THIS MONTH IN TAEKWONDO & KOREAN MARTIAL ARTS
|
RICHARD HALSALL ? Isle of Man's WTF recognition |
 Not many people realise that the Isle of Man is not part of the United Kingdom.
The UK is made up of Great Britain which is, England Scotland and Wales plus Northern Ireland. Whilst the Isle of Man is a Dependency of the British Crown and the Manx people have British nationality the island has never been part of the UK.
It has an interesting history of independence having been a Viking Kingdom and is internally self governing with its own legal system and parliament called Tynwald.
I was concious of this and felt that taekwondo in the island would be best served by local people running its National Governing Body (NGB). The Isle of Man Taekwondo Association (IOMTKD) is the NGB. It is non profitmaking and is recognised by the Isle of Man Sports Council. IOMTKD is working to develop the practice of WTF TKD in the island.
The process of WTF recognition started with an introduction to the late Cha Sok Park by Keith Evans at the Madrid World Championships in 2005.
Grand Master Park was instrumental in assisting us and his untimely loss last year was a real shock. Following the meeting in Madrid we met with the then Chief Minister for the Isle of Man the Hon D. Gelling and he gave us a letter of support to send to the WTF.
The Isle of Man was voted in as an associate member of the WTF at the AGM in Vietnam in 2006.
Whilst the IOM is not an Olympic nation (hence the associate status) we can compete in all WTF competitions upto and including the World Championships. This a a great source of pride and we are working to build a manx team that can represent the island internationally. We would love to reach the same level of success as the manx cycling team, who achieved gold at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games in 2007.
Read more in the Digital Edition
|
|
|
FRONT KICK - With Tony Vohra |
 Introduction article to prepare for fundamental kicking continued, by Grandmaster Tony Vohra. Who is accredited by Kukkiwon World Taekwondo Headquarters as 8th Dan Black belt and a 1st class Instructor. Further articles will be done on a monthly basis.
In the last article I introduced some exercises to drive the knee up high, and outlined the importance of bringing your heel to your buttock (this is like a gun - cocked and ready to fire). I also gave you a leg - raising routine, which you should complete before attempting the exercises, I gave you this month. We are concentrating on the front kick. I intend to show;
a. How it should be executed.
b. How to practice the kick.
c. It's applications and targets
d. An exercise routine to make your legs stronger and your technique better.
The front kick, delivered from the front leg or rear leg, is probably the first kick most of us have ever learnt. With the front kick, the body is forward, execution of the kick and the kicking foot is driven straight forward.
For study, the front kick can be broken down in to its component movements. Remember, the most direct way to the target (from the floor, via 'cocked' position, then to the target) is the quickest way.
Read more in Combat Magazine available from WHSmith and all good newsagents
|
|
|
THE ECONOMIC WARM UP - By Mic Clark |
 The warm up, I'm sure you will all agree, is now considered to be an integral part of any decent martial arts class. We line up, take the bow then go through a series of aerobic exercises designed to warm up the body, increase the blood flow and get us in the right frame of mind for the training ahead. If it's done correctly the warm up should also reduce the risk of injury whilst at the same time improve your cardiovascular fitness. Personally I find some of the warm up sessions very time consuming and they can take valuable time away from our martial training. At times I have felt like I am in a step aerobics class instead of a martial arts class. So how do we avoid this? What can we do to meet all the requirements and get all the benefits from correct warming up without the session turning into a Tae Bo class. I believe I have the answer, or at least part of the answer. Allow me to explain in more detail.
There is a way which we can make the warm up more relevant to the art we study, a way to make the warm up more functional. You may suggest shadow sparring and I would agree, but very few people (myself included) feel comfortable when shadow boxing. In fact it can destroy confidence in beginners and is pointless if done incorrectly - if you think it impossible to shadow box incorrectly I suggest you train with boxing coach Tommy Thompson. We use a 4 phase warm up sequence that replicates actual combat, without actually "going in hard". Each phase lasts for 2 minuets with a brief rest between for instruction. This gives us a total warm up time of 8 minutes that is very physically demanding if done with the correct application and attitude.
Read more in the Digital Edition
|
|
|
MORALITY OF TANG SOO DO - By Russell Boon 4th Dan |
 Today Tang Soo-Do is more popular than ever but, as I discussed in my previous article, it's future is uncertain.
Tangsoo-Do - Moo Duk Kwan was founded by Grandmaster Hwang Kee on the 9th November 1945. Tangsoo-Do meaning "Way of the T'ang (or Empty) Hand" is a Korean version of Japanese karate-do. The Moo Duk Kwan or "Institute of Martial Virtue" is the name of the school Hwang Kee set up for the practice of his art which later became the style of Tangsoo-Do.
There are two different versions of the Moo Duk Kwan style. Firstly. There is Tangsoo-Do although technically this name no longer exists: the late great Grandmaster Hwang Kee, before his death in 2002, reverted back to using an earlier title "Soobahk-Do", a copyright protected name only members of the official Moo Duk Kwan can use. This is the style practiced by the likes of the U.S. Soobahk-Do Association and the International Tang Soo (Soo Bahk) Do Federation. Then there is Taekwon-Do - Moo Duk Kwan, part of the Korea Taekwon-Do Association, itself a Member National Association of the World Taekwon-Do Federation (WTF). (The creation of this group is controversial. Some say Hwang Kee was told to amalgamate but refused so had his school taken from his control forcibly whilst others say he attempted to join the KTA voluntarily but they refused his membership. His members who wanted to keep practicing with the Moo Duk Kwan legally were told to go with the Taekwon-Do merger and many of them did).
Read more in Combat Magazine available from WHSmith and all good newsagents
|
|
|
CONCUSSION - THE FACTS what every player should know |
 If you take part in contact sports you have to expect injuries. Fortunately, most of them are minor. Some of them are serious and may keep you out of play for some time. Most of these can be managed with appropriate rehabilitation and surgical treatment as required For example, fractured bones, ACL tears, shoulder dislocations. However, a few injuries may be career ending or cause serious lifelong debility or, even worse, fatality. The one injury that is potentially fatal in fighting sports is that of brain trauma or a concussion.
Concussions can occur in many sports including football, rugby, American football, ice-hockey and obviously, fighting sports, including full contact Taekwondo where kicks to the head are an integral part of the sport. However it is always highlighted in fighting sports where one of the aims of the sport is to "knock your opponent out", which in itself is a method of inflicting brain trauma on your opponent. Concussions do not just occur with blows to the head, although this is the most common cause. They can occur with injuries to the face, neck or elsewhere on the body with an "impulsive" force transmitted to the head.
Sports concussion is a very controversial topic and has been for a number of years. There is now an international body that meets and discusses the definition, symptoms and management of sports concussions. They then publish a summary, an agreement statement, and the last was published in 2004 from the second international conference on concussion in sport in Prague 20041. The problem with concussion in sport is not so much the effect of a single blow but more the cumulative effect of repeated brain injury, which may lead to acute sequelae. Such as occurred with Michael Watson, or the effect of chronic repetitive head trauma, as has potentially occurred with Mohammed Ali.
Read more in the Digital Edition
|
|
|
EUROPEAN MEDAL SUCCESS! - For The British Poomsae Team |
 The BTCB National Poomsae team returned home from Turkey in jubilant mood after securing no less than 4 bronze medals at the 8th European Poomsae Championships in Antalya with the best tally ever for a British Team since their inception into the European Poomsae Championships! This was a fantastic result and a great boast to the morale of the squad after just missing out on a bronze medal at the World Championships the previous month.
The BTCB sent its biggest squad to date to this event, 13 players covering all but one category. This included two sets of pairs and two syncron ladies teams.
The 4 bronze medals were taken by:
Stephane Roth - (31-40Male individual)
Grand Master T W Shin - (51yrs + Male Individual)
Angela Broadbent - (51yrs + Female Individual)
Angela Broadbent/Karen MaCrae/Michelle Hayman - (Syncron Team Female 36rs +)
Read more in Combat Magazine available from WHSmith and all good newsagents
|
|
|
|
