion and meetings and all being well the success of these championships bode well for the future and help shape things to come as we see our beloved Taekwondo go from strength to strength leading up to Tokyo 2020. This years National championships boasted over 850 competitors over the two days...
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tAEGERS COLOUR ME IN SHEET
BRITISH TAEKWONDO TODAY by Master S.H. Blomeley email: steveblomeley@gmail.com Tel: 0161 456 1976
which seems to utilise the front foot kicks more and favours tall skinny fighters. There were some great moments in Rio during some of the matches and being British I of course set my alarm clock to cheer on masters comment on the fact that the bouts look like a lot of foot our GB players as they progressed but my overall thoughts were that fencing with the players not really showcasing the dynamic martial it didn’t quite get my nerves jangling and hairs on the back of my neck art that we were used to in the 80’s or 90’s. Since they changed the stood up at the prospect of watching an extremely exciting match. scoring system many argue that a lot of the Taekwondo bouts have now lost their technique and powerful delivery of blows that would be ith the 2016 Rio Games over the WTF needs to make changes and exchanged by two top class exponents and now we are seeing things re-inject spectacle back into the game. We practitioners and exbeing executed so that the players can take advantage of the system ponents of the art hope that taekwondo 2020 to be not only fair and but yet in reality have no practical application. I think many of us after transparent, but also have us on the edge of our seats once again. If watching Rio found ourselves trying to explain to our friends, fami- over the next Olympic cycle they implement something in a positve lies or just the general public, that that is not really what we do what direction that we coaches see in action at the grass roots level then you watched on the telly ‘that Taekwondo is much more dynamic and crowds could increase along with participation, which will benefit powerful and a very effective martial art’ for many circumstances. We everybody. With more funding money being pumped in from various cannot blame the players for adapting and trying to win on a system sources to Taekwondo it surely has the capacity to pull it off if done that is presented to them that they have to play under and many of us correctly. One thing we mustn’t do is lose sight of the pure martial art know that all those modern day exponents of our art can hit very, very side of things also, so that we can attract students from all walks of life hard. The level of training they do who may not be into the majestic is probably way more advanced sporting element but find equally than twenty years ago with all the attractive reasons for wanting to science, conditioning and tactical learn an effective martial art for awareness behind it. health and self defence.
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ne thing that has changed O in a positive light is that Korea the founding nation of Taek-
vites its top coaches and executives to a five-day brainstorm in Seoul on Oct. 17th. Dr Chungwon Choue said that In order to make Taekwondo a better sport, it is very important to hear opinions from the coaches in order to make the best game,” The coach seminar will give them a platform to speak up and possibly influence future policy of the WTF. After having exchanged ideas and elicited feedback from the coaches, the Technical Committee will present proposed changes to top-level WTF executives. Those changes voted in will be applied at WTF championships from 2017. So did it ‘Rock in Rio’? from my perspective it was one of mixed feeling ‘Yes’ because GB Taekwond achieved three out of a possible four medals but ‘No’ because it wasn’t quite the spectacle everyone wanted or hoped to see which left a bit of a void along with disallusion that it didn’t present to the world the dynamic Korean Martial Art that we all know and love, but we can get it right!...The summer is over now and traditionally it is quite a busy period for British Taekwondo with plenty of events and tournaments leading up to Christmas. The British n my opinion we do need a game changer that allows the crowd Nationals having just been held following on from the Olympic legacy to be engaged and be able to see the scoring as it happens but at was one of the biggest to date... the same time has them on the edge of thier seats whether it be in the arena or sat watching on a tv screen somewhere in the world. The PSS is a technology but far from perfect – It has also altered the way the game is played from powerful exchanges to modern tactical
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PRINT OFF AND COLOUR ME IN Ki-DZ
wondo does not dominate all teh different weight categories now and this could be becuase of the technology but we think everyone is in agreement that the WTF have to try to find a way to bring back some of excitement and dynamism that gets the spectators jumping out of their seats again. During Rio some of what many of us consider the better and more exciting contestants didn’t fair well and is that perhaps because the system allows exponents to completely nullify the more dynamic players as they are constantly checked with the front foot fencing technique which is quite frankly not very exciting to watch. As you are reading already the WTF have begun looking into how they can upgrade the game in time for Tokyo 2020 especially with Karate coming in as a demonstration sport also. The key to the question is that they must have a fair and transparent method of scoring but somehow be able to bring back that very fighting style that makes WTF Taekwondo so unique and a joy to watch when two very skilled opponents go head to head.
is a lot at stake and Tgethere game-changing process is to underway when the WTF in-
The Taegers celebrate olympic medals for gb taekwondo
The Taegers of Taekwondo
nce the Beijing Olympic games were over an electronic system O was introduced to register the scores on opponents to try and make the system fairer but many practitioners or old school style
?
C Steve Blomeley 2016 TM O
DID IT ROCK IN RIO now summer is over what next
British
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Horizon 1-2-1 Competition Bradford Rick Simpson of Horizon Taekwondo hosted another 0ne to one competition on Sunday 9th October to give the novices and also some experienced people match practice. With over 300 Taekwondo students taking part from all around the country it was a good event to be at and also a chance to catch up with many friends on teh circuit. The event was held at the Richard Dunn Sports Centre in Bradford and the arena was laid out with four rings. The four rings were in constant action and oversaw by British Taekwondo Referees. The A class students (senior grades) all fought with PSS hogoos (electronic armour) whilst the B class novices played their matches with the normal body armour and equipment. During the lunch break there was a Poomsae (patterns) competition. The poomsae competition was more about letting the students experience going on the mat competing in direct competition with another student for the category. A flag system was used with three judges including
Master Stephen H. Blomeley from Ki Taekwondo Association along with some senior poomsae players, raising the colour that they thought was the best student on the floor progressing them through to the next round. The poomsae competition showed some very good performances especially from the youngsters, who no doubt have a great future ahead if they keep that level up. Overall I think the judges agreed 85% of the time who performed the best in each match and was a good experience for all concerned.
regardless of positions attained what was more important was the experience especially for first timers just like in the kyorugi (free sparring). There were plenty of good matches for the spectators to watch and the kidz love it getting their medals after some hard earned victories or even
narrow defeats. Again like the poomsae competition mentioned it’s the invaluable experience that is gained that counts the most and everybody there is a winner including the coaches and referees who attend these events for the sake of the students. Rick and Nat the hosts are both referees and the majority of the time people forget what an important role the officials play in the whole scheme of things. Without these unsug heroes no games could take place and we are fortunate in Great Britain to have a great infrastructure that helps d e v e l o p these people. Overall I think Rick and Nat can look back and say it was another good day and will be looking over the Horizon for the next event.
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C T L ON RO ON RO
Self Defence Techniques and Tips for the Beginning Student
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1
F
igure 3 shows her grabbing the punching arm of her assailant quickly with her left hand after the initial block. She could also potentially back-fist the aggressor in the temple or face.
16 October 2016 ULTIMATE open BARNSLEY METRODOME
Ki Taekwondo kup Grading Stockport Date to be confirmed
3
12/13 November 2016 QUEST TKD FESTIVAL EIS SHEFFIELD
4
26 November 2016 British Taekwondo AGM Venue TBC
he next step is in Figure 4. She lifts her right arm high over Tmaintaining the opponent’s left arm that has grabbed her collar, whilst the grip on his punching hand.
& 5 ulling hard and looping her arm under the opponent’s left elbow, she traps his wrist under her right armpit whilst Pcontinuing to hold the opponent’s right wrist for figure 5.
6
continuing turn towards her assailant, she seizes his Icannrighttherelease elbow, pinning it across his chest and stomach. She then his right wrist for figure 6. ow that her left hand is freed up as in figure 7, she can N continue her turn into a long stance facing the opponent and execute an uppercut strike to his exposed jaw, which he
09 October 2016 YORKSHIRE MATCH TIME RICHARD DUNN LEISURE CENTRE, BRADFORD
6th November Masters seminar TKD England
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7
British Events
Seeding Event
CALENDAR oF EVENTS
5th/6th November NTC Poomsae & Para championship
victim.
n figure 2, she steps immediately forward into a left-leg long stance to stretch the opponent or aggressor and blocks the incoming punch with her right-hand inward block.
MT
International Events
30 October 2016 WLM OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPS KNOWSLEY LEISURE CENTRE, LIVERPOOL
2
ere, in figure 1, student Shaun grabs the collar of H Cora from the rear. His left leg is forward so that he can utilise his favourite right hand to punch his intended
cannot avoid due to both his arms being tied up.
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T H E
elf-defence tip from the rear collar grab courtesy of students Shaun and Cora. In this scenario the opponent or aggressor has come up behind the victim and grabbed the rear collar of the person, who needs to react before a punch is executed towards their head.
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27 November Dome 1-2-1 Kyorugi competition 3/4 December 2016 NTC WINTER CHAMPIONSHIPS Nottingham Ki Taekwondo Birmingham University Kup Grading Date to be confirmed
Every Day is a Taekwondo Day!
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Fast, Fun & Forever teaching them lessons for life!
Ki-dz in Martial Arts
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nrolling your child in a Martial Art class such as Taekwondo can reap many rewards, especially in this day and age of technolgy. The children who partake in martial arts training help to develop their self esteem, physical fitness and co-ordination plus gain self discipline, respect for others and learn not only good manners but good self defence skills too including situational or environment awareness. If htey have a lot of energy (which most ki-dz do) then trainng at least twice a week can help them focus some of it into very constructive avenues. The Martial arts help them attain goals and set them plus strive to be better in themeselves learning new skill sets which can be transferred into many sports that they do. If they are competitve minded there is also the many competitions that they can attend in their chosen art which again is tremendous outlet which teaches them about gain and loss and how to handle not only winning but sometimes losing too. Most coaches I am sure would agree this all goes to helping them become a more rounded person and human being.
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f you decide to pop along to one of your local classes, as a parent make sure you
By Master S. H. Blomeley patterns well can be accomplished on two separate fronts Panderforming or they can even combined together depending on your understanding outlook, as to what they are for and why so much emphasis is placed
check out the credentials of the Instructor and which organisation he belongs too etc. Ask yourself is the class fun, engaging and inspiring and do the children already belonging to the club know how to behave and appear to have good structure and discipline whilst still enjoying themselves and that the experience isn’t too overbearing. One of the great things about Ki-ds learning a martial art is that they do develop great confidence and can perhaps be able to deal with some of the issues that seems to present itself every now and then like bullying. A good instructor will help them not to be intimidated, learn how to deal with some things in a constructive manner plus also have a realisation that they mustn’t behave like that to other people as well. As they progress up the ranks in a traditional martial art class this also helps bring out the
Forget the Form, Find the Function
on them for promotion. Do we practice them to be executing the nicest techniques visually, showing great flexibility, balance and control with perfect timing, as is required for Poomsae competition or do we perform them with a pragmatic approach being able to deliver decisive blows, locks and holds to a would-be assailant?
ets look at the opening move of Pyongwon, the Black Belt pattern Labdomen with its trademark left hand covering the right hand placed over your or groin area. Let us look at where this comes into play and as to what the next sequence entails, because what came before it or what immediately follows it can give the student a clue as to how to use it pragmatically.
racticing the pattern for competitive purposes needs good form, nice P balance and perfectly executed kicks with proper foot formation, height, power and control. These are prerequisites for scoring high marks and need to be
done equally as well with both sides. Poomsae players train extremely hard in getting to this stage, working constantly on their breathing and timing to execute the 4th Dan poomsae moves, which includes back stance knife hand blocks, the waving kick and double hand techniques perfectly. leadership qualities that some of them have and how they can help others too, especially their friends. All in all joining a group and enjoying training has helped amny, many school children focus more at school gaining better results and attainments. Many schools these days have after school Martial arts clubs. Come on and Ki-ck it with us Ki-dz
onsidering it for its martial purposes and the fact that one is defending oneself C from attack, why would a student be in such an exposed position? I’ve heard various explanations over the years and perhaps the worst is that you are protecting your groin
from a kick. In this position you would not only lose your groin but your fingers too! One reasonable explanation based on body mechanics is that your wrist has been seized (perhaps, historically, to stop you drawing your weapon) and the reason the left hand is over the right is to symbolise the trapping of the opponent’s grabbing hand (hence the downward movement). Those who take the time to study the locks and holds contained within Taekwondo will see that this movement will in effect bring the opponent to his knees.
f it is followed by the symbolic hand position as in Koryo, this can also be utilised as a Iside. secure double grip which will bring your assailant not just down in front of you but to the This then corresponds with the next move of the poomsae. The next move is a back
stance with a low knife-hand block. Is it a block or is it more likely to be a downward knifehand strike to the opponent’s exposed neck, nullifying the threat? This would explain why the next sequence of moves continues in the other direction actually dealing with another opponent or giving you another practical combination of movements for a different type of attack. If you think about it logically, in poomsae there are many incidents where you perform a block from an so-called imaginary attack but then turn in the other direction and seem to completely forget about the opponent. In real life, that opponent will not be so forgiving and will not wait to attack you again when you are ready. As pointed out in previous articles, if you, the student, can have more than one explanation at your disposal for poomsae movements, you are on the right track, as they are a mnemonic or memory aid. They were designed so that you—the student—can practice alone and be able to visualise the opponent and the techniques that you can execute for various scenarios. Please remember: only practice under a qualified instructor’s supervision.
Not everything is as it seems in patterns! Can you figure out which Dan Poomsae, this rarely seen move in Taekwondo of escaping an arm bar is from?
Click picture to see technique in action!
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No Payne A Club Growth No Gain Journal 5... By Phill Payne
y name is Phill M Payne and I am a British Taekwondo coach/ instructor. I currently run two full-time martial arts centres while doing a little coach mentoring for West Yorkshire Sport and finishing off my Sports Coaching Master’s degree.
Choosing your 1 keywords
2 Content optimisation 3 Link building Choosing your 1keywords primary and secondary
stands for Search f you cast your mind SandEOEngine Optimisation I back all the way to refers to how you issue 1 of this journal, optimise your website to rank high on search engines for specific keywords. SEO is a complex area and the goalposts are forever on the move. It would be easy to write pages on each of the sections below but, due to space constraints, I will just highlight the most important points. As Google is responsible for the most search engine
page (SERP). 2 Content Is King results Quality and f you read any journals 3 quantity links Iwillor always tutorials on SEO you come across the saying ‘Content is irst rule of link building king’. The content on F is to produce an easily your site should be accessible web site with unique, interesting and relevant to potential new customers.
nce you have O identified the keywords you want to
focus on, make sure I suggested that you you include them in identify your target your page names, titles, market before doing “First rule of link anything else. You building is to produce need to identify an easily accessible who you are trying web site with quality to market content that people your service to and what would like to share.” their needs are. headings, sub headings and on page content. It s the majority of your is also good practice to new students will be add ALT text to describe drawn from a 5 mile or any images you have 15 minute travel distance on your site, while also from your training venue, scattering keywords in it is logical to focus your the description. While efforts with in this local it is important that you area. For most martial art have a good scattering clubs I have worked with of the keywords, using in the past, the phrase them in isolation will not ‘martial arts’ along with only make your copy read the area they are based poorly but may also harm in seems to work well your SEO. e.g. ‘martial arts Leeds’ for their main page. If you have separate lthough some people classes for children or suggest meta-tags no adults, I recommend you longer have much effect create separate pages to on your website’s SEO, focus on these keywords this information is used separately. when producing results for the search engine
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traffic, these guidelines are written mainly for SEO on Google, although there will be cross-over with other search engines. The main part of this article is broken down into the following sections:
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quality content that people would like to share. The next is to get as many links as you can from web sites that are authoritative. Links from councils, sports bodies, schools, universities, media outlets etc will have the most positive effect on your SEO. Getting an entry (and back link) on ‘Google My Business’, Internet directories such as DMOZ.org and specialist martial arts directories will also help. hings that can harm Tduplicate your SEO include content, errors
in the code for your web site, slow page loading times and how mobile friendly your site is. ou can get good Y results from SEO relatively quickly but the
best results are obtained over a long period. It took me around 6 weeks to get the Warrior Factory site from page 6 to page 1 for the keywords ‘martial arts Leeds’, though I had the extra complication that I was also optimising for ‘martial arts Halifax’ too.
n my next article, I will Isocial look at how you can use media and paid
advertising to increase traffic to your website. All these methods need to be combined together to maximise the number of new students walking through your doors.
Ki Taekwondo stockport dojang back to normal after flood & new club started in bramhall, stockport Ki Taekwondo Hazel Grove, Stockport had a little set back a few months ago as the area around the Torkington Park got flooded and it permeated their dojang, which sits right on the edge of the pleasant surroundings. Everything is back to normal now with a brand new floor laid and the students didn’t miss out on any training as the Chief Instructor was able to switch their sessions to one of their other venues whilst they awaited the building to dry out and be refurbished. They even fitted in parading and performing in the local carnival as ever. One of Ki Taekwondo’s Black Belts also took the initiative and has sought to establish another club for the group in Bramhall, Stockport. Andrew McHugh is now teaching at the village hall, Lumb Lane, Bramhall on Wednesday evenings from 7:00pm. The Torkington Centre classes in Hazel Grove run on a Tuesday evening 7:30pm for all students and also there is a designated Tiny Taegers Childrens class on Thursdays at 6:00pm.
The group also have another dojang at the prestigious Aquinas College, Heaviley too along with The Werneth Centre in Romiley.