34th Belgian Championships

The 2024 Belgian Championships were organized by Taekwon-Do Club Gent and the ITF-Belgium TUIC in venue Tolhuis in Ghent. Almost 300 individual competitors and 18 teams were subscribed,  accompanied by a huge amount of referees and coaches. The competition was open to all members ITF-Belgium as from 3 years on, white, coloured as well as black belts, with categories for kids, youth, pre-junior, junior and senior in tul, teamtul, special techniques, power breaking, pre-arranged free sparring, sparring and team sparring.

Thanks to the instructors, members and volunteers of the organizing club and the TUIC it was one of the best Belgian Championships ever. Above this everyone involved made sure the level of the competition was very high, and the atmosphere and spirit, the enthusiasm were great.

All results can be found on Sportsdata: click here.

 

Categories BC

European Project: Taekwon-Do for the Rights

Report by Master Virginia Dionisi:

ITF Brussels is one of the partners of the Project “Taekwon-Do For The Rights” (№ 101133552) which is co-funded by the Erasmus + Program of the European Union and coordinated by the Central Police Taekwon-Do Club of Bulgaria. It aims to encourage young people actively practicing sports to be socially engaged by interacting with law enforcement authorities and thus engage more effectively in public life. Master Virginia Dionisi, acts as project manager in Brussels, while Andreea Musca represents the police force and Omar El Ferkhani acts as volunteer.

This Project is carried out in partnership between 10 countries: Bulgaria, Slovenia, Greece, Romania, Belgium, Hungary, Slovakia, Latvia, Serbia, Poland. Characteristic of the project is the key role assigned to the police and fire protection. Many volunteers will help in the realization of “Taekwon-Do For The Rights”, but also parents acting as volunteers.
Parents will get a vital role, as they will need to evaluate their children on different activity indicators, outside of sports training, when coaches have no supervision over the children.

Some activities will be carried out locally in Belgium like trainings, inspirational talks, visits to the police station in Vilvoorde and European Parliament in Brussels, etc.
Bulgaria will host the larger events from the 17th till 20th October, like a visit of the Academy of the Interior and the G. Stadium. S. Rakovsky. There will be presentations by each participating team, with each module corresponding to a letter from the acronym RIGHTS:

-R /Role Model/ – A role model: a role model from the National Police or NPP/Fire Protection/ who has made a special contribution to the democratic life in his community and who will talk about his sports regime and also how this regime helps to have a healthy lifestyle and stress management.
-Inspiring Stories: video or podcast with the inspiring story of journalists’ participation in democratic elections and how they were reported – the challenges journalists face and how they engage with the community and the PPO.
-G /Growing up/ – Growing up: the profile of a famous athlete and the motivation to change careers by becoming a part of the police, fire or youth service.
-H /Heroine/ – Heroine: A woman with achievements in Taekwon-Do and her professional career will be invited to share the values of the sport and how they have helped her career and whether there is any discrimination related to gender, ethnicity, religious affiliation, etc.
-T /Taekwon-Do: European, world and national champions will present their sporting path explaining her/his challenges, achievements, highlights.
-S /Sustainability: A social or environmental cause associated with local youth communities will be represented by young Taekwon-Do players. The relevant associate partner is engaged to the cause in the future.

The thematic presentations are in line with Taekwon-Do’s role to cultivate various qualities such as tolerance, discipline, combativeness, responsibility, etc.

The final huge and fantastic activity will be on October 17th and 18th at the Arena Asics, where 300 Taekwon-Do young players coming from ten European countries will compete in a friendly and relaxed atmosphere. The Project will cover the travel expenses and the inscription fees of all young athletes, and in addition they will receive a dobok and sparring protections.

ITF Brussels, in collaboration with ITF Belgium, will open some places for young Belgian athletes coming from different clubs to be part of the competitor’s team.
If Belgian instructors are interested to include some students in the selection process, please contact Master Virginia Dionisi, Sabum Andreea Musca or Bo Sabum Omar El Ferkhani as soon as possible. Please note that places are limited, as only 15 young athletes will be selected.

We also need your help to support the Project. How? Following the official pages on social media (we need 2.000 followers!): https://www.facebook.com/taekwondofortherights; sharing it within your students and friends and putting likes in all publications about it!

Yours in Taekwon-Do,

Master Virginia Dionisi

Coach Developer Course

Report by Nicolas Taylor, Head National Coach & Chair of the Coach Developer Committee:

I traveled to Cork, Ireland on March 2nd and 3rd as part of a follow-up initiative related to my certification in Coach Sport Developer and my role as a member of the Coach Development Committee in Belgium. The primary objective of the visit was to gain insight and inspiration from established coaching programs in order to enhance and develop coaching initiatives in Belgium.

The program focused on providing an introduction to coaching, with specific emphasis on developing basic coaching skills, raising awareness of the coaching process, and concentrating on working with beginners and children.

The course comprised both theoretical and practical components. The theoretical segments covered topics such as the role of the coach, coaching the whole child, and effective warm-up techniques. These sessions provided a foundational understanding of coaching principles and strategies.

The practical sessions constituted the main portion of the program, wherein participants were tasked with applying their coaching skills in simulated scenarios, focusing on aspects like sparring and fundamental movements. As a coach developer in training, I had the opportunity to collaborate with experienced coach developers, namely Master Byrne and Master Barry, in supporting and guiding participants through these practical exercises. As well as with Bosabum Breandan who has been following with me the Coach Development Certificate last year in June.

The experience in Cork provided valuable insights into the implementation of coaching programs. Witnessing firsthand how these methodologies were put into practice was enlightening, and I personally gained new perspectives that I believe will enhance my coaching approach. The collaborative environment fostered rich learning experiences, not only for the participants but also for myself as a coach and coach developer. Moving forward, the challenge lies in adapting and implementing similar coaching frameworks within the context of Belgium.

Bo Sabum Nicolas Taylor

ITF Executive Meeting

Intensive Meeting of ITF Executive Committee in Warsaw
The ITF Executive Committee meets weekly to discuss the daily issues of the International Taekwon-Do Federation. It consists of the President, Grand Master Paul Weiler, the Senior Vice President, Grand Master Clint Norman, the Vice President, Master Annick Van Driessche, and the Treasurer, Master Leonardo Oros Duek.
Since the elections in September 2023 in Finland the Executive Committee and the Secretary General, Master Tadeusz Loboda, were meeting every Monday evening for about one and a half to two hours.
About half a year later, on March 4 and 5, 2024, the Executive Committee, together with the Secretary General and the ITF legal counselor Efraim Barak, had an intensive two-day, face-to-face workshop in Warsaw, Poland. For two days, the committee had meetings to discuss, initiate, and progress current topics. In addition, the next level of ITF policies and further steps for the future of ITF were addressed.
The near future will show clear impact resulting from this meeting. Stay tuned.

Dangradings ITF-Belgium

Lokeren, Sunday February 2024

Were promoted to I°degree:

  • Akajouaa Souleyman (Samjok-O)
  • De Messemaeker Noah (Ge-Baek)
  • De Neve Gudrun (Chon-ji)
  • De Pauw Dylan (ITF Woluwe)
  • De Ridder Lotte (Koryo)
  • Tshiala de Wouters d’Oplinter Hugo (Bushido)
  • Vanhoutte Miguel (Chon-ji)