On Friday morning, May 31, the participants that had already reached Ouagadougou begun training under the guidance of the ITF President, Grand Master Paul Weiler.
They were taught important ways to train and strengthen the body and core muscles while protecting the joints and spine from injuries caused by improper training methods.
Several warming up drills, to increase coordination of mind and body while enjoying good training, was also taught. The morning session included basic knowledge and understanding of the techniques in the first color belt patterns, where the patterns where alternatively taught by Grand Master Paul Weiler and Master Niklas Enander from the ITF African Development Team.
Grand Master Jerzy Jedut explaining Continuous Motion in Do-San Tul.
Grand Master Jerzy Jedut, member of the ITF Technical Committee, arrived for the second session and the IIC 176 was formally opened. Noteworthy is that Grand Master Jedut travelled to Burkina Faso almost directly from the IIC 175 in Argentina, a proof of indomitable spirit.
As many of the over 60 participants were active instructors teaching in their own clubs and countries, Grand Master Jedut showed many good exercises to teach and improve the skills of their students. Much focus was also placed on fundamental understanding of principles of power, movements, and the application of sinewave to generate power.
During the course of the seminar we were all offered cold water as it is essential to replenish fluids when training while the temperature is 38°C and the humidity is over 50%!
Detailed instructions in how to perform the Circular Block with plenty of opportunities to ask clarifying questions.
During the Saturday sessions, each color belt pattern was examined and the most vital fundamental techniques from each pattern were analyzed and practiced for all participants to gain a deeper insight.
As this was the first ever IIC in West Africa, many of the black belts here have never had the opportunity to train under the guidance of a ITF Grand Master. It was an fantastic opportunity to gain knowledge and understand techniques that many ITF members in other parts of the world have much easier access to.
The African continent is huge and this IIC attracted participants from Gambia, Ivory Coast, Mali, Senegal, Tunisia, Zanzibar and Burkina Faso while the ITF officials came from Europe (Germany, Poland, and Sweden). Most of the visiting participants travelled by bus often with a trip of 4-5 days one way – another proof of indomitable spirit.
After the Saturday sessions, a meeting was held with two representatives from each participating African nation. Grand Master Weiler and Master Enander informed about ITF´s work and commitments in Africa. Each country had a short presentation and informed about the number of active ITF clubs and members and Zanzibar took the opportunity to invite all countries to the East African Championships on August 23-25.
The Sunday sessions focused on techniques from black belt patterns as well as taught the principles of step sparring. Also free sparring exercises and self-defense techniques were covered.
All explanations was translated from English to French to help all participants to understand better.
Happy but exhausted after 3 days of training in 38°C heat.
The IIC was formally closed on Sunday afternoon and black belt grading commenced.
After more than 4 hours of testing, West Africa had three more first degree black belts (I dan) from Senegal, two second degree black belts (II dan) from Senegal and Mali. Three third degree black belts (III dan) from Senegal successfully performed their pregrading for fourth degree and Sbn Maxmillian Kailangana (Zanzibar) and Sbn Nerwaya Claude Nikiema (Burkina Faso) successfully tested to fourth degree (IV dan) and received donated Sabum Doboks.
Representatives from all 7 participating African nations got some donation materials to bring home.
Grand Master Weiler was greeted by Sidketa, one of the youngest ITF members in Burkina Faso, 2.5 years old.
After the IIC, Grand Master Weiler stayed in Burkina Faso for two more days and offered further training sessions.
All in all, the first IIC in West Africa was a great success with 7 participating African nations and two new International Instructors as well as six third degrees that participated in the International Instructor Course in preparation for their future grading to 4th degree – ITF is truly growing in Africa.
I would like to thank ITF Burkina Faso for arranging this historical IIC and I am sincerely grateful for Grand Master Jerzy Jedut and Grand Master Paul Weiler for their commitment and dedication to help spread ITF Taekwon-Do to all regions of the world.
Master Niklas Enander
ITF African Development Team
First Umpire Course for Adapted Taekwon-Do
