News Archive - 2007
Black belt promotions - December
Annual winter derby competition - November
Sport training seminar - October
IOM admitted as member of European Taekwondo Union - October
Kukkiwon certificates presented - October
IOM representatives meet with the WTF - September
WTF Olympic Tournament in Manchester - September
Annual club party - September 2007
Successful club grading - July
IOMTKD feature in Taekwondo magazine - July
Black belt grading - April
Master Vohra training seminar - January
Black belt promotions - 2nd December 2007
Congratulations to the following students who have successfully tested for Dan/Poom promotions on 2nd December 2007 as follows:
Mark Leslie 2nd Dan
Jane Leonard 1st Dan
Nancy Shefford 2nd Poom
Stephen Jenkins 1st Poom
Siobhan Leonard 1st Poom
(Poom belts are child black belts).
All five candidates worked very hard and had completed many months of extra black belt classes. It generally takes 3-5 years to obtain a 1st Dan/Poom. The students had taken part in 3 days of training with a final exam on the third day. Each student will, in due course, receive a black belt certificate from Kukkiwon, the World Taekwondo Headquarters in Korea.
We now have 20 black belts training with us on the island and hopefully will have a few more next year.
Thanks to Master Keith Evans 6th Dan, International Referee, for standing in for our Examiner Master Bae and providing an excellent weekend.
Well done Mark, Jane, Nancy, Stephen and Siobhan.
Winter derby competition - 25th November 2007
The Isle of Man Taekwondo Association held its winter derby competition at the NSC.
A total of 40 members entered and fought in three, two-minute rounds. Taekwondo is a full contact Olympic sport.
The members of the Douglas and St. John's clubs were split into two teams, red and blue. After some very competitive sparring the red team came out on top 12-8.
Best junior female: Leah Morley in action against Ben Barker
Two fights that deserve a special mention were those between Ben Barker and Leah Morley, and Dan Gibson and William Leece. Morley came back from eight points down to win, while leece won by one point scoring, which was scored in the final seconds of the last round. Master Gun Lee 4th Dan selected the day's top performers as:
- Best junior male: William Leece
- Best junior female: Kelley Irving & Leah Morley (joint award)
- Best senior male: Alan King
- Best senior female: Cathy Blaney
- Best adult newcomer: Cathy Blaney
Other images from this event can be found in the image gallery.
Isle of Man Courier, 6th December 2007
Sport training seminar - 28th October 2007
IOMTKD held a day of taekwondo sport training at the National Sports Centre on 28th October 2007 with the Island's sport coach Master Peter Hankin 5th Dan of the Liverpool Taekwondo Academy. Master Hankin has assisted the Assocation with its development for approximately 10 years and has recently been appointed as its Sports Coach with a view to providing specialised tuition in the sport of taekwondo. The day was broken into two three hour sessions, one for beginners and one for more experienced members and over 80 students took part. Master Hankin will be providing extra sport training on a regular basis as part of the Association's goal to develop a strong Manx team.
Other images from this event can be found in the image gallery.
IOM admitted as member of European Taekwondo Union - 25th October 2007
On October 25th the General Assembly of the European Taekwondo Union took place at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Baku. This year there were new elections scheduled and the whole community of European Taekwondo Federations came to Azerbaijan for voting for a new ETU President and board.
During the Assembly the Isle of Man was accepted as an Associated Member of the European Taekwondo Union
As in the last years, this gathering took place in a friendly and constructive atmosphere, the hospitality of the hosting Azerbaijan Taekwondo Federation contributed much to the good feelings of the representatives of the European Taekwondo Federations. Details of the Assembly can be found on the ETU website.
Kukkiwon certificates presented - 6th October 2007
Isle of Man Taekwondo Association students proudly display their Kukkiwon Black Belt certificates which have arrived from Kukkiwon, the World Taekwondo Headquarters in Seoul, Korea. The students successful tested before Master Bae Dong Jin 6th Dan earlier this year at the National Sports Centre. All IOMTKD Black belts are Kukkiwon certified. A Kukkiwon certificate is required to represent your country in all WTF international competitions.
Pictured left to right are (back row) Jerry Carter, Brian Quayle, Alistair Audsley, David Shefford and (front row) Danny Shefford, David Powell, Stephanie Carter and Sean Leonard. Dominic Rowlinson was unable to be present for the photo.
Meeting with the WTF - 30th September 2007
Richard Halsall (President) and Brian Quayle (Council Member) recently met with the Secretary General of the WTF Mr Jin Suk Yang at the Olympic Qualification Tournament in Manchester UK. The Isle of Man was admitted as an associate member of the WTF at the AGM in Vietnam 2006 and has been striving to further develop WTF Taekwondo on the island.
Richard Halsall commented. " We were honoured to have a personal meeting with the Secretary General in Manchester on 30th September 2007. He was fully supportive of the Association's goals of increasing and improving the practice of taekwondo in the Isle of Man and gave us a motivational talk on the benefits of taekwondo in the community. Mr Yang is a very interesting man who spoke passionately about the ethos and purpose of taekwondo. He explained how taekwondo improves peoples' lives and makes them better people. We were honoured that he spent so much time with us."
Brian (left) and Richard (right) with the Olympic Champion Steven Lopez of the USA at the Olympic qualifier in Manchester
WTF World Taekwondo Olympic Tournament in Manchester - 30th September 2007
The WTF World Taekwondo Qualification Tournament concluded in a resounding success in Manchester, United Kingdom on Sept. 30, 2007. No protest was lodged during the three-day event.
Korea earned a full four berths for the taekwondo competition at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games after three days of the WTF World Taekwondo Qualification Tournament.
France, Cuba, Canada, Italy and Chinese Taipei clinched two places each for the Beijing Olympic Games through the World Qualification Tournament, which took place at the Manchester Evening News (MEN) Arena in downtown Manchester. The tournament drew 328 players from 104 countries, with the attendance of 54 international referees from 41 countries.
Ten other countries won one ticket each for the 2008 Olympic Games. They are the United States, Great Britain, Germany, the Philippines, Australia, Mali, Croatia, Greece, Mexico and Thailand.
The final day of the Manchester qualification tournament featured two weight categories of the men's -80kg and the women's -57kg.
Steven Lopez (right) of the United States and Iran's Yosef Karmi are in action in a men's -80kg preliminary match on the final day of the three-day WTF World Taekwondo Qualification Tournament at the MEN arena in Manchester, UK. Lopez won the match.
In the men's -80kg category, Canada's Sebastien Michaud placed first, while the United States' Steven Lopez and Italy's Mauro Sarmiento placed second and third, respectively, earning their countries a berth each for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
In the women's -57kg division, Korea's Lim Su-jeong placed first, while Italy's Veronica Calabrese and Thailand's Premwaew Chonnapas placed second and third, respectively.
A total of 128 athletes are to compete in the taekwondo competition of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Through the World Qualification Tournament, the top three athletes from each of the eight Olympic weight categories, totaling 24, qualify their national Olympic committees a place in the respective event.
Through the WTF's five continental qualifications, a total of 96 places, comprising of 48 men's and 48 women's places, will be allocated. Asia, Europe and Pan America will be allocated 24 places each in the same competition format. Africa and Oceania will have 16 and eight places, respectively.
The immediate continental qualification is the African Taekwondo Qualification Tournament scheduled for Nov. 1-3 this year in Tripoli, Libya, followed by the Asian qualification Nov. 28-30 in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
The Oceania qualification is slated for Dec. 1 in New Caledonia; the Pan-American qualification on Dec. 8-9 in Cali, Colombia; and the European qualification on Jan. 26-27, next year in Istanbul, Turkey.
WTF Website - www.wtf.org
Annual club party - 28th September 2007
The Isle of Man Tae Kwon Do Association held its first annual party at St. John's Football Club on Friday the 28th of September. Apart from being a social event for the students, it was also a celebration of a number of successful events that happened through the year. Student of the year awards were made to Rod Nielson (Douglas) and William Leece (St. Johns). Each was awarded £50 of training equipment.
The Association is non profit making and has been running for five years and holds classes at the NSC on Mondays (all grades), Tuesdays (Black Belts only) and Saturdays (all grades). It has been generously supported by the Public Lottery Trust. In September 2006, a second venue was set up in St. John's School and the classes are run on Mondays and Thursdays by instructors David Shefford and Mark Leslie. David successfully passed his 2nd Dan exam this year and Mark is training for his 2nd Dan exam in December. A third venue is to be set up in the south in 2008.
The Association has been generously supported by the Public Lottery Trust and is recognized by the Isle of Man Sports Council and the World Taekwondo Federation. It was admitted as an associate member of the European Taekwondo Union in October 2007.
Taekwondo is one of the sports where the Isle of Man is entitled to compete in its own name internationally. Eventually the Association hopes to have a player representing the Isle of Man in the World Championships.
During the last twelve months the Association has held two tough but successful black belt examinations under the supervision of Korean Master Bae 6th Dan. Those training for their black belts can take a maximum of 4 gradings a year (depending on ability). The average time to black belt is between three to four years.
The Association now has great plans for 2008: setting up a third venue, gradings, competitions both on the Isle of Man and internationally and also further seminars with professional coaches from the UK/abroad, and, of course, organising next year's party!
Successful club grading - 15th July 2007
A very successful club grading was held, with many students earning their next belt. Students from both the Douglas and St. Johns clubs took part and here are many of the successful students proudly wearing their new belts.
IOMTKD feature in Taekwondo magazine - July 2007
IOMTKD featured in a full page article in the July 2007 edition of Taekwondo & Korean Martial Arts magazine.
The article focussed on the visit earlier in the year of Tony Vohra, 7th dan, and was entitled 'Taekwondo on the Isle of Man'. As well as the text and a number of photographs in the main article the club was also mentioned in the News section at the front of the magazine.
Black belt grading - 28th April 2007
IOMTKD is celebrating the successful promotion of seven students to black belt and two students to 2nd Dan following a five hour grading conducted by Master Bae Dong Jin, 6th Dan (Kukkiwon) on Saturday 28th April 2007 at the National Sports Centre in Douglas.
The successful students were:
Promoted to 2nd Dan
Alistair Audsley
David Shefford
Promoted to 1st Dan
Jerry Carter
Brian Quayle
Promoted to 1st Poom (Junior black belt)
Stephanie Carter - Aged 13
Dominic Rowlinson - Aged 12
Sean Leonard - Aged 10
David Powell - Aged 9
Danny Shefford - Aged 8
Danny Shefford (8) and Jerry Carter (48) celebrate their exam success
Master Bae was impressed with the standard of the candidates who had clearly benefited from 6 months of specific additional training since their last grading under the expert eye of Kukkiwon Certified Instructor Master Gun Lee 4th Dan. The students had each spent between 4 and 6 years training to reach their black belts.
Special thanks are owed to both Master Lee and Master Peter Hankin of Total Taekwondo Liverpool who had given up much of their time to help develop the students to reach black belt standard.
The Saturday grading was followed on the Sunday with a referee seminar for the adult black belts conducted by International Referee Master Keith Evans 6th Dan with a lesson for the rest of the students from Master Bae and then a 3 hour sparring training session.
The Association will be holding a second black belt grading later this year.
Other images from this event can be found in the image gallery.
Isle of Man Courier, 3rd May 2007
Master Vohra training seminar - 7th January 2007
One of the highest qualified black belts in Britain visited the Isle of Man and gave a training seminar for black belts and those who are in training for their black belts. The event was held at the National Sports Centre and everyone who attended found it very interesting and worthwhile.
Other images from this event can be found in the image gallery, and Master Vohra's site can be found at www.mastervohra.com.