News TKD Optional Sport at Commonwealth GamesSeoul, South Korea—Tae Kwon Do has been classified as a category 2, optional sport at the Commonwealth Games. The Olympic sport of Tae Kwon Do stands a good chance of being on the official program of the 2018 Commonwealth Games at the earliest. The Commonwealth Games have three classifications of sports: core sports (category 1), optional sports (category 2), and recognized sports (category 3). Under the current regulations, the Commonwealth Games must include a minimum of ten core sports and can include up to an addi-tional seven from a list of optional sports, with a maximum of four team sports on their program. The Commonwealth Games, which date back to 1930, are a unique world-class, multi-sport event which is held once every four years. The next Commonwealth Games, the 19th edition, are scheduled to take place in New Delhi, India, with 17 sports on the official program. The 20th Commonwealth Games are to be held in Glasgow, Scotland in 2014. Hambantota in Sri Lanka and the Gold Coast in Australia are competing to win the right to host the 2018 Commonwealth

Games.

Chosun Students Visit Korea

Warwick, New York—21 students from the Chosun Taekwondo Academy in

Warwick, NewYork recently visited Korea. The group was lead by head instructor and

fifth-degree black belt, Master Doug Cook. Accompanying them was martial arts pioneer

Grandmaster Richard Chun, ninth-degree black belt and president of the United States Taekwondo

Association. The detailed itinerary included instruc-tion by world-famous grandmasters at the Kumgang

Taekwondo Center, the World Taekwondo Instructor Academy, Gulgosa Temple, the Moo Duk Kwan/Namchang Dojang and the Kukkiwon. Each day present-ed a diverse and challenging training opportunity. While

at the Moo Duk Kwan/Namchang Dojang, or Institute of Martial Virtue, an outstanding demonstration of martial arts skill by Grandmaster Shin Chul Kang’s team was fol-

lowed by a series of kicking drills incorporating the Chosun students ranging in age from 8 to 72 years old. Similarly, Master Byeong Cheol An of the Kumgang Taekwondo Center, a face familiar to the Chosun students from previous training excursions, featured strenuous exercises in self-defense and sparring. Another significant component of the educational journey included a day of instruction at the World Taekwondo Instructor Academy in the tiny village of Yangsu-ri, surrounded by rice paddies, where the Chosun students practiced the most current iteration of poomsae taught by Grandmaster Gyoo Hyun Lee, a sanctioned standard bearer of the art. For many, training at the Kukkiwon represented the highlight. There, Grandmaster Jong Beom Park again concentrated on poomsae practice. Yet, in what can only be compared to a scene borrowed from the movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, a singularly memorable event of the excursion required the Chosun students to endure a steep climb through rain and cloud-like mists to Gulgosa Temple perched high atop the mountains overlooking the Great Kyongju Plain. There, the Chosun students studied Sunmudo, or Traditional Korean Zen Martial Arts, followed by a monastic meal with the resident Buddhist monks.

ISKA & Mannatech Forge DealDallas, Texas—Recently, the International Sport Karate Association (ISKA) selected Mannatech as its exclusive dietary supplement provider. The announcement was made at the ISKA’s 37th annual U.S. Open, which featured more than 3,000 of the top martial artists from 40 countries around the world. The partnership will allow various Mannatech products to carry the ‘ISKA Certified for Elite Athletes’ seal, as well as a proven business building opportunity for all studio owners represented by the ISKA. Also at the U.S. Open, Team Mannatech member Ben Parra earned two world titles in Three Directional Power Breaking and Multiple Stack Speed Breaking, in which he set a world record by breaking 129 planks of wood in ten seconds. Team member Chip Townsend held an exhibition at the event’s culmination “Night of Champions” and broke his single-strike speed breaking title with 42 planks in eight seconds. His previous record was 36.

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Rothrock Represents ITMADickson City, Pennsylvania—Recently, movie legend Cynthia Rothrock accepted the appointment of West Coast representative for the International Tang Soo Do Moo Duk Kwan Association headquartered in Dickson City, Pennsylvania. Most recognize Rothrock for her Chinese martial arts stylings, but do not know of her extensive back-ground in Tang Soo Do, which dates back to the age of 13, training at the Scranton Karate School under Grandmaster Frank Trojanowicz. There she met Instructor Robert Kovaleski, who also trained under Grandmaster Trojanowicz. She went on to earn her first-degree black belt in Tang Soo Do, as well as Tae Kwon Do, Eagle Claw, Wu Shu and Northern Shaolin. She was promoted to sixth-dan in Tang Soo Do by Grandmaster Robert Kovaleski, founder of the ITMA, in 1994.

AwARDs & PROMOTIONsChangmookwan Promotions

San Pedro, California—Recently, The Korean Bell of Friendship and Bell Pavilion served as the host site for the recent promotion ceremony for Changmookwan students from Wong’s Martial Arts Training Center in Ontario, California.

As part of the promotional ceremony, the candidates performed the traditional forms of Changmookwan founder and Grandmaster Nam Suk Lee, commemorating his tenth year anniversary. Having successfully fulfilled the requirements for

promotion, the following candidates were promoted: junior black belt Ryan Cook, first-dan Melissa Trujillo Moreno and second-dan Mr. Darryl Cook.

6th Dan PromotionsMaster John Meany, head instructor at S.J. Kim’s Taekwon-Do under Taekwon-Do

International President, Grandmaster Suk Jun Kim, and Master James Marr, owner of Glen Ridge Taekwon-do, were both recently promoted to the level of sixth-dan. Before a panel of

judges and a crowd of fellow practitioners, the two candidates demonstrated three patterns in sync. Master Marr then broke four boards with a lead leg side kick, three suspended boards with a knife-

hand strike, and four boards with a back kick while standing on broken glass. Master Meany broke four boards with a front turning kick, two boards in midair with a punch, and used a jumping reverse

turning kick to break two boards balanced on another black belt’s head.

King’s Robes Chicago, Illinois—Grandmasters and Masters gathered in the Grand Ballroom of the Chicago

Hilton Hotel to bestow the “King’s Robes” to the highest ranking Tae Kwon Do players in the country, including Grandmaster Nicholls of Port Angeles, Washington. The ceremony concluded with Dr. Kwon, president of the U.S. National Taekwondo Federation, awarding Grandmaster Nicholls the coveted

“Instructor of the Year” award for 2010. Nicholls has been practicing Tae Kwon Do for 41 years and also serves as National Vice-chairman for the World Koryo Gumdo Federation. He has black belts in four other martial arts and runs the Northwest Region with schools in Washington, Oregon and British Columbia.

GOOD DeeDs2nd Annual Break-A-Thon/Kick-A-Thon Peoria, Illinois—Recently, As Bum Nym Ben Mitchell of Kuk Sool Won of Peoria hosted his 2nd annual Break-A-Thon/Kick-A-Thon for St. Jude Children’s Hospital. Three other martial arts schools, Cat- Ching Do, Aldus Martial Arts and Harrison and Dorris College of Martial Arts, demonstrated as well. They were able to raise 3,500 for the kids of St. Jude.

eVeNTsLevel 10 Hosts Rothrock and Reyes Jr. Indianapolis, Indiana—The students of Level 10 Martial Arts College recently hosted celebrities Cynthia Rothrock and Ernie Reyes, Jr. for seminars. Master Cynthia Rothrock taught the students her flexibility secrets and showed the students how to create their own stunt-fighting sequences. After the event, Master James Theros, owner of Level 10 Martial Arts College, and Cynthia filmed a fight scene together. Master Ernie Reyes, Jr., best known for his roles in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and The Rundown, treated the students to some advanced kicking concepts and broke the movements down so that even the most beginner students were able to perform them by the end of the day. He also taught them his own brand of Hollywood stunt-fighting skills and also filmed a fight scene with Master Theros.

The 6th Korea Open Busan, South Korea—The 6th Korea Open World Karate Championship was recently held at Busan Gu-Dak Stadium. It was hosted by the KKF (Korea Karate Federation) and supervised by the KKF and the BSKF (Busan Karate Federation). 350 foreign players came from 28 regions in 21 countries with 250 Korean fight-ers. These competitors were drawn from Korean national players and win-ners from the Asian Games and Asian Karate Championships. The Korean players came from 16 different cities and provinces and joined with the top athletes in the country. In male individual kumite (sparring), Ji-Hwan Lee won in

the - 60 kg division, while Cho-Rong Choi won in the -61 kg division for females and So-Yung Jang won in open female kumite. Ji-Hwan Lee fought against Tran Minh Duc (Vietnam) and won 2-0 after an overtime round in the semi-finals. For the finals he fought against Donny Dharmawan from Indonesia. He also won with a score of 2-1. Lee will progress to the 16th Asian Games in November in China. Cho-Rong Choi fought Ka-Man Chan from Hong Kong for her semi-final match. The result was a stunning 6-1 victory for Choi. For her final she battled Trantri Widyasari (Indonesia) and easily bested her with a score of 8-4. So-Yung Jang defeated Yolanda Asmuruf (Indonesia) for a score of 6-0 and finally bested medalist Cho-Rong Choi with a score of 4-1. With Korea’s outstanding performance, they are sure to advance to the next round in November. Overall, Korea scored second overall. In first was Russia, actually their first time to attend these games, while Hong Kong came in third.

22nd Karate College CampRadford, Virginia—Over 250 campers attended the 22nd annual Karate College summer training camp held at Radford University in June. Instructors at the camp included UFC fighters Renzo Gracie, Paul Creighton and Matt “The Terror” Serra. Martial arts champions and masters teaching included Bill Wallace, Michael DePasquale, Willie “Bam” Johnson, Dr. Christian Harfouche, Ernie Cates, Jim Sams, Danny Chapman, Rikk Perez, Mark Hatmaker, John Miller and Hollywood stunt man and martial arts legend Anthony “Whip Master” DeLongis. In addition to the regular classes, campers could earn certificates in MMA, Kung-Fu, BJJ, Arnis and women’s self-defense. Says Dr. Jerry Beasley, host of the event, “Karate college encourages instructors from all styles to cross train in other arts. You can measure your own level of skill and the quality of your personal art by training with experts from other arts. Where you are weak, supplement your skills and where you are strong, add new skills.”

U.S.A. MMA World ChampionshipsLas Vegas, Nevada—The Riviera Hotel Casino and Convention Center was the host site for the International Martial Arts Council’s U.S.A. Mixed Martial Arts, World Championships, during the month of June 2010. Competitors from across the nation provided fierce competition and dazzling demonstrations. Representing the Red Dragon Karate Champions Training Center in Diamond Bar, California,

the Jahan-Vash family made their presence known by winning the following: Shahin competed in the 14-17 year old divisions winning first places in Traditional Weapons, Musical Weapons,

Musical Forms, Open Forms, Traditional Forms and Fighting. These impressive wins qualified Shahin to win two Grand Championships, one in Forms and one in Weapons. His sister Ava won

first place in Synchronized Forms and Weapons in the 18-29 year old division. In the 11 and under division, little brother Alec took a first place in Creative Weapons, Traditional Forms and Fighting.

Both Shahin and Alec traveled the following week to the prestigious U.S. Open in Orlando, Florida, the second week of July and added to their winning streak, first and second places in Fighting, Creative

Weapons, Traditional Weapons, and Traditional Forms. In the Black Belt Creative Breaking Division, Sensei Jason Federdush of the Smith Academy of Self

Defense from Cottonwood, Arizona, took first place while his instructor, Sensei Paul Smith took second. Mr. Joseph Hernandez of San Dimas, California placed third to round out the top three World Champion

Breakers. Not to be outdone, five child competitors from the Smith Academy of Self Defense also took five, first places in the various children’s color belt breaking divisions and one second and four, fourth places in

fighting. Winners were Chad Hill, Jessica Rubalcava, Austin Volk, Zion Plontikoph and Jacob Plontikoph.

AKA Grand Nationals Celebrates 45 Years Naperville, Illinois—Recently, the 45th Annual American Karate Association Grand Nationals hosted by AKA president and promoter John Sharkey of Sharkey’s Karate Studio in Naperville, Illinois took place. This year’s Warrior Cup finals saw a surprising evening of repeats. To begin, the Junior Black Belt Weapons division was con-quered by Audrie Donihoo’s sword performance. The judges appointed her the winner allowing her to receive her second Warrior Cup win. A much anticipated battle for Adult Black Belt Weapons Warrior Cup between Matt Emig, Caitlin Dechelle and Kalman Csoka was a close score but in the end Caitlin Dechelle was able to capture her second Warrior Cup win. When the dust settled in Men’s Sparring, it was Ross Levine who captured his fourth Warrior Cup title, and his third back to back title for the AKA Grand Nationals. The Trick America 14-Under division ran first pitting Jacob Pinto against Donovan Sheehan. In the end it was Jacob Pinto who won the $500 prize. Next up was the 15-Older division. Mike Guthrie faced off against Austin Crain for the $2500 prize. It was Mike’s triple corkscrew which blew the judges away, giving him the win.

Teuk Gong Mu Sool Seminar Wesson, Mississippi—In July 2010, Grandmaster No

Won Park conducted his first Teuk Gong Mu Sool Seminar in the United States. The seminar was hosted by Master

Steve Kincade and the Korean Martial Arts Academy of Brookhaven, Mississippi. Teuk Gong Mu Sool was developed

as Korean Military Special Forces techniques 30 years ago. Grandmaster Park led instruction in beginning and advanced

techniques for students of the Korean Martial Arts Academy and Co-Lin Martial Arts Club.

Tiger Rock Tournament Wesson, Mississippi—This summer saw the presentation of the Tiger Rock Taekwondo Tournament, Seminar, and Rank Test held at the

Jackson Convention Center in Jackson, Mississippi. The three-day event hosted participants from around the United States who attended seminars in school management, teaching methods, ground-work, and Han Mu Do.

USTA SeminarSlate Hill, New York—Han Ho Martial Arts of Slate Hill, New York was proud to host their first United States Taekwondo Association (USTA) seminar and workshop with President and Founder, Grandmaster Richard Chun. As a new addition to the premier schools associated with the USTA, the instructors as well as the students were eager to take advantage of this one-on-one time with Grandmaster Chun. The focus of the seminar was on poomsae. Grandmaster Chun demonstrated and worked closely with each student to ensure proper execution of the techniques. Master Mike Barnard, certified USTA Master Instructor and owner of Han Ho Martial Arts stated, “Grandmaster Chun’s technique is second to none. It was an honor for me as well as my students to work so closely with him.”

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