Master Class by Grandmaster Trevor Nicholls & Asia Invitational Taekwondo Championship Penang, Malaysia
Ten members of Island Taekwon-Do Centre (ITC) recently travelled to Penang, Malaysia, to participate in a series of two exciting events, a Master Class by Grandmaster Trevor Nicholls & the Asia Invitational Taekwondo Championship, both held in the SRJK (C) Shang Wu indoor hall.
On 2nd June 2023, four members from ITC participated in the Master Class by Grandmaster Trevor Nicholls, ITF Vice-President and Secretary-General. The four consisted of Carnation Mdm, Kelvin Sir, my son Kalen and myself, who benefited immensely from the guidance, tips and fine-tuning of techniques imparted by GM Trevor Nicholls himself. Kalen and I found the full day’s Master Class to be quite tough, but we both seized the opportunity to learn new skills, tactics and execution in both sparring and patterns.
On 3rd and 4th June 2023, six members participated in the Asia Invitational Taekwondo Championship. Kalen was very excited as it was his first time participating in any taekwondo competition and we were glad to have the full team support from ITC. Organised by Choi Jung Hwa ITF Penang Association in Penang for the first time, it drew more than 800 participants from Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Hong Kong, India and Bangladesh. Of the six who participated in their individual pattern categories, winning the gold medals were Shaun Sir and Kelvin Sir, while Yuki Mdm won a silver medal, and Priyanka Mdm and Kalen won a bronze medal each. Kalen was thrilled to bag the bronze, as there were so many other competitors from different countries in the same category, and while he initially found the experience daunting, he truly enjoyed himself, and hopes to train harder in order to be able to participate and win in future competitions.
Participants were supported and cheered on by family members, and everyone had a great time – feasting on local Penang fare and exploring the island. Special thanks to Team Manager Yuki Mdm for coordinating the entire event for ITC, our three ITC teammates who served as umpires – Master Daniel Sng himself, Carnation Mdm and Yuki Mdm, and not forgetting our five team coaches – Shaun Sir, Carnation Mdm, Yuki Mdm, Kelvin Sir and Ms Joyce. A big thank you also to other senior members of ITC, including Beow Sir, Gabriel Sir and Dennis Sir, who dedicated two hours every Sunday afternoon to train with our participants and help improve their individual patterns. While the weekly training was tough, we truly appreciated the time spent teaching us the finer technical points, especially Shaun Sir and Yuki Mdm who dedicated their valuable time in extra practice sessions at the hotel lift lobby! The tips they gave were instrumental in helping the Singapore team achieve their success at this championship.
We truly hope that there will be more students from ITC stepping forward to participate in future competitions, as well as family members joining in the fun and experience next time!
Taekwon,
Justin Tan
Written by Mr. Justin Tan, 1st Gup, ITF Singapore
© Island Taekwon-Do Centre 2023