It was a big week last week with a grading hosted by the Cannington dojang on the evening of Monday 7 September. 15 students tested from Claremont, Kelmscott, Maylands and Cannington and examiners Sabumnim Adeline Cheong, Sabumnim Paul and Sabumnim Michael Harwood were pleased with the results. Promotions were rolled out during the week and we are very pleased to announce the promotion of two brand new Green Belts – Kirsty Archibald and Phil Meatyard!

Mid-week saw Sabumnim Paul commence presenting a short external self-defence course  and guest instructors Sabumnim Adeline and Boosabumnim Tarquin conducting classes at the Claremont dojang.

Saturday 12 Sep 15 marked the second grading for Term 3 and the second  for the week! 21 students stepped up between the ranks of 10th and 5th and worked hard to display their best Taekwon-Do techniques, etiquette and theory knowledge. One of the highlights included Owen and Lily Harwood supporting the 7th Graders and participating in all their fundamental drills.

Thanks to all examiners and a special thanks to assisting instructors Boosabumnims Suzy Moore, Cristina Angheluta and Marcela Moraes. Comments were reviewed and results prepared on Sunday and promotions will roll out commencing Tuesday. See you in the dojang!

Grading 25 August 2014 
by Adeline Cheong V Dan Black Belt

Last night the Cannington dojang hosted it’s fourth coloured belt grading and the largest to date with 14 applicants.   The grading was conducted by Examiners Adeline Cheong and Paul Raymond and was also the fifth grading for 2014. The students ranged from White Belt to Green Belt Blue Tip with the youngest being seven.

There were students from the Ardross, Maylands, Bedford, Claremont, and Manning dojangs with many supporting their fellow students.

The White Belts were tested on their fundamental exercises first, followed by Saju Jurugi and Saju Makgi. Remembering that all students participate in the practical components.

The 9th Gups were next, followed by 6th and 5th Gups concurrently and finally the 7th Gups (The Boyle family were being tested all at the same time!). This component included step-sparring, and flexibility and the grading concluded with close combat.

Congratulations to all students who graded, and also a special congratulations to Kelmscott Komodo Dragon Julia Putazi  who is awarded Best of Grade for 10th Gup.

A great effort to all the junior ranks who tried out some tricky 6th and 5th Gup techniques.

Meanwhile at the back of the dojang, two of our Black Belt Instructors were training in preparation for their own gradings later this year.

Grading results will be announced this week following the completion of the marking.  Remember the next grading is only a few weeks away on Sunday 14 September  at the Claremont dojang at 3.30pm (straight after the Round 3 of the Platinum TKD Open Sparring and Pattern Circuit 2.00-3.30pm!!). There was a good number of adults present last night completing their pre-requisite grading too, so we are looking forward to a number of applicants for the next grading.

IIC San Francisco, July 2014 

Lining up in a room with over 150 black belts alone was an inspiring experience even before the Grand Masters arrived.  Followed by three days with the Grand Master Marano and Grand Master Bos working through pattern by pattern, move by move, I came away feeling over-awed and inspired by the depth of knowledge that had been made available to us. Grand Master Bos’s physical and dynamic sessions helped remind me of why I love taekwon-do while Grand Master Marano’s amazing technical skill and understanding showed me how much more there was to learn. I enjoyed the sense of camaraderie that developed amongst the group over the duration of the course and two things in particular will stick with me from by conversations with the other black belts from around the world. The first is that I want to be one of those senior black belts that is one day training alongside my children and grandchildren. The second is that taekwon-do is a way of life.

Suzy Moore, II Dan Black Belt

Photo: Peter Granheim

Despite the long trip spending a few days in San Francisco at the 95^th IIC with a group of Platinum Taekwon-do black belts turned out to be one of my highlights of the year. If training with around 150 other black belts (including multiple world champions) wasn’t inspiring enough, the Grandmasters were truly impressive. We were lucky enough to have a surprise visit from Grandmaster Trajtenburg, President of the ITF, whose enthusiasm was infectious.  Grandmaster Marano’s technical knowledge is second to none, and at 62 Grandmaster Bos put all of us to shame with his physical abilities. The other attendees were incredibly welcoming with multiple offers from around the world to come and train at their local dojang, and even stay at their homes. With another IIC coming to Australia in 2015 I can highly recommend doing whatever you can to attend!

Michael Harwood, III Dan Black Belt

Photo: Peter Granheim

Platinum Taekwon-Do instructors, Adeline Cheong, Paul Raymond, Michael Harwood, Suzy Moore, Peter Granheim and Michael Byrnes attended the 95th IIC in San Francisco. Michael Harwood, Suzy Moore and Michael Byrnes are planning to grade for their III and IV Dans later this year. 

Inspirit Taekwon-Do Invitational Tournmament – 4 May 2014

It was a bit of a drive out to Aveley, but worth the trip as with 22 competitors the highlights for the Platinum Team kept coming all day long at today’s Inspirit Taekwon-Do Invitational Tournament.

At times there was so much action happening at the same time that you had to switch your focus back and forth between the three rings to keep up with our students competing concurrently. By 1030am we had already secured 14 medals and the sparring hadn’t even yet begun.

We finished the afternoon with team sparring, power breaking and special technique for the adult males and senior females. One of the most exciting bouts of the day was during the team sparring with Anthony Lim against a big and tall Black Belt; where Anthony’s speed and agility shone through as he executed his techniques moving swiftly around the ring.

Special commendation goes to our junior competitors Ethan Grubba (7), Amelie Boyle (9), Jocelyn Brown (9), Angus Brown (10), Aiden Duryea (11), Isaac Blackwell (11), Jason Duryea (13) and Orla Bacon-Rees (16) who all displayed great focus, composure and competitive spirit.

Other highlights included Isaac Blackwell’s “special” secret weapon in sparring and the Team Patterns which presented the opportunity for students from our different Platinum Taekwon-Do dojangs to come together as well as combined efforts between juniors and seniors.

Like many competitions some of it comes down to the luck of the draw and those who have the courage to put their hand up to compete are all winners regardless of the result.

We were happy to be able to enter five teams into the team pattern event with special mention going to the color belt adults pattern team from the Maylands dojang who were very brave coming up against a whole lot of black belts!

Even our youngest supporter 22 month old Oliver Raymond enjoyed the event and appropriately bid farewell to red belt Tarquin in style “see ya Tarquin-Do”!

A perfect way to spend your Sunday is competing and supporting a tournament…now for the National Championships on 17 May!

Our final medal tally of 47 medals is below.

Adeline Cheong, V Dan Black Belt 

Black Belt Male Patterns 3 Dan up
Bronze Paul Raymond

Female Colour Belt Patterns
Gold Teresa Le
Silver Masa Boland
Bronze Jenny Illgen

Black Belt Male Patterns
Gold Lukas Kuster
Bronze Anthony Lim

Colour Belt Male Patterns
Gold Tarquin Betuel
Bronze Marc Crisp

Junior Girls Patterns
Silver Jocelyn Brown
Gold Amelie Boyle

Boys Patterns
Gold Aiden Duryea
Bronze Isaac Blackwell

Senior Boys Patterns
Silver Jason Duryea

Senior Girls Colour Belt Patterns
Bronze Orla Bacon-Rees

Veterans Colour Belt Mens Patterns
Bronze Martyn Boyle
Bronze Tim Grubba

Junior Boys Flying high kick
Silver Ethan Grubba

Junior Girls Flying High Kick
Bronze Jocelyn Brown

Junior Girls Flying Side kick
Bronze Jocelyn Brown

Team Pattern
Bronze Green and Gold –
Topaz, Erin, Angus, Isaac, Teresa

Senior Team Pattern
Bronze Platinum Black – Paul, Michael, Anthony and Lukas

Womens Colour Belt Sparring
Gold Erin Dikstaal
Silver Topaz Betuel
Bronze Jenny Illgen

Mens Colour Belt Sparing
Gold Tarquin Betuel
Silver Tim Grubba
Bronze Marc Crisp

Black Belt Mens Middle Weight Sparring
Bronze Michael Hayward

Flying High kick
Silver Angus Brown

Flying Side kick
Bronze Angus Brown

Junior Boys Sparring
Gold Aiden Duryea
Silver Isaac Blackwell

Senior Boys sparring
Silver Jason Duryea

Team Sparring
Silver Platinum – Tarquin, Anthony, Lukas

Power Breaking
Bronze Tarquin Betuel

Male Special Technique
Bronze Anthony Lim
Silver Lukas Kuster

Female Special Technique
Bronze Orla

John XXIII College – 30 April 2014

Platinum Taekwon-Do spent Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons this week at John XXIII College in  Mount Claremont.

We received a warm welcome and much positive feedback from Mr John Alderman who has been the college’s sports teacher for the past 18 years.

Sabumnims Paul and Adeline and Boosabumnim Michael Byrnes ran four Taekwon-Do clinics over the two afternoons for approximately 100 eager year one and two students.

The children showed great enthusiasm in participating in our energetic Taekwon-Do games including Sabumnim Says, Tag Chasey, Tag Sparring, Gingerbread men and Animal Taekwon-Do. They also displayed their skills and agility whilst executing punch combinations and kicks on the focus mitts.

It was lovely to see quite a few familiar faces from our regular classes on day one too. We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to the college and look forward to meeting students from John XXIII again!

Adeline Cheong, V Dan Black Belt

Outside the dojang – Anzac Day March – 25 April 2014

On Friday Morning I got up at 6:45am and noticed it was Anzac Day! It was going to be my first time marching in the ANZAC parade.

My grandparents met us at my house and this meant that there would be three generations of MacDonalds in the parade. Me, my Dad, my uncle and my Nanna and Grandad.  Being only a 9 year old boy I was a little nervous but I soon got over that.

The first thing we did was a service in Leederville at 8am. The Floreat Salvation Army brass band I was playing in with my family was accompanying the songs.

We then headed to the city for the big parade! There were so many people watching and lots of war veterans marching and lots of news cameras and bands.

The sergeant major blew the whistle for us to start marching and the next second we were marching. I was playing the cornet and I was the youngest in the band.

The actual march seemed very long but I enjoyed the crowds and sounds so much that I didn’t notice how long it really was. Marching and playing is actually pretty hard and I think I played about ¾ of the notes but I never got out of step.

This is a photo of the three generations of the MACDONALDS!

Ben MacDonald, 7th Gup, age 9

Black Platinum Raising the Bar / State Development Squad – 13 October 2013 

It was the last Sunday of the spring school holidays and it was a beautiful day: plenty of sun and you could feel the smell of spring in the air. It was a pleasant surprise that we all lined up outside, under the big tree on the green outside the Claremont dojang .

Most of us didn’t train too much over the holidays – some because of travelling (like me!), others just because they wanted to have some time off. Regardless, we were all there, eager to start and the kids energy was infectious. The warm up was fun, with some heavy lifting: lift your partner in a side-kick position or squats whilst holding your partner up. It was quite a good warm up, but then it was time for a mini-competition. It was all about remembering Saju-Makgi, one move at a time and coordinating with your team.  In our teams, we had to step forward to our instructors and starting at the first move, say the direction, stance, tool, height and technique, in this particular order, for each move. To make things even more fun, if one person got it wrong, the whole team did a burpee!

Because this session was not only about having fun, but also about selecting the kids for the State Development Squad, we split up in groups. The kids got on with their assessment, still enjoying the great outdoors weather, whilst the adults moved inside the dojang for some technical work on patterns, step-sparring and some free sparring. Everyone was very enthusiastic about it and put a lot of hard work into making the most of the time. The kids wanted to demonstrate that they deserved to be in the squad and worked really hard.

I enjoyed having time to start preparing for the grading and practicing the 2 Step Sparring, but also meeting people from the other dojangs that we don’t see so often.

The atmosphere was great, we had lots of giggles and lots hard work and by the end of the 2 hours I think we all felt that we put in a good effort, we learnt something and had a great day. It was a good event and even if some of the kids will not make it into the squad, they still have something to be proud of – they were there: training hard and they did their best, which is the most important thing. At the end of the day, we all had a big smile on our face.

Cristina Angheluta, II Dan