Outside the dojang – Anzac Day March

Posted on April 27, 2014 by adminptkd

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

Uni Sport 4 Kids

Posted on April 23, 2014 by adminptkd

Uni Sport 4 Kids – 15 April 2014

A total of 70 children lined up over three hours for the holiday Taekwon-Do sessions at Uni Sport 4 Kids hosted by the University of Western Australia on Tuesday 15 April 2014.

The sessions were run at the University Sport and Recreation Centre where only two days earlier we ran our inaugural Platinum Training Workshop (which ran for four hours with 20 coloured belts and three Black Belts participating)!

The children had a fun morning, displaying their strength and agility, trying out Taekwon-Do games and techniques during the sessions run by Sabumnim Adeline and assisted by future Black Belt Jason Duryea.

“It is always exciting to share Taekwon-Do with new students, so it’s a great treat to introduce Taekwon-Do to so many children all in one morning!”

Adeline Cheong, V Dan Black Belt

Term 1 Grading 01-2014

Posted on April 22, 2014 by adminptkd

Term 1 Grading 01-2014 10 Mar 2014

Well to my surprise, I was promoted! Only a little surprised as I really thought I had some major points of improvement. Then, not long after grading I was improving; techniques were making sense. Everything was coming together. Sabumnims, Adeline and Paul saw my potential as I graded for green tip. It was a tough grading though; Instructor Adeline likes to keep you on your toes mentally and physically and Instructor Paul doesn’t miss a beat.

Teresa and I were grading together for green tip which is a pivotal level in Taekwon-Do as your skills are advancing and there are many new techniques to learn. Our new pattern, Do San has more moves to remember than our yellow belt pattern: Dan Gun and new moves like Sun Sonkut Tulgi, Nopunde Dung Joomuk Taerigi and Do San is our first pattern that includes a kicking move (ap chagi while performing a wedging block).

So I was a little nervous learning so many new blocking moves but Adeline and Paul are supportive and amazing teachers so I was more excited than nervous, even after I saw the two kicking pads laid out specially for Teresa and I. With green tip comes new moves and invitations to new classes. Next step… the Platinum TKD Open Sparring and Pattern Circuit!

Topaz Betuel, 7th Gup

The first grading for 2014 was held at the Cannington dojang. 11 students from the Cannington, Claremont, Dalkeith and Manning dojangs, ranging from 10th to 7th grade were tested and a number of others including students from the Maylands dojang clocked up their pre-requisite grading. The Black Belts in attendance along with the examiners coincidentally made for a unique photo opportunity with exactly one of each rank from I Dan to V Dan!

Platinum Training Workshop

Posted on April 19, 2014 by adminptkd

Platinum Training Workshop – 13 April 2014

On Sunday April 13, Platinum Taekwon-Do hosted the inaugural training workshop. This was a four hour session for all coloured belts intending to cover everything that is in their syllabus for the next grading. Black Belts were also invited to attend to revise the colour belt syllabus.

After a brief warm up and stretch the class split up into two groups, white to green tip with Sabumnim Adeline, and green to red belt (as well as the Black Belts) with Sabumnim Paul. The first session was covering the fundamental movements focusing on correct stance, posture, chambering and movements.

We then moved on to patterns and had a great chunk of time to look at the patterns in depth and to do them many times to help engrain them into memory. Learning patterns is all about getting them correct, then repetition repetition repetition.

The groups then got back together, sat down with our water bottles and had a discussion on the Do, my personal favorite. General Choi wrote a book before he passed called the “Moral Guide Book” and in this he mentioned that equal time should be spent on both the “Taekwon” and the “Do”. The Do is such a vast topic to understand, we touched on just one important aspect of it – Ego. We were encouraged to be honest with ourselves and look within to see our own ego. We all had a chance to remember times when we may have been letting our ego get the better of us.

We then split up into our groups again and covered sparring relative to our grades (not tournament sparring). I was particularly excited about one step sparring (covered from 6th grade) as this is something I really enjoy and rarely practice. Some self defence techniques were also covered which are also a personal favorite. Some of the more senior members then moved onto breaking techniques and got to smash some training boards over and over again.

As a summary the workshop was a real success. I believe everyone came out feeling a lot more confident with the various parts of their syllabus, and although it was a four hour session, the time really flew by. I personally see a lot of potential in these sessions and encourage you all to book in early for the next one.

I also was very impressed with the number of students that brought their actual printed syllabus along and took notes. Ultimately this is what you need to achieve to grade for the next level, and by making notes in a way so that you understand will not only help in preparing for your grading, but also later along the track when you are teaching yourself.

Peter Granheim, II Dan Black Belt

Super Sparring

Posted on April 16, 2014 by adminptkd

Super Sparring with Platinum Taekwondo – 26 Oct 2013

The last Platinum Super Sparring event for this year occurred at the weekend. Two hours chock-a-block with sparring was on the agenda. My son and I had been looking forward to these sessions as it is our favourite Taekwondo event.

We all started off with an extensive warm up lead by Adeline which consisted of a wide range of movements e.g. over 4 different types of push ups (!), teapots and not forgetting stretching and more stretching and yes, more stretching (you can never do too much stretching I’m told). After that we put on our protective sparring gear. A few rounds with senior students got the ball rolling. Paul kicked off the mixed sparring, where we rotated around and fought more or less all opponents regardless of rank. This was awesome.

Adeline with great enthusiasm led the kids who practised different sparring technics with heaps of hard punching, kicking and blocking. After that it was time to refresh their patterns and finally to wrap it up with some fun games.

What I like the best from these sparring sessions is that you always learn a multitude of new actions and there is always something useful that you pick up. Keeping it simple and keeping your guard up even when it is you kicking is very useful advice.

Viggo and Pontus Olin

Black Platinum / State Development Squad

Posted on April 16, 2014 by adminptkd

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

Dynamic Strength Physiotherapy

Posted on April 16, 2014 by adminptkd

Dynamic Strength Physiotherapy

Dynamic Strength Physiotherapy was founded in 2014 by your very own 2^nd Dan Marika Hart! Marika is an APA-titled Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist who has over 13 years of experience, predominantly in the private sector. Marika started teaching pilates in 2004 and found it extremely beneficial, not only for her patients but also for herself! She used it extensively during her own pregnancies and found it helped recovery postnatally. She completed her training in ante- and post-natal pilates in London and then did the full equipment pilates training whilst in Melbourne. She ran clinical pilates classes in a sports medicine clinic in Melbourne and more recently at Cottesloe Sports Physio. Marika feels very passionately that pilates should be supervised closely to ensure correct technique and to prevent injury. She focuses on postural alignment, breathing and correct muscle activation. But that doesn’t mean that pilates is easy! Pilates can be extremely challenging for even the most elite athletes.

Current services on offer at Dynamic Strength Physiotherapy include:

– Mums and Bubs Pilates (Ardross and South Perth)

– Pregnancy Pilates (South Perth)

– Platinum Pilates (Claremont – for the Taekwon Do students)

Platinum Pilates commenced in term one 2014 with a full contingent of 12 students. The classes focussed on upper body, abdominal and gluteal strength, balance and neck alignment. Most students found that some of the exercises became easier over the six-week course and they were able to move up a level! Hopefully all have become aware of good posture in the push up position and how important gluteal (bottom!) muscle strength is for kicking.

Term two will consist of a 5-week course, further challenging the core muscles and balance. There is currently one space available if anyone would like to join the group. To put your name on the waitlist, please contact Marika via email.

For the parents, there will be a Postural Pilates course being conducted after work hours, likely to commence in Term 3. This course will be suitable for those who sit at a desk all day and will be designed to improve flexibility and upper back strength. For those who might be interested, please email to be added to the contact list once details are confirmed.

Marika Hart, II Dan

www.dynamicstrengthphysio.com.au

info@dynamicstrengthphysio.com.au

Green2Black

Posted on April 16, 2014 by adminptkd

Green2Black Impressions – 12 April 2014

I was not sure what to expect when I rocked up to the Platinum Taekwon-Do Claremont Do Jang for my first ever Green2Black session. The fact that it was compulsory to attend at least two sessions in order to grade for your next level suggested that coercion was needed because there might be something vaguely hideous about the experience.

I had graded to 6^th Gup the week before and fully intended to skip that first session in April. However, I train at the Maylands Do Jang with Sabumnim Michael Hayward and he assured me the sessions would be valuable and that I should make the effort to go. The funny thing about getting a green belt is that you start to feel you really have to step up to the plate, so I took his advice and was glad I did.

First of all, I want to stress it was great fun, but it was fun with a serious message. From here on in, if you want to go further and aim for that coveted black belt, you really have to commit to your taekwon-do training.

It started with a pep talk from Sabumnim Paul Raymond. It was along the lines of taking responsibility, whether it was for bringing you syllabus certificates with you, ensuring you had your mouth guard so you can participate in the sparring routines or for the guys, making sure that you wear that all important box to protect the family jewels! The pep talk set the tone for the rest of the session.

The warm up was fun, but it wasn’t long before we were into the sparring tuition and practice. I already knew I suck at sparring. My footwork is too slow, I’m not fit enough, I’m overweight and I duck when I should weave and weave when I should duck! But despite all that I really enjoyed the sparring routines at the Green2Black session.

Now I sweat. I sweat a lot. I am a black belt in the art of sweating. It’s made worse by wearing a protective helmet and so I suffered with the heat, but I was glad of that protection. I am pretty sure I was kicked to the side of the head four times and once to the mouth. I won’t mention the number of punches I took on the nose…thanks very much Tarquin!

But it was all controlled. It didn’t hurt and it taught a lesson. I am pretty sure at the next session I will do a little better and I am really looking forward to it.

I highly recommend Green2Black. You will work hard – like a dog actually – and you will learn a lot, but most of all you will have fun and the sessions will definitely supplement your work in your various Do Jangs.

Martyn Boyle, 6^th Gup