Taekwon-do Demonstration
A
A selection of Connacht Taekwon-do Academy juniors performed a demonstration for
the community of Ballybane in July. They showed the crowd a variety of patterns,
some sparring drills and special techniques. (To see highlights, click the image
above.)
Brydone is European Champion
Mr. Leon Brydone has just won the ITF European Championships in Italy. Mr. Brydone is a student of Mrs. Mannion in the IUTF Athlone club. He also travels to train with Master Dalton most weekends. Mr. Calvin Thomas (instructed by Mr. McCarthy) also won a bronze medal in the same section (-71kgs). This has been a fantastic year for Mr. Brydone (age 22). He was a part of the team Ireland which won the team sparring at last year´s ITF World Championships. He also won a team sparring gold at the 2007 WKA World Championships.
Mr. Shane Fitzgibbon teaches a successful course in Madrid
By Mr. Alejandro Veyssiere, V
More than fifty Taekwon-Do lovers of all ages and various Spanish regions were able
to enjoy a very complete course directed by the international instructor Shane Fitzgibbon,
celebrated in Madrid the weekend of May 31 and June 1. The workshop was organized
by the Madrilenian Traditional Taekwon-Do Association (AMTT) and took place in the
facilities of the Malvar School and was attended by fourteen black belts, including
four international instructors, the national coach, several components of the Spanish
National Team, representatives of Andalusia, Canary Islands and Alicante, as well
as the instructors and teachers of the major clubs in Madrid.
In the first training session, Mr. Shane Fitzgibbon, who was assisted by Ms. Lisa
Connolly and all the instructors, showed his large experience as an international
competitor explaining different sparring techniques which define his personal fighting
style. At all times, Mr. Fitzgibbon made it clear that his techniques were not intended
to change the fighting style of the practitioners, but that these techniques could
be new ideas that can be added to each fighter’s repertoire, according to his/her
own style. At the final of the first training session, all the workshop participants
were delighted with a set of self-defence techniques, with specific work on neck
chokes and ground techniques.
The Sunday training session started with the application of the fighting techniques
shown on Saturday in the competition sparring situation, and also detailed work on
basic principles of Taekwon-Do technique. In this way, Mr. Fitzgibbon emphasized
the fundamental principles that must be realized in each Taekwon-Do movement and
technique, as the proper execution of wave movement, the action and reaction principle,
rotation, balance control, concentration, backward motion, and all those aspects
that determine the power and effectiveness of the attacking and defensive techniques.
Before the session ended, an exclusive technical session for the black belts took
place. After that, the workshop was closed, the organization thanked all the participants,
instructors and authorities through the presentation of participation certificates.
Also, the AMTT gave Mr. Shane Fitzgibbon and Ms. Lisa Connolly several presents to
remember their visit to Madrid and to recognize their work in spreading Taekwon-Do,
based on building friendship between the instructors and students from Madrid with
the Irish Taekwon-Do representatives.
Bronze Medal for Howard at German Golden Trophy
Cillian Howard was delighted to be invited to take part in the invitational WKA German Golden Trophy Kickboxing Championship in June. It was held in Offenberg. Howard fought his heart out in sparring but was outmatched by a much heavier opponent. Showing true grit, however, he vowed not to feel down and captured bronze in the Korean forms section. It was Cillian’s first international tournament, and at the tender age of ten he did himself, his family and has association proud. Cillian’s expenses were fully covered by the IUTF.
The summer 2008 grading took place in Barna School Hall on 29th June. On a morning
of many fine performances, both children and adults were examined and successfully
achieved promotion to higher ranks. There were some especially fine examples of board
breaking. Many congratulations to all taking part. The adult grading award was presented
to Mr James Dunne, and the junior award went to Eleanor Noone. Both these students
did exceptionally well and graded with the highest marks.
Cork Friendship Tournament
Oranmore & Galway had four competitors art Master Dalton's annual "Friendship" Tournament in Kanturk in June. Evan Liu, Donagh Coffey, Brendan Kenny and Cillian Howard all participated and did exceptionally well. Donagh Coffey was particularly delighted to win the "outstanding etiquette and attitude award,” knowing how proud his instructor, Mr. Fitzgibbon, would be. All four boys cleaned up with medals, with Evan Liu taking four gold medals and one silver. Cillian Howard came through some tough competition to take a gold, and two bronze. “Competitor of the year award” leader, Brendan Kenny took three gold and two silver, with Donagh Coffey winning several medals also.…….
Ms. Connolly hosted Ballinasloe's second grading since the school opened in the beautiful
Carlton Shearwater Hotel. The studetns did extremely well with grading awards going
to Olivia Moloney (Snr) and Eric Moloney (Jnr). Mr. Fitzgibbon's student who travelled
from Galway to participate, Brian Higgins, was double promoted to yellow belt.
Grading Examiner, Master Dalton assisted by the panel of Mr Riordan V, Mr Fitzgibbon V And Mrs Dalton V put the 2008 black belt candidates through an intensive test covering the full IUTF Syllabus. Colour belt students were asked to perform all 9 Tul, Step Sparring, Free Sparring, Demonstrations of Sparring and Padwork drills, Fundamental exercises, Breaking, Self-defence and Theory. Each group spent over 90 minutes of intensive examination with the black belts spending even more time. In addition every member had to demonstrate their refereeing skills. The four students from Galway; Mr David McEvilly, Laura Costello, Thomas Hogan and Mrs Sally Whelan all performed extremely well in the high-pressure exam. Mr McEvilly and Mrs Whelan were promoted to 3rd and 2nd dan respectively with the two teenagers being promoted to 1st dan. Well done to all.
European Open Taekwon-do Championships
Connacht Championships 2008
This year’s Championship was held in Gort Sports Centre once more as it proved so popular with both visiting and home competitors in 2007. The tournament was of a very high standard with patterns divisions in particular showing the improvement across all grades. For the first time, a designated pattern was introduced into the semi-final/final match which proved to be a real match decider between the contestants. As always the sparring was fast and exciting with the onlookers being well entertained.
The manager of the Sports Centre commented that he had never met such a well-behaved group of children and courteous adults as he came across at the Taekwon-do event. Barna instructor, Mrs. Sally Whelan observed that “a great day was enjoyed by everyone at this, the first Taekwon-do competition attended by Barna School members.”
Connacht students fared extremely well in the competition, with places being secured by the following: Mrs Marie Boyle (Barna), Bronze x 2
Mr Mike Glynn (Barna), Bronze
James Pope (Barna), Gold
David Noone (Barna), Silver
Alaina Kelly (Athlone), silver x 2
Jenny Fitzpatrick (Athlone), Gold
Kevin Fitzpatrick (Athlone), Bronze
Cormac Mannion (Athlone), Bronze
Lily Mannion (Athlone), Silver
Theresa Gleeson (Athlone), Gold
Leon Brydone (Athlone), Gold x 2
Conan Molloy (Athlone), Silver, Bronze
Shannon Ward (Athlone), Gold, Silver
Conor Murray (Athlone), Silver
Dylan Lacey (Athlone), Gold
Luke Jarvis (Athlone), Gold, Silver
Eoin O'Toole (Athlone), Gold
Mark Buckley (Oranmore), Gold x 2
Damian Saternus (Galway), Gold
Joe Casey (Galway), Silver
Evan Liu (Galway), Gold, Bronze
Shannon Holland (Galway), Bronze
Darragh Rabbitte (Galway), Gold, Bronze
Eoghan Doyle (Galway), Silver, Bronze
Cillian Howard (Galway), Silver x 2
Isaac Bryant (Loughrea), Bronze
Miriam Cochoneau (Loughrea), Gold, Silver
Siobhan Casey (Galway), Silver
Brian Higgins (Galway), Gold, Bronze
Grainne O' Connor (Oranmore), Bronze
David Sheridan (Galway), Bronze
Dillon Holland (Galway), Bronze
Benjamin Lui (Galway), Gold
Andrew Holland (Galway), Silver
Cormac Adams (Claregalway), Bronze
Jaden Murphy (Galway), Bronze
Darren Costello (Galway)
Tom Healy (Labane)
Patrick O' Callaghan (Labane)
Cathal Kilbane (Galway), Silver
Andrea Forde (Claregalway), Bronze
Kate Rowan (Oranmore), Bronze
Brendan Kenny (Galway), Gold, Silver
Niamh Keogh (Galway), Gold
Conor Duignan (Galway), Silver
Jennifer Daniels (Loughrea), Silver x 2
Thomas Hogan (Galway), Silver x 2
Laura Costello (Galway), Silver ,Bronze
Paul Doyle (Loughrea), Silver x 2
David McEvilly (Galway), Silver, Bronze
Darragh Murphy (Labane), Silver
Conor Rabbitte (Galway), Bronze
Hayleigh O' Flaherty (Roscahill), Bronze
Mary Mannion (Galway/Athlone), Silver
Shane Rabbitte (Galway), Gold
Siobhan Casey (Galway), Gold
Roisin Dalton (Galway), Silver
Galway West Spring Grading Report
6th April saw Mrs. Whelan's students successfully grade and gain promotion to their
next belts. The grading awards for the best performances by Senior and Junior students
went to Mr Mike Glynn and Cormac Pope. Congratulations to all who took part.
Mr. Fitzgibbon receives Irish Competitor of the Year Award
Mr Fitzgibbon was presented with the Irish Competitor of the Year Award for 2007 at the IIC banquet on 30th March. The award was presented to him by IUTF chief instructor, Master Don Dalton. Master Dalton is Mr. Fitzgibbon’s own instructor, and Mr. Fitzgibbon has trained under him for over twenty years. The, recently promoted, Master spoke for several minutes of his student’s dedication to Taekwon-do, and the kind of person he was, emphasising that to Mr. Fitzgibbon, the award was secondary to the training and competing. Master Dalton also explained how Mr. Fitzgibbon is one of his original three students from the early days of the Tralee school, the others being Mr. John Riordan and Mr. Jason Moriarty. The four instructors stood for a photo together demonstrating the camaraderie and togetherness that the Irish United Taekwon-do Federation is built upon.
The two major achievements of last year, for Mr. Fitzgibbon were:
winning in ITF team sparring and winning in WKA team sparring (click here for highlights)
Connacht Recipients of ITF Black Belt Certs
Mr. Fitzgibbon and a number of his students recieved their official ITF black belt
certificates prior to the IIC banquet. Form L-R: Eoghan Doyle (Galway) 2 dan, Mrs
Mary Mannion (Athlone) 3rd dan, Ciara Doyle (Galway) 2 dan, Mrs Sally Whelan (Galway),
1 dan, Mrs Sandra Doyle (Galway) 2 dan, Ms. Lisa Connolly (Galway) 3rd dan, Mr. Fitzgibbon
(5th Dan).
Connacht instructors and students attend International Instructor Course and Banquet
by Mrs Sandra Doyle
This was to be the second International Instructors course with Master Choi in Cork and the excitement was palpable. Organized by Mr and Mrs Dalton to an incredible degree of finesse from an exceptionally fine hotel at a very reasonable cost to a wonderful banquet and probably three of the most exciting days we have ever spent. They have earned our deepest respect and admiration for pulling off such a fantastic event with such amazing success and attention to detail. The sessions kicked off on Friday 28th march at 6pm and by 9.30pm we had covered both exercises Saju Magki and Saju Jirugi, as well as Chon Ji, DanGun, Do san and touching on Won Hyo, reintroducing the kehap into the Tul. As soon as Master Choi entered the room you could feel his presence and the excitement building. One of the first things we learned was to pay our respects to the founder Grand Master General Choi Hong Hi, his father, and the founder of Taekwon-Do : we did this by the simple act of performing a silent bow. He is without a doubt one of the most humble men I have ever met and yet he is someone of incredible stature and importance. For me he is the living embodiment of what it means to be a true martial artist. There is no-one on this planet who has more knowledge on the art of Taekwon-Do. His ability to produce power and grace from nothing is a constant source of amazement. His use of humour and stories of his childhood served to put us at our ease. He was assisted by several Masters, mainly Master Wheatly from the U.S.A., Master Harry from England, and Master Styliandis from Greece. They walked among us making corrections and giving assistance in a relaxed and friendly manner. Too soon it was 9.30 and we had run over time without realising it because we were so absorbed in what we were doing - we were having too much fun.
Day two started at 10am with a warm-up conducted by Master Harry, who is always smiling and clearly loves what he does, all of which seems to make you want to be just like him. Master Choi talked about the Do, and how easy it is to practice TaeKwon but how difficult it is to practice TaeKwon-Do. He told us we must try to bring the Do into our everyday lives and become true Martial Artists. He commended Mr Dalton saying he was a very special person who truly lived the Do part of TaeKwon–Do. He told us he found it difficult himself because of his humanity and his human failings but he tried to start each day and do his best to observe the tenets of TaeKwon-Do. We completed Tul Won Hyo to Toi Gye and did work on the turning kick. The attention to detail and finesse was incredible. Again we finished a little over time because we were all so focused on what we were learning and enjoying the experience. Later that evening we attended a banquet and celebrated the 42nd anniversary of the I.T.F. - we even had a birthday cake complete with candles. Master Nicholls arrived and spoke to us about the importance of the etiquette, apologising for his lateness due to flight delays and again he praised Mr and Mrs Dalton for their excellent and considerable work in organising the I.I.C. Several presentations were made to all the visiting Masters and Master Choi was presented with a beautiful hand crafted vase. In his speech he repeated how true a Martial artist Mr Dalton was in every sense of the word. He said he was just the kind of person he was travelling the world looking for and if Mr Dalton had not found him then he would have certainly found Mr Dalton. He explained how his TaeKwon–Do family was important to him and how he felt like they were his brothers. He expressed his happiness that TaeKwon-Do was one of the fastest growing and most popular Martial Arts and how he felt at last we were fulfilling his father’s wishes by spreading the Art throughout the world. We all sang Happy Birthday to the I.T.F. and Master Choi blew out the candles on the cake which was ceremonially cut by Master Choi, Master Nicholls, Mr and Mrs Dalton, and Master Wheatly. The evening ended on a high note with the presentation of the I.U.T.F. competitor of the year awards, with Eimear Curran getting junior competitor of the year, Moira Mc Elligot taking senior female competitor and Mr Fitzgibbon taking senior male for the second year running.
Day three started at 10am and we got straight into it (after Master Choi introduced
Master Lee Won Il VIII, a master and close friend from Spain) finishing off Toi Gye
and moving on to the three first degree Tul. We completed all three covering all
the minutiae - chambering, trajectory, development of power, sine wave. Master Choi
stressed that Tul should be elegant and beautiful as well as powerful and precise.
They should look nice, have grace and nice lines, and that by combining power and
technique with elegance and grace we can achieve this. We worked on the back kick
in some detail, with the point being made that if you turn the body too much it becomes
a back side kick and not a back kick. All of a sudden it was all over and Master
Choi commented that Mr and Mrs Dalton had made him too welcome and he didn’t want
to leave. He seemed genuinely sad to have to finish up and said he was having too
much fun - I think we all were. Then Master Lee Won Il addressed us in Korean, which
Master Choi translated for us, and delivered a rousing and touching speech. He said
how watching us made him want to go get his Dobok and join in, and he brought many
people close to tears. He praised Master Choi and Mr and Mrs Dalton and left us all
feeling renewed. The whole weekend left us all feeling a regenerated love of what
it is we do and teach, a new sense of purpose and enthusiasm for the Art and a desire
to be better not just at Taekwon-do but to be better people all round. Master Choi
and Master Lee Won Il posed for photos with each group and finally departed leaving
us with a sense of loss and a desire to do it all again at the next available chance.
Mr. Francesco Espeche, III dan started training under Mr. Fitzgibbon six months ago. He found Mr. Fitzgibbon's academy shortly after he arrived in Galway to participate in an English speaking course, and searched for local Taekwon-do schools. Having trained in one of Mr. Fitzgibbon's classes he enjoyed the focus of the other students and the rigorous classes Mr. Fitzgibbon provided. Over the course of six months Mr. Espeche endeared himself to all the other students and contributed greatly to the classes. He has made many friends who look forward to seeing him again some time in the future He has invited Mr. Fitzgibbon to teach a training workshop in Madrid at the end of May for the local schools there.
Mrs. Mary Mannion hosted Mr. Fitzgibbon for the spring gradings in Athlone. As per
usual, she had the students well prepared in anticipation of a gruelling test. During
the examination of a green-blue belt group, Mrs Mannion observed to Mr. Fitzgibbon
that she always felt her students were well prepared for black belt due to his thorough
gradings. The two highest scores (and hence the grading awards) of the day went to
Alison Hughes and Mathew Funk.
The following excerpt is from an email that was sent to Mrs. Mannion by a parent
following the grading and training workshop Mr. Fitgibbon gave two weeks prior:
Hi there, Would you let him (Mr. Fitzgibbon) know that I appreciate his words of
encouragement to the students? It's great to hear someone talk about personal responsibility
and the importance of not quitting when things get tough. Matthew loved the 2 hour
seminar and was so excited about the new moves he learned. His muscles were sore
for a couple days afterward though!
Thanks again for the great job you do (Mrs. Mannion)! You are truly gifted at teaching
- your enthusiasm and positive outlook really inspire.
Denise Funk (parent)
Mr. Fitzgibbon gives workshop in Athlone
Chief Instructor, Mr. Fitzgibbon gave a two-hour workshop for Mrs Mannion's students
in Athlone on Thursday 6th March. The GAA community centre was packed wall-to-wall
with students from white to black belt eagerly ready to learn. Mr. Fitzgibbon covered
a variety of sparring drills starting with simple step-kick-punch exercises progressing
to more complex combinations. This tested the students capacity to learn and remember.
He also covered the fundamental Taekwon-do patterns and emphasised the importance
of understanding how to correctly perform movements, while comprehending the application
of such techniques. The workshop was taught by Mr. Fitzgibbon free of charge and
afterwards, Mrs Mannion, and her husband thanked Mr Fitzgibbon by taking him for
a delicious meal in Athlone town.
The Connacht Taekwon-do Academy students were privileged to host a workshop with
Master Jose Maidana, VII from Argentina in February. Held at the Galway Lawn Tennis
Club in Galway, Master Maidana put all who attended through their paces for three
fantastic hours. Credit to the younger members (as young as 7 years old) for lasting
so long. The seminar started at 7pm and didn’t finish until just after 10pm. For
many it was too early at that!
Master Maidana, assisted by Mr. Don Dalton, VI covered a large variety of sparring
drills and also patterns form Chon-Ji to Joong-gun. There were representatives form
Loughrea, Barna, Ballinasloe, Oranmore clubs as well as Galway. Mr. Fitzgibbon thanked
Master Maidana for travelling to Galway to give the workshop. He was also delighted
for the attendees to meet his own instructor, Mr Dalton who has been his Taekwon-do
instructor and friend for over twenty years.
WKA Trials
The Irish trials for the World Kickboxing Association (WKA) World Championships were
held in C.I.T. on February 24th. Congratulations to Mr. Leon Brydone (Athlone), Brendan
Kenny (Oranmore) and Cillian Howard (Oranmore) who all qualified for the World Finals
to be held in Florida next November. Mr. Brydone qualified in sparring , while the
two juniors qualified in both sparring and patterns
The day got off to a bright start with registration at 9 am. There were plenty of colour belts both old and young and a good strong team from the Galway area. The tournament started on time kicking off with the black belt competitions. Galway's competitors took several trophy’s, with Eoghan Doyle taking the junior patterns gold, in the next division Cathal kilbane took gold and Ciaran Doyle took the silver with a nice one-two for Galway. In the first degree senior men’s patterns Mr Leon Brydone from Athlone took gold, and in second degree and higher ladies, Mrs Doyle got silver.
The results for the colour belt divisions for Galway were as good with Evan Lui gold and Thomas Hogan taking bronze in their divisions. Brendan Kenny also took home the silver in his division.
Then the Sparring kicked off with the Galway black belts taking three silver between them. The colour belts fared even better taking numerous trophy’s between them.
All of the Connacht students performed well on the day and some were only just out of the medals. The tournament finished as promised at around 4 pm and was a most enjoyable day. Congratulations to everyone who took part and especially those who brought home a trophy.
The overall results were:
Ciaran Doyle (Galway), silver x 2
Mrs Sandra Doyle (Galway), silver x 2
Laura Costello (Oranmore), gold
Shannon Holland (Galway), silver
Cathal Kilbane (Galway), gold
Evan Lui (Galway), gold, silver
Damian Saternus (Oranmore), silver
Brendan Kenny (Oranmore), gold, silver
Thomas Hogan (Oranmore), bronze
Eoghan Doyle (Galway), gold, silver
Leon Brydone (Athlone), silver, bronze
Mark Buckley (Oranmore), bronze
Labane Student of the month (Dec)
Congratulations to Albert Anderson, Labane student of the month for December. Ms. Connolly chose Albert as the winner, due to his careful adherence to the Tenets of Taekwon-do and excellent etiquette in class.
|
Name
|
Points
|
|
Eoghan Doyle
|
8
|
|
Evan Liu
|
20
|
|
Damian Saternus
|
5
|
|
Laura Costello
|
11
|
|
Brendan Kenny
|
36
|
|
Cathal Kilbane
|
10
|
|
Thomas Hogan
|
5
|
|
Leon Brydone
|
20
|
|
Cillian Howard
|
13
|
|
Mark Buckley
|
16
|
Competitor of the Year Table
(N.B. It is the responsibility of each competitor to ensure that his/her results
are correctly included in each tournament report below, as it is from these that
the table is compiled)
Tournament & Event Reports For 2008
Mr Jon Mackey (IUTF Dublin) hosted this year's Leinster Championships once again. Well done to all the Galway competitors (and parents) who braved the Ballinasloe Horse Fair traffic and diversions, which made it a fairly long day. It was, however, a very successful one with a lot of silverware making its way to the midlands and West as ever. Thanks to Mrs Mannion, Ms Connolly, Mrs Doyle and Mrs Whelan for their assistance in helping the tournament run so smoothly.
The results were:
Cathal Kilbane (Galway)- Gold, Bronze
Shane Rabbitte (Galway) - Gold
Connor Rabbitte (Galway) - Gold
James Dunne (Barna) - Gold
Joe Casey (Galway) - Bronze
Conor Duignan (Galway) - Gold
Evan Liu (Galway) - Gold, Bronze
Laura Costello (Oranmore) - Gold
Brendan Kenny (Oranmore) - Silver
Cillian Howard (Oranmore) - Bronze
Mark Buckley (Oranmore) - silver x 2
Leon Brydone (Athlone) - gold
Awaiting results from Athlone and Loughrea*
Irish Championships
History made - the first ITF Ireland Irish Championships with nine fully matted rings.
Ireland's premier martial arts competition kicked off on Saturday with the black
belts. Connacht had two medallists - Cathal Kilbane (bronze) and Shane Rabbitte (silver)
which got the weekend off to a good start for the province. On Sunday, the colour
belt standard was very high, but Connacht competitors did extremely well.
Special mention goes to Brendan Kenny (Oranmore) and Mark Buckley (Galway) who each
won two gold medals - a truly fantastic achievement.
The other results were:
Yvonne McHugh (Ballinasloe) - gold, silver
Charlie Bermingham (Labane) - gold, silver
Shannon Holland (Galway) - gold, silver
Leon Brydone (Athlone) - gold
*Awaiting other results*
Mr Fitzgibbon launched back into action this weekend again after his year-long layoff,
as the Irish Team sought to regain the Celtic Cup. He remained undefeated in the
competition and one again captained the team to victory (over Holland) in the final.
According to Mr Fitzgibbon, “it was a privilege to compete once again with champions
such as Mr Padraig O’ Connor, Mr Sean Keane, and current star, Mr. Leon Brydone.”
Christmas Party & End-of Year Awards
The 20089 Christmas Party went down a storm this year, as per usual. There attendees
from the Galway, Oranmore, Ballinasloe, Labane and Barna schools. After a beautiful,
festive meal Mr. Fitzgibbon and Ms. Connolly presented grading certificates and
colour belts to the students who had graded the previous day. ITF black belt certs
were presented to:
Mrs Sally Whelan - 2nd dan
Mr David McEvilly - 3rd dan
Laura Costello - 1st dan
Thomas Hogan - 1st dan.
Following the grade presentations, the end-of year awards were give out for the Galway/Oranmore
classes. The well-deserving recipients were:
Shannon Holland - Student of the Year (senior)
Damian Saternus - Student of the Year (junior)
Brendan Kenny - Connacht of Competitor of the Year
Next up was the karaoke session and disco. The karaoke was well attended by the juniors,
but Ms. Carol Moloney (Ballinasloe) absolutely brought the house down with her Tina
Turner rendition. The irreplaceable DJ, Fintan Higgins, brought 2008 to wonderful
close.
