As a result of Melbourne’s extended COVID 19 lockdowns and restrictions, we will be conducting this weekend’s National Umpire Course online, via the Zoom platform. (note: zoom is free, but you must sign up for an account)
Sunday 13th June, 2021 from 10.00am
Streamed Live on ZOOM
Master Michael Muleta, 8th Degree Technical Director for United ITF Taekwon-Do Australia will be conducting a United ITF sanctioned NationalITF Umpiring course on Sunday 13th June, 2021.
Students of all ages and ranks are welcome to take part in the session and will be issued C-class National Umpire certification.
Students will learn the Umpire rules and application of rules as they pertain to domestic United ITF state and national championships.
Participants will be able to assist in officiating upcoming 2021 United ITF Taekwon-Do events including Queensland Championships (August), ACT Championships (July) and Australian Championships (October).
The session will cover all ITF events – Sparring, Patterns, Special Techniques, Power, both team and individual.
We ask that participants familiarize themselves with ITF Umpire Rules prior to the session so as we can move through the session in a time effective manner.
It is a useful session not only for officials, but also for competitors and coaches.
As it is a participation based seminar, spectators and filming is not permitted.
Lindy Joy Crouch is Australia’s new Golden Girl of ITF Taekwon-Do. She won 2 Gold medals at the International Taekwon-Do Federation’s Special Needs World Championships in Argentina.
Lindy was Australia’s first down syndrome athlete to compete at the ITF World Championships, in the first fully fledged ITF Special Needs international event.
She won Gold in the Adult individual yellow belt patterns, and also in the Mixed abilities event. Lindy teamed up with Joshua Zdybel to perform self defense against weapon attacks and an unarmed assailant.
It was an incredible performance in front of a massive, and parochial, Argentinian crowd in Buenos Aires’ huge Tecnopolis complex. The event included 5 days of competition, with typical running times from 10am – 6pm.
Lindy was part of a 15 strong Australian squad, which also included 2 Special Needs athletes. The other, Master Lee Hermansson, of Broken Hill, took out a Silver medal in the patterns.
Lindy’s training regime
She trains twice weekly at Geelong Taekwon-Do, under the guidance of 5th Degree instructor Phillip Zdybel. Mr Zdybel also acted as Head Coach of the National team, as well as competing himself.
He describes Lindy as a ‘very spirited young lady who show a lot of determination along the way and put in the extra work attending regular pool sessions’ in addition to regular training.
Despite her special needs, Lindy trains in the regular class and does all the same drills and conditioning as the black belts. This was evident in her performance in Argentina.
President, Master Michael Muleta, said it was a fantastic result for Lindy and the Australian Team. He also noted how the Taekwon-Do special needs section had grown since it’s inception in 2016.
So much so, that the National Organization now has a Special Needs Committee to further develop the program domestically.
We would like to thank the State Government of Victoria and Barwon Sport Academy.
Lindy now has her eyes firmly set on the 2020 ITF World Championships in Russia, where she hopes to return as a high colour belt.
So as another installment of Olympic Taekwondo comes to a conclusion, it’s time for us to once again reflect on the bigger picture that is Taekwondo.
Every 4 years the same debates roll out regarding the presence of Taekwondo in the Olympics, and many self-proclaimed traditionalists will testify that the Taekwondo on public view to the millions is not the martial art as the Founder intended.
On the flip-side, those who are indeed heavily invested in the Olympic version do not even hear or regard the arguments that resonate from the outside, as they strive to win Gold for their country.
So how can two groups of people have such polarized views on the Olympic version of Taekwondo, and one wonders whether other sports suffer the philosophical same divide.
When Taekwondo was first included in the Seoul Olympics back in 1988 as a demonstration sport, and then went on in 1996 to be a full medal sport, it was regarded as a major coup for the organizations who were involved, and the death knell for those who weren’t.
Just as we have been every four years before, the end of another Olympic campaign leaves us with more questions than answers.
The future of Taekwondo
But has it panned out that way all these years later, what has become of the public perception of Taekwondo in 2016, as we get engulfed by the popularity of MMA and UFC ?
Concerns about the standard of competition, the range of techniques used, the attractiveness to a television and live audience and hence the appeal to potential lucrative sponsors leave Taekwondo delicately poised in terms of its future as an Olympic sport.
Have Taekwondo organizations, and their member schools flourished since the inclusion of Taekwondo as an Olympic Sport ? What value was derived from the millions of dollars each nations government pumped int the sport version fo Taekwondo ?
With a large group on anti-Olympic practitioners defending their traditional, or original martial art, why do these same organizations still pin their hopes on one day being included in something they so vehemently oppose ?
Is our main concern about which organization is represented, and hence reaps the rewards of government and corporate backing, or is our primary concern what the sport/art actually looks like in the public domain ?
At this juncture nothing should be taken away from the countless hours of hard work done by the athletes and coaches themselves, as with any other Olympic Sport, they have given their all to represent their country with great pride and they only compete within the rules that govern the sport.
At the end of each games we reflect the positives and negatives of Taekwondo’s inclusion in the Olympic schedule.
on-Do
