It has been our great pleasure and the highest honour for the South African Taekwon-Do Association (SATA) to have hosted a technical seminar with the ITF President, 9th Degree Grand Master Paul Weiler. Our association has been enriched with the Grand Master’s wealth of knowledge, techniques and experience in Taekwon-Do.
Through this technical seminar, the heads of various Southern African countries; representing ITF from Madagascar, Mozambique, South Africa and Zimbabwe had the opportunity to update, improve and learn on their current knowledge in our great Art. Furthermore, Grand Master Weiler was able to enrich our martial arts understanding as well as provide true context to our Founder, the late General Choi, Hong Hi… as well as first-hand accounts of lessons passed down from Gen. Choi and other great pioneers of ITF Taekwon-Do.
Through Grand Master Weiler’s technical expertise and previous experience on the ITF Technical Committee, the technical seminar was without a doubt, a major success.
Below is a brief order of events over the course of the seminar:
Day 1; Saturday 12th October:
• Technical seminar started at 13h30 upon the arrival of Grand Master Weiler.
• A brief warm-up was conducted for the GM to inspect – notes on mistakes, common misconceptions and critical elements of a well-rounded warm-up were imparted to us by the GM.
• Attendees were given a brief history of ITF Taekwon-Do, our founder and the legacy he left. Further to this instruction, the GM went through defining elements of the training secrets, development in techniques such as sine-wave and technical updates throughout the decades as Taekwon-Do evolved.
• Grand Master Weiler gave precise and insightful instruction into patterns Chon-Ji, Dan-Gun, Do-San, Won-Hyo, Yul-Gok and Joong-Gun. With each Tul, the Grand Master provided corrections, applications and common mistakes/improvements that need to be applied when teaching these Tuls to students. There were many questions presented to the GM on the techniques taught and used in each Tul – he gave us excellent levels of detail into his answers which ensured that even the most experienced and seasoned instructors in attendance were learning from each question and corresponding answer.
• The attendees were also treated to a masterclass of the art and technique behind Step-Sparring. Grand Master Weiler instructed us on the proper etiquette, purpose and technical practicality behind step-sparring covering 3-step, 2-step and 1-step sparring.
• After a long afternoon of training, the Grand Master closed training for the day with some wisdom regarding the development of Taekwon-Do in our own lives, and Day 1 of the Technical Seminar came to a close.
Day 2; Sunday 13th October:
• The 2nd day of the technical seminar started at 09h00 with the arrival of Grand Master Weiler.
• After a prompt warm-up, the training for the day commenced – starting at Toi-Gye. We repeated a similar focus on the patterns, pausing to reflect on the proper usage of each technique, the particulars of each stance and a detailed focus on understanding how Gen. Choi developed these techniques.
• In between each Tul, we were delighted to receive first hand teachings on self-defence in various scenarios, learning effective and simple ideas to adopt when formulating practical self[1]defence to instruct our students; from various releases against an attacker, to disarming or detaining more serious threats.
• The day continued through all remaining Tuls: Hwa-Rang, Choong-Moo, Kwang-Gae, Po-Eun, Ge-Baek, Eui-Am, Choong-Jang, Juche, Sam-Il, Yoo-Sin, Choi-Yong, Yon-Gae, Ul-Ji, Moon[1]Moo, Se-Jong, So-San and Tong-Il.
• As the seminar progressed through each Tul, once students had performed their highest pattern they would do repetitions of each Tul they had learnt at the seminar, alternating with either self[1]defence or step-sparring.
• The day ended once the instruction of the highest Tul, Tong Il was completed by our most senior ranking member in attendance.
We have received numerous messages of feedback on the professionalism, humility and expertise that Grand Master Weiler displayed, both in his instruction and knowledge. His presence in South Africa has created renewed vigour and dedication for all our students in attendance; and we look forward to hosting the Grand Master again in the future. We wish to express our overwhelming gratitude and appreciation both to Grand Master Weiler, for making the long trip to South Africa, as well as the International Taekwon-Do Federation for supporting this event.
We would also like to give recognition and thanks to the South African Taekwon-Do Association Executive & Planning Committee for organizing and coordinating this event: Mr Justin Glanville, Mr Uwe Schneider, Mr Tyler Engelbrecht, Mr Nigel Fenn, Ms Yolanda du Plessis, Mr Sean-Garth Swan, Mr Craig Loveland and Mr Michael McQuirk
SOUTH AFRICAN TAEKWON-DO ASSOCIATION NPC
Directors: J.C. Glanville K.E.B. Isaacs U. Schneider
Registered in terms of section 14 of the Companies Act 2008 under number 2020/502930/08
+27 (0)76 050 1021 :: [email protected]
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