The ITF have produced an Introduction to Tournaments video. It shows all the events in a ITF Tournament. Videos from the 2006-2009 Junior, Veteran and Adult World Championships are used and contain clips of Irish competitors such as World and European Champion Ms Audrey Condon and World & European Silver Medallist Mr David Freeman. Click the links below to view the videos.

• ITF Introdution to Tournaments part 1
• ITF Introdution to Tournaments part 2
• ITF Introdution to Tournaments part 3
  
  

At a recent grading held in Naas some of our young brothers and sisters successfully achieved their new grades, entering the Green Growth exciting stages of their training. Well Done Jeanne Kenyon who progressed to 7th Kup Green tag and Reece Sheridan and Suzanne Benny who received their Green Belt 6th Kup. All your brothers and sisters in Taekwon-Do are proud of you.

Members from Galway, Athlone, Cork and Dublin travelled to Athlone for a Black Belt class under one of Irelands most experienced Instructors, 8th Degree Black Belt Senior Master Anthony Phelan. Those attending ranged from 1st to 7th Degree Master and all enjoyed the class. Senior Master Phelan focused on Black Belt techniques with advanced kicking, foot sparring and all the Black Belt Patterns were covered from Kwang-Gae to Tong-Il.

Senior Master Phelan emphasised the importance of continuous correction as an Instructor and took time to correct everyone's mistakes no matter how small. Those attending all learned a great deal in the short space of time and would have gladly trained for longer under the very experienced instructor.   The next national Black Belts class will be before the RITA’s AGM on the 27th of November.

About 40 children between ages 6 and 11 successfully completed year 1 of the RITA’s children’s development programme.  The new children’s programme is being piloted in three of the RITA’s schools (Athlone, Galway and Senior Master Howard’s School).   The children were examined in the new syllabus by Senior Master Phelan, Master Howard and Mr O’Donnell and the Taekwon-Do Tigers (aged 6-8) and Dragons (9-11 years) and all passed their first grading with flying colours. 

The Dragons were promoted to their next kup grade while the Tigers were promoted to white belt black stripe.  The new programme is closely aligned with TAB’s Introduction to Coaching Course and is aimed at developing the core Taekwon-Do skills in young children.  Congratulations to all the Tigers, Dragons, parents and instructors.

The Taekwon-Do Advisory Board (TAB) of the Irish Martial Arts Commission (IMAC) ran the first of this year's Introduction to Coaching Courses over the weekend of the 10th & 11th July 2010 in Mulhuddart Sport Taekwon-Do Club in Dublin. Nineteen instructors and assistant instructors from all over Ireland took part in the course which is the first step in the Taekwon-Do Advisory Board's Coaching Education Programme. This course was especially enjoyable as there was a very broad range of experience among the delegates which ranged from Blue Belt to 7th Dan Black Belts. The course included 12 contact hours over the weekend, which is split 50/50 between classroom workshops, presentations and mat based exercises. What makes this course particularly interesting is that actual Taekwon-Do students take part in modules prepared and coached by the various instructors and assistant
instructors on the course and then give feedback to the coaches. The course was presented by TAB Tutors; Mr. Adrian Byrne and Mr. Donal O'Donoghue.

Some areas covered included; coaching skills; coaching process, key factors in working with beginners, learning needs of participants aged 6-8 years; technical, tactical, physical, mental, lifestyle and personal capacities related to the development of this age demographic. The course participants will next complete the IMAC Coach Level 1 course which will be conducted by the Taekwon-Do Advisory Board in 2011. The atmosphere of the course was very positive and enjoyable for all taking part and it was a great opportunity to see olds friends and make new acquaintances with fellow instructors from around the country. This was the first major event since the Republic of Ireland Taekwon-Do Association (RITA) rejoined IMAC and the TAB. It was great to see the camaraderie and cooperation between all participants.

Photos from the course can be viewed here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/IrishTKD/CoachingIntroCourse#

There will be a Black Belt Squad session on Saturday 31st July in Carlow from 12.30 to 3pm. All ITF Junior, Adult and Veteran Black Belts are invited. Selection for both the 4 Nations in October and the European Championships in February will begin.

Please note there will be a new childrens division introduced at the Europeans. This is for ages 10-13 and will include 1st kups and Black Belts.

Junior: 1st-3rd Dan,14-17 years
Adult: 1st-6th Dan, 18-39 years
Veteran: 1st-6th Dan 40+ years (3 classes)

Recently St. Mark’s Taekwon-Do School’s newest members took their first grading.  The grading was overseen by examiner and senior instructor Ms. Valerie Keane 6th degree.  Ms. Keane examined both the beginners & colour belt students on the fundamental movements, terminology of Taekwon-Do and some destruction for the more senior grades.  The evening proved extremely successful with all students being promoted.  Special congratulations to Lucas Moraes who won the award for “Most Progressed Student”.  Ms. Keane congratulated all of the students on their success and told them to continue training hard.

Promotions included:

Michael Sweeney: 2nd kup
Cara Ronan: 4th kup
Kelsie Dunne: 4th kup
Alyssa Valencia: 5th kup
Tanya De La Vega: 5th kup
Lucas Moraes: 8th kup
Dylan Grogan: 9th kup
Januel Lojo: 9th kup
Jan Fiel Zetazate: 9th kup

On Sunday 4th of July, the RITA held its National Instructors course in the Lucan Spa hotel.  The course was conducted by RITA President, Senior Master Howard 8th degree and also Senior Master Barrett 8th degree.  After a brief warm-up the morning started off with basic instruction on how to address a class for the first time followed by explaining the fundamental movements correctly.  Attendance included black belts from all over the country with each member being given the opportunity to instruct students through a colour belt pattern under the guidance of the senior masters.  Syllabus content was then covered with all members being made aware of the requirements for colour belt gradings.  After lunch, the course resumed with the rest of the colour belt patterns being covered and a focus on destruction requirements for each of the grades.  The day finished out with Senior Master Howard emphasising the importance of stretching in classes to improve overall standard of a student’s ability.  An excellent day’s instruction was enjoyed by all.

Congratulations to all the students of Enniscorthy and Bunclody Taekwon-Do Schools who successfully passed a Grading on the 24th June. The Grading was held in Enniscorthy under their Senior Instructor Mr Martin Murphy 6th Degree.

Pictured in side photo: From Enniscorthy are Lisa Bolger, Denise Bolger, Deirdre Corrigan, Caoimhe Murphy, Kerri McGran, Geoiroid Murphy, William Bolger, Sean McGran, David Farrell, Linda Byrne Mr. O'Brien & Mr Murphy. From Bunclody are : James O'Tool, Chris Redmond, & missing from photo were Arran Lyness, Simon Lyness, Gary Murphy, Niall O'Loughlin

Pictured in main photo: Mr. John Byrne & Mr Laurence O'Brien 3rd Dan, Mr. John Redmond 1st Dan, Lisa Bolger, Denise Bolger, Deirdre Corrigan, Caoimhe Murphy, Kerri McGran, Gearoid Murphy, William Bolger, Sean McGran, Christopher Boyce, Callum Boyce, John Byrne junior, Kevin Byrne, Rahat Hadev, David Farrell, Linda Byrne, Anna Dodor, Steven O'Sullivan, Michael Farrell, David, Amy & Seamus McAlister, Jason Rigley.

Maynooth Taekwon-Do School are celebrating their latest Black Belt. Ciaran Hickey was promoted to 1st Degree Black Belt at the recent International Instructors Course. Ciaran had to perform in front of Senior Master Phelan, Senior Master Barrett, Master Howard and Master Jacob plus an audience including 6th, 5th and 4th Degrees. He overcame his nerves to pass the grading and get promoted to the coveted Black Belt rank.

His Instructor Mr Stephen Doyle 6th Degree presented him with the Black Belt during training to a round of applause from the rest of the Maynooth students.

The Lucan Spa Hotel in Dublin was the venue for the third ITF International Course conducted by the RITA’s Senior Master Francis Barrett VIII Degree.  Members of the association from all parts of Ireland and ranging from 8th Kup Yellow Belt to VII Degree Master gathered in the hall on the first day of the two-day event.  Seniors in attendance on the course included Master Robert Howard VII and the RITA’s most recently promoted VII Degree, Master John Jacob.

After the official introductions, Snr. Mst. Barrett began proceedings by explaining that the main purpose of the course was to ensure that all Black Belts were teaching technique and tuls correctly.  Starting off with fundamental movements, he made the point that students must clearly understand the purpose and method of each movement performed, and emphasised that Taekwon-Do techniques are all based on practical applications – in other words, if you’re in doubt about how to perform a technique, practice it with a partner and find out what works and what doesn’t.  Snr Mst Barrett reinforced this point over the course of the weekend and urged the members not to simply repeat techniques, but to practice and improve them constantly.

He then moved on to pattern practice and used Black Belt ‘volunteers’ to teach additional movements for each pattern, and then the pattern itself to the entire group, giving advice and suggestions for improvement in terms of instructing methods, as well as clarification and explanation of many technical points.  Again, drawing on his 37 years experience in Taekwon-Do, and many seminars under both General Choi and First Grandmaster Rhee, Snr Mst Barrett emphasised and explained in detail the application of the movements.  As everyone was engrossed in the business of the day, the time flew and before we knew it, having completed patterns as far as Choong-Moo tul, it was time to finish.  All the participants eagerly looked forward to the second day of the course.  A relaxed chat followed in the hotel, and Snr Mst Barrett enjoyed a meal with some of his Taekwon-Do family who were staying overnight at the venue.

Sunday kicked off with a recap on the first day’s content, and more practice of Hwa-Rang and Choong-Moo tuls, before moving on to the Black Belt patterns.  Fourth degrees and higher were each asked to teach additional movements and a pattern to a single Black Belt volunteer, while the rest of the group watched attentively, and Snr Mst Barrett oversaw proceedings and again gave advice and clarification as we went along.  This was a great learning experience.  As Snr Mst Barrett pointed out, when you are performing patterns, your mind is completely focused on executing the techniques, but when you have a chance to observe a pattern being taught and performed, you have the chance to pick up on a lot of finer points. 

As with all good Taekwon-Do events, the time went by so quickly, and having completed 23 tuls, the 7th and 6th Degrees performed Tong-Il tul as the course neared its end.  Snr Mst Barrett finished up by reminding everyone of the key points covered over the weekend.  After some presentations of certificates, the course officially closed.  Congratulations to Ciaran Hickey from Maynooth who was promoted to 1st Degree Black Belt at a Grading Under The Masters at the end of the course.

Sincere thanks to Snr Mst Barrett from everyone who attended for a fantastic, educational and informative ITF International Course.

Click here to view photos

Limerick IT Taekwon-Do School had a recent grading under Senior Master Francis Barrett and the following members were promoted .

Amanda Gleeson to 7th kup,
Alan Dunne to 8th kup
Tim Dotherty to 8th kup

Instructor Mr Jonathan Mullane would like to give special thanks to Senior Master Barrett for making the long drive from Waterford to Limerick to conduct the grading.

Congratulations to Mr Paul Tobin, 3rd Degree Black Belt, who was appointed RITA National Colour Belt Coach. Mr Tobin is the Senior Instructor to Carrick-on-Suir and Fethard Taekwon-Do Schools. The Colour Belt Team will represent Ireland at International events and is designed to give experience to future Black belts before moving to the National Team.

The RITA wishes Mr Tobin the best of success.

A recent grading in Naas seen lots of students successfully achieve their new grades. Its always exciting for instructors to see students progress from the little warriors to the bigger warriors. Well done to all on their acheivements.With a Special Congratulations to Ellen Claffey on receiving the grading award for her dedication and perseverance her performance on the night of the grading showed everyone how much she wanted to progress. I hope all the students are excited to be learning new materials and strive for their next goal. Well done from all your brothers and sisters.

New Grades Achieved were as follows:

Ian Fallon 9th Kup
Coimhe Browne 7th Kup
Cathal Humphreys 7th Kup
Maeve Claffey 7th Kup
Sarah Claffey 7th Kup
Filip Kokot 7th Kup
Ellen Claffey 7th Kup
Adam Cisowski 7th Kup
Laura Fallon 6th Kup
Keyon Javanmard 6th Kup
Luis Cull 6th Kup
Alfred Benny 6th Kup
Jospeh Mooney Del Campo 4th Kup
Magdalene  Michalewska   4th Kup

INVITE
On 16th October 2010, the United Kingdom Taekwon-Do Association will host the annual 4 Nations Challenge between Scotland (hosts), England (current holders), Wales & Ireland.

EVENT
The event will take place in The Thistle Hotel, Glasgow and the evening will consist of a Black Tie dinner dance, with the 4 Nations Competition being the evening's entertainment in the centre ring, during the meal.
The competition is a team event and consists of team patterns, sparring and power.
The annual awards ceremony will also take place, and at the conclusion of the meal/competition, the entertainment will continue in the form of a disco until the wee small hours.

LOCATION
The hotel is located in the heart of Glasgow City Centre, just a few minutes walk from the original 'Rhee Taekwon-Do Academy', and luxury accommodation is available on site.

ACCOMODATION
There are also a number of other hotels within walking distance of the venue to suit a variety of budgets, from b&b's to 5 star hotels.

TRAVEL
Glasgow City Centre is handy also for flights into Glasgow International Airport. (15 minutes drive)

COST
Tickets prices for the dinner dance have still to be confirmed, however when tables of 10 are purchased, a discount of £10 per person usually applies.

This is a great evenings entertainment, which those who have attended previous years will vouch for.
Guest of honour will be First Grandmaster Rhee Ki Ha, ITF Senior Vice President and Founder of UKTA, RITA and AETF.

Hope to see you all there!

Photos from the last 3 years can be viewed at the following link
http://www.uktascotland.com/gallery.htm

An idyllic (and rather warm) Sunday May 23rd saw Taekwon-Do students from all over the country descend upon St Mark's Taekwon-Do School for the annual tradition  that is the Senior Masters' Patterns and Power Seminar.

After students and instructors, ranging from 10th Kup to 6th Deg from the various R.I.T.A. Schools met and indeed reacquainted, the lines were assembled and we were ready for the off.

Despite the rather balmy conditions, Mr O' Donnell initiated the warm up, where the effort paid in sweat was well reimbursed with the increased mobility in the (in some cases old and creaking) joints.

Any fears or apprehensions harbored among students who were new to the experience were soon allayed as Senior Master Robert Howard VIII, Senior Master Phelan VIII and Senior Master Francis Barrett VIII, our instructors for the day were introduced, and the Senior Masters introduced themselves and welcomed the students in a warm and cordial manner, an atmosphere that permeated the entire day.

The seminar began with fundamental movements, both defensive and attacking, where particular emphasis was placed on the correct application of the sine wave, hip twist and acceleration of the techniques.  Saju Makgi and Saju Jirugi carried us into the study of the patterns.  Beginning with Chon Ji, the Senior Masters were very generous in dedicating their day to exploring and explaining every nuance of every pattern from Chon Ji all the way up to Tong Il.  They encouraged the students to ask questions about any aspect of the movements and the students were enlightened with the experience and knowledge of the Senior Masters.

The afternoon saw the beginning of the power breaking, which was very exciting particularly for new students who perhaps hadn't seen it before.  Black Belt students were invited to demonstrate various breaking techniques, with the Senior Masters on hand to explain the techniques, the generation of power and the various tools required for the breaks.  The class then dispersed as each student selected their pieces  of timber for their breaking endeavors.  This portion of the class took place in a rather relaxed atmosphere, as the Senior Masters and Black Belts were very generous with their time and encouragement as they assisted each student with their breaking, helping them achieve what for some was their first break.

A very enjoyable day was brought to a close with each student being presented with their certificates as reward for their efforts.  The day ended as it began in a warm cheery manner as the class sang Happy Birthday to Senior Master Phelan.

On behalf of all who took part I would like to thank the Senior Masters for their knowledge  and patience, and to Ms Keane and St Marks for ensuring that the tenth year of this event was as good as ever.

Laurence O' Brien 3rd Deg
Instructor Bunclody School

Member of Enniscorthy Taekwon-Do School

At a recent grading in St.Mark's Taekwon-Do School we had double Celebrations on the day with two Brothers, Michael Sweeney 3rd Kup all decked out in First Communion gear and Musashi Sweeney successfully achieving his 6ht Kup (Green Belt) and presented with  the Grading Award. Congratulations to the newly promoted students!

Full promotions listing was as follows:

Lucas Moraes – Yellow tag
Chloe O’Reilly McCarthy – Green tag
Amanda Nolan – Green belt
Danielle De La Vega - Green belt
Layla Aydin – Green belt
Musashi Sweeney – Green belt
Tanya De La Vega - Green belt
Alyssa Valencia - Green belt
Denis Aydin – Green belt

On Saturday the 24th April, 2010 female students from Taekwon-Do Schools through out Ireland descended  upon the Sleepy little village of Kilmacow in the Sunny South East (not so sunny on the day) to attend the Annual Female training day.  The event this year was hosted by Kilmacow
Taekwon-Do School.  The class was conducted by Ms. Valerie Keane 6th Degree, Senior Instructor to Naas and St. Mark’s Taekwon-Do Schools.  In attendance were students from Carrick on Suir, Limerick, Naas, St. Marks, Fethard, Kilmacow and Galway.    
 
Finding the hall was an achievement in its self due to Road Works and diversions.  Once everyone arrived safe and sound the day started with Ms. Keane congratulating Ms. Condon (Instructor to Kilmacow Taekwon-Do School) on her promotion to 4th Degree by presenting her with Flowers and Chocolates.

Ms. Keane then passed on her wealth of knowledge and experience teaching the fundamentals of proper stances, sine wave and technique.  All patterns from Chon Ji through to the 1st Degree Black Belt Patterns were covered.  Ms. Manning and Ms. Condon also performed the 4th Degree pattern Yon-Gae much to our delight as some members would not have seen this pattern before.

After lunch and presents for all from Ms. Keane the day continued in a warm and relaxed atmosphere with three step sparring, two step sparring, semi free and free sparring.  This was followed by break falls and tumbles.  If this wasn’t daunting enough for some we moved on to the power section but with Ms. Keane’s encouragement any fears were quickly dispelled.  Ms. Keane brought every one out of their comfort zone to break with a technique which they had not broken with before and all students both Junior and Senior with Ms. Keane’s guidance managed to break timber and or Tiles much to their delight. 

Before we finished up students were encouraged to suggest various breaking techniques for the Black Belt ladies to demonstrate.  These included hand techniques such as middle knuckle fist , thumb knuckle fist and long fist  through Tiles.  Followed by foot techniques such as flying turning kick, flying high kick and flying two direction kick through timber.  This finished the day on a high note for everyone and gave the junior members plenty to aspire to. 

Once again many thanks to Ms. Keane, Ms. Manning and Ms. Condon as yet again an enjoyable day was had by all.  Due to Ms. Keane's patience and encouragement everyone went home with a sense of achievement, fulfilment and sisterhood.

Patrice Conaty, 1st Kup
Kilmacow Taekwon-Do School

For the past 18 months St.Mark's & Naas Taekwon-Do Brothers & Sisters got together for fundraising events and Training to support General
Choi's Memorial Cup hosted by Grand Master Jong Soo Park in Toronto Canada. In the students own words a fantastic unforgetable experience
with their Canadian Taekwon-Do cousins, creating their own family atmosphere in supporting each other at the Tournament, never letting
each other down by lack of fun and laughs, which was ongoing. A Days trip to Ontario's World famous Science Centre was most educational even for the very young children who literally got lost in their own world of Science!

What can we say about "Niagara Falls" other than breathtaking a natural must see experience! Our day in Niagara will always be remembered as we took the walk under the  Falls, singing you'll never "Beat the IRISH " after our fantastic overall win of 21 Medals on the previous day (not bad for 14 competitors)

We very proudly attended the 55th Taekwon-Do Birthday Banquet in the Shilla Dynasty Korean Restaurant, GM Park presented us with a very special plaque in appreciation for our support. Celebrating the event also was the late General Choi's Son and GM Park and many more Senior Masters & Masters who made our trip so enjoyable from greeting us at the airport on arrival to the same on departure and always on hand with transport as part of the Taekwon-Do family support. Our thanks to Grand Master Jong Soo Park and the Organising Committee for a memorable trip and we look forward to our next visit!

St.Mark's & Naas Students

RITA Development Committee announces Rescue Package / Mentor Scheme

This new RITA scheme aims to help existing schools that are struggling to stay open or struggling with low membership for whatever reason.

The highly successful RITA Instructors listed below have kindly agreed to act as Mentors and will provide support and advice to the Instructor by phone, email or face to face meeting if necessary. The Instructor could also request financial support for the school from the Masters Council (max value €500) on recommendation from the Mentor.

Please note that Instructors should speak to their Chief Instructor/Examiner in the first instance before contacting one of the Mentors.

Contact Details for Mentors:
Master Robert Howard
Mobile: 087 6987624
Email: robert.howard@dit.ie

Mr Mark O’Donnell
Mobile: 087 7970646
Email: instructor@galwaytkd.com

Mr Paul Tobin
Mobile: 087 2447886
Email: paultbn@gmail.com

Congratulations to the members of the AIB Taekwon-do School who took part in a recent grading under Ms. Valerie Keane 6th Degree & Ms Debra Manning 4th Degree from St. Marks Taekwon-do School. 4 members from AIB Taekwon-do School were promoted. This marked a special occasion for one particular member Nicolas Gellon, wh...o received an award for his performance at his first grading.

Students from the RITA, ITA, Red Star and Elite Taekwon-Do Academy competed in the ITF Ireland Cup which was hosted by Waterford Taekwon-Do School. Winning the Overall School award was Carrick-on-Suir while the Overall Senior went to Mark Pollock from Old Bawn and the Junior was Oliver Daly from Athlone.

Waterford Taekwon-Do has had much to celebrate recently as Ms Audrey Condon fresh from winning 3 Gold at the European Championships was promoted to 4th Dan Black Belt while Ireland newest Master, Master John Jacob was promtoed to 7th Degree Black Belt by Grand Master Rhee Ki Ha. Pictured here with their Instructor Senior Master Francis Barrett 8th Degree Black Belt.

For a full list of winners visit the Tournament page.
Click here to view some Photos.

The RITA Senior Masters attended a Unique event in China. Grand Master Rhee Invited all the Senior Masters in the World to a Seminar in China. Senior Master Howard, Senior Master Phelan and Senior Master Barrett all 8th Degree Black Belts represented Ireland. The seminar was used to standardise Taekwon-Do throughout the ITF. Only those who attended can conduct ITF International Seminars.

ITF Story:
http://www.itftkd.org/?Content=NewsDetail&NewsID=55

Photos:
http://www.itftkd.org/?Content=Photogallery&PhotogalleryID=38

The 9th Junior and the 4th Veteran ITF Taekwon-Do World Championships will be held in the city of Minsk, Belarus, on 21-28 August 2010. There will be the Technical & Umpire and Masters’ Seminars on 22-24 August 2010 before the Championships.

Those wishing to be considered for selection please contact Mr Doyle as soon as possible as the closing date for submission of applications is 21st May 2010. Those travelling will also need a Visa.

Congratulations to everyone who passed the Black Belt Grading under the panel of RITA Senior Masters.

Promoted to 1st Degree Black Belt
Brian Cusack (Ck-On-Suir School)
Sarah Kirk  (Galway School )

Promoted to 2nd Degree
Mr.Tim Collins (Galway School)
Mr. Patrick Nicholson (Stillorgan School)

Promoted to 3rd Degree
Mr. David Lanigan (CK-On-Suir)

Promoted to 4th Degree
Ms. Audrey Condon (Ursuline School)

Coaching Ireland in partnership with Lucozade Sport now have 10 workshops available for delivery free of charge to government recognised ITF Taekwon-Do Schools. These workshops are delivered by highly skilled presenters who have been selected and trained by Coaching Ireland. The workshops are of enormous benefit and offer clubs the opportunity to
access free education for their competitors and coaches.

The workshops are divided into two levels:

Level 1 is aimed at Level 1 Coaches and/or underage athletes and Level 2 is for Level 2 and Level 3 Coaches and regional / national standard athletes.

For further information or to arrange a workshop for your club/region please email Donal O'Donoghue or call/text 087-355 4196. Requirements are; minimum of 20 people in attendance, attendees to be 15 years or older, suitable venue, flip chart, pad & markers, overhead projector and screen.

Congratulations to the RITA's newest Master, Master John Jacob from Ursuline Taekwon-Do School, Waterford. Master Jacob was promoted to 7th Degree Black Belt at a recent grading in Glasgow under Grand Master Ki Ha Rhee.

During the grading he was asked to perform an number of patterns, two on to one sparring and a breaking demonstration in front of Grand Master Rhee.

From everyone in the RITA we would like to say well done on this momentous achievement!

Congratulations to the RITA members who won 4 Gold and 2 Bronze at the European Championships. The event took place in Barletta, Italy where 29 countries were represented. Ms Audrey Condon from Kilmacow picked up 3 Gold medals in the Silver Class Female Veteran division winning 3rd Degree Patterns, -61kg Sparring and Mixed Self Defence with Mr Martin Mahoney from Galway and Mr Gerard Byrne from Old Bawn. Also winning Gold was Mr Stephen Doyle in the 6th Degree Patterns. In the Male Silver Class Veteran division Mr Mark Pollock won Bronze in +90kg Sparring and Bronze in Self defence with Mr Doyle, Mr Mahoney and Mr Byrne.

Representing Ireland as Umpires were Senior Master Francis Barrett, 8th Degree, Master Robert Howard, 7th Degree and Mr Floyd Keane 6th Degree,

Next up for the Irish Team is the World Junior and Veteran Championships in Belarus at the end of August and the 4 Nations Challenge in Glasgow on October 16th.

Congratulations to the following Black Belts who passed the recent RITA National Umpire Exam (theory part). Both A and B class will do their practical exam at the ITF Ireland Cup in Waterford.

‘A’ Umpire Course
Mr David Lannigan (Carrick-on-Suir)

‘B’ Umpire Course
Mr Colin McMahon (Stillorgan)
Mr James Mannion (AIB)
Mr Paul Fox (Athlone)

‘C’ Umpire Course
Mr John Redmond (Enniscorthy)
Mr Richard Judge (Maynooth)
Mr Neil Delaney (Enniscorthy)
Mr Jonathan Mullane (LIT Limerick)

On Sunday, March 7th St. Mark’s Taekwon-Do school hosted the first RITA black belt class of 2010.  The class attended by members from Dublin, Wexford, Galway, Limerick, Carrick on Suir & Cork was taken by RITA President Senior Master Robert Howard 8th degree & Senior Master Anthony Phelan 8th degree.  Senior Master Howard covered a range from the Taekwon-Do syllabus from fundamental movements through to the complexities of the black belt patterns.  

Black belts were then given the opportunity to interact with their peers through some pad work and then finishing up with free sparring.  The class provided an excellent opportunity for members to come together and interact.  Many thanks to the RITA Senior Masters for their instruction on the day and special thanks to Ms. Valerie Keane, 6th degree for hosting the event.

Congratulations to St. Mark’s Taekwon-Do school student Matthew Kearns who recently received the Senior Student of the Year award.  Matthew, a popular member amongst the other students has just returned from a break in training due to exams.  With his dedication & support over the years, Matthew was a qualified candidate for the award.  One of the long standing members in St. Marks, Matthew is now back training hard & is on course to be the next senior black belt in St. Marks Taekwon-Do School.

Sean Gorman successfully graded to 8th Kup , Suzanne Benny to 7th Kup, and Niara Clarke and Vala Mehar to 6th Kup. Exams or gradings are never easy and it is a great achievment for all the students to grade successfully and to progress to their next level to learn more. Keep up the hard work and well done to all the students.

It is with great sadness that the ITF inform you all of the tragic death of Grand Master TrânTriêu Quân, 9th Degree Black Belt, following the recent earthquake in Haiti.

We have just received information from the Trân family regarding the discovery of Grand Master Trân from the rubble of the Hotel Montana in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. His body was found under several tons of debris. His death was confirmed by an official of the Embassy of Canada in Haiti. His identity was confirmed by the Disaster Victim Identification assessment team working in Haiti with the Consular Affairs Bureau of Foreign Affairs Canada. His body will be repatriated to Canada on Sunday, February 14.

Our thoughts go to the Trân family. We wish to extend our most sincere condolences to them.

Speaking from Argentina, Grand Master Pablo Trajtenberg stated: "We are so sorry to hear about Grand Master Trân's death. We are still in shock. ITF and Taekwon-Do have lost a very strong and devoted leader, a great defender of our art in the tradition of our Founder, General Choi Hong Hi. He will remain forever a model that will inspire us all. We wish to extend our deepest sympathies to Grand Master Trân's dear wife, Mrs. Nguyen Thi My; his children, Joliette, Cécilia and Nicolas; his son-in-law, François Beaudin; his grandchildren, Jasmine and Sandrine; his brothers, Trân Triêu Cung and Trân Triêu Lân; and all the Trân and Nguyen extended families. The fact that Grand Master Trân lost his life in a country such as Haiti is meaningful because he strongly believed in the contribution of Taekwon-Do to the building of strong citizenship qualities in developing countries. He had set time aside to meet with a group of Taekwon-Do students during his stay in Port-au-Prince. We already miss him"

The final grading of the year in Naas saw nearly all of its members growing and successfully achievhing their new grades. Eoin not only graded for the highest grade that day but won the award for his improvment & determination an inspriation to all the upcoming members.

Well done to all those students recently promoted and especially to the students that received Awards as is a great achievment. May 2010 bring lots of growth, success and Happiness to all our Brothers and sisters in Taekwon-Do.

Photo one is Ms. Keane wth Reece Sheridan 7th Kup who recieved the junior Student of the year award for all his perseverance and in following the tenents of Taekwon-Do.

Photo 2. Ms. Keane & Kevin Redmond, longest standing member of Naas who recieved Senior Student of the Year not only for his hard work and dedication in following the tenents but who will also most likely be the next Senior Black Belt to teach in our School

Side Photo. Ms. Keane with Eoin Campbell. Grading Award

Recently St. Mark’s Taekwon-Do School held a grading.  The exam was attended by students from yellow belt up to red belt with both junior and senior students aiming for promotion.  The examiner for the day was Ms. Valerie Keane 6th degree.  The day proved extremely successful with all students being successfully promoted to their next belt.  Whilst all students performed very well Ms. Keane awarded Alyssa Valencia with the “Most Progressed Student” award having developed extremely well since her last grading.  Ms. Keane congratulated all of the students on their success and told them to continue practicing.  Red belt Aidan Kelly was presented by Ms. Keane with the “Student of the Year” award.  A popular student in St. Mark’s, Aidan has displayed all the attributes of a worthy recipient of the award throughout the year in his Taekwon-Do training, attitude and also in his commitment to St. Mark’s fundraising.  A deserved winner indeed.

Congratulations to all the members of Firhouse and Old Bawn who were promoted at a recent Grading under their examiner Mr Stephen Doyle 6th Degree Black Belt. Also pictured are student of the year Eve Kinahan and most improved student Niamh O'Donnell from firhoues with their instructor Mr Mark Pollock 2nd Degree.

Congratulations to the organisers, umpires and competitors who helped make the 2009 Irish Open a very enjoyable event for all. There were competitors from most of the RITA schools as well as our friends from the ITA, Red Star TKD, UKTC Northern Ireland and Soar Valley, England (UKTA).

Winning overall junior was 2nd Degree Black Belt Katie Oliff from Soar Valley who is also reigning European Champion. Mr Martin Mahoney also 2nd Degree won the overall senior award. Mr John Jacob 6th Degree was given the Umpire of the year award.

For the full list of results vist the Tournaments page,

The RITA would like to thank Ms Niamh Herrity and the organisers for a great show saturday night. The annual 4 nations challenge was incorporated into a gala black tie dinner in aid of the children's charity Barnardos. Those attending were treated to some entertaining sparring matches between the countries as well as the power breaking event.

Earlier on in the day England won the Team Patterns section after beating Wales and then Scotland in a very close final. Scotland had beaten Ireland with a very good performance of the 3rd dan pattern "Sam-Il". In the sparring which was performed after the dinner Ireland again drew Scotland. First to spar was Mr Richard Barber from Stillorgan who lost out to the much taller Mr Andy Adam. Next out was Mr Martin Mahoney from Galway who had to face Mr Alan Rafferty. In an exciting match Mr Mahoney came back from a slow start to just about do enough to win the spar with some clean scoring combinations towards the end. Mr Krzyzstof Misiewicz also from Galway faced Mr Tam McMillan in the third bout. In a brusing heavyweight encounter which got both the Irish and Scottish supporters up on their feet shouting, Mr Misiewicz got the decision in another close match giving Ireland a 2-1 lead. Needing just one more win Ireland sent out their captain Mr Floyd Keane who was competing in his first event in over a decade. He was against the young star of the scottish team Mr Armin Gohsrich. Using his years of experience Mr Keane was able to rack up the points against the younger opponent giving Ireland a 3-1 win.

Ireland then faced England in the Final with the crowd, many of whom had never even seen Taekwon-Do before, at this stage in full voice. Once again Mr Barber went out first for Ireland to face Mr Paul Hutchings. With only a few seconds gone the Englishman was disqualified for excessive contact after knocking out Mr Barber with a heavy punch. Fortunately Mr Barber wasn't too seriously hurt and was able to get back on his feet after a few minutes. Mr Mahoney was next out against the 6'8" Mr Greg Bagwell who used his height advantage to keep his opponent frustrated and gain the win making it 1-1. Mr Misiewicz faced off against the experienced former World and European Champion Mr Ricky Dewinton. Mr Misiewicz was able to use his power advantage to get the upper hand early in the fight causing the Englishman to change tactics to a more counter attacking spar. Unable to get close enough to score clean points Mr Misiewicz lost out in a very close fight giving England a 2-1 lead. Needing to get at least a draw in the fourth spar Mr Gerard Byrne was sent out against the much bigger Mr Tom McCabe. In an exciting match the English competitor was able to get the win giving them a 3-1 lead and also the 4 Nations Cup with two wins from the three events.

The last event was power breaking in which Ireland had to come ahead of Scotland to finish in 2nd. Mr Richard Barber Punch to brick, Mr Mahoney Knifehand to tiles, Mr Misiewicz Side piercing kick, Mr Conor McCormack turning kick and Mr Floyd Keane with reverse turning kick managed to beat the Scots score by 1 point to give Ireland the Silver medal. England finished off their impressive display winning the Breaking giving them a clean sweep of 9 points.

Click here for some photos

Sunday the 22nd Nov marked the day of the annual Self-Defence and Sparring seminar hosted by Naas Taekwon-Do School and conducted by Senior Master Barrett 8th degree and Mr Floyd Keane 6th degree.  The event began around 10:30 with all the participants greeting other members and introducing themselves to new faces. Senior Master Barrett VIII, who was conducting the self-defence part of the course, was welcomed in warm and relaxed atmosphere and shortly after he delivered a short introductory talk on the importance and relevance of this side of Taekwon-Do to daily life, everybody lined up with a partner and all were fast engaged in releasing their wrists out of a firm grip of their partners. The first techniques introduced dealt with handling a wrist-grabbing attack from front and behind while standing, and having been shown a variety of self-defence methods in great detail (on more than eager black belts), all members should now be familiar with the trinity of R(elease), B(reak) and A(ttack).  Moreover, everybody could appreciate the effectiveness of the techniques by observing the brave black belts whimpering and grimacing under the strikes of Senior Master Barrett VIII, on whom he demonstrated and explained the elements of the defence.  All members, encouraged by Ms Keane VI, to mix and change around, practised zealously with partners of different weight and grade and a few moments later, everybody had an opportunity to practise techniques of safe rolling-over and landing once swept off one’s feet. In the final part of the event, members worked their thumbs out practising thumbs-in and thumbs-out ways of strangling and also learned how to free oneself from a strangling attack. Senior Master Barrett VIII supervised the exercise at all times and was happy to answer any questions. All members took active part in learning the basic techniques of self-defence and despite the occasional bruises the event was highly informative and more than enjoyable.

In the afternoon we had a sparring seminar conducted by Mr Keane 6 deg. We started with some footwork learning how to be quick and light on our feet, denying our opponent the opportunity of landing a blow against us. Progressing  on to some kicks and hand techniques Mr Keane showed us how to use our newly learned skills to take down a guard and surprise our opponent with an attack. We then watched some members sparring taking note when they scored a point against each other. The most valuable lesson of the day concerned how important it is to have a target before striking rather than wasting valuable energy kicking or punching hoping to connect. Time now to put this all together in some free sparing. It was great to have the opportunity to spar new faces from all parts of the country not just our own familiar partners. All grades mixed well after Mr Keane assured us, Colour belts, that the Black belts would not hurt us. As always the hours passed like minutes and we rounded off a very enjoyable day with some jump kicks. We all headed home much wiser and so grateful to Mr Keane not only for sharing his wealth of knowledge and experience with us but also for making it such fun.
Many thanks to Ms Keane VI for hosting the event, and to Senior Master Barrett VIII and Mr Keane VI for taking the time to conduct the seminar as well as to all members who, keeping in mind the tenets of Taekwon-Do, made this a very practical and entertaining day.

Magdalena Michalewska Naas Taekwon-Do School and Deirdre Corrigan Enniscorthy Taekwon-Do School.

Pictured is Ms. Leah Daly 1st Degree from Naas Taekwon-Do School on her Graduation day from College. Ms. Daly joined Naas at 8 years of age and at the back of a huge adult class persevered and became the last remaining student from that class. It is wonderful to now see Ms. Daly as an adult Graduating from College and doing so well. All of her Taekwon-Do Family send there warmest Congratulations well done.

Last weekend St. Mark’s Taekwon-Do school hosted its annual Team challenge tournament.  The event supported by Naas, AIB, Stillorgan, Blessington and Master Howard’s Dojang was an action packed, fun filled occasion from start to finish.  The day started off with junior team patterns with some well choreographed formations (and not to mention some well chosen team names) by the younger members.  This was followed by senior team patterns with some very close competition along with some interesting accessories to boot, providing great entertainment for the on looking spectators.

After lunch team sparring got underway with all schools going head to head with some excellent displays of Taekwon-Do.  Following sparring, the St. Marks senior black belts performed a demonstration including team pattern, self defence and destruction including some impressive tile breaks by Mr. McGuinness III & Mr. Roe II.

The competition resumed with the return of the very popular obstacle course event.  As an addition to this years challenge the section was opened up to seniors and proved highly entertaining and enjoyable.  Special technique followed for the juniors with the event finale being the team self-defence routine.  No school left disappointed as all schools managed to feature in the medals (results to follow).

The day closed with the awards ceremony headed by the senior umpire of the day, Mr. John Jacob 6th degree.  A long time friend to St. Mark’s Taekwon-Do School, Mr Jacob was perfect for the role on the day, revelling in the fun & entertainment while also adding his own sense of humour.  St. Mark’s Taekwon-Do School would like to thank Mr. Jacob for his time on the day and wish him every success in his quest to becoming the next R.I.T.A. master.  In recognition of the occasion Ms. Keane made a presentation to Mr. Jacob of some beautiful glassware.

Many thanks to 6th degree, Ms. Valerie Keane for hosting the event, to all of the umpires who gave up their time on the day and particular thanks to special guest Senior Master Howard 8th degree.  The support of the aforementioned made this easily St. Mark’s best ever Team Challenge.

Click here for full results and photos (New photos added)

Members of the Old Bawn Taekwon-Do School travelled to Scotland to take part in the UKTA UK Open Championships. The event took place in the Kelvin Halls, Glasgow on the 7th November. With just 8 junior competitors they won 10 medals including Gold for Iga Kirejko and Hadi Omar in the sparring. Both also picked up bronze in their pattern divisions. Andrew Clayton and younger brother Martin also picked up 2 bronzes each in patterns and sparring. Cian Dunne and Sarah Dunne won silver in their sparring sections while brothers Adam and Jake Murphy just missed out on medals with some good performances. The highlight of the day was when they got to meet Grand Master Ki Ha Rhee who gave them all words of encouragement.

Members of Firhouse, Carrick on Suir and Galway also competed at the championships picking up quite a few medals.

Naas Taekwon-Do School is hosting the RITA Self Defence & Sparring Seminar on Sunday 22nd November in St. Marys College, Sallins Road, Naas, Co. Kildare.

The Self Defence class will be conducted by ITF Senior Master Barrett 8th Degree and is open to all registered RITA members from 10th kup and above. Mr Floyd Keane 6th Degree will conduct the sparring class and it is now open to 10th kup and above members.

For more information please Download Application Form (pdf)

The Enniscorthy Taekwon-Do School is one of the RITA's oldest schools having been founded in 1978 by Master Dandy. The first instructors included Mr. J. O'Dwyer, Mr.J. Duggan and Mr. M. Ronan. Now run by Mr. Martin Murphy who was recently promoted to 6th Degree Black Belt along with his students Mr. John Redmond to 1st dan, Mr. Kenneth Murphy to 2nd dan and Mr. Laurence O'Brien to 3rd dan.

Classes are on Tuesdays & Thursdays, 7pm-8pm beginners and 7pm-8.30pm main class, in Enniscorthy vocational college gym, Milehouse Rd.



Senior Master Barrett recently performed a Preliminary Black Belt and Colour Belt Grading in Enniscorthy. Below are the successful colour belt promotions.

Cailean O’Neill (yellow tag) Kerri McGran, Peter Braun, Kamil Lodynski(yellow belt), Leah Butler, David McAlister (green tag), Sarah Phelan, Amy McAlister, Caomhe Murphy, Gearoid Murphy, Seamus McAlister , Peter Rowley, Deirdre Corrigan (blue tag), Yan Yu (red tag)William Bolger, Denise Bolger, Lisa Bolger, Sean McGran, Oleksander Kononov (red belt)

Congratulations to all the Competitors who performed so well at the World Championships. Unfortunately no medals were won this time but everyone put in good performances against tough opposition. A total of 83 countries took part with DPR Korea dominating the Gold medals once again. The RITA also had 3 umpires representing Ireland with Master Howard being chosen to be one of the umpires for the Team finals on the last day.

For more information visit www.taekwondo2009.com

Congratulations to black belt David Fallon upon successfully achieving his 2nd degree at the recent black belt grading.  The 16 year old Naas student displayed an impressive performance in front of the RITA Senior Masters to gain his promotion.  A long standing member of Naas Taekwon-Do school, David joined Taekwon-Do in 2002 and achieved black belt status in 2007.  Since then David has been of great assistance to Ms. Keane 6th deg with the beginner students in Naas.  Wasting no time on his 1st degree, David immediately set about training for his 2nd degree and displayed his determination by training between both Naas & St. Mark's Taekwon-Do schools in the months leading up to the exam.  All of the training culminated in a fine performance with some excellent aerial breaks as part of his grading requirement.  It would appear that it's onwards and upwards for this newly promoted 2nd degree.

The RITA held it's 2nd black belt grading of the year last weekend.  Students from Kildare, Galway and Dublin attended the examination aiming for promotion.  All students participated in a two hour class headed by Senior Master Robert Howard 8th degree in preparation for the afternoon's examination.  As a result of the grading the following promotions were awarded:
 
David Fallon, 2nd degree - Naas
Terese McGrath, 1st degree - Galway
Jack Ywang, 1st degree - Master Howard's Dojang
 
Congratulations to all members on their successful achievements.
 
In addition to the grading, Senior Master Howard presented some RITA members in attendance with certificates from this summer's ITF International Instructors course conducted by Senior Master Barrett 8th degree.

Master Robert Howard, 7th Degree, recently celebrated 30 years in Taekwon-Do with two special commemorative seminars hosted by the Athlone Taekwon-Do School.  Since he began his Taekwon-Do training in 1979 at the age of nine, he has had a distinguished career in the Korean art. 

A former Irish team member and World Championship gold medalist, Master Howard has turned his attention to instructing and promoting Taekwon-Do over the past 16 years.  In 1993 he co-founded the Galway Taekwon-Do School with fellow instructor Mark O’Donnell, while in 1994, he set up the Stillorgan Taekwon-Do School in Dublin.  Four years later, in 1998, he founded the Athlone Taekwon-Do School, which was the setting for the recent weekend of seminars.

Master Howard conducted a colour belt seminar on Saturday 12th September for the members of the Galway & Athlone Schools.  Mr O’Donnell prepared a slideshow documenting Master Howard’s 30 years in TKD and presented him with a commemorative photo album on behalf of the members of both schools.  After the seminar, Master Howard was brought to a local restaurant for a celebratory meal.

The following day, the RITA National Black Belt Seminar was held in Athlone, and attended by Black Belts ranging from 1st to 6th Degree from RITA Schools all over the country. A great weekend was had by all.

Congratulations to Master Howard on his first 30 years in Taekwon-Do.

Ms. Keane with Lee Costello (orginal Warrior) successfully achieved 5th Kup

Congratulations to all the members of the Naas Taekwon-Do School who were promoted at a recent Grading under their Senior Instructor Ms Valerie Keane 6th Degree Black Belt.

Ms. Keane Senior Instructor in Naas & Mr. Roe Instrutor to twins Ali and Stuart Sheridan who successfully achieved their 8th Kup.

Ms. Keane  with Sean Gorman newly promoted to 9th Kup.


Members of Naas Taekwon-Do School with Cara Byrne from St. Mark's Taekwon-Do School who not only achieved her 6th Kup but won the Naas Grading award for her outstanding perfomance and displaying the tenets of Taekwon-Do.

The RITA Summer Camp returned this year with much support from schools from around the country.  Over 50 instructors and students descended upon Mount Mellary, Cappoquin, Co. Waterford over the w/e of Fri 17th July.  The venue selected was the Mount Melleray Scout Activity & Sports Centre located high in the Knockmealdown Mountains.  Originally a boarding school, this centre is home to a unique atmosphere with surroundings that simply must be experienced.  Friday evening allowed the students to get settled into their dorms and catch up with their Taekwon-Do friends before officially getting underway on Saturday morning. 
 
Kicking things off on Saturday morning was Mr. Floyd Keane, 6th deg. with a 2 hour sparring class.  Mr. Keane began by putting students through kicking drills before allowing the most junior members to spar the most senior members.  Finally the the colour belts were pitched against the black belts (the colour belts out numbering the black belts by at least 3 to 1) in a lighthearted "spar-off" ...the result of which was "undetermined"!!
 
After lunch, instructor to Galway Taekwon-Do school, Mr. Mark O'Donnell 6th deg. took the students for a class on the theory and practice of power.  After a brief explanation on how to gain the most power from your techniques, the students were put to work to help improve their own hand and foot power.  Starting out on focus pads the students then porgressed to performing and fine tuning their breaks on timber.
 
To close out the day, Ms. Keane, 6th deg. took the evening session which focused on patterns.  Each junior member was given the opportunity to perform their pattern with a black belt and then in a team formation with members of their own grade.  After a thoroughly enjoyable evening the day 1 was capped with a display of the black belt patterns.
 
After an exhausting day the R.I.T.A students still found the energy to enjoy an evening of outdoor fun with an impressive bonfire which gave the true summer camp effect.
 
On Sunday morning, Carrick on Suir & Fethard instructor Mr. Paul Tobin, 3rd deg took the students for the final class of the weekend.  Members were split into three teams and given a short allocation of time to prepare a team pattern and self-defence routine.  With some strange team names and a lot of laughter the weekend was finished on a high as each team demonstrated under the judgement of the onlooking teams.  It was obvious to see that everyone enjoyed themselves immensely. 
 
A massive thank you to all of the R.I.T.A instructors who gave up their time to teach over the weekend and special thank you to Mr. Tobin, his family and his students for organising such an excellent event.

Click here for more photos

On Sunday 5th July, the R.I.T.A held it's annual instructors course in The Lucan Spa Hotel.  The course, conducted by the R.I.T.A senior masters, Senior Master Robert Howard 8th degree, Senior Master Anthony Phelan 8th degree and Senior Master Francis Barrett 8th degree was attended by recently promoted black belts along with instructors looking to refresh their instruction methods.

During the morning session Senior Master Howard covered all aspects of instruction when teaching new beginner students working up to the level of green belt.  Black belts who were new to the aspect of instructing were given the opportunity to put what they learned into use on the day by instructing the other members for practice.  The afternoon session brought the focus onto patterns up to 1st kup in addition to 3 step, 2 step, 1 step techniques and also free sparring. 

An insightful & enjoyable day was had by all.  Many thanks to the senior masters who gave their time for an excellent course.
 

Senior Master Francis Barrett, 8th Degree, conducted an International Instructors Course over the weekend 13 & 14th June in Dublin. The event was not only attended by RITA Masters, Instructors and students but also members from Spain, Scotland and England.

Day one of the course concentrated on how to teach a class using the correct terminology and everyone attending got an opportunity to stand in front of a class including 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th Degrees to try and conduct them. For all it was a nervous time but Senior Master Barrett made everyone feel relaxed and emphasised the importance of being confident and enjoying being an Instructor.

On the second day all the Black Belts got a chance to perform their patterns all the way up to Tong-Il. For some attending it was the first time they had seen the 24th pattern and Senior Master Barrett got the 6th and 7th Degrees perform it for them. All the Patterns were covered and Senior Master Barrett went through the practical applications of the movements.

After the seminar was finished some of those attending got a chance to grade under Senior Master Barrett and Senior Master Phelan. Mr Martin Murphy from Enniscorthy was promoted to 6th Degree. Krzyzstof Misiewicz and Juli-Anne Tobin were promoted to 1st Degree Black Belts.

On behalf of all those attending the RITA would like to thank Senior Master Barrett for an enjoyable and constructive seminar.

Report from visiting friends

On the 13th and 14th June 2009, members from several countries descended upon Dublin for an international instructor course taught by Senior Master Francis Barrett. It was a small turnout which meant an intimate affair. The majority of participants were members of RITA, including some colour belts who were attending the first day of the course, and then there were the visitors: two members from the UKTA and four members from ITF Spain.

The weekend began with Senior Master Barrett welcoming us all and reminding everyone to relax, after all everyone was there because they enjoy Taekwon-do. He also emphasised the differences between Taekwon-do in competitions and as a martial art. He also stressed the importance of "Courtesy"

Senior Master Barrett clearly wanted everyone to fully understand the application of each technique so we could then take it away and pass on our knowledge to our students. He emphasised that we shouldn¹t just repeat techniques but should practise them: if you simply repeat techniques then you will repeat your mistakes, however, if you practise them, you learn how to make them work. As an example, he got the class to perform Chon-Ji backwards. This really makes one think about how the pattern is put together, and it¹s certainly not possible to just repeat the moves!

Every member in attendance was invited to the front of the class to teach at least once during the weekend and, although this was nerve wracking, the atmosphere was relaxed and friendly, and all of the people there were helpful and encouraging no matter who was conducting the class.

The weekend flew by and we all left with our heads fit to burst with information and different ideas for teaching. The weekend was thoroughly enjoyable and informative.

We would like to express our thanks to Senior Master Barrett for sharing his vast knowledge with us and the RITA for organising this event.

Frank Diaz 5th Degree ITF Spain
Daniel Thomas 1st Degree UKTA

The RITA have introduced a new grant scheme to help new and existing Schools. There are two grants available:

• The New School Grant Scheme is to help black belts to open a new school. A maximum of €1000 may be requested to help with setting up the new school eg. for insurance, first month’s rent, advertising, equipment etc.  Applications will be accepted at any time during the year.

• The Existing School Grant Scheme is to help to develop and grow existing schools eg. to introduce a new class for kids / teenagers / adults.  A maximum of €500 may be requested. Applications will be accepted either from the existing school’s chief instructor or an assistant instructor of the school or from any black belt wishing to run a new class in an existing school (with the permission of the school’s chief instructor).  However, only one application will be accepted per school.  The deadline for applications is 10th July 2009.

Download New School Grant Application Form 2009
Download Existing School Grant Application Form 2009

For further information, please contact Ms Fiona Lyng (fiona.lyng@dit.ie) or Mr Colin Jennings (colinjennings@gmail.com).

Senior Master Phelan, 8th Degree, conducted a Black Belt class in Ursuline, Co. Waterford on Sunday 31st May. Instructors and Students from the South & South East area attended and enjoyed training on one of the warmest days of the year. Senior Master Phelan covered the advanced syllabus needed for Black Belt examinations from 1st to 6th Degree.

All those attending would like to thank Senior Master Phelan for an educational and enjoyable class.

Click for larger image

There was a fantastic turn-out for the Patterns & Power Seminar hosted by St. Mark’s Taekwon-Do School on Sunday May 24th. 

An annual feature in the R.I.T.A calendar it really is an essential Seminar for every dedicated Taekwon-Do student in Ireland to attend.  This year’s seminar saw students ranging in grade from IV Deg Black Belts right through to 10th Kup beginners.

Taking part in this year’s seminar were Senior Master Robert Howard, Senior Master Anthony Phelan and Senior Masters Francis Barrett all VIII degrees.  These Senior Masters dedicated their entire day to focus on each pattern for every single grade who attended.  This made for a patterns seminar that was very challenging both mentally and physically with the rewards far outweighing the effort.  Time and focus was spent patiently and clearly explaining the theories of Sine-wave, breathing and power through each move of every pattern. 

The power section of the Seminar was even more rewarding with the Senior Masters on hand offering encouragement and tuition on every breaking technique.  All students were given a display of various breaks along with a full explanation of the technique and the breaking Tool.  The atmosphere of the power seminar was very open and relaxed with both Black Belts and Senior Masters leaving themselves entirely open to any and all questions that students had on power.  The result was the opportunity to benefit from the vast experience of these Senior Masters and to enjoy some of the highest quality of instruction as well as some simply astonishing examples of power.........

Click here for more

Congratulations to the Irish competitors who won 3 Gold and a Bronze at the European Championships in Slovenia. Ms Audrey Condon won Gold in the Female Veteran Silver Class -61kg Sparring, Gold in the Female Veteran Silver Class 3rd Dan Patterns and Bronze in the Veteran Female Power. The mix self defence team of Ms Condon, Mr Martin Mahoney and Mr Gerard Byrne also won Gold in their division. The competitors were coached by Mr Stephen Doyle 6th Degree. Senior Master Barrett 8th Degree led the Umpire delegation with Mr John Jacob and Mr Floyd Keane both 6th Degrees.

Click here for some photos

Click for larger image

Members of St. Marks recently traveled to Grenada to take part in the Caribbean Open. They also got a chance to Train with Grandmaster Park before the championships. There was a good medal haul as Naas students Patrick Sheridan 7th kup won gold in patterns and Kevin Redmond 3rd kup, got Silver in Patterns. St Marks members Mark Sweeney 5th kup won gold in patterns and Ms deborah Manning 4th Degree won gold in Sparring and silver in patterns. Everyone had such a fantastic time and a lifetime of memories, there are so many highlights from the trip, from eating and training with the Masters and Grandmaster's to the intimate family atmosphere laid back Caribbean style of the tournament. We would like to thank all our fellow brothers and sisters in Taekwon-do for their help &  support and especially thank our Instructor Ms. Keane 6th Degree without whom none of it would be possible.

Pictured is Ms. Keane, Ms Manning, Patrick Sheridan, Mark Sweeney & Kevin Redmond with Master Mitchell, Master Small & Grandmaster Park before a training session.

RITA Black Belts Mr Martin Mahoney 2nd Degree, Mr Gerard Byrne and Mr Joseph Beadle both 1st Degrees recently travelled to the Czech Republic to take part in the Czech National Team's final training camp before the European Championships. The trio were accompanied by National Coach Mr Stephen Doyle 6th Degree. The camp was in the little town of Brandys-nad-Llebem and lasted 5 days. Not only did they get to train with World and European Champions but also had one to one instruction from the head of the ITF Technical Committee Senior Master Hwang Ho Yong 8th Degree.

Click here for some photos

The RITA would like to thank Mr O'Donnell and the Galway Taekwon-Do School for hosting a very successful Connacht Open and also to Mr Keane and the Tournament Committee for running another event so smoothly. Congratulations to all the competitors who took part and had a fun day in Salthill. Thanks also goes to the Umpire committee of Master Howard and Mr O'Donnell and to all the Umpires who without them there would be no Tournament.

Full results here. Click here for some photos

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On Saturday 4th April St Mark’s Taekwon-Do School was the venue for the Annual female training session. The class was conducted by Ms. Valerie Keane 6th Degree Senior Instructor to St Marks and Naas Taekwon-Do Schools.

We had a great turnout with female students traveling from Enniscorthy, Carrick-On-Suir, Kilmacow, Drogheda, & Naas with support  from Old Bawn & St.Mark's students Junior and Senior members from 8th Kup up to 4th Degree.

Class started with a quick change into our “Taekwon-Do Golden Girls” t-shirts which Ms. Keane presented to us all, then it was outside for photographs showing the ladies performing their strikes and kicks.

Back inside into our Doboks where we spent the first half of the day going through patterns Chon Ji to Do-San. It was here Ms. Keane was able to pass on her experience teaching us the fundamentals of proper stances, technique, breathing and sine wave.

We then spent some time going through three step sparring to one step and foot sparring for the Black Belt members.

In the afternoon session we continued on with our patters from Won-Hyo to Choong-Moo and then on to the 1st Degree Black Belt patterns. Ms Keane is an excellent patient Instructor making sure we were all happy with the movements and that we knew what each movement was for.

Finally we moved on to the “The Power Section” which was the highlight of the day for some. Ms Keane started with the juniors and as she brought each one of us to the Holder she asked “What technique have you not broke with before, that you would like to do now”. I thought this was great as it was a brilliant opportunity for us all to break with something different that we probably wouldn’t have been comfortable or confident to do in our own classes. Through Ms Keane’s guidance and encouragement everyone broke both timber and tiles. The delight on some of the Juniors and Seniors faces was a picture as they performed their new breaks.

Finally Ms Keane finished up with words of encouragement to us all.
Taekwon-Do is a beautiful Art which General Choi has passed on to us. It gives us the tools to not be afraid but to be confident and award!

Ms. Keane and Ms. Manning on behalf of all the girls who attended Saturdays Female training session thank you both for a very enjoyable and beneficial day and we look forward to next year.

Ms. Amanda Kane 1st Degree
Old Bawn Taekwon-Do School

Click here for more photos

21 Black Belts attended the RITA’s annual Umpire course in Stillorgan Taekwon-Do School (Dublin). The course was conducted by Master Robert Howard VII and Mr Mark O’Donnell. One of the innovations of the course was that the umpire watched videos of patterns and scored them electronically.  The range of scores was displayed and discussed, then the appropriate score was awarded by the Umpire Committee. By the end of the day all the umpires were converging to a common score, and had a much clearer understanding what a poor, average and good pattern was for each grade.

Congratulations to the following members who passed their Umpire Exam.

Promoted to ‘C’ Class
Amanda Kane (Old Bawn)
Laura Tobin (Carrick-on-Suir)
Paul Fox (Athlone)
James Mannion (AIB)
Cormac McGarry (Carrick-on-Suir)
Brendan McGarry (Carrick-on-Suir)
Gavin O’Hanlon (Carrick-on-Suir)
Conor McCormack (Galway)
Gary Farrell (Blessington)
Niamh Herrity (Stillorgan)
Kevin Molloy (Maynooth)

The following three members passed their written exam and will perform their practical exam at the Connacht Open.

Testing for ‘B’ Class (Centre Referee)
Martin Mahoney (Galway)
Gerard Byrne (Old Bawn)

Testing for ‘A’ Class (Jury President)
Audrey Condon (Kilmacow)

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The 7th Junior & 2nd Veteran World Taekwon-Do ITF Championships took place in Sofia, Bulgaria from 26-30 July. With 67 Countries and over 800 competitors taking part it was the biggest Championships so far and it was a festival of Taekwon-Do. Not only were there 4 days of World class competition but the crowds were also treated to a spectacular demonstration by the DPR Korean demo team. Representing Ireland at the Junior event were David Freeman from St Marks and Cathy Byrne from Old Bawn accompanied by National Coach Mr Stephen Doyle. To help cheer on Ireland 27 Members from St Marks made the trip and created a great atmosphere in the arena.

David Freeman won Bronze in the I Dan Male patterns beating Ukraine, Japan and the pre tournament favourites Russia to get to the Semi final where he narrowly lost to DPR Korea. He went one better in the -57kg Male Sparring by winning Silver beating Argentina, Italy, Greece and Kazakhstan on the way to a final with DPR Korea. In a very close match the Korean favourite got the decision.

In the female section Cathy Byrne competing in her first World Championships got to the Quarter Finals in the I Dan Female patterns knocking out China and Estonia before losing out to the Russian.

Competing for New Zealand in the Veterans was former RITA Instructor Mr Tom McGuyver, he picked up a Gold and a Silver medal in Sparring and Patterns respectively.

The RITA would like to congratulate the team on their great performance.

Click here for photos. For full results visit the official website