Online Qualifier International Umpire Course

Report by Benito Martinez:

QIUC 2023

On the weekend of the 12nd and 13th of August, Boosabum Koen Hoerée and Sabum Benito Martinez participated in the Qualifiying International Umpire Course organized by the ITF’s Umpire Commitee. The course – which took place by Zoom- was given by GrandMasters Abelardo Benzaquem and Gordon Wallace, resp. President and member of the commitee.

On the first day the variations and details on individual patterns and sparring competitions rules were reviewed and discussed by the instructors and participants as well as ring settings and protocols. The instructors insisted on the necessity for the umpires to develop the physical and mental skills that are so important to do a good job, being sharp, fair and caring about competitors.

On the second day after a questions and answers session on the precedent issues, were analyzed the rules on power breaking, special techniques, team tul and -sparring, procedures, and ring settings in each case. During the whole seminar the tasks of the different umpire’s positions were well defined and analyzed, as Jury President, Jury Member, Center and Corner Umpire.

It was a very instructive and useful Umpire Course in which participated more than a hundred GM, Masters, Instructors and assistants, many of them selected to officiate in the next World Championships in Tampere, Finland.

TKD Tribe – Intermittent Living & Performance Coaching workshop

💥 Kick off the new #TaekwonDo season with a bang.  Subscribe here!
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🙌🏻 We proudly present #TKDTribe’s first workshop on Saturday August 26.
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🚀 @hans.rombaut & @healthcoach.kevin will take you out of your comfort zone and into the realm of optimized #performance, increased #resilience and general #healthy living.
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What to expect?
🧠 #Knowledge
🤝🏻 #Community
🏆 #Challenges
All designed to help you unlock your next level!
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📍#Waasmunster
🗓 August 26, 9h-13h
💰 € 50
Agenda:
Knowledge transfer
Into Nature
Breathing exercises
Ice Bath
With TKD Tribe, we want to create a community of like-minded people, people who have a passion for health and Taekwon-Do or martial arts in general.
We want to provide our community with the knowledge and tools to be able to practise their beloved martial arts for a long time to come without any problems.
And to this end, we use the principles of Intermittent Living and performance coaching, among others. 

On 26 August, we will discuss, among other things, the importance of goal-setting and the benefits you can get from fasting, hypoxia and cold training. We will make it a ‘cold’ workshop.

Be sure to bring:
– Notebook and pen
– Walking shoes
– Weather-appropriate clothing
– Swimwear
– Bathrobe and/or towel
– Slippers
– Dobok
– An open mind 🙂

2nd ITF International Coaches Conference

Report by Hans Rombaut:

2nd ITF Coaches Conference – Report

On the 30th of June, 1st and 2nd of July the 2nd ITF Coaches Conference was held in the University of Limerick, Ireland under guidance of the ITF Coaches Committee. From ITF- Belgium, Boosabum Nicolas Taylor and myself joined more than 100 participants from 16 countries for a weekend of learning, training, discussing and socialising over a shared passion of coaching and teaching Taekwon-Do. The conference combines practical Taekwon-Do coaching with theory based lectures and inputs from experts from academia and other sports, and is specifically meant for everyone with an interest in teaching Taekwon-Do, regardless of level. What was nice to see, was that blue/red belts assistant-instructors were just as welcome to share their (sometimes refreshing) ideas as were the Masters and Grandmasters.

On the first day Master Leo Oros Duek and Mr. Declan O’Leary set the tone with opening lectures on top performance under pressure and the concept of physical literacy to increase the likelihood that people will stay active in Taekwon-Do over a lifetime. We as participants felt immediately encouraged to think deeper about our coaching practice, to question long standing routines we might have developed and adapt them to get better outcomes.

After the lectures, we moved to the sport arena for practical sessions under leadership of GM Willem Jacob Bos and Master Stephen Ryan, Master Stephen Tapilatu, Mr. Brendan Doogan and Ms. Izzy Brider. A divers panel of teachers, each sharing from their own rich background and expertise in an open and welcoming atmosphere.

Day 2 continued with a lecture on skill acquisition by Dr Phil Kearny. Dr. Kearny stated that skill is the ability to adapt and to solve problems as they occur. To acquire it, we as coaches have to facilitate our students’ learning by “repetition without repetition”. Immediately after, Masters Byrne and Ryan let us put the theory to the test in a practical sparring session in which we could experiment with being more “FERAL” (if you want to learn more about this concept, ask ITF-Belgiums new coach developer Mr. Nicolas Taylor, hr). A revolutionary different approach to teaching skill in which creativity and a constant feedback loop between coach and athlete are key, this provides us with the possibility of making classes much more dynamic and engaging AND to get more adaptable athletes.

The day continued with – among other workshops – practical sessions by gymnastics expert Mr. Adam Doyle on flexibility for kicking and plyometrics for pre-adolescents and an amazing lecture on how to build a successful TKD organisation by GM Per Andresen from Norway. The scale and thoroughness of his work with NTN is nothing short but breath taking.

In the evening participants and lecturers joined in the student center of the university for a barbecue. This was a great way to come together and relax after a long day of learning.

Day 3 continued much in the same vein. We gathered in doboks for more skill acquisition with Masters Byrne and Ryan, or for patterns with GMs Bos and Andresen. After that, Master Tapilatu and Mr. Doogan took the floor for sparring and power breaking respectively. By now, many bodies were aching but spirits were high as ever, as participants felt they had been part of something unique within our ITF. The combination of quality course content, networking possibilities, the beautiful setting of Limericks University and the approachability of the teachers and lecturers over the weekend made it a valuable experience for everyone. As Master Duek concluded during the closing Q&A session: “The ITF is a family” and in this weekend, it just felt like that.

We would like to thank the ITF Coaches Committee, the ITA, organisers GM Bos, Masters Byrne and Ryan, and all the lecturers and participants for making the 2nd ITF Coaches Conference an unforgettable experience. We will come back for the next one organised in Europe and we hope to encourage other ITF-Belgium coaches to join in. When you do, you give yourself a great chance of becoming better at your craft of teaching Taekwon-Do!

Power breaking seminar with Brendan Doogan

Former World Champion Brendan Doogan, one of the coaches of the team of New Zealand, is on a tour across Europe. The club Hwarang made him come over to Belgium to conduct one of his classes in Rixensart, on Saturday July 8th.

The class started with some warming-up exercises (although it was over 30°C that day), exercises to strenghten body and mind. A lot of information was given, some useful tips were shared during the seminar. The participants could practise some techniques on both pads and breaking boards. Before the morning session (11.30-13.30) ended Sabum Brendan showed a motivational movie.

In the afternoon session (14.00-15.00) there was room for some free breaking.

Participants came from different clubs in Belgium, but also from The Netherlands, Sweden and Norway.

National Instructors Course 2023

Woluwe, Sunday May 28th

During this NIC, open to all instructors ITF-Belgium, the focus will be set on the following topics: functional warming-up for tul and for sparring, dynamic strectching, how to teach step sparring, the circle of Taekwon-Do and the relation between the several disciplines in Taekwon-Do, common mistakes during gradings, Q&A and the tuls So-San, Se-Jong & Tong-Il.