ITF of BC Events Page

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Dear Mr. Lipscombe,

We would like to thank the BC ITF for their generous donation towards Jason's Argentina Worlds trip.

Thank you as well for the well wishes and encouragement.

Jason found the Worlds both an exhilarating and exhausting experience. All in all he performed his best and has renewed goals for New Zealand 2011. He's more committed to TKD than ever.

Thanks again!
Carmen Tischer and family

Over the weekend of August 21^st, 22^nd and 23^rd, Freedom TaeKwon-Do Schools hosted a Technical Training Seminar with Grandmaster Tran Trieu Quan, President of the ITF. Taking place in the Prince George Civic Centre, situated in beautiful northern British Columbia, this exciting event brought together 99 Students and Instructors from 16 schools and 2 provinces.

This incredible event was hosted by Freedom TaeKwon-Do Schools, under the instruction of Mr. Kurt Ottesen, VIth degree, in conjunction with the ITF of BC. In total, over 50 black belt members attended; comprising the majority of the senior leaders in British Columbia. It was truly a motivational sight to have all of the seniors out on the floor, training with the students.

Friday evening saw two sessions focusing on black belt skill development. The first session covered fundamental skill development for black belt patterns, followed by an in depth session for senior black belts (4^th – 6^th degree) on applying training principles and methods for correcting students, including an in depth analysis on key components for each senior pattern.

Saturday morning began with a session on the fundamentals of movement for coloured belts, including practical methods of generating power and applying sine wave motion. The participants were excited that Grandmaster Tran was able to demonstrate sine wave in a unique manner which better allowed them to understand and apply it in their patterns.

Grandmaster Tran continued the morning’s lessons with a highly energetic session of free sparring. Topics covered included targeting, accuracy, movement, speed, distance, and tactics for creating openings. The concepts of available targets and creating and anticipating secondary openings were discussed in detail. By the end of the session, all participants were sweaty and thoroughly tired!

In the afternoon, Grandmaster Tran instructed a detailed session on Self Defense. Innovative physical skills were developed, with a focus on immediate action and available targets. The psychology of fear was discussed, along with useful skills for overcoming stress and focusing on escape.

That evening, Freedom TKD hosted a formal dinner at a local Vietnamese restaurant, the Thanh-Vu. Incredible food and great conversation were shared by all. The evening finished with a toast and with Grandmaster Tran taking the time to personally speak with all of those in attendance.

Sunday morning saw Grandmaster Tran begin with conditioning exercises, teaching the participants about the need for cardiovascular strength and endurance. Training principles including strength training, anaerobic and plyometric skills were covered, as were agility and reaction exercises.

Following lunch, the participants gathered at the Freedom TKD dojang, to end the seminar with a comprehensive PowerPoint presentation and discussion on the “Do” of TaeKwon-Do, including the system of implementation and teaching of the “Do.”

Grandmaster Tran then opened the floor to questions regarding the structure and future plans of the International TaeKwon-Do Federation.

The seminar concluded with Grandmaster Tran presiding over an examination and the successful promotion of Ms. Alexandra Vrzal to fourth degree. Grandmaster Tran then personally presented her with her new belt.

Many thanks go out to all of the members for their energetic participation and support, and especially to the hosting committee for all of their hard work in organizing this memorable event. Without them, this success would not have been realized.

ITF of BC Provincial Championships Merritt March 28th 2009
176 competitors

The BC Championships was a great success and a fantastic turn out.
Starting at 10:25am and finishing at 5:15 pm. The opening ceremonies was
graced by a demo from our present women's pattern team. It was a busy
event and our thanks go out to the Merritt team and Mr. Nedokus for
keeping things going all day. ring judging and refereeing also deserves
and pat on the back for keeping things together during the event. The
comments from visiting schools and competitors alike was positive and
many are now looking at the next season and the next BC Championships.

Robert Gill, president

The ITF Technical Committee, headed by Master Hector Marano, Master Paoblo Trajtenberg and Master Willem Bos, visited Oakville to conduct the 36th ITF International Instructors Course. Participants from across Canada, USA and even 3 participants from Nepal were put to the test as the Technical Committee covered all 24 patterns, self-defence, free sparring tactics as well as various other aspects of Taekwon-Do. ITF President Master Tran Trieu Quan also did a presentation on the “Do”. We'd like to thank the ITF Technical Commitee for another informative course. We'd also like to thank Mr. Mike Morningstar and the students from Morningstar Taekwon-Do for their hospitality.

Congratulations to Freedom Taekwon-Do's Samantha Dube for earning a position on the Canadian Senior Female sparring team. This will be Dube's second time representing Canada at an ITF World Championships.

October 6th and 7th saw students and instructors from all over the lower mainland, the interior and Victoriaparticipated in the fourth annual ITF President's Seminar. The seminar was conducted by Master Tran Trieu Quan( ITF President and 8th Degree Blackbelt and assisted by Mr. Maxime Bujold ( 2007 ITF World champion, 4th Degree Blackbelt) this event was hosted by Mr. Hal Lipscombe, 6th Degree Blackbelt and the students of the Pacific Rim Institute of Taekwon-Do.

The seminar covered a combination of free sparring, self defense, keys to building a successful club and "the Do" .

Mr. Kurt Ottessen, 6th Dan and CTFI Director of Umpires was also present, giving a brief overview on coaching at international events.

On October 7th, Master Tran conducted senior dan testing resulting in the promotion of Mr. Rod Johnson ( Champplain Taekwon-Do) to Fifth Degree Blackbelt.

We'd like to thank Master Tran, Mr. Bujold and Mr. Ottessen for taking time out of their busy schedules to share their experience and knowledge with all of the attendees.

Taekwon-Do seminar with Pioneer Grandmaster CK Choi

On Sept 23rd 2007 twenty Taekwon-Do practioners from red belt to black belt participated in a 1 day seminar run by a Taekwon-Do pioneer "GRANDMASTER CK CHOI". The seminar was hosted in Vancouver, BC Canada by Mr. Johnny Ahmed(IV) of Richmond Martial Arts. Grandmaster Choi started Taekwon-Do in 1956 and was one of the members for forming the ITF and also helped design the Taekwon-Do tree that is on all of our doboks. He was also on the Taekwon-Do demonstration team and helped design the pattern Ge-Baek.

The seminar started with Grandmaster Choi telling about Taekwon-Do history and our founder General Choi followed by sparring drills on how to judge your opponents distance and angle with correct dodging and blocking. "It was really great to see Grandmaster Choi being involved with a new generation of Taekwon-Do practioners" said Johnny Ahmed. He truly is a Taekwon-Do pioneer and a honourably man. More info about Grandmaster CK Choi can be found www.taekwondopioneers

Photos in gallery

Students enjoyed a weekend with Master Clint Norman starting Friday with a testing resulting in promotions for Mr. Robert Gill to 5th degree, Mr. Kris Jeanes to 3rd degree and Ms. Alexas Spiers to 2nd Degree. Saturday 31 Students participated in seminar starting at 9 am with patterns and fundamentals till 12 noon then a fun work out and sparring class which went form 1 pm- 5pm. Sunday Black belts spent 2 1/2 hours going over advanced pattern. The schools will host this again next year as it has become an annual event in kamloops. Saturday's event ended with warm thank you to Master Norman and dinner.

First let me congratulate you and all your members who competed well at this years Nationals. I wish to forward my best wishes for those who will be members of the Canadian team and how proud all our Champions of BC have made us feel. I think we have only begun and will continue to do well as a strong group who supports each other and all the students of British Columbia.

Congratulations to the following competitors who will be representing Canada at the upcoming World Championships to be held in Quebec City Quebec

Karli Ottessen - Senior Female Sparring- Heavy
Alex Vrzal        - Junior Female 3rd Dan Patterns
Nick Louie        - Junior Male Sparring -Light
Dakota Srigley - Junior Male Power Breaking

321 Competitors from Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia came to Grande Prairie Alberta on November 18, 2006 to compete at the CTFI Western Canadian ITF Taekwon-Do Championships. Darryl Rasmussen of Horangi Taekwon-Do Grande Prairie hosted the event. Competition started at 9:00 am and finished at 6:30 pm. Competitors competed in Patterns, Sparring, Pre-Arranged Free Sparring, Team Patterns, Power Board Breaking and Specialty Board Breaking.

October 8th saw ITF of BC members from all over the lower mainland partake in the 2nd competitive camp given by the members of the BC Senior Men's Team. The camp consisted of fundamental movements, patterns, a cardio workout, strengthening exercises and sparring drills. The camp lasted five hours (1pm- 6pm) and was taught by the six members of the BC Men's team. Team BC would like to thank all participating members as well as Mr. Reinelt and Triumph Taekwon-Do for hosting. The team now prepares for the Western Canadian Championships, November 18th in Grand Prairie.

We'd like to welcome Mustang Taekwon-Do, Okanagan Falls. Directed by Mrs. Tina Lamb and Ms. Alexis Lamb

August 25th, 26th and 27th saw the President of the ITF - Master Tran Triêu Quân teaching a series of Technical Seminars in beautiful Prince George, British Columbia, Canada. Over 55 students and instructors from all across British Columbia took part in the action packed event hosted by Mr. Kurt Ottesen and the students of Freedom TaeKwon-Do Schools.

The training took place over three (3) days and lasted for 15 hours. In all, Master Tran instructed dynamic classes in self defense, sparring, fundamental movements, conditioning and theory.

Both Friday and Saturday saw two tracks of classes; one specifically designed for children, and one for adults. Though similar in content, each program was delivered in a manner that made it both fun and easy for the students to learn!

Beginning Friday night, Master Tran taught two exciting classes focusing on fundamental exercises and self defense. Everyone involved had a great time learning both the physical skills and the psychological tools necessary to defend themselves in the event of an attack.

Saturday began with dynamic classes on sparring, with theory on the skills and tactics necessary to be a top level performer. Everyone then warmed up with some great new aerobic exercises, followed with some exercises for foot/body moving. Rounding off the evening came drills for accuracy and timing. The afternoon saw a class covering patterns from First to Third Degree Black Belt, with everyone working hard perfecting their skills and refreshing their knowledge.

Sunday morning began with an intense session on conditioning and stretching. Fabulous new drills focusing on aerobic and anaerobic capacity training were introduced. Conditioning and agility drills were added into the mix along with some dynamic partner exercises. It was really good to see everyone sweating out on the floor, even the senior black belts from across the province worked out beside their students and set the example! Everyone was sweating and red in the face, yet they all asked for more! We finished off with some excellent PNF stretching techniques then closed the session for students. At this point, Master Tran officially closed the seminar with some encouraging words for all of our members and instructors. His assistance in the development of TaeKwon-Do throughout the province of B.C. has really helped to both unite and motivate all of our instructors to push hard, work together and invest in our future for the ITF.

The afternoon saw a session focusing on the patterns for Fourth and Fifth Dan Black Belt, as well as a question and answer session for technical matters.

Master Tran directed a series of Senior Dan examinations resulting in the promotion of three members of Freedom TaeKwon-Do Schools (and three members of the Ottesen Family) to their next Degree. Congratulations to: Mr. Orville Ottesen Sr. - 2nd Degree, Mrs. Karli Ottesen - 3rd Degree and Mr. Kurt Ottesen - 6th Degree.

We would like to thank the President - Master Tran Triêu Quân, for taking time out of his busy schedule to share his experience and knowledge with all of the attendees, for offering his guidance and expertise in the continued development of ITF in British Columbia and for presiding of the weekends Senior Dan Examinations.

Brothers, Black belts and Assistant instructors with the Thompson valley Taekwon-Do Schools

Student from Thompson valley Taekwon-Do Schools and affiliate schools enjoyed a weekend visit with Master Clint Norman president of the CTFI, with a testing for Black belts Friday evening, which saw members Mr.. ed Nedokus and Mr. Bryden Dolman promote to their 3rd dans, Andrew Vonbieker for 2nd Dan, Alan Schmidt, Conner McLeod, T.J. Smirl and Kaelyn Siah promote to their 1st Dan.

Saturday Mr. Norman presented the students with an excellent seminar on pattern and sparring and later some senior Black belt pattern. Many thanks to Master Norman.

July 16th and 23rd saw 17 hard working martial artists partake in a competitive camp given by the members of the Senior Men's Team. Each member of the team taught a portion of the camp.

The morning saw a one hour run/conditioning class lead by Mr. Aiden Wood. The participants were then put through a number of cardiovascular and strengthening tests by Mr Derek Licas. Just watching was tiring enough!.

After a short break and lunch, Mr. Chris Law went through some pattern theory, fundamental movements and patterns. Mr Mike Blom then lead the sparring portion, going through some techniques, drills and matches.

The day ended with the group splitting up with Mr. Johnny Ahmed going over some self defense situations and Mr. Matt Lavoie teaching breaking techniques.

Team BC would like to thank all the participants from the camp, with your help we were able to raise $850. These funds will go towards travel expenses to the Western Canadian Championships as well as future tournaments.

May 14 saw the gathering of most of the ITF Black Belts and Red Belts over the age of 16 in the Lower Mainland. The purpose was to learn the updated rules of competition and be trained for umpiring at ITF Taekwon-Do Tournaments. The seminar was hosted at the Triumph Taekwon-Do dojang in Port Coquitlam. Mr. Kurt Ottesen flew down from Prince George to bring his expertise as leader of the session. The bonus was his highly developed written course material.

Mr. Ottesen’s experience competing as well as judging and umpiring at a large number of world level events give him a true sense of authority on the subject. He shared lots of interesting “war stories” from his experiences.

By the end of the long, packed day, all 24 participants were working hard at learning and demonstrating the hand signals required of the Center Referee for free sparring. Everyone also took turns practicing newly learned or reinforced skills in pattern judging and corner judging for free sparring.

Everyone took the short exam provided by Mr. Ottesen – hopefully everyone passed (it was open book)! Now we have a large contingent of well trained judges for our tournaments. This will go a long ways to achieving our goal of well run and well officiated events where the competitors and our art benefit from safety, fairness and fun.

Saturday, May 6th saw the 2006 Northern BC ITF Championships take place in beautiful Prince George. Competition was held at the College of New Caledonia Gymnasium.

This event brought more than 207 athletes from ITFofBC schools across British Columbia and even Northern Alberta together in sportsmanship and competition. In total, there were 83 divisions of competition including, patterns, free sparring, pre-arranged sparring and power breaking!

Competition began at 8:30 am with the Black Belt Patterns and Sparring (Pre-Junior, Junior, Seniors, Ladies and Men), as well as the patterns and sparring competition for the Taek Tots (ages 4,5,6). With 5 matted rings in fulltime operation, the tournament progressed quickly and smoothly. Following the Taek Tots came the Mini peewees, PeeWees, PreJuniors, Juniors then Adults.

Competition paused for 20 minutes at 12:45 as we commenced with the Opening Ceremonies. These ceremonies were started with all of the athletes and schools out on the floor, and Mathew Montgomery performing the National Anthem (English and French) followed by Ashlee and Theresa Hick reciting the Student Oath. A brief Opening Speech was given by Mr Ottesen, followed by recognition gifts to all of the schools in attendance.

The highlight of the day was definitely the Pre-Arranges Sparring competition between the teams of Chris Law/Mike Blom (Pacific Rim) and Johnny Ahmed/Aiden Wood (WestVan). It was an incredible show with acrobatic kicks, dynamic self defense and fast paced techniques all rolled in to an outstanding show!

Competition started immediately after the demonstration, with all coloured belt patterns and sparring. All athletes received certificates of participation with the top placing athletes receiving beautiful custom medals.

The afternoons competition finished off with Power Breaking (Men's and Ladies) rounding out the day!
All divisions were finished by 4:30 and the entire tournament packed and out o the building by 5:15.

What a great event!

Freedom TKD would like to extend a special thank you to all of the athletes, instructors, volunteers and families for their support of this event. Without you this never could have been such great success! See you next year!

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