NA HEADQUARTERS

ITF Taekwon-do Australia would like to thank our President Master Daher and Business Development Adviser Mr Steve Sarkis for securing a premises in Rydalmere for the establishment of a fully owned full time training centre for the ITF Taekwon-do Australia Headquarters.

Mr Steve Sarkis has been a strong supporter and advocate of the promotion and development of ITF Taekwon-do Australia working tirelessly behind the scenes for the best interest of Taekwon-do in Australia. Mr Sarkis often accompanies Master Daher at International ITF events around the world and often been mistaken for Master Daher’s brother because of the striking resemblance and his many appearances internationally with the ITF board.

This centre in Sydney will become the dedicated headquarters of the NA in Australia. We can proudly say the premises will be operational after the planned renovations are completed in approximately 12 weeks with an estimated total budget of 2.2 million dollars.

The future of ITF Taekwon-do Australia is rapidly moving its expansion and growth with the guidance of President Master Daher, the Executive Board and its Business Developmet Adviser Mr Steve Sarkis.

Stay tuned for the official opening date and details.

TECHNICAL & UMPIRE SEMINAR REPORT

With a big year planned ITF Taekwon-do Australia continues its dynamic growth and development as 38 of its members from NSW attended the Technical & Umpire seminar conducted in Sydney by Master Daher, Master El-Sheikh and Mr McIntyre.  On a sweltering hot day in Sydney with Temperatures reaching up to 49 degrees Celsius the dedicated were here to train and improve their skills in Taekwon-do.

The Technical Seminar was opened by Master Daher teaching offensive and defensive 5 stage attack combinations with the members drilling the combinations in 5 groups against simulated scenarios with the kicking shields progressing to human contact then sparring rounds against free moving opponents in the ring. Concluding this part of the session Master Daher had some of his students demonstrate a drill he teaches to help the students develop fast footwork while quickly changing directions against 4 kicking shields surrounding 1 student.

The second part of the Technical Seminar was conducted by Master El-Sheikh taking the members through stretching before covering patterns, fundamental movement principles, Theory of Power, training secret of Taekwon-do and the execution of natural body movement without exaggeration or unnatural human movements utilising correct sine wave execution.

After a short break for lunch the Umpire seminar was conducted by Mr Trevor McIntyre with a power point presentation, lecturing and actual  practice of scenario drills umpires encounter during competition. Mr McIntyre covered the topics of Terminology, umpire etiquette and conduct inside/outside the ring, legal body targets, correct scoring procedure, handling coach or competitor disputes, umpire hand signals, and conduct between the ring and Jury table.

The day was hugely successful with great feedback received from the members about the content and information taught throughout the day.  This Seminar kicks of the 2017 year which is planned to be even bigger than 2016 for the NA as we head towards the 2017 ITF World Championships Dublin Ireland and towards 2018 where Australia will host the ITF World on the Gold Coast Australia for the 2018 ITF World Cup.

Thank you to Master Daher, Master El-Sheikh, Mr McIntyre and all the people who work behind the scenes to make these and future events a reality and success.

2017 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

DATE & VENUE CHANGE

Australia’s Premier ITF National Championships set for 2017 to exceed the 2016 Nationals participation record of 225 competitors.

This is the event you don’t want to miss Australia.

ITF Taekwon-do Australia 2017 Nationals is now confirmed to be held at Sydney Academy of Sport.

(Accommodation and Sports Hall on same grounds)

The Nationals will run over 2 days

Registrations : 5 August 8:00am Colour Belts      6 August 7:00am Black Belts

Competition :  5 & 6 August 2017

Venue: Sydney Academy of Sport, Wakehurst Parkway, Narrabeen         

More information to follow.

TEAM AUSTRALIA CAMP

National Coaching Director Master El-Sheikh organised Team Australia Camp 1 which was held at the Sydney Academy of Sport on the Northern beaches of Sydney in Narrabeen 20-22 January 2017.

The camp officially kicks off Team Australia’s 2017 ITF World Championships campaign which are scheduled for 9-16 October 2017 in Dublin, Ireland.

FRIDAY

Team Australia arrived into camp Friday afternoon and settled into there allocated rooms assigned by the National Team Managers Ken and Gail Hayden followed by Dinner with great food catered for by the training facility. After dinner everyone gathered in the lecture room where Master El-Sheikh  gave a welcoming speech introduction to the weekends camp and expectations for this campaign. Mr Trevor McIntyre also addressed the team helping the team understand the honour and privilege they have been given to represent their country at the highest level of Taekwon-do Competition in the World. The talks were followed with video analysis of past performances from recent championships and team talks with the state coaches.

SATURDAY

Session 1 began at 6:30am with a specialised training session by former Rugby Sevens International Mr Roland Herea who put the team through 90 minutes of specific functional body movements associated with martial arts and techniques used to improve the central nervous system for sport. The Team thoroughly enjoyed this session which challenged the mind and body coordination.

Session 2 was in the pool where Master El-Sheikh put the team through 30 minute drill called Heaven-Earth-Hell this drill had the team push through the physical and then mental barriers as they began tiring while constantly being under pressure to perform. Next was the dry rope drill where the teams had to communicate and work together while moving laterally across the pool and keep the heavy rope dry finishing off with a treading water exercise.

Session 3 was the challenging high ropes course which saw the team work together encouraging and assisting their team mates through heights and fears that put people out of their comfort zones to different degrees some more than others but the whole team worked as one unit to all complete the activity with praise from the academy instructor on their teamwork.

SUNDAY

The morning began with early morning breakfast before setting up the hall with the training equipment ready for the day ahead. Mr McIntyre addressed the team prior to the arrival of the Masters. ITF Board Member Master Daher and Master El-Sheikh were welcomed by the National Team after officially bowing in to our President Master Daher the team was seated while Master El-Sheikh spoke to the team about the history of ITF in Australia and the sacrifices Master Daher endured for the promotion of ITF in this country.

Mr McIntyre also spoke of this history in particular to the old competition days of representing Australia under Coach Master Daher and team mate Master El-Sheikh and their continuation as strong friends built on their shared passion and history of training which continues today as they pass on their knowledge to the future leaders of Taekwon-do.

Master Daher addressed the team with a speech on his history in Taekwon-do and the achievements of past teams and Australia bringing Oceania regions first ever ITF World Championships Medal win back in 1992. Master Daher told them of the honour and privilege they have been given to represent their country on the world stage and to continue working hard for their goals.

A historic moment for ITF Taekwon-do Australia was the surprise presentation of ITF 7 degree certificate by Master Daher to an emotional Master El-Sheikh who reflected and shared his beginnings and stories as a young boy who absorbed and copied everything Master Daher taught and executed in his movements.

The National Team was put through a group warm up by Master El-Sheikh before splitting into groups training under state coaches Mr Michael Nguyen, Mr Trent Hayden, Melanie Khadi and Umpire Chairman Mr Trevor McIntyre. The coaches covered sparring, patterns, special techniques and power breaking while National Team Managers Ken & Gail Hayden monitored the team and worked on team logistics for this campaign.

At the conclusion of the day National Coaching Director Master El-Sheikh announced the captain of the Australian Team for 2017 to be Mr Trent Hayden who will lead the Aussies into competition. Master Daher addressed the National Team and reminded them of their duties and responsibilities in representing Australia with honour and respect before officially closing National Team Camp 1.

We wish the team all the success and may they enjoy this amazing experience in representing Australia.

7 YEARS ON WE REMEMBER

Today marks the unfortunate passing of second ITF President after The General, Grand Master Tran Trieu Quan who tragically got caught in the 2010 Haiti and passed away.

Grand Master Tran was born on March 26, 1952, in Vietnam. He began his study of taekwondo when he was twelve years old. Grand Master Tran attained black belt status by the age of 17, and was teaching taekwondo under his instructor, Kim Bong Sik. He emigrated to Canada in 1970, studying mechanical engineering at Laval University and establishing the first taekwondo schools in eastern Canada.

Apart from his extensive taekwondo activities, Grand Master Tran operated Norbati Consultants Tran & Associates, a consulting firm specializing in building standards and project management for the construction sector.

Grand Master Tran was in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on business (ironically, working on improving building standards to withstand earthquakes and hurricanes), and was staying in the Hotel Montana when it collapsed in a 7 magnitude earthquake on January 12, 2010.

Today we remember a great President of the ITF and Grand Master who worked tirelessly to develop the ITF into a professional organisation as we still feel the effects of the works he initiated till this day.

Rest in peace dear Grand Master.

Taekwon

Master El-Sheikh

Chairman

Communication & Development

NATIONAL TEAM AUSTRALIA

ITF Taekwon-do Australia President Master Daher & the Executive Board would like to congratulate the following members from the National Association & Allied Association for their successful selection onto the National Team that will represent Australia at the ITF Taekwon-do World Championships Dublin, Ireland 9-16 October 2017. We wish you success in your preparations and campaign to the world championships.

NATIONAL TEAM 2017

Shelley Shamrock

Charlie Dagher

Zak Scott

Paul Wehbe

Oxana Gorskina

Leon Sejranovic

Lani Massoud

Armani Haddad

Trent Hayden

Sam Murray

Chris Sarkis

Erin Carter

Brooke Ryan

Paul Generakis

Dylan Delicana

Matthew Travieso

Jacob Khadi

Jemima Hodge

Gillian Thornton

Michael Byrnes

Anthony Lim

Teresa Le

Abbey Wackett

Aiden Duryea

Euen Chong

James Sarkis

Stephanie Bracks

Mohammed Sadiq

Kaira Naik

Brandon Harper

Ryan Seymour

Tony Jr Haddad

Adele Barnes Cook

Shawn Sutton

Michelle Harper

NATIONAL TEAM CAMP  SYDNEY  

Guest trainer ex Rugby Union and Rugby 7’s elite performance athlete Mr Roland Herea will put the team through a 90 minute session Saturday Morning to open up the National Team Camp 1.

Roland will cover ;
* mobility/stability assessment movements
* dynamic stretches and resistance band activations. …
* specific sport movement pattern utilization through core engagement.
* power/explosive strikes/plyometrics
* Mindset/motivation
* Nutrition/Hydration
* Training/movements
* Recovery/regeneration
* Athlete Lifestyle

NATIONAL COACHING DIRECTOR :    MASTER EL-SHEIKH

NATIONAL HEAD COACH:                    FRANS CHRISTENSON

NATIONAL TEAM MANAGERS:             KEN & GAIL HAYDEN

ASSISTANT STATE COACHES 

NSW. MELANIE KHADI
VIC.    MICHAEL NGUYEN
QLD.  TRENT HAYDEN
W.A.   PAUL RAYMOND

ASSISTANT COACHES

GEORGE GABRILIEDES
ADELINE CHONG
ALFIO VISCUSO
KEN HAYDEN
OXANA GORSKINA
PAUL WEHBE

Special Guest ITF Board Member, Oceania Taekwon-do Federation & ITF Taekwon-do Australia N.A. President Master Daher will be in attendance at the camp. I would like to remind all National Team members of upholding the tenets of Taekwon-do at all times as you now represent the best of the best and are now the face of Australia. Look forward to seeing you all soon.

Happy New Year 2017

ITF Taekwon-do Australia President Master Daher and the Executive Board would like to wish all its Taekwon-Do instructors and practititioners a Happy New Year and we look forward to building on the success from 2016 as we continue to develop and grow.  For those of you looking for an organisation that can give you the support to develop and grow as a Taekwon-Do instructor/student then contact us today to see how easy it is to join the winning team.  For our members we thank you for your continued support, and we look forward to serving you in 2017.

We have strong international support, with our President an active member of the ITF Board and President of the Oceania Taekwon-do Federation. The President along with the executive board are focused on developing and growing Taekwon-do in the region as we move towards being the host nation of the 2018 ITF World Cup Gold Coast Australia where over 65 countries are expected to participate with close to 2000 competitors.

ITF Taekwon-do Australia 2016 achievements;

• Master Sparring seminar Sydney
• Senior Black Belt Testings across Australia
• IIC at Sea (USA, Jamaica, Haiti) Master El-Sheikh promoted to 7th degree
• Fight Series 1 Championships Sydney
• National Squad Training Day Sydney
• ITF International Umpire Course New Zealand
• Fight Series 2 Championships Gold Coast
• National Squad Training Day Gold Coast
• Oceania Championships Auckland New Zealand
• Master Technical Workshop Sydney
• Umpire Courses Conducted across Australia
• Beach Training and Master Competition Course Newcastle
• ITF Victorian Challenge Melbourne
• ITF World Cup Championships Budapest Hungary  (The biggest ITF Championships in history with 1852 competitors)
• ITF Taekwon-do Australia National Championships Sydney ( 225 competitors )
• National Team Selected for 2017
• Master Technical Course and Degree Testing Perth Western Australia

Upcoming 2017 Events;

• National Team Camp 1 Sydney
• Technical & Umpire Seminar Sydney
• ITF International Instructor Course Auckland New Zealand
• 3rd ITF Convention Benidorm Spain (5 days of training, conferences and lectures)
• Umpire Seminar Melbourne
• Umpire Seminar Perth
• Umpire Seminar QLD
• Invitational National Championships Auckland New Zealand
• ITF Taekwon-do Australia National Championships Sydney
• National Team Camp 2 Sydney
• ITF World Championships Dublin Ireland
• ITF Victorian Challenge Melbourne
• ITF Taekwon-do Australia Instructor Conference

JOIN THE NA TODAY

ITF Taekwon-do Australia would like to welcome all who are interested in joining us for the positive development of ITF Taekwon-do in Australia. Everyone one of our members is important and contributes to ITF Taekwon-do development in Australia.

Regards

Master El-Sheikh

Chairman

Communications & Development

ITF Taekwon-do Australia

Senior Grading

ITF Taekwon-do Australia President Master Daher conducts a senior degree grading in Sydney Australia for visiting International Instructors from Independent Martial Arts Academy Malaysia.

Master Daher was assisted by Master El-Sheikh who hosted the grading at his full time Dojang in Sydney along with Mr Trevor McIntyre who came all the way down from Newcastle to assist and support the grading.

The 4 instructors were put through a rigorous grading procedure under Master Daher who pushed the instructors through their limits and beyond breaking points to assist in the growth and development as true martial artists.

• Patterns multiple times
• 3 step sparring
• 2 step sparring
• 1 step sparring
• Free sparring
• 1 vs 2 sparring
• 1 vs 3 sparring
• Ground sparring
• Theoretical explanations
• Strength Fitness test
• Fitness Test 1 by Master Daher
• Fitness Test 2 by Master El-Sheikh
• Breaking Techniques

After completing all the technical & theory requirements the point of no return began. The physical and mental fitness test commenced where Master Daher would push the candidates through a Taekwon-do circuit multiple times having them gasping for oxygen as they pushed to not break and complete the rounds.

After multiple circuits and rounds Master El-Sheikh set up one last 4 station circuit which he uses for the national Taekwon-do team with Master Daher pushing them for their last 4 minutes from hell this last part had them on their last breath and they showed their mental toughness and willingness to fight and finish strong.

The results were presented after a brief talk by Master Daher about the Grading and the purpose and reason behind his brutal testing methods which he is renowned for world wide.  Only 3 candidates were qualified and met the ITF requirements to grade as Ahmad Farhan requires IIC attendance before he is eligible to test even so he requested from Master Daher to put him through a practice test along with the other official grading candidates. All the grading candidates knew it wouldn’t be an easy grading but they said afterward they never expected it to be as hard as it was but they were overjoyed at its completion and were very happy they had tested under Master Daher in Sydney Australia.

Grading Candidtates               Result

Ahmad Najib Hashim                   5  Degree

Shafiq Talha                                    5  Degree

Azim Hashim                                  2  Degree

Ahmad Farhan                               Practice test

ITF Taekwon-do Australia congratulates you all on your efforts this past week culminating in this challenging grading. We commend you all on completing a grading where you can wear the rank earned with honour, pride and integrity.

The IMAAM instructors invited Master Daher, Master El-Sheikh, Trevor McIntyre and Paul Wehbe to a celebratory lunch to thank them for their hospitality, training and grading to complete their week long Taekwon-do tour in Australia. We look forward to building this friendship between our two countries and working for ITF Taekwon-do promotion and harmony world wide.

Taekwon

Master El-Sheikh

Chairman

Communication & Development

IMAAM Technical Seminar Sydney

( IMAAM ) Independent Martial Arts Academy Malaysia President Ahmad Najib Hashim, Shafiq Talha, Ahmad Farhan Abdullah and Azim Hashim were guests of our President Master Daher and Senior Vice President Master El-Sheikh who conducted a technical seminar covering the following topics ;

• Natural body movement
• Sine wave principles in action
• Resistance Pattern training
• Step sparring
• Patterns
• Kicking execution

The seminar conducted today by Master Daher & Master El-Sheikh specifically for the IMAAM instructors preceding their Grading under Master Daher in Sydney Australia.

The IMAAM instructors were supported by Mr Trevor McIntyre and Sam Murray who travelled down from Newcastle for the day along with some of the IL-Shim Squad members from Sydney. A great day of training and friendship was developed during the seminar between ITF Taekwon-do Australia and Independent Martial Arts Academy Malaysia ( IMAAM ).

At the completion of the Seminar Master Daher & Master El-Sheikh took our guests for a traditional Lebanese lunch followed by Mado coffee and special ice cream which is shipped directly from Turkey and found only in one restaurant in Sydney.

We wish our guests a enjoyable stay and successful grading in Australia

Taekwon

Master El-Sheikh

Chairman

Communications & Development

NATIONAL TEAM CAMP 1