The 151st IIC took place in the Citywest Hotel & Conference Centre from Feb 25th to 27th 2022, hosted by the Irish Taekwon-Do Association and conducted by the ITF Technical Committee of Grandmaster Marano, Grandmaster Lan and Master Jedut.
The IIC attracted over 260 black belts from 20 countries and was held in a wonderful atmosphere. Among the participants were over 35 masters and 4 grandmasters actively training on the course (Grandmaster Bos, Grandmaster Vanberghen, Grandmaster Becking & Grandmaster Douglas).
The IIC opened on Friday at 2pm with special guests in attendance which included the Mayor of South Country Dublin, Cllr. Peter Kavanagh, The Minister for Sport & The Gaeltacht, Mr Jack Chambers TD and the President of the Irish Martial Arts Commission, Mr Brendan Dowling. A minute’s silence was held in solidarity with the citizens of Ukraine during this very difficult time for their nation.
We were also honoured with the presence at the IIC by the President of the ITF, Grandmaster Paul Weiler & the President of the AETF, Master Leonardo Oros Duek, who also gave a special presentation on the ITF Taekwon-Do Adapted programme.
The participants’ feedback on the IIC was extremely positive, with many commenting on the wide range of topics covered by the technical team, the excellent level of knowledge and how evident it was that they worked as a team. Topics included in-depth corrections and tuition on all 24 patterns, self defence, step sparring, free sparring and a presentation from GM Weiler on safe exercises for warming up, how to train to protect and strengthen the core and stabilising muscles of the body and the joints.
As so many masters and grandmasters were in attendance GM Marano also took time for a special class for those grades which was held in a very warm and collaborative atmosphere.
The banquet on the Saturday evening was held in the beautiful Lemongrass restaurant and was a very enjoyable event as so many of us enjoyed socialising with our TKD friends after so long.
Eleven candidates went forward for promotion at the IIC with Grandmaster Marano & Grandmaster Lan conducting the promotion for the 7th and 8th degree candidates and a panel of Grandmaster Bos, Grandmaster Vanberghen, Grandmaster Becking & Grandmaster Douglas conducting the examination for 7th degree candidates. The examiners commented on the high level of those testing with all candidates being successfully promoted.
The IIC was officially closed on the Sunday afternoon by the ITF President with short speeches from the technical committee, ITF & AETF Presidents as well as ITF Board member Master Annick Van Driessche. All thanked the ITA for the high level of organisation of the event and also the emotion of being on the floor together enjoying our passion for ITF Taekwon-Do again.
Exelente felicitaciones a todos y en especial a los nuevos graduados. Todo un éxito y a seguir por más