Potch TKD at SATI National Champs

Three members of the Soo Shim Kwan Potchefstroom Taekwon-Do Club entered the recent South Africa Taekwon-Do Institute (SATI) National Championships and all came back with medals.

Instructor Philip de Vos earned gold medals for patterns and power breaking in the Black Belt Patterns Male Power Breaking categories.

Tondorai Chavi earned a gold for sparring in the Senior Male Novice Middle & Heavy Weight category. Tondari also got a gold in the Adult Male Novice Special Breaking category.

Edrich Louw earned a gold medal in the Senior Male Novice Patterns category, and came second against team mate Tondari in the Senior Male Middle & Heavy Weight Sparring category, earning him a silver medal.

We are very proud of Instructor Philip and his students Tondarai and Edrich for the great achievements.

Potch Taekwon-Do Club at National Champs

Instructor Philip de Vos, Riana Serfontein, Hilda Schutte, Edrich Louw

I'm happy to share the results of the Soo Shim Kwan Potchefstroom Taekwon-Do Club's recent participation at the National Championships of the South Africa Taekwon-Do Institute (SATI), which was held at Cullinan, Gauteng, South Africa.

Three students participated in the national champs, and all of them brought home multiple medals.

Riana Serfontein earned a silver medal for patterns in the adult female intermediate division, as well as a silver medal for sparring in the adult female intermediate division. Riana also went on to tie for first place in the adult female power breaking division.

Edrich Louw earned a gold for both patterns and sparring in the adult male novice divisions.

And, Hilda Schutte got silver medals for patterns and sparring in the adult female novice divisions.

I'd like to congratulate these three Taekwon-Do practitioners on their stellar performances. The Soo Shim Kwan Potchefstroom Taekwon-Do Club has never been a big club and only a few students participate in the annual national championships, but they always do us very proud.

This year the Soo Shim Kwan Potchefstroom Taekwon-Do Club is 20 years old (one of the oldest continuously running Taekwon-Do clubs in South Africa), and is still an authentically traditional ITF Taekwon-Do school with a strong technical focus, that I'm very proud of being a part of. A particular congratulations goes to Instructor Philip de Vos of the Potchefstroom Taekwon-Do Club for the fantastic work he is doing and for the achievement of his students.

Jan & Feb 2017 South Africa Report

I would like to report a little on my journey over the last two months during my annual South Africa travels.

The first dojang I had the privilege of visiting was the Pinetown Stingers club, in KwaZulu Natal. Whenever I visit the Durban area, I also try to visit the Stingers dojang. With my previous visit I wasn't able to visit the dojang, but I did visit with Sabeomnim Sean Cremer at his house. This year, however, my travels coincided with their training, so I could attend one of their session. As always, it was lots of fun training with the KZN guys. My friend Damien, who was a student with me here in Korea and also tested for his black belt under me, was also able to come through from Durban to visit. I've always had a close connection with KZN Taekwon-Do and visiting them is like visiting family.

Of course also visited my Soo Shim Kwan family.

First was my visit with Horangi Dojang in Grobblersdal. This club is just going from strength to strength under the leadership of Instructor Gerhard Louw. I was impressed with how the higher ranking students have improved since I saw them last year -- their are defintely some future champions among them, and the eagerness of the lower belts shows me that Instructor Gerhard is doing a great job.

During the two nights that I taught at the Horangi Dojang, I tried to cover several principles. On the second evening, I was requested to demonstrate some patterns. Last year when I performed patterns there, I was a little sick, so was disappointed with my demonstration. This year, I performed several patterns and felt much more pleased with what I was able to present to them. Bsbnim Gerhard and I also did Gae Baek Tul together, and we also demonstrated some slightly more advanced self-defence techniques, to the glee of the students. For the much of the evening, we practised some self-defence techniques, but more simplified since the Horangi dojang's members are mostly children.

Near the end of my time in South Africa I went to Potchefstroom and visited the other Soo Shim Kwan dojang, the Potchefstroom Taekwon-Do Club (PTC). Under the guidance of Instructor Philip de Vos, there is a good standard amongst the students. The Potch club have always been small in numbers, but what it lacks in quantity, it makes up for in quality. Since PTC is an adults only club, I used the opportunity to explain some important principles. I expounded on the ITF pedagogy as a whole. The club has a few new members, so I wanted to give the students a broader understanding--a theoretical platform--to understand how ITF Taekwon-Do progressively guides a person with no prior fighting experience through a slow process of conditioning (physically and mentally), for a violent, combative encounter. I touched on ideas like the sparring phases, the Golden Move, and how ITF Taekwon-Do attempts to prevent the freeze reflex and trigger a fight response during an adrenalized encounter. The classes had a little bit of a lecture feel to them, which is not a bad thing occasionally since it is associated with a university.

Next year PTC will have its 20 year anniversary. I started the club in 1998. As part of the celebration, PTC will be the host for the National Championships in 2018. I really hope I'd be able to attend the event.

A highlight of this trip was, of course, the Hapkido Seminar that I presented in Pretoria. It was the first Korea Hapkido Federation seminar hosted in South Africa, to a primarily black belt audience.

This seven hours long hands-on workshop covered the most important aspects of Hapkido, from break falls and rolling, to joint locks, throws, pins, and even some unique kicks. The attendees were all tired, bruised and nearly broken, but their eagerness to learn kept them from quitting, and even after such an exhausting event they were still able to muster the smiles you can witness in the photo above. This seminar functioned as the first formal KHF event, with the intention of establishing an offical KHF branch in South Africa. I in particular want to thank Sbnim Sean Cremer and the other KZN members that travelled so far to attend the seminar.

Martial art wise, it was a particularly productive visit for me this year. On my way back from South Africa to Korea, I stopped over in Hong Kong, where I also got to train a little in Wing Chun, which was a wonderful experience that opened my eyes to new ideas and helped me to rethink my understanding of ITF Taekwon-Do as well.

I wish all the Soo Shim Kwan members, and all other readers of this blog, a wonderful 2017. My you experience progress in your martial art path, and also grow in the other areas of your life: vocationally, relationally, mentally and spiritually.

Sincerely,

S

Hapkido Registration & South Africa Seminar

I am happy to announce that the Soo Shim Kwan has registered with the Korea Hapkido Federation. This comes after my promotion to 4th Dan in Hapkido in August, 2016.

Although I have always supplemented our ITF Taekwon-Do syllabus with skills from Hapkido, these recent developments bring more formality to our Hapkido connection. It also allows our students to officially progress in Hapkido along side ITF Taekwon-Do if they so choose.

On the 29th of January, 2017, I will give a formal Hapkido seminar and workshop in Centurion, South Africa for Soo Shim Kwan and SATI black belts. The six hour seminar will cover basic Hapkido principles, break falls & rolls, locks (wrist locks, elbow locks, shoulder locks, and knee locks), throws, and other miscellaneous techniques.

Soo Shim Kwan Clubs at the SATI National Tournament

The South Africa Taekwon-Do Institute hosted its first annual national tournament on Saturday, 10 September. The two Soo Shim Kwan clubs, the Potchefstroom Taekwon-Do Club (PTC) and the Horangi Taekwon-Do Club from Groblersdal, participated in this event.

Riana Serfontein, Adéle Wolmarans, Philip de Vos (instructor),
Edrich Louw, Jakes Gous, and PW Conradie.

PTC was represented by six participants and won a total of 11 medals (2 gold, 3 silver and 6 bronze) for their participation in the sparring, patterns and power breaking categories.

Horangi Taekwon-Do Club (Grobblersdal)
Back-right: Instructor Gerhard Louw

The Horangi club entered 23 participants and won a total of 41 medals for their participation in the sparring, patterns, power breaking and special technique breaking categories, resulting in the Horangi dojang to position itself as the second best performing dojang of all the participating dojang.

A big congratulations to instructors Philip de Vos and Gerhard Louw and all the Soo Shim Kwan students for all your hard work and positive attitude. Well done!

PhD Graduation

It is with much thankfulness and appreciation of the support of my family, friends, and my Taekwon-Do and martial art community that I can announce the completion of my PhD degree in Taekwon-Do (Oriental Philosophy & Martial Arts). My graduation ceremony was on 17 February 2016, and on 21 February I was pleasantly surprised to receive a “Best PhD Dissertation”-award from the Graduate School of Physical Education.

I commenced my studies here in Korea, at Kyunghee University, in 2013. It involved two years of course work, and in the third year I finalised my research and wrote my dissertation. At the end of 2015 I submitted the dissertation, had to give a preliminary defence presentation, and had to later defend my dissertation before five examiners on two occasions. Although I was very nervous about defending my thesis, in the end the defences were less grueling than I had anticipated. I was able to answer the examiners' questions satisfactoraly. The examiners' feedback was quite helpful. While there are parts of the dissertation that I think I could develop more fully, the thing I am most disappointed about my dissertation is that I did not have time to get it professionally proofread. Had I done so, I would have failed to submit before the graduation deadline, which would have meant that I would have missed the 2016 graduation and would have only been able to graduate in 2017. (The Graduate School of Physical Education only has one graduation per year, in February.)

Me with Dr George Vitale who came all the way from NYC,
USA, to attend the graduation ceremony. I am extremely
humbled by this beautiful gesture of camaraderie. 

The title of my dissertation is “Promoting Peace, Practising War: Mohism's Resolution of the Paradoxical Ethics of War and Self-Defence in East Asian Martial Arts.” It is basically a paper on the East Asian ethics of war and how this relates to East Asian martial arts. In particular, I aimed to resolve the paradox found in East Asian martial arts that promote peace, while at the same time teach violent martial (“war”) techniques. I honestly enjoyed the research into East Asian religion and philosophy, Just War Theory, self-defence ethics, martial art history, and all the other strands I had to pull from to write the thesis. I hope to continue my research in this and related fields.

Many people ask me, now that I have a degree—and one in Taekwon-Do of all things—what will I do with it? The honest answer is that I don't know. I was already working as a university lecturer before I started with the PhD, so getting a doctorate fits within my career path. The question for me was in what field was I going to further my studies. I considered several other fields, but one of the deciding factors for me as an expatriate living in Korea was the uniquely “Koreanness” of this degree. Doing a degree in martial arts philosophy is something quite specific to Asia. I mean, I could have done a PhD in philosophy practically anywhere in the world—even East Asian philosophy could be done at an Asian Studies department outside of Asia. However, a degree in martial arts is peculiarly East Asian in nature. Thus I decided that as I'm living presently living in Korea, I should take advantage of this unique opportunity. There are only a handful of non-Koreans in the world with a degree in Taekwon-Do and even including Koreans, very few people that specializes in martial arts philosophy.

For those of you that do not know, the whole idea of having Taekwon-Do as a university degree was the initiative of General Choi Hong-Hi, the principle founder of this martial art. Gen. Choi approached the founding president of Kyunghee University and proposed to him to start a Taekwon-Do degree program; hence Kyunghee University was the first university to start a Taekwon-Do department. Kyunghee University's Taekwon-Do department is arguably still the top Taekwon-Do department in the country, and the university is ranked among the top ten Korean universities.

Sb Sanko's Tentative South Africa Schedule

Hello Soo Shim Kwan students and friends. Here is my tentative schedule for the next 2-3 weeks in South Africa, which will include visits and/or workshops at several dojang.

Tuesday, 26 January: Pretoria, ATC Elarduspark Dojang

Wednesday, 27 January: Groblersdal, Horangi Dojang (Workshop)

Thursday, 28 January: Groblersdal, Horangi Dojang (Workshop & Braai)

Tuesday, 2 February: Potchefstroom, Potch TKD Club

Thursday, 4 February: Potchefstroom, Potch TKD Club

Tuesday, 9 February: Vanderbijlpark, Vaal Dojang (Not confirmed yet)

Thursday, 11 February: Johannesburg, (Exact location still unclear)

Sadly I won't make it to the coastal areas during this trip, unfortunately.

I look forward to training with and seeing you all soon.

Sabeomnim Chris van der Merwe

It is with a heavy heart that I announce the passing away of our friend Sabeomnim Chris van der Merwe last Friday, 6 November 2015.

Sabeomnim Chris has been a pivotal behind the scenes figure in the South Africa ITF community. Over his many years of service he held numerous important positions on the SA-ITF's executive board, such as Secretary General, Information Director, and Constitutional Director; he also functioned as National Team Manager during international championships, as NGB representative at important ITF meetings, as the first webmaster for the SA-ITF, and occasionally as the official SA-ITF photographer. It was particularly in his roles as Secretary General and Constitutional Director that he shaped the very core of the organization. Few members know how fiercly Sabeomnim Chris fought behind closed doors on their behalf; how he embodied being a “champion of freedom and justice” for the normal and sometimes disadvantaged Taekwon-Do students all over the country. Sabeomnim Chris also started the Acestes Taekwon-Do Clubs—one of the largest group of Taekwon-Do clubs in South Africa—and is a founding member of the Dan Gun Kwan with whom the Soo Shim Kwan has very close ties. Sabeomnim Chris' progeny students and co-federation heads Sabeomnim Karel Wethmar and Sabeomnim Annari Wethmar of the Dan Gun Kwan has produced more students to represent South Africa abroad than any other Kwan. Indeed, Sabeomnim Chris has left an enduring South African Taekwon-Do legacy.

Sbnim Chris van der Merwe and Sanko Lewis

On a personal note, I have lost a very dear friend. I met Sabeomnim Chris in 2001 at a Dan promotion test. I tested for my second degree black belt; he tested for his first degree black belt. Shortly afterwards I became the webmaster for the SA-ITF, working under Sabeomnim Chris' portfolio, and I took over from him in 2003 as the SA-ITF's Information Director. During this time we became very close friends. During those years I was going through very difficult times (the deaths of family members and loved ones). Sabeomnim Chris was always ready with a listening ear and sage advice. As a friend he also supported my intellectual pursuits and while he never went on to do a doctorate degree, he did much to encourage me to do so—which is something I'm currently busy with. As it was something we often talked about, it saddens me that he will not see me accomplish this goal early next year. Whenever I visited South Africa Sabeomnim Chris and I would make a decided effort to spend some quality time with each other—my visits to South Africa will now always have a gaping hole in them.

C. S. Lewis is known for saying: “Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, art… It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things which give value to survival.” Sabeomnim Chris van der Merwe was an important friend to me that definitely imparted value to my life. And I know that he did the same for many, many other people. He is fiercely loved by hundreds of Taekwon-Do practitioners that were fortunate to be his students and his friends. He will be greatly missed.

On behalf of the Soo Shim Kwan I wish to share my condolences to the Dan Gun Kwan, the Acestes Taekwon-Do members, and Sabeomnim Chris' family and friends. We share in your grief.

Rest well my friend. Taekwon!

A very big congratulations for the great performance by Soo Shim Kwan's Horangi Dojang at the South African National Open Championships that took place in Randburg recently. Instructor Gerhard Louw reported that: "Out of 7 students we brought home 7 gold medals, 2 silver medals and 1 bronze. Maria Ramona Truter performed outstanding by getting 3 gold medals and Best Veteran female of the day trophy. I am extremely proud of you all."

Congratulations Instructor Gerhard, you and your team are hot stuff!

Congratulations to the Potchefstroom Dojang

A big congratulation to the Soo Shim Kwan - Potchefstroom Dojang for their great performance at the 14th ATC Annual Invitational Tournament that was held at the end of May in Pretoria. Instructor Philip de Vos won gold for III Degree Patterns; Hatting Davel won gold for Special Technique Breaking, silver for Patterns, and bronze for Power Breaking; Adelle Wolmarans won silver in Power Breaking; and Riana Serfontein won gold in Patterns and bronze in Power Breaking.

Well done! You make me proud!

First Taekwon-Do Book to Be Made Available for Download

The very first book about Taekwon-Do was written and published by Gen. Choi Hong-Hi in 1959. This "lost" book will soon be made available to the general public.

Most people don't know about this book and very few have seen it. For most, the oldest resource on Taekwon-Do has been the 1965 book (also written by Gen. Choi), of which one can still buy reprints. The difference between the 1959 book and the 1965 book is not small, and it is not merely a difference in language, keeping in mind that the 1959 book was written in Hanja (Chinese characters) and Korean.

I have been privileged to have received an initial digital version of the first Taekwon-Do textbook and find it fascinating to notice that although Taekwon-Do was obviously very Karatesque at that time, even at this early stage we can notice some of the germs of what would become Taekwon-Do as a Korean martial arts -- for instance, several photos depicting flying kicks.

Me and Master (Dr) George Vitale

This year, 2015, on April 11th, on the 60th anniversary of the founding of Taekwon-Do, this first Taekwon-Do textbook will be made available for download as a PDF. The book will be provided by Taekwon-Do historian, Dr. George Vitale on his blog: HistoryOfTaekwondo.Org. Dr Vitale is an 8th Dan ITF master, and one of the foremost Taekwon-Do historians in the world. I had the good fortune of recently spending some time with him again. His passion for Taekwon-Do and its history is contagious, and him sharing this invaluable resource is typical of his character. He is on a mission to educate the world of the true history of Taekwon-Do and now you can be a part of that too, by downloading the first ever Taekwon-Do textbook. One particularly grand thing about it is that on one of the very first pages of the book you can also see the very first calligraphy of Taekwon-Do, written in hanja as 跆拳道 by South Korea's first president, Syngman Rhee. This historic work of art acted as the official approval of the new name "Tae Kwon Do", and what would become Korea's national sport and one of the most widely practised martial arts in the world.

Download Taekwon-Do's first textbook on 11 April 2015 in celebration of Taekwon-Do's 60th anniversary from HistoryOfTaekwondo.Org 

Congratulations to the Potchefstroom Dojang

Instructor Philip de Vos, with
Riana Serfontein and Adele Wolmarans

The Soo Shim Kwan is happy to congratulate the Potchefstroom Dojang with its recent victories at the 2015 Gauteng North & Northern Provinces Provincial Tournament that was held on Saturday 21 March 2015 in Pretoria, South Africa.

Instructor Philip de Vos again won gold in patterns. His students Riana Serfontein and Adele Wolmarans also won medals, gold and silver respectively, in their patterns division. Congratulations!

Congratulations to Horangi Students

Back: Instructor Gerhard Louw and Stephani
Front: Hussain, Tlotlo, Katlego, Sena, and Andreas

The Soo Shim Kwan is proud of Instructor Gerhard Louw and the students from the Horangi Dojang in Groblerdal, who recently participated at the Northern Gauteng and Northern Provinces regional tournament in Pretoria, South Africa. The six Horangi participants won 10 medals in total. Well done to you all!

Vacancies at Korean University for BJ/Muay Thai Instructors

Kyongbuk Science College < http://golfma.kbsc.ac.kr/ > is the first university in South Korea to offer a major in Mixed Martial Arts. Kyongbuk Science College has produced many famous athletes such as the Korean Zombie, Jeong Chan-Seong, Im Hyon Seong, and others. In 2015, for a more systematic education, the university is interested in recruiting two well rounder foreign (non-Korean) instructors with extensive experience in Brazilian Jiujitsu and Muay Thai respectively.

Requirements:

• The candidate should have a four year university degree or higher qualification. (The field of study is not important, but needed for processing the visa in order to work at a university in Korea. A relevant degree, for example in Sport Science or Physical Education, may result in better pay and benefits.)
• The candidate must be able to communicate and teach martial arts concepts in a clear, well structured way to young athletes that use English as a second language. 

BJJ Position Requirements:

• A black belt in Brazilian Jiujitsu from a reputable affiliation, 
• with proof of BJJ teaching experience. 
• Previous exposure to an MMA environment may be useful. 

Muay Thai Position Requirements:

• Affiliation with a reputable Muay Thai association such as the IFMA, 
• and proof of Muay Thai coaching and competing experience. 
• Previous exposure to an MMA environment may be useful. 

Responsibilities: The teacher will lecture and coach students in the Sports Department.

Remuneration: 2, 000 000 ~ 3, 000 000 Won (Roughly US$2000-US$3000) per month depending on degree and experience.

Housing: Dormitory housing on campus will be provided.

Duration: One year contract, with the possibility of renewal.

The contract is negotiable.

Please send your resume ASAP to itfkimhoon@hotmail.com

Seoul: Taekwondo Classes for Adults Kicking Off Again in March

Although Korea is the motherland of Taekwondo it is ironically often difficult to find serious Taekwondo classes, as Taekwondo schools usually focus on children and sport rather than the original martial art / self-defence focus. For foreigners it is further challenging because it is very difficult to get instruction in English.

However, there are places in Korea where adults can train in Taekwondo with focus on martial art and self-defence, and taught in English.

The ITF Taekwondo training at 'The Way' Martial Arts & Fitness Gym in Seoul (close by Ttukseom Resort and Konkuk University) is officially kicking off again, start of March. The class is very “foreign friendly”, as instruction is conducted mostly in English.

The Taekwondo training follows the International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF) syllabus, following the Soo Shim Kwan philosophy. ITF style focuses on martial art, rather than martial sport, and includes practical self-defence techniques. The class is also augmented with techniques from Hapkido. Practitioners learn traditional martial art techniques based on Newtonian scientific principles. The practitioner is then progressively taught how to adapt traditional martial art motions into practical self-defence techniques. The syllabus covers a full arsenal that includes strikes and punches, elbow strikes, various kicks and knee attacks, throws, joint-locks and escapes. The instructors have decades of martial arts teaching experience and have presented seminars internationally. Both Master Kim Hoon (8th Dan) and Instructor Sanko Lewis (5th Dan) have received honorable mentions (“citations”) from the Taekwondo Hall of Fame, and both have written extensively on Taekwondo and the martial arts.

Training is every Tuesday and Thursday evening from 7pm until 8:40pm. The monthly fee is 120,000 Won per person. (At an additional fee, students can also partake of the many other training offered at 'The Way', such as Cross-Fit and Kickboxing.)

This is a unique opportunity for foreigners to learn an established and battle proven Korean martial art. If you always wanted to learn a martial art, now is your chance. See you in March!

Visit to the Potchefstroom Dojang

Last week Thursday I visited the Soo Shim Kwan Dojang in Potchefstroom during my visit to South Africa. Since it is still early in the year and many of the university students have not returned from vacation yet, there were only four in attendance. It was nevertheless nice to meet new members of the Soo Shim Kwan family.

During the session with them I covered some ground work (break falls and rolls), and spent some time on (power) posture work in Taekwon-Do and the importance of balanced musculature, pointing out how some muscles are overly stretched and under-streghtened (such as the hamstrings) while the antagonistic muscles are trained too hard, but not stretched enough (quads). Such musculature imbalances can cause injuries in the long run. I also covered some three step-sparring and explained the importance of angle-and-distance / positioning.

I opened the Potchefstroom Dojang in 1998. Seventeen years later it is still active and while not a particularly large school, it is nonetheless still going strong. The numerous medals won during tournaments last year is just one indicator that the current Potchefstroom Dojang instructor, Mr Philip de Vos, is doing a great job. I was pleased to present Bsbnim Philip with a black belt that I had embroidered in Korea just before I departed for South Africa with his name and "III" in honour of his promotion to 3rd degree black belt recently. I also presented the Potchefstroom Dojang with a new set of focus pads, which I'm sure will come into good use.

Philip de Vos Promoted to 3rd Dan by Grandmaster Hwang

Mr Philip demonstrating technique for Grandmaster Hwang
during a recent seminar in South Africa.

I'm very happy and proud to announce that Instructor Philip de Vos was recently promoted to 3rd Dan by Grandmaster Hwang Kwang Sung (K-IX-01).

Mr. De Vos, the instructor of the Soo Shim Kwan Potchefstroom Dojang, also competed at the South African National ITF Championships over the weekend in Port Elizabeth. He won gold for Senior Male Power Breaking, and a silver medal for 2nd Dan Patterns.

It is my honour to congratulate Instructor Philip on his promotion as well as his excellent performance at the national championships.

Congratulations (Again!)

Jodi Siecker, Instructor Philip de Vos, Hatting Davel

The Potchefstroom Soo Shim Kwan dojang brought home various medals again, after competing at the Gauteng North & Northern Provinces Championship in July.

Instructor Philip de Vos won gold in senior male advanced patterns, as well as a bronze medal in the senior male advanced power breaking division. Jodi Siecker also won medals in patterns and power breaking, getting silver and gold respectively in the senior female Intermediate/Novice divisions. Hatting Davel won another gold for the Potchefstroom Soo Shim Kwan Dojang in the senior male novice division.

Congratulations to you all!

Congratulations

Jodi and Instructor Philip

We would like to congratulate Instructor Philip de Vos and Jodi Siecker on winning two medals each, during the recent ATC Invitational Tournament in Pretoria. Bsbnim Philip, who is the instructor at the main Soo Shim Kwan dojang in Potchefstroom won gold in 2nd Dan patterns and silver in power breaking; and Jodi won gold for power breaking and silver in novice patterns. Thank you for representing the Soo Shim Kwan in such a brilliant manner. You make us proud!

Congratulations

Jodi, Instructor Philip, and Juan.

This past weekend Bsbnim Philip de Vos of our Potchefstroom Dojang took two students to the annual ATC Invitational Tournament in Pretoria. Jodi Siecker (10th Gup) won a silver medal in the Senior Female Novice Patterns Division. Juan Dyason also won a silver for his pattern performance in the Senior Male Novice Patterns Division, as well as a bronze medal in the Senior Male Novice Sparring +85kg Division. A big congratulations to these two representatives of the Potchefstroom Dojang for their wins at there first competition, as well as to their instructor for his excellent coaching. The Soo Shim Kwan would also like to thank the organizers of the ATC for another excellent tournament.