Instruction

Dear Soo Shim Kwan - Potchefstroom students,

The instructors for this year will be Bsbnim Philip de Vos (1st Dan), assisted by Kyosa Werner de Bruyn; with myself as supervising instructor. Promotional testing will be conducted under Sb Karel Wethmar (4th Dan) in Pretoria and Master Kim (7th Dan).

Bsbnim Philip is also planning to regularly attend technical seminars throughout the year, and anyone interested is welcome to get a lift with him to the venues. Please make use of these opportunities to improve your skill.

Remember also to attend the twice weekly training sessions (Tuesday & Thursday evenings, starting at 18:00), and feel free to use the dojang on Wednesday afternoons (14:00-17:00) for personal training.

Regards,
Bsbnim Sanko

Cross Training

Over the break, just before the semester started, while our dojang was still in use by the freshmen in preparation of RAG, Franco (far right) and I (far left) went for some cross training with the Mixed Martial Arts group in Potch. We had a great work out, coached by Johan (centre).

Our club has always been open minded about cross training. While I’m open to cross training I don’t think it is always beneficial to train in two or more martial arts at once, specifically not while you are still learning the basics of one martial art. When, however, you have mastered the basics of your style, taking up another martial art can be a great way to review your paradigm, to broaden your knowledge and grow as a martial artist.

Although I’m suggestion you not to practice two martial arts at the same time while you are a beginner, I am not saying that you should avoid occasional cross training. On the contrary, cross training in other martial arts (and even other recreational disciplines such as parkour, squash, etc.) can be a wonderful method to supplement your training.

Regards,
Bsbnim Sanko

ITF Clock

You may have noticed the new fancy ITF-crested clock we have in the dojang. The clock is a gift from Sabeomnim Kim Hoon, the Secretary General of ITF in South Korea, to our dojang. He gave me the clock just before my departure to South Africa, specifically for our dojang. May the clock keep record of many, many, many hours of hard training, sweat and occasional blood ;-) at our dojang.

The photo shows me handing over the clock to Bsbnim Philip.

Regards,
Bsbnim Sanko

Korean Dinner & Website

Hello friends,
Remember about our “Korean Dinner” on Wednesday (18:00). More details will be given at the Tuesday evening training session. Budget for around R20+.

I also want to bring your attention to a new website where some of our articles have been published. This martial arts focussed website will become a great resource for future martial art study.

Regards,

Individual practice

Hi all,

Hope you've had a wonderful holiday and all the best in the new year to you!

Although the club hasn't officially reopened yet, I will be practicing on my own starting next week (13 Jan). If anyone would like to join me, the dojang will be open and you are most welcome.

Times:

Tuesdays and Thursdays

18:00 - 19:00

Black Belt Grading

Philip will be going for his black belt grading on the 22nd November. We wish you luck and hope that everything goes well.

Year-end

The dojang has been officially closed for the holidays from the 20th November

Happy Holidays to everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


See you next year ...........

ITF Dojang in Seoul, South Korea

Last night I joined the ITF Taekwon-Do dojang in Seoul. It is amazing to think that in the whole of Seoul, which is one of the biggest cities in the world, there is only one ITF dojang. For all practical reasons, all the other Taekwon-Do dojang in Seoul are WTF-style Taekwon-Do. For more on this, read my post on eSAITF.

I will be going to the ITF dojang twice a week in preparation for my 4th Dan test next year.

Regards,
Bsb Sanko

Training and Gradings

There will be a training session on the 8th November with Bsb Karel in Pretoria.

There is also a black belt and colour belt grading held on the 22 November in Pretoria

We hope that everyone can make it to these events.

First Contact

Today I made contact with the ITF school in Seoul. It is located at Itaewon, a very fusion (foreigner friendly) part of Seoul and about an hour from where I live.

I'm not sure how often I'll go train there as I'm already cutting it thin with my Hapkido and Taekkyeon training, as well as going to the gym. But I am planning to test for 4th Dan next year, so I will make an effort of going to the ITF dojang occasionally.

Another problem is that I'm already spending lots of money on martial art tuition. As it is I'm spending over a R1000 a month on class fees. Adding to this the Taekwon-Do class fees is a serious consideration. The Taekwon-Do tuition fee for a single session is a hefty $50 (R400)! Monthly payment is much cheaper and works out at around R550 a month, however you have to pay three months in advance. I will therefor have to really consider my budget and see if I can effort it all, both financially and timewise.

Regards,
Bsb Sanko

Newsletter

The latest SA-ITF Newsletter is available from the SA-ITF website or use this direct link to download the .zip-document (1.49 MB).

Regards,
Kwanjangnim Sanko