Announcements
Dr. Ahn receives Korean Ministry of Culture, Sport and Tourism award
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Greetings from UC Martial Arts!
Earlier this month, Taekwondo celebrated its 4th birthday. In 2008, the Korean government officially inaugurated September 4th as “World Taekwondo Day”. This day was created in memory of Taekwondo becoming an official event of the Olympics during the IOC Congress in Paris on this very day back in 1994. Dr. Russell Ahn, the Endowed Director of the UC Martial Arts Program (UCMAP) was participating as a panelist at 6th International Taekwondo Symposium in Seoul, Korea on September 3rd and he was also fortunate enough to be there at the time of the celebration, on his way back home. This event took place at the Grand Hilton Hotel in Seoul, Korea with around 500 participants from all over the world including WTF President Choue, Kukkiwon President Kang, Kukkiwon Chairman Joo-Hoon Kim, TPF Chairman Bae, Patric Chamunda and Tomas Amos Ganda Sithole from the IOC. Each had a speech prepared, encouraging the guests to continue their endeavors in promoting Taekwondo. President Choue stated in his opening speech that “young Taekwondo athletes gave hope to many fans, showing them how their dreams came true. Through the Olympic spirit, Taekwondo is bringing us together, and is giving us hope for a brighter future.”
At this celebration, 20 individuals were recognized for their contributions in Taekwondo throughout the world. This included none other than Dr. Ahn. He received the Minister’s award from the Korean Ministry of Culture, Sport and Tourism for his contribution for promoting Taekwondo through University of California, Berkeley, UCMAP, the National Collegiate Taekwondo Association, International Taekwondo Symposiums and a variety of International University Taekwondo events.
Dr. Ahn, currently the President of the U.S. National Collegiate Taekwondo Association, has been working hard with these different organizations to continue to ensure that Taekwondo has a place in this world. He is working tirelessly to gain more experience and furthering his education by working towards receiving his M.A. in Leadership to ensure he is fully equipped to leading young athletes on the right path. Taekwondo continues to demonstrate its staying power as seen in this past London Olympics, and hopefully will continue to do so in the future.
NCTA Poomsae and Sparring Seminars
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NCTA Seminar Results
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The NCTA held two seminars on Jan 13-14, 2012 to promote collegiate athlete development. The seminars took place in New York City at West Side Taekwondo (http://westsidetkd.com). The first seminar, held on Friday, January 13 covered competition poomsae. The seminar was led by US National Poomsae Team members Dan Chuang, Christina Park, Rene Chen and Lisa Zhou, and included drills to improve presentation, provide individualized feedback, and practice group critique. Also present were 2011 US National Collegiate Poomsae Team Members Brandon DeSouza and Erika Lee.
The second seminar took place on Saturday, Jan 14. The seminar was headlined by the founders of the Eastern Collegiate Taekwondo Conference (ECTC), Sung Chul Whang (2005 US National Collegiate Team co-head coach) and Jun Chul Whang (2004 Olympic coach for Trinidad and Tobago). Also assisting with the seminar were Dan Chuang (NCTA vice president, US National Collegiate Team coach 2008-2011), Chinedum Osuji (2004 Olympian for Trinidad and Toabago, 2007 Pan Am Games bronze medalist), Christina Park (5-time US National Collegiate Team captain, World University Taekwondo Championships bronze medalist), Fabio Takahashi (Jamaica National Team coach), Dorian Alexander (Trinidad & Tobago national team), Lenn Hypolite (Trinidad and Tobago National team, Pan Am Championships silver medalist), Rene Chen (US National Poomsae Team member), and Lisa Zhou (US National Poomsae Team Member), Elizabeth Shakhnovich (US National Collegiate Team Member, World University Games bronze medal), James Cadogan (US National Collegiate Team Member), and Jayson Grant (Jamaica National Team member, US National Champion). Several dozen collegiate athletes were in attendance, and drills and strategy for the modern Taekwondo game were presented, and match sparring with coaching feedback was practiced.
The NCTA thanks West Side Taekwondo and the Masters Whang in particular for their hospitality!
