2013 NCTA Championships Update
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Because there is no world collegiate championship this year, the US National Collegiate Taekwondo Team will travel to Korea from August 5 to August 12 for an international training trip and scrimmage. National teams from several countries are expected to be present.
Also, as agreed upon at the fall NCTA meeting, this year's black belt poomsae divisions will be contest in the WTF sport poomsae format. Competitors will compete according the 1st senior, under 29 pair and under 29 team rules as specified in the WTF competition rules, and will therefore be responsible for preparing the following poomsae: Taeguek 6, Taeguek 7, Taeguek 8, Koryo, Keumgang, Taebaek, Pyongwon, and Shipjin.
Furthermore, there will be separate black belt team and pairs poomase divisions for the championship and team trials divisions. In the championships team and pairs divisions, the competitors must all be from the same school. For the team trials divisions, the competitors may be from separate schools.
Please click here for more details on the 2013 NCTA Championships poomsae divisions.
2013 NCTA Championships
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Information about the 2013 National Collegiate Taekwondo Championships is now available!
World University Taekwondo Championships & WTF World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships
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The US National Collegiate Taekwondo Association (NCTA) is proud to present a $500 scholarship each to student-athletes Stephen Lambdin (Oklahoma City Community College, Oklahoma City, OK) and Johnny Nguyen (Mesa Community College, Meza, AZ), who brought back two bronze medals in the sparring competition for the US National Collegiate Taekwondo Team at the World University Taekwondo Championship in Pocheon, South Korea, held on May 25-30, 2012.
At the recent 7th WTF World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships in Tunja, Columbia, on December 6-9, 2012, together with teammates Kody Han, Anh Nguyen, and Amber Rodriguez, 2012 US National Collegiate Taekwondo Team members Hazel Cruz (Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA) and Long Nguyen (San Jose State University, San Jose, CA) won bronze at the new Free Style poomsae competition (5-competitor team division). Congratulations!
NCTA Referee Chair Dr. Jun Yoon, appointed to represent the US at this event with his years of experience in teaching and judging world-class poomsae, is honored to be presented the Best Referee award.
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.
2012 World University Taekwondo Championships Sparring Summary
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Day 3
Team USA opened up in spectacular fashion on the first day of sparring competition with thrilling fights
from finweights Kelsey Kitagawa (University of Hawai’i-Manoa) and Johnny Nguyen (Mesa Community
College) and featherweights Stepfon Westbrook (California State University of Northride) and Emilia
Morrow (Miami Dade College).
Both Kitagawa and Morrow fought with great passion and drive, but unfortunately they came up short
in their first rounds against Turkey and Chinese Taipei, respectively. Kitagawa scored the initial point and
kept her lead throughout the majority of the match. Turkey received both her points through warnings.
Kitagawa tied it up, but unfortunately fell one point shy of moving on to the next round. Morrow drew
a tough first round against eventual silver medalist from Chinese Taipei. She gave an extremely strong
effort, staying aggressive and throwing some hard cuts, but also fell short and did not advance to the
next round.
Westbrook had an uphill battle but lost to eventual silver medalist from Korea. The round was evenly
matched, with Korea slightly ahead near the close of the third round. Westbrook tied the match in the
final second, pushing the fight into overtime. After some exciting exchanges, Korea scored first. Despite
his loss, Westbrook’s reflection of his match is positive, “I gained a lot of confidence. Not only did I fight
on a world level, but I fought against a finalist from Korea.”
Nguyen emerged victorious in his first match against Japan. He took an early lead with a beautiful axe
kick and finished the round with a final result of 9-5. Next, Nguyen had an amazing comeback against
Thailand in the quarterfinals. Near the end of the second round, he was down 0-5. Within the last 30
seconds, Nguyen threw an impressive jump spinning hook to bring the score to 4-5. Nguyen increased
his lead with a solid back kick and eventually won the match with a final score of 10-8. He advanced
to the semifinals against Indonesia, ensuring the US our first medal of the tournament. Even though
Nguyen fought aggressively, Indonesia proved to be a formidable opponent, and he finished the evening
with a bronze medal. “It’s an honor to have been a part of this experience“ said Nguyen. “Having the
opportunity to wear the stars and stripes at medal ceremonies made the sacrifice, hard work, and
dedication all worth it.”
Day 4
Team USA had another exciting day with matches from welterweights Phillip Yun (University of the
Pacific) and Alex Cinque (Fordham University) and flyweights Haley Kong (Stanford University) and Tyler
Sawyer (Santa Clara University).
Cinque drew Australia first round. Despite taking an early lead, Australia fought back to tie up the score.
It was a riveting match with many exchanges, but Australia scored in the final seconds of the match,
preventing Cinque from advancing.
Kong drew eventual bronze medalist from Korea first round. She managed the match with great
composure the entire way through. No points were scored until the final round when Korea landed a
headshot in the last 30 seconds. Kong gave a strong effort but was unable to catch back up.
Sawyer drew a tough first round against a Chinese Taipei competitor who will be fighting at the
upcoming Olympic Games. Sawyer took an early lead, but Taipei evened the score in the second round.
The match stayed close with Sawyer showing great defense and nearly pulled away victorious but fell
short with a final score of 5-7.
Yun started the day off against Spain, controlling the match the entire way through. He scored
with various techniques, including a couple strong punches which have barely been scored at this
competition. He won 12-2 to advance to the quarterfinals against Turkey. Yun gave a valiant effort
against Turkey keeping the score close, but fell slightly short of advancing to the next round.
Day 5
Team USA had another great day with exhilarating matches from lightweights Nicole Palma (University
of Miami, Lake Worth, FL) and Thomas Rahimi (North Lake Community College) and heavyweights
Danielle Harrison (Johnson and Wales University) and Stephen Lambdin (Oklahoma City Community
College).
Palma drew Korea in the first round. She had some great shots and gave her best, but Korea’s aggressive
tactics and strong defense prevented Palma from advancing to the next round.
Harrison drew Brazil in the first round. She had some amazing moments including a powerful cover
punch that wowed the crowd. Despite her determination, Brazil won the round.
Rahimi drew former World Champion from Iran in the first round. He started off strong with a quick cut
kick in the first few seconds of the match. Down a couple points in the third round, Rahimi came back
to push the match into overtime. In sudden death, Rahimi threw a strong cover punch which forced the
judges to convene, but it was not awarded. Rahimi sparred hard but eventually, Iran scored.
Lambdin started the day off against China, whom he fell to last year at the Universiade in Shenzhen,
China. The match stayed close and eventually went into overtime. Lambdin scored within the first five
seconds of sudden death, advancing him to the quarterfinal rounds against Russia. Russia had an early
lead with a headshot but Lambdin kept his composure looking for the right opportunity. “Even though
I was down early, if I stuck to our gameplay, I would be fine. I just needed to stay calm and wait for my
shots,” said Lambdin. Towards the end of the third round, Lamdbin tied the score with a fierce axe kick,
once again, pushing the match into overtime. There were some nail-biting exchanges, but Lambdin
pulled through with a solid body shot to advance him to the semi-finals against eventual gold medalist
Iran. Similarly to Russia, Iran started off strong and took an early lead with a headshot. Despite another
beautiful axe kick Lambdin scored towards the end of the third, Iran came away victorious with a final
score of 4-3. Reflecting on his matches, Lambdin noted, “I need to take more chances. Most of the
heavyweights couldn’t match my speed. I need to spend less time in my own head and just go for it.”
Lambdin earned a bronze medal and is the second person to medal on the US Team.
Day 6
The final day of sparring competition was another exciting day with matches from bantamweight Aziza
Chambers (Wright State University) and middleweight Kellie Fairbanks (Hillsdale Community College).
Chambers drew Korea and eventual gold medalist in the first match. She maintained an early lead in the
first round. She continued to fight aggressively, throwing some amazing headshots but unfortunately did
not land. Despite a strong effort by Chambers, Korea moved onto the next round.
Fairbanks drew Germany in the first round. She kept the score close but in the very beginning of the
third round, tragedy struck as Fairbanks completed tore her ACL as she landed an axe kick. Despite the
immense amount of pain, she continued to fight until Coach Brian Singer pulled her from the match to
protect her knee. She was rushed to the hospital immediately after. Fairbanks is in great spirits despite
the injury. She cannot wait to return to practice and get back into competition.
This concludes Team USA’s trip to the 12th World University Taekwondo Championships. Team USA
brings back two bronzes, new experiences, and a plethora of knowledge to bring forward into the
future.
