Looking forward 2011

Another year is just about to come to a close. Another year is about to break over the horizon and bring all sorts of new challenges, new success stories and new ideas. We'll see how 2011 goes, but for now I'm looking forward to it. Mainly because of the ITF European championships are being held in Cork. Our very own Cork, so we can bring a big enough team I'm hoping.

I'm very excited about the coming year mainly because we have a number of cracking competitors starting to shine, and they are all at the right age of 10 and 11 years old. Some of these guys look like they've been competing for years. This year will be a great test for them. That's where my time is going to be spent for the next while, trying to get these guys to reach they're full potential.

Also shining at the moment are the loyal few at the top, I've a feeling we could have a couple of new teenage European championships come June. I hope it all goes well for them. If they put the effort in they will get the rewards for it.

We'll have a pile of tournaments this year also, we're going to try and get to as many as possible. The WAKO world championships are happening in Ireland also this year. That should be a super event too.

So all in all a very busy year ahead, I hope yours will be as busy as ours, but not as fun :D

First grading tomorrow

It's a big day for all of the students of Red Star Taekwon-Do as they face their test tomorrow. It's also a big day for me as an examiner. I'm looking forward to it however. I remember as a 16 year old helping on the panel of the grading examiners in the Irish School of Taekwon-Do, I had to demonstrate the techniques the examiner was requesting. 16 years on and now I'm the examiner, how time flies.

There is a great bunch of red belts just ready to burst through to achieve a little bit of black on their belt.

The daunting black. We have five testing for 1st degree tomorrow, what a huge achievement to reach this test seeing as though so many fall by the way side. Incredibly students still duck out at red belt and even black stripe. Imagine, getting all the way to black stripe to pack it all in. That's at least three years training, all for diddly squat. It's a bit like competing in the marathon, you see the finish line but instead of persevering and pushing on to finish, you decide you're going to lie down and give up. Bizarre as only teenagers can be!

For those that have stuck the pace, you have my respect whether you are successful or not you have all proven your worth and all of you are very good competitors as only we produce!

Ádh mór gach duine, beidh sibhse iontach ;)

Another mountain conquered, a new challenge

I'm really starting to enjoy this outdoor stuff. It has been a super two weeks, I needed a break from all the intense Taekwon-Do stuff post Korea. It was near on 24/7 in the build up to Korea and while we were there. I got sick of looking at doboks. I really wanted to do something different for a few weeks. I played around with starting back to grappling training in BJJ or Sambo, and I started back the UC training after hooking up with Lee for a weekend. In the end I reckoned I needed something away from the mats. So I headed for the water and the hills.

I started Kayaking two weeks ago. A bit unsure as to how I would like it, I decided to give it a bash. I love the water anyway and I'd be a half decent swimmer. A good friend of mine Gerry O'F is an avid kayaker up in the Wild Water Kayak Club on the Liffey, he's an instructor up there so I got some really helpful one on one's. He was impressed with the speed I picked it up and on my first night I was able to run the weir, having said that, the water was very low, so low that Stevie Wonder would have ran the weir and got through it alright. All the same, I was hooked. I loved it. I did the capsize drill and soaked and smelling of river I couldn't wait to go back in. On my second trip out I learned the 'T' rescue and some new strokes. The 'T' rescue is for when you capsize and you lose your paddle (or you can't roll just yet). You sit upside in the kayak and bang your hull three times and wait for another kayaker to butt you with the nose of his boat which you then use to right yourself. It's just great crack and the weirs and the small bit of white water i got gave me a great adrenalin rush even more so than competing in the ring. This competition is with yourself, it's all about your own inner courage to venture into surroundings that have taken life, albeit only in the most tragic of circumstances.

On Saturday 4th September another out door challenge awaited. The Cooley challenge is a 20Km trek across the Cooley mountains. It's a tough, arduous ascent at the best of times. We got the worst of times! It lashed rain, constantly. It was hoods up and heads down as we made our way to the summit. Our club entered a team the youngest being Lauren Bradshaw and at only 13 she made the trek without one complaint, in fact every time we checked on her she was smiling. She's a great kid. It was also Donna's first time up the mountain ranges, she made a new friend called Maggie. Maggie was a three year old springer spaniel that accompanied one of the hikers. She ran the whole thing! (Maggie, not Donna!)


The hike was put together by locals in Armagh who have invited people to trek their beautiful country side which was inaccessible for decades as the British army prohibited anyone venturing onto what it deemed to be its land. Now they're gone and thankfully people from all over the world can enjoy the mountains.

As we neared the half way point we bumped into Banjo Bannon. Banjo is Ireland's most famous mountain climber. He has conquered some of the worlds highest and most dangerous mountains, including Everest and K2. He has been all over the world and all over the TV! Meeting him on the mountain was a privilege. He was coordinating the hike and at that point he was herding some lost hikers to safety. He spoke to us and told us where to stick to as visibility was next to nothing, he could see we were up for it so he told us to plough on. He took others off the mountain however. It was a great to meet one of the greats of the outdoors.

We ploughed on regardless and as we came off the top of the first ascent the weather calmed down a bit, we stopped for a rest and took in some of the local beauty. A short distance down the way awaited the half way point, soup sandwiches, Moore streets finest fruit and Gerry's gone off chocolate, which we had to eat to prove a point, don't ask!



Fired up with food and red bull we headed off to the finish point in Carlingford. Another two hours on foot and the next peek unveiled Carlingford bay. It was breath taking through the mist. At one point some upset Sheep decided they'd block our path, we set Lauren on them and they ran off!

The descent was as tough as the ascent, lose rocks or 'scree' made it tough on the ankles but the sticks made a huge difference. Along the way down we came across a farm which had a huge mare in foul, she came over to say hello. She was huge, majestic and powerful, a lovely sight.

As we made our way down into Carlingford, we were like Japanese soldiers coming out of the jungle 20 years after the war. The little village was booming with tourists who glared at us, I'm sure they thought we were mad coming down off the mountain after that weather! The funny thing for us now was the fact that we couldn't find the marina to the finish line! Almost 20km's in the rain and clouds with no directions and we make it to civilisation to find ourselves lost, unashamed we had to ask for directions where we headed for the finish line to clock 4 hours 36 minutes. An admirable time indeed.

I can't wait for the next one. Like I said in a recent blog, I love the outdoors, I'm going to be spending more time there than anywhere else for the foreseeable future.

Urban Combatives training day

So another great days training today with the lads. New additions today being Cathal and Paddy. The lads who have been training with me are the lads who work some close protection details with me, so the new additions are great as we open the classes up.

Today we drilled our main artillery working through the different strikes, cultivating impact, aggression and forward pressure. Once that was down we looked at an introduction to the sharp edge programme, designed by our lead man Lee Morrison and dedicated to the edged weapon.

As we only had one hour to dedicate to the module, we looked at;

Soft skills:

What is an edged weapon - by design and by improvisation
Current knife statistics from the Irish government
Video footage of live knife assaults as a learning tool
Photos of knife victims and wounds as a learning tool

Hard skills:

A knifers MO
Common knife concealment
trapping the draw (working off a rear deployment)
Breaking the structure and blasting the low line/followed by palms and elbows
Progression to trapping the draw

That's as much as we could get through in one hour and still not giving it proper justice but Lee always says, with your class, get them used to the concepts of the edged weapon programme from the beginning, knives are so common these days, to miss the opportunity to cover it is a mistake.

To finish the class we did some combative conditioning. Sprints, to press ups to burpee jumps reeling into knees and elbows to fatigue. A good days training had by all. Next week we'll add to the edged weapon module by dealing with the blade now in play.

Just give me a shout if you want to tag along, and stay tuned for www.combatives.ie

Tóg aire :)

UC training group

Great class today with the lads covering the ballistic stiking module from the UC syllabus. We're going to open things up a bit to anyone else who wants to train in UC. The lads training with me at the moment are a tough bunch who work with me on security detail, some close protection stuff we do from time to time, having said that anyone is welcome to tag along, you'll be made very welcome. There is always room for beginners.

Next week we're going to have a look at some of the 'Sharp Edge' stuff dealing with knife concealment and deployment. We'll also look at fending the knife to crash and counter drills.

Should be fun. Bring a gum shield ;)

Urban Combatives

There's nothing like knowing you've put in a good days training. I'm sat here now at 21.50pm, sore as hell, bruised and a wee head ache. I am surprised? Of course not. I was at a UC seminar. I haven't seen Lee for a while nor have I trained with him for about 12 months, so I was relishing the chance to catch up with him and Rob and put in some 'flight time'.

Lee's an interesting guy. I said that the first time I ever met him, interesting but enigmatic at the same time. He's a really great laugh and commands presence, but underneath that there's the other Lee, there's a darker side that has cultivated itself naturally over years of turbulent violent surroundings. These surroundings would have twisted the psyche of many a good man, the interesting thing about Lee is how he uses this experience to help others, he trains people now to avoid what he had to face as a young man in life and as an occupational self protection operative and security operative. Lee number two persona, to use a Jungian concept, is under lock and key until it's needed, and from time to time during one of his sessions you get to a peek at the attributes that make Lee famous for what he does. Lee's aggressive, incredibly fast and powerful, with a low centre gravity, wide frame and attitude to beat the band, he is your typical fighting machine.


Bear all that in mind now as I give my thoughts on the seminar and the fact that I'm his assistant for the day. Assistant is probably the wrong word, maybe the word victim is more accurate.

The seminar covered all the aspects of weapons. Edged weapons, blunt ballistic weapons, concealment, deployment, and the use of CS gas. Bolted onto those subjects were the concepts of flanking, preemption, body language cues, continuous counter offensive assault and take downs. It was a lot to fit into one 5 hour seminar, but as usually we covered a vast amount of the topics and finished up with a quick look at the possibility of live firearm hold ups, which was interesting to say the least.

Lee was in great form as he rounded up his summer finishing off a string of European seminars with this Irish one. He is only back from France and before that he was in Finland the Czech Republic and was a visitor to Kelly McCann's Crucible in the US. It's been a busy year as UC continues to expand as more and more people realise its usefulness way above any of the already better known "self defence systems" out there.



Being Lee's assistant for the day is always fun. You get to feel first hand the raw power on the end of the shots, you get to feel the blunt thud of the steel training knife as we drilled the counter knife stuff, if the blunt weapon causes so much pain, imagine the real thing! And that's why we train with an element of realism. You get to feel what forward pressure is actually about and why it's a vital cog in the wheel of self protection training.

The most interesting component of Lee's seminars however is the mindset module. Lee talks a lot about the need for a combative mindset. There is no point in learning any self protection concepts if you're not paying heed to your own mental approach. Mental approach is everything. One lesson he delivered this time round about mind set was about some of the nonsense being marketed which helped you "survive" an assault.

"Survival is a cop out" Lee says.
" If you get jumped upon by a nasty bunch of thugs, similar to those animals responsible for the death of two Polish men here in Dublin a few years back, and they give you a pasting the result being, you're brain damaged so much so that your paralysed from the neck down, or you're cut so severely that you are disfigured for life but you survive - that's a cop out"

"you have to train to win. You MUST prevail" Anything below that is not what our training is about.

Now that is the epitome of UC. For Taekwon-Do people, that is indomitable spirit. There's so much to be learned by people in the field of Combatives. Lee will be back again soon and we're already looking forward to it.

It's coming up to that time again, a time when some of the students get ready to test for 1st degree black belt. It's a great time in Taekwon-Do life when this time comes around and years of training finally have an end in sight.

End? That is the puzzle. Is it the end or is it only the beginning? Well that depends what you intend to do with your black belt and your training afterwards.

The black belt signifies a time in your training when all your preparations get recognised and you only begin on your journey. It also symbolises all that time that you have spent with your club and instructor training, sweating and learning. A black belt is one way a mutual bond. Well to some anyway. To others it is a status symbol, a trophy and a misunderstood level.

Other than my own thoughts on what black belt means, I think General Choi's opinion of what he wanted Taekwon-Do black belts to be is most important, so here is what he wrote about it. It can be found on page 727 of the condensed encyclopedia of Taekwon-Do.

First Degree - Expert or Novice?

One of the greatest misconceptions within the martial arts is the notion that all black belts holders are experts. It is understandable that those unacquainted with the martial arts might make this equation. However, students should certainly recognise that this is not always the case. Too often, novice black belt holders advertise themselves as experts and eventually even convince themselves.

The first the degree black belt holder has usually learned enough technique to defend him or herself against a single opponent. He or she can be confirmed fledgling who has acquired enough feathers to leave the nest and fend for him or her self. The first degree is a starting point. The student as merely built a foundation. The job of building the house lies ahead.

The novice black belt holder will now really begin to learn technique. Now that he or she has mastered the alphabet, he or she can begin to read. Years of hard work and study await him or her before he can even begin to consider him or herself an instructor and expert.

A perceptive student will, at this stage, suddenly realise how very little they know.

The black belt holder also enters a new era of responsibility. Though a beginner, they have entered a strong honourable fraternity of the black belt holders of the entire world; and his or her actions inside AND outside the training hall will be carefully scrutinised.

Their conduct will reflect on all black belt holders and he or she must constantly strive to set an example for all grade holders.

Some will certainly advance into the expert stages. However, far too many will believe the misconception and will remain in novice, mentally and technically.

General Choi Hong Hi 1918 - 2002

Founder of Taekwon-Do

So we are one week back today (Wednesday) and the thoughts of Korea are still very vivid. What an incredible experience. The championships, the festival, the cultural experience, just incredible. To be apart of team Ireland for this trip is something that can't be forgotten easily. Obviously it was a great trip for a number of reasons, my test, the students performance at the tournament, the experience of coaching at that level, being around some great people from across the globe and spending time with Master Choi and Master Dalton.

All the tough training certainly paid off, it was well worth all that effort. All that extra time on the mat, all those early mornings, the diet plans, the weight cutting, the hard slog of fundraising and the team building wasn't lost on everyone, and the results speak for themselves.

The World Taekwon-Do Festival was the first of the events to happen. This event saw both fighters from the WTF and the ITF compete along side each other in an amazing display of sport Taekwon-Do. Some of these WTF guys are savage kickers, explosive. Competing in the Festival for us was Lauren, Erika and Donna in the colour belt sections, Neidin and Alvy competed in the black belt sections.

The sections were huge, filled with competitors from Russia, Argentina, Uzbekistan, England, Korea and many more nations, all expecting the big G.O.L.D.
After the coaches meeting the draws were issued and for the first time we were able to see who faced who. The two girls, Erika and Lauren weren't phased by having to face some countries who boast the best TKD fighters in the world, if they were, they didn't show it!

They were first up to perform and boy did they perform, winning gold in their sparring sections and in patterns, Lauren took silver and Erika bronze. Erika looked very nervous in the patterns division, there was big expectations on her to perform well as she has medalled in every home tournament to date in patterns. She did a great Do San but she was the lowest ranking belt in the division so was up against some superb performances of Joong Gun and Yul Gok where beautiful side kicks will always score good marks. Never the less, she did us proud. As did Lauren who had to battle her way through a large section to meet an Argentinean girl in the final of the patterns, the girl did a near perfect Hwa Rang, technically very good, she had great acceleration and sine wave, she deserved the gold but Lauren was in great form winning the silver. I told you all many moons ago when she was an 8 year old white belt to watch out for her on the world stage. Told you so :)

Donna also competed very well in the patterns making her way to the final also. To think all of our competitors made it to the finals is mind blowing. She faced Russia in the final of her patterns and the final of her sparring she met Argentina. Tactically in the final of her sparring if she had have used her straight right a bit more she would have taken the girl, but it was a great performance a great result again on the international stage. She has the right attitude when it comes to competing, just get in and do it!

The black belts were another ball game altogether, the standard at that level was second to none and the contact was very hard, which suits the Irish. Neidin was performing the best she's ever performed in my opinion and she took a gold in sparring, Alvy was in a different league facing opposition like he's never faced before and got a rude awakening when he went out in the first round against Russia. However he was slotted onto the Irish men's team for the festival as Leon Brydon had to pull out due to an eye injury he was protecting. He redeemed himself on the team winning his fights and helping the team push through to the final where they met Greece and beat them easily, Alvy's inexperience in terms of ring craft caused him a loss as one final warning for exiting the area made it three warnings and a minus point which caused the scroll on the computer scoring to move over to his Greek opponent in the last ten seconds. Never the less it was a gold medal for team sparring in the festival so it was a great result. Neidin also won herself a gold medal in power breaking, smashing 7 boards with the side kick, which raised a bow from Master Choi up in the VIP section.

Master Dalton asked me to coach the team for the festival, this was a huge honour for me. It was a great learning experience and our tactics worked well.

World Championships

The Worlds were next, and the festival proved a useful warm up for the championships. There were over 2000 competitors altogether and the coaches meeting went on into the night as the draws were scrutinised. Competitors came from all over the globe to compete in Korea, and why wouldn't they, it's the chance of a life time.

It was great for our competitors to see such a standard, it's a standard to aspire to and very much achievable. The approach we've taken over the last few years to up our standard has worked well, but we must keep training and aspiring to that level. The level the Argentineans reach all the time.

The medals weren't as free flowing at the worlds! To earn a medal in this tournament you had to fight through sections with up to 40 in them over 5 and 6 pools. None the less, Neidin proved her worth as she battled through countries such as USA, Canada and Australia to meet the current world champ in the semi where after a very tough battle she lost out to Kimberley Bradshaw from England. The high point was the New York state trooper breaking her hand off Neidin's forehead! This was Neidin's debut as a senior too, some step up isn't it? To go from junior to senior at the worlds, nearly unfair, but she rose to the challenge in fairness to her winning three bronze in the championships, the only black belt to do so.

Alvy had a fierce battle in his first round against Canada which went over four rounds before Alvy stole the winning point with a well placed jumping punch. This fight took the steam out of him as he struggled against the US in his next fight but he took the win. In the next round awaited Jemaine Hemmings, current WAKO world champion. Getting past Jemaine was going to take a miracle at this stage as Alvy was shattered. As predicted Jemaine took the win and went on to face Christian Oriolani from Spain in the next round with Christian winning, only to be put out by Argentina in the next round, what happened after that I can't remember, the section went on for hours and there was no chance of us medalling there, not this time anyway. Maybe in the future, but that's up to Alvy.

For myself I also had the opportunity of participating in the first ever International seminar held at the World Taekwon-Do Education Centre in South Korea. You can keep your TKD palace Kim :) this place was great with some super instruction from international masters, including our very own Master Dalton and of course Master Choi Jung Hwa who taught patterns and theory of power to both ITF and WTF black belts.

The cultural experience however was the best part for me. The Koreans are beautiful people, very courteous and extremely helpful. The food was unreal and I got used to the kim chi after a few portions of it. The trip to the Buddhist temple was a great experience also, this is where we spent time with Master Choi who was in great form throughout the two weeks while we were there. Meeting him in the hotel lift he was in a buoyant mood as he told us the the ITF finals were carried on the main news network as well as live on Korea's sports channel. He told us that some Korean people were concerned initially as they thought it was some trick being played by North Korea on South Korean TV!

There are so many great memories about this trip, it was a valuable learning experience for us all on many levels, it was an opportunity to see the good aspects of some people and learn about their way of life.

I hope to return to Korea someday, and learn more about its people and its culture.

I couldn't finish this blog without mentioning our guide over the course of ten days, Eui Tae Jeong was one of the nicest guys you could meet. He was very helpful to us all and in a way he automatically became part of the Red Star team, it was sad to say goodbye to Eui Tae but hopefully we will meet him again sometime.

감사합니다 Eui Tae.

Moon Moo

One of the most exciting things about this new level is the challenge of Moon Moo. Made famous on the Internet by Argentina's Noemi Prone Moon Moo is one of the toughest patterns out there in terms of dexterity, core strength and leg strength.

Tonight I got all the movements learned off. I've been studying it for a few days now thanks to YouTube, it's an easier pattern to remember than I would have initially thought. The easy to remember diagram is countered by the fact that it is physically difficult. Slow side piercing kicks to the high section, high back piercing kicks all in slow motion make Moon Moo very pleasant to watch (if it's Noemi Prone!) but very hard to master.

Either way I was happy to have all the movements learned off, now it's just about refining it and that will be the hard part.

What a nice feeling

I didn't think it would feel as special as it did, but putting on the stripes for the first time was pretty cool. Makes the preparations all the more worth while.

:)

The test and what's next

Jet lag is just about wearing off, wobbly ground syndrome is abiding and reality is kicking back in.
What a great trip, what a great country. Korea is amazing, the people are amazing, the event was amazing. No complaints.

When we arrived on Monday night we crawled into the Ramada hotel after a three hour bus journey from Seoul. Just as we were checking in I saw Master Dalton and Master Maidana in discussions. I went over to say hello. After a few minutes of catch up, Master Dalton asked me if I was ready for the test, I said I was, and so he said "right, half 7 in the morning it is then" and so it was!

I didn't sleep that night at all and at about 5.30am I got up to go over some theory and stretch off, in my head I recapped the patterns. I was operating on adrenalin only as the body was well and truly bunched from the 19 hour journey to the other side of the world.

At 6.45am I headed down to the lobby of the hotel to go over the step sparring, everything was in the head, tired and all as I was, I felt up for it. Ready.
Master Dalton and assistants arrived at 7.30 sharp and we disappeared into the side room of the hotel as the test got underway.

The test was scrutinised by a hotel security guard, North Korean TKD in a South Korean hotel, could he believe his eyes? He was impressed I think!

After the bow in, the patterns were up first. Sam Il; it went well, I felt good, the humidity was great for good warm legs and loose hips. Next Choi Yong; again a good pattern, no wobbles on the hook side kick combination and I was flying. Yoo Sin the same, no problems although the sweat was pumping off me at this stage as the heat set in.

Down through some colour belt patterns, Won Hyo, Yul Gok, Joong Gun and Choong Moo followed by Po Eun and Eui Am. I was saturated and only 30 minutes into the test. Next up was fundamental movements. Master Dalton is a tough examiner, he is well known for it. I wouldn't expect anything less from him. He gave me a number movements incorporating jumping kicks and jumping techniques, my lungs were gasping for real air. I didn't factor in the heat at all and it was getting in on me. I had to suck it up and keep going.

Next up was step sparring which went well, then self defence which never causes me a problem. We did some free sparring and foot sparring, Master Dalton wanted the free sparring fast, without a break. The pain was strong, all I was breathing was warm air!

Next up was the power test. I brought over some good solid Irish wood. I asked Mr Mick Flaherty for some wood a few months back, he doesn't do things by half, the wood he gave me was tough stuff, full of knots, this stuff needed hammering, and it got hammered. The breaks went very well.

First up, two boards front leg turning kick then a speed punch while holding the board and dropping it myself, it broke easy after a good solid bang. Then there was jumping high kick situated about 7 foot in the air and then the jump back kick on two boards. The breaks were challenging and I was happy to break all without much problems.

The theory was to finish. It was tough theory. Apart from the required theory I was asked to explain sine wave and to explain fundamental movements and their relevance to the theory of power and some of the training secrets of Taekwon-Do. In summary, it was all about relaxing the body, using knee spring, having a backward motion, acceleration and concentration. Then there was a quick fire round, or so it felt that way, fast questions fired at me, which leg returns in Toi Gye? What is twin fist downward punch in Korean, which leg returns in Po Eun, Ge Baek, Eui Am, what height is the kick such and such, no problems with any of that.

After the test, I was given the good news. I was delighted. It was a tough test and I was the only one on the floor so every mistake would have been spotted, so the challenge was enjoyable.

I am extremely grateful to Master Dalton for organising this test for me. It's a special one and even more special that it was in Korea. I gave him a good old hug after it, and I meant it. I'll remember this one forever.

So what's next for this blog... what it takes to be a 5th dan?? Na. Time a for a little break I think. Back teaching on Friday. I'm looking forward to seeing the kids again and telling them about the trip. They'll be happy to see the big black stripes on the dobok, they all wished me good luck before I left, I hope they're proud of their 'sir' - I'd love to bring them all to Korea some time for a Taekwon-Do event. I know they would appreciate that.

ITF Taekwon-Do in Korea, on Korean television and on the streets. Only possible in Master Choi's ITF. A wonderful organisation.

And that's that.

So, a couple of posts later and here we are. The end is in sight. We leave for Korea tomorrow morning. We head for London, then London to Dubai (I'm looking forward to being on the big A380!) and then Dubai to Seoul in South Korea. It's a long bloomin' flight, something like 18 hours and this blog would rather be on Terra firma at all times!

The last year has been a whirl wind. It flew by. The preparations for this grading have been like no other to date. I've been juggling a lot of things in the last couple of months. Obviously our competitors who will be fighting in Korea have taken up most of my time with some intense training, I've been busy in work and also working on the ITF Ireland publicity committee for some weeks now too. But all in all I've handled the pressure OK, Donna may tell you different!

As everyone will know at the start of this blog I was destined to grade under Aidan Walsh. One of the Taekwon-Do pioneers in Ireland and the fifth Taekwon-Do black belt having graded in 1973. That idea took a bit of a nose dive, not due to anything with with Mr Walsh of course. In fact he helped me a great deal with preparations with my thesis.

The best move of the last year for me was rejoining ITF Ireland as an independent school affiliated to the ITF and so Red Star Sport Taekwon-Do was born.
Rejoining gave me this wonderful opportunity to grade in South Korea, the home of Taekwon-Do. I'm still reeling about that bit!

So in all I guess I'm happy with my preparations. I recapped all the patterns today and all the step sparring, 3, 2 and 1 step. The self defence will be a doddle, thank Lee Morrison for that :)
The patterns are good I think, if I can keep the nerves at bay on the day they should roll off the tongue.

My thesis is done. I could have written forever about the history of Taekwon-Do in Ireland but I hadn't got forever so I limited it to 20 pages and stopped at 1984 when the big split happened. I have the urge to continue writing however. I've been in touch with the masters of the RITA and they think it would be a good idea to continue with that piece of work, and I think I will. The information I have is priceless. I have a very special thanks to pay to both Master Robert Howard junior and Senior Master Howard VIII for all their help in my preparations and study for the thesis, I could not have concluded it without their help. I hope to see them again soon to continue the project.

I would also like to thank Aidan Walsh for some tit bits he gave me while we were spending time together training. I hope to revisit our conversations again soon.

In training, I really kept a watch on myself for this grading. Thanks to Jim Faulkner who trained along with me while he prepared for his fifth degree test, they were useful sessions on a Sunday.

Thanks to John Malone who gave me his 15 volume encyclopedia to study for the test, they came in very useful.
The theory is going ok. I hate memorising stuff, it reminds me of school! But the theory of power, training secrets, composition of Taekwon-Do, definition of Taekwon-Do and the moral culture are all well and truly on the disc, I just hope it comes off the disc in the right order!

My fitness levels are good. I don't think I have been in better shape ever, although my ma says i'm too skinny - ma's wha? (as we'd say in Dublin)

My biggest thanks for helping me prepare though goes to a non Taekwon-Doist. Physio Orlagh Sampson who pin pointed the problem in my creaky hips, it wasn't my flexibility, obviously as I could do two near perfect front splits, but my tight hip flexors and not so strong core. Her strength and conditioning home work have really helped my kicks...


See!
So a big thanks to her for her advice and professionalism.

Other people I have to thank would be of course by Master Dalton for spending time with me on some of the finer points of the patterns, Néídín for persevering with my step sparring faux pas, and of course the boss, Donna who had to put up with my crankiness as I prepared. I nearly had to do real self defence once or twice there :D

The World Championships

As for the Worlds, I have it in my head what I'd like to achieve with the guys but in my head is where it will stay to keep pressure off them. I am certain though that win, lose or draw they will perform well and for the first time on such a large stage a good performance is all I'm asking for. Although I have a hunch they will do a bit more than just perform well, just like my grading, it's in the lap of the gods.

I have to say that the amount of effort and training they put in has been commendable. They are gelling very well as a team and they are very confident, but not at all cocky, this is important. Both Adam and Alvy had to make a weight lower than there normal fighting weights and in fairness to them they got stuck in, they stuck to their diet plans that I put together (thanks to a few years working in the sports nutrition industry!) and their training and now Alvy is a lean 71kg's - down from a lean 76kg's! and Adam is 64kg's down from 68kg's. Both were carrying hardly any waste to start with so fair play to them!

Neidin is down to 68kgs and Donna is heading for 60kg's down from 68 which is a real jump! The cross trainer twice a day and a diet of fish and veg is the secret!

Erika and Lauren, lucky them they didn't have to make weight at all but both dropped weight due to training so every one is super fit.

In conclusion I would like to thank all of you (I think there are more than 7 people who read this!) for sticking along and sending me emails and texts wishing us all the best, you guys are true friends. So sin sin.

I'm going to try and twitter some reports from Korea if I can when we're over there so keep an eye on our website www.redstar-tkd.com or our twitter page www.twitter.com/redstarTKD

It's over to you an Badb Catha, the ancient Irish Goddess of War, death and rebirth. Bring me fortune.



:-D

The last furlong

It's been a little while since the last update. Things have been unbelievably busy. It's hard to think in two weeks we'll be off to Korea, the whole thing has been a blur, a blink of an eye.

In terms of my own training, it's been a real pain for the past three weeks, I've picked up silly little injuries through my own fault and my own need to keep sparring. The injuries aren't life threatening by any means, just annoying.
I was sparring Néidín last week without shin pads, and clobbard her on the elbows with a dollyo chagi and now there's a nice little chunk gone out of my right shin. At squad training last week I threw a high turning kick to Willy Maloney, he covered well but my foot got pushed off in an awkward direction, I strained the ligament. It's not too bad today. And then there is the ongoing tight hip flexors, although I think I have that under control now.

I spent the weekend with Master Dalton last week. It was a great few days training. On the Saturday we covered the third degree patterns. He was happy with the performances and offered a couple a small changes. I was happy he was happy, he will be on the panel!
The movement he made me drill over and over was the 'W' shape block in Sam Il, I'm chambering that one a tad bit wrong, I've been looking at that since, so it should be ok.

Yoo Sin and Choi Yong were fine, he emphasised the need to perform the guarding blocks with a bit more prominence. I needed the pressure of performing in front of him, it settled my nerves some what.

On the Sunday we did more patterns training and then the senior team did their team pattern training. Then it was straight into a squad session. For anyone that's done a squad, well you'll know what I mean when I say it was business as usual!
The new full time place in Tralee is great, nice a bright with plenty of space. I didn't get to finish the sparring due to my foot injury, but I got stuck into the fitness work. I was happy to keep up with the guys who are super fighting fit.

In terms of the other busy-ness, I've been working on the new ITF Ireland website and in turn my own new website. The ITF Ireland site is www.itfireland.net and of course our own website is www.redstar-tkd.com .

The preparations for the world championships have been taking up most of my time. We're training very hard. Three mornings a week at 6am and four evenings, well three with a Sunday morning. I've seen such a huge improvement in the lads. They are savagely fit at the moment. Alvy, Néídín and Adam are moving better than I've ever seen them. I wouldn't feel too comfortable myself lining out against any of them. Alvy and Néídín are now into their Leaving certs so the pressure is off them for a little bit, well the physical pressure, I'm sure the leaving brings its own amount of mental pressure... I wouldn't know!

Win, lose or draw I'd be confident that they will make a good impression and perform out of their skins, of this there will be no doubt.

So we're nearly there.

Tuesday 25th May

It's another lovely day. The sun makes it all the more worth while when you're up the same time it is. Headed down to the dojang for more work, similar to yesterday went through 3x2 mins of skipping as a warm up and then into some bag work followed by stretching. Then into the three bad boys, Sam Il, Choi Yong and Yoo Sin. They feel like shadows at this stage!

I managed to squeeze in some bench pressing and core work afterwards. I'm back to the physio on Monday next so hopefully there will be some progress there.

Enjoy the sun!

May 23rd / 24th

Just back from a morning session, if haven't noticed already I love the early morning starts. Three rounds of skipping to warm up, four rounds of sparring topped off by Sam Il, Yoo Sin and Choi Yong. Some stretching followed that and then some core work. Plenty of planks!

Yesterdays Sunday session also followed a similar trend. I brought the 1st kups through their syllabus material and then I did some tul work myself along with Jim Faulkner.

Tonight it will be more of the same, a two hour class followed by more stretching.

The theory work is going well. Just finished the section on the theory of power and sine wave motion. The next section I'm aiming for will be the cycle of Taekwon-Do. I may just have Master Gallaraga on the panel so the theory will have to be top notch.

We're off to the ITA open next weekend so we're all looking forward to that. It will be a big test for the black belts as the standard is really high at these guys tournaments. No point in shying away from the lime light!

Stay tuned.

A well timed Master class

On the 16th May we headed off to the sunny south east to attend a master class being hosted by Westpoint TKD Academy. Master Trevor Nicholls was over from England for the class which was well timed as this blogs preparations kick up a gear.

The class was excellent, very enjoyable with plenty of technical detail and he covered the 3rd degree patterns especially. Apart from the technical detail the class was a high tempo and was a super work out at the same time. Today my legs are feeling it, we must have done 1.5 hours of kicking.

Doing Yoo Sin and Choi Yong for Master Nicholls I was able to pick up on a few little gems of info that I needed so all in all it was a trip well worth taking.

Over all the preparations are going well now. I am happy with the patterns over all at this stage. The core development work is also paying off as I am starting to feel stronger on kicking.

I have my step sparring sorted out I have three step organised and one step, I just to put some two step together and I got my wood sorted. So that big digital clock gets closer and closer and now I'm starting to get nervous!

May 9th

Another Sunday and another technical session.

Today's session was the most enjoyable to date. Things are starting to come together, progress is being made. We did a good amount of step sparring, pad work (isolated reverse turning kick and spinning reverse turning kick) plenty of fundamental movements and every pattern right form Chon Ji to Choi Yong and they all felt good.

Three hours later and I finished off with some breaking, some speed breaks - fore fist punch and knife hands for the crack. I'm considering doing the punch on a brick, it's been a while since I've hit stuff harder than parana pine. The brick would be a nice addition so I'm going to try get some sorted and see how I get on.

The core work is really paying off, the side kicks carry a lot more precision at the moment as do the reverse turning kicks in Eui Am, you need a wash board core to stop them bad boys in mid flight. Thanks to Orlagh for the improvements there. So much for informed performance, they never replied. Sure they probably only train with real athletes...

Next week we're off to train with Master Nicholls. He will be visiting Mick Flaherty's dojang for a master class. It's nice to get some master classes in before any big test. I did two with GM Choi before my third in 07, so I'm looking forward to this one.

There was a degree test today in Kerry, my friends Jim Faulkner, Sandra Doyle, Mary Mannion and Shane Fitzgibbon all tested and were all successful after what I believe was a brutally hard test. There's nothing like success after a grueling test.

Well done to them all.

Also recently promoted my Taekwon-Do brother in arms, or is it legs? - Paul O'Brien promoted to 4th by GM Willy Lim. They've all baked a lovely cake, I hope I can put the icing on it in July.

May 3rd

Lovely morning this morning, I was up at 6. Time to change to routine slightly to tighten up that core area.

I came across some excellent core exercise workouts from a guy called Andy McDermott. You can see what he does on YouTube, if you visit our website - www.redstar-tkd.com and click on our YouTube channel and then subscriptions, you'll see his channel there. It's really tough stuff.

I've also put an email into Informed Performance gym. They specialise in core strength and conditioning. If I can get a few classes there in the day time I'll be a happy bunny. We will see.

You'd be amazed at how quick the heart rate goes up when you are doing core work, after about five minutes you could feel like you are out on a run. I'm going to miss the morning runs for the time being, but the core is where it's at for now.

I'll keep everyone posted, hopefully improvements won't take too long.

May 2nd

We are into the last 8 weeks now. This last stretch is the most important. I've spent the last 3 weeks with the head in the books. Updating myself on step sparring, theory, theory of power, sine wave motion and all applications. I've also started the visualisations, I have Jaroslaw Suska on my Ipod. He's a good man to model, having won several world championships in patterns.

My only niggle is my hip. No point in lying about it, I got some news at the physio last week. Orlagh Sampson knows her stuff. She's being the physio to the Irish boxing team and the high performance training gym for years, she also physio'd for world level rowers and kayakers.

She identified a key issue for me. No lateral core strength. She gave me some pretty simple core exercises to do, and I couldn't do them. Therefore, when I use lateral movement with my legs, side kick for example, my core doesn't fire leaving the small hip muscles to take all the weight which in turn aggravates them and wears them out. So I've a pile of core building exercises that I have to do now for the next two weeks. She says it will build up in no time as I am 'hyper-mobile' - apparently!

The next few weeks will see an increase in aerobic training and a pile more studying. I will also have to press on with the thesis. I will also be doing patterns everyday, even if they are just in the kitchen. The next two months will fly by!

I'm getting nervous now!

April 23rd

Long time no update!

Things have been quite busy for the last couple of weeks. Training wise things are going very well, very well indeed.

Although, I developed a problem with my right tensor facia latae. That's a muscle at the very top on the out side of the hip. At one stage I couldn't lift my leg over my waist as the TFL was cramped up. I had one visit to Orlagh Sampson and got immediate relief after some dry needling. I have to go back a few more times but already the right leg is much better.

I'm still training in Rivervalley with Stephen Cooley. They're a great bunch of guys out there and I'm enjoying the new surroundings and different ways of doing things.

Also on Sundays after I do the 1st kup class, Jim Faulkner joins me along with John Malone for about three hours of patterns work. Mr Faulkner is going for his fifth degree and John Malone is gearing up for his 3rd degree in the future. It's great to have other black belts to be technical with! Its funny all three of us have donkey's years under us and we're still only 2nd, 3rd and 4th degrees. John Malone got his 2nd degree 20 years ago, and Mr Faulkner has a pile of years done too, I graded to 1st degree in 1994, no racing here!

Mr Willy Owers also joined us last week, we had a great session delving into the books and performing all the tiny detail. It's incredible what you can forget!

Along side the physical training, my head is buried into the books. I've had to go back to basics with step sparring and get that right so volume 3 of the encyclopedia is out, as is volume 13 carrying all the details of Sam Il, Yoo Sin and Choi Yong. All the finer details of the patterns are important. I have to break out the theory of power next.

I've started the conditioning. My forefists are fine, as is the footsword, the ap kumchi is not too bad, but the reverse knife hand and the heel are still lagging. I'll keep banging away.

I hope to pop down to the degree grading on the 9th to see what is being done, good luck to all those going for degrees in front of Master Dalton on that date!

It has been one if them weeks. I've been quite tired for most of it and I've been neglecting my water. Believe it or not, when I don't get enough water in it affects performance on all levels. Mentally, physically. This happens with everyone, however most people can't relate tiredness and stiffness to a lack of uisce. It is powerful stuff.

So over a quite coffee here (ironically a diuretic!), I look back on the week that was a bit of a blur. I haven't really trained since Tuesday. We ventured out to Stephen Cooley's club for an enjoyable kick about. However when I go and train in a club that has a very high standard it can leave me feeling like I've so much to do and so little time to do it in. I panic. There's a standard out there that we're just not at yet, and I need to get there. I get frustrated, but I must remain patient.

In 2004 I had a conversation with someone about ITF Taekwon-Do in Ireland. He had big plans for his clubs and he remained consistent in his message that he would achieve a standard to be admired. That was six years ago. Obviously patience and a methodical approach to training is what is needed to be the future of ITF Taekwon-Do in Ireland. I have time on my side, I'm still only 24, ok maybe not, but I'm still young in the greater scheme of things and time is on my side and I'm learning valuable coaching skills as I move along. Exposure to great coaches is what it is all about, and I am grateful to have learned skills from the likes of Don Dalton, Jose Maidana, Tomaz Barada, Aidan Walsh, Martin Lawless, Terry Donnelly and Stephen Cooley. I consider myself very lucky.

Taekwon-Do Advisory Board

This blog had some interesting meetings over the past fortnight. All culminating from the recent INTA ITF Open. The Taekwon-Do Advisory Board (TAB) seems to be hotting up. It has some great ideas in the way forward for ITF Taekwon-Do in Ireland. Government recognition for ITF Taekwon-Do is a great thing. All I need to do now is recognise the government, I'm working on that one :)

Standard is important. There are too many shoe string Taekwon-Do clubs out there. There needs to be one standardised ITF format for all. The ITA and the RITA are on board. It's fantastic to see the RITA involved. The original ITF Taekwon-Do association in Ireland, and the ITA which split from the RITA when it was the AITA in 1984- confused yet?. And so history comes full circle.

When I was told that the TAB will be providing govt recognised and certified coaching courses (FETAC), sports nutrition and weight cutting courses, child protection courses and one grand championship in 2011 I thought this is the way to go.

So with my certs and details off I set to join the TAB. This will be a positive step for Red Star, of this there is no doubt. Great stuff.

Tuesday 30th March

I took a step outside of the comfort zone on Tuesday gone. We made a trip to Rivervalley in Swords to train with the ITA guys and see how they do things.

When we arrived, there was a larger crowd than I expected. It turned out to be a special session for their junior national team, so there was students there from across the country.

The training was super, although it got very intense very quickly probably at a pace I wasn't used to which caused me to retire for ten mins to get some air and some lucozade. Once I was settled into the pace of things I enjoyed the pad work. Stephen Cooley is a very knowledgeable guy and I picked up lots of different bits, he spoke about not using the side facing position at all for sparring, this made sense when I picked his brain after the class. I like his coaching style and everyone enjoyed the session.

I developed a little twinge in the right sartorius muscle, nothing major but I need to just watch it and not aggravate it.

We'll pop out to Rivervalley again next week, there's lots to be learned out there!

Wednesday 24th March

It seems procrastination is my reoccurring dream every morning at 6am. I have to let all the excuses rise to the top so they disappear into the ether.

Excuses this morning:

1. I'm still sore from the other day

2. If I train again this morning, I'll be tired for class tonight

3. I deserve to stay in bed an extra hour

4. I'm tired.

5. I deserve to stay in bed an extra hour

Then the other side kicked in.

1. Highly effective people are proactive - according to Dr Stephen Covey. Google that lad he's great.

2. I'll cycle to the dojang instead of running.

3. No I'll drive

4. Ah feck it just get up.

Effective people are proactive - That's my mantra for this morning.

So up I got and stuffed the haversack, got the pineapple and the pre training shake in, let it settle, got the Asics on and hit the road. I hate Wayne McCullough he makes it sound easy.

Cranked up the Ipod, I'm enjoying some Petshop Boys at the moment. Some of their stuff is great to run to.

At the gym, I got stuck into the shoulder routine;

Standing military press - empty bar, high reps as a warm up.

Seated dumbbell shoulder presses - 3 sets again high reps for an awful burn!

Rear delts were hit using the resistance bands

Lateral raises with Dumbbells and resistance bands finished off a burner on the deltoids.

Then onto the Triceps. No good in working Biceps without Triceps, the largest muscle group in the upper arm and a muscle a lot of gym rats forget about. If you want big arms you have to pay attention to the tri's.

Some seated dips to start, 3 sets of 20 and the tri's were nice and pumped.

Skull crushers followed for that intense burn closer to the elbow followed by cable pull downs with the resistance band to finish.

All of this took about an hour, and a good stretch and I was back on the road.

I was so glad to get back home, not that I was tired just happy I beat the excuses and was proactive in the approach to a very early start. It's hard enough to motivate yourself to train in the evening, but 6 in the morning is another days work!

Job done.

Monday 22nd March

The alarm kicked in at 6am, I could hear the rain outside which prompted thoughts of procrastination. In other words - "ah I'll leave it 'til tomorrow". Thankfully I didn't.

Up and at it, I got my pre training meal into me, 4 rings of pineapple, amino acids and an arginine based shake.

I loaded up the haversack with water, a towel and a dry t-shirt. Stretched off and hit the road. The run down to the gym is a quiet one, headphones on, head down, rain catching on the breath it's a good warm up for the training that follows.

When I got there I got straight under the bar for bench pressing. Two sets of 20 with the empty bar to warm up the shoulders and chest. Then came the plates. I kept it light with high repetitions. After three sets I did some dumbbell flies again three sets. Some cable cross overs followed using resistance bands and worked until failure. After the chest it was time for some ego training. Biceps. A useless muscle really but boys should have big biceps, so I'm told :-/

After some preacher curls and concentration curls I got into some stretching. I'm picking up some great tips from this guy - http://www.elasticsteel.com. I watched his DVD last night and picked up some great ideas for my tight hips and posture. Loose hip muscles are crucial to good kicking.

After some nice deep stretching I hit the road for the run home. The rain was heavier now. I remember speaking to Wayne McCullough once and he said he loved running in the rain, it was old school training, but it reminded him of home. Well it certainly reminds me of home! I felt good and strong over the last mile and kept a good stride right up to the finish.

Back in the door and straight to the protein isolate followed by a hot shower. For breakfast there was the usual 100 grams of porridge oats uncooked with alfalfa bean sprouts and mixed berries on rice milk. I don't eat a whole pile of dairy. In with the multi minerals and vits some DMAE and away we go.

In the news today, Barack Obama's health bill was passed. While it means very little here to us in Ireland, it means a lot to 30 million Americans who did not have access to health care cover. In the US health care wasn't a right, it was a luxury. Not anymore. That's another chink in the armour of what is a highly unequal society. Fair play to him.

At home, sad news at the death of Robert O'Shea. A member of the IUTF and most commonly known as the photographer at the IUTF competitions. He suffered a stroke. He'll be sadly missed by all that knew him.

Lá na Phádraig

We trained today for a few hours. Went over all the patterns all the way up to the vital three! Above is a snap shot from Juche/Kodang, pretty happy with the twin directional.
Here at the end of all of that I did Sam Il tul, again unedited mistakes and all. Critique please!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2gG26YUiXI

ITF Irish open (INTA)

We headed off to the INTA ITF Irish Open last Saturday and Sunday. It was a great pleasure to see all our friends again from the other schools, clubs and associations and catch up.

The tournament was certain to be a cracker as it had some top class Taekwon-Do teams from across Europe. The Norwegians never fail to impress. The first time I saw them in action was in Stratford Upon Avon in 2004 at the GTUK Open and they were great then, they were great at the weekend.

The standard of this tournament was extremely high, and the technical content was, well, technical! Our guys did well, it was a real eye opener for some of them coming face to face with excellence. None the less, they performed well. For me the the highlights were both Erika and Lauren winning gold in both patterns and sparring, Néidin counter fighting and Alvy. Alvy stole the show in the senior -80kg black belt sparring. When it went around the ring that he was only gone 18 he became a crowd favourite, especially after he clobbard a big Norwegian with a back reverse which sent him crashing to the mat. He was on fire. I was very excited at his performance, even though I nearly blinded him earlier in the day!

My goal for him was getting past the first round, he surpassed that and him with a flu. Another big step on his way into senior territory. He has come such a long way, when he came to our club first he couldn't take a smack! Alvy was eventually beaten by a very experienced Darren Smith. Darren is a gent, a true warrior of the art. No better person to be beaten by, he went on to win the section.

I was happy over the weekend. Some of the top Taekwon-Do guys were commenting on our performances, we're still only one little club, but we're punching above our weight. I love seeing the Europeans and the Scandanavians. Their will to prepare is super. It's frustrating to see how focused they are on the day, even their juniors. Some of our guys were too busy chatting each other up, the Europeans had their ear phones on, in the zone. It's that Irish thing I gave out about before. Irish teenagers, always content to operate 100% below their own natural potential. I know I'm making a broad generalisation, there are plenty of teens who break the mould, they know who they are and again I have big respect for them. They will ultimately determine their own destiny, and good luck to them.

I had some interesting discussions while I was there. The Irish Taekwon-Do Advisory board seems very promising. If it works out the way it should, it will the future of ITF Taekwon-Do in Ireland. I'll be putting in my forms. What ITF you belong to is irrelevant, this is a big step forward.

So in closing, fair play to Dave Elson from the INTA who organised this event. No doubt there was pressure. In the end, even after a long day, it was a great tournament so fair play to him and his team.

Fair play to all those incredible Taekwon-Do athletes who made my day, and fair play to our Red Star competitors who continue to make my time in TKD very worth while :)

A special visit

One of the worlds most prolific Taekwon-Do historians was in Ireland this week, and I was happy to meet up with him for three hours of mind blowing Taekwon-Do information.

Master George Vitale from New York City was in Ireland for the GM CK Choi seminar in Cork this week. This blog couldn't make the seminar as it was mid week, on a Wednesday, unfortunately.

Master Vitale was in Dublin for the last few days of his visit to Ireland and dropped me an email. I was delighted to have the chance to meet with this wonderful fountain of knowledge. He sleeps, eats, breaths Taekwon-Do and its history. He is personally known by most of the Korean pioneers and current Grand Masters and Masters around the world.

We met at the iconic GPO in O'Connell street and walked to a cafe where the master class began!

The only thing this blog regretted about meeting Master Vitale was not having a pen and paper or my trusty dicta phone. I had to pay extra attention to the detail.
Master Vitale gave me some great information relating to Taekwon-Do history and its subsequent arrival to Ireland which will go along way to helping me with my thesis as it progresses. He also agreed to stay in touch from New York and provide any assistance I need. A true gent of the art.

Unbelievably, three hours past in what felt like 10 minutes and we had to say our goodbyes as Master Vitale had to catch a train back to Malahide. We covered a huge range of subjects, from step sparring to General Choi, Park Jung Soo, Park Jung Tae, CK Choi, Nam Tae Hi, sine wave, chambering, the KTA, Taekyon and Tang Soo Do... I had no dicta phone!

I won't make that mistake again. It was great to meet Master Vitale. When I interviewed Senior Master Howard, he told me he knew Master Vitale;

"He was a state trooper in New York. A tough man, tough but a lovely man, he knows his stuff!"

Master Howard is dead right.
I look forward to staying in touch with Master Vitale.

On top of the world...

Well not exactly, but close. On February 27th we set off for the beautiful surrounds of South Armagh to take on the 'Twin Peaks Mountain Challenge'. The event provided an ideal chance to raise a few quid in sponsorship for the upcoming trip to Korea, more than that though, it was a perfect training session.

The challenge was an 18k trek across two of Armagh's most daunting peaks; Camlough mountain and Sliabh Gullion.
We headed in Camlough village for registration where we also met with all the other teams taking part. There was three teams from Dublin, one of them was team Red Star, which included Adam Quinn, Alvydas Jankauskas, Néidín Coulahan and Adam's mate Ciarán. This blog was attached to another team of experienced out door people, Gerry and Oisín. They craved the outdoors.

When we set out from the base I was unsure as to what to expect. I had prepared well, probably too well, I had too many layers on as I found out to my annoyance later on up the mountain. My pre-judgment had me believe I was heading for a stroll with a bit of a challenge. I was right, if you remove the stroll bit and upper case the challenge bit, add an exclamation mark -! -and were off.. CHALLENGE!

The beginning of Camlough is not for the faint hearted. It is an unforgiving sudden angle upwards. There was no warm up, just up. two or three minutes into the climb and the heart rate was well and truly at a pace, at this point I knew I was overly clothed, but there was nothing I could do except plough on.

The lads were hungry for the challenge, Adam and Alvy wanted to run it, I was content with the walk however.
Camlough was nearly vertical all the way to the top. It was a great relief to make it to flatter land, mission one was accomplished and no casualties.

Onto Sliabh Gullion now.

Armagh is an amazing county. Steeped in recent and not so recent history. The mountains we were trekking across were in the not so recent past inaccessible due to the British military being camped in spy posts across the region. The tops of these beautiful sleeping giants were out of bounds to locals and hill walkers alike. The spy posts are gone now and the walkers and locals of Armagh have made the mountains their own.
Unfortunately, a bit like litter bugs at the beach, the army left behind lumps of metal and barbed wire across the terrain. The locals don't mind though, for them the barbed wire is a symbol of what they campaigned to have removed, and now they can roam freely.

The views were spectacular. The snow was still intact on the peaks, the temperature dropped to -3 up there, but the body heat kept us all blissfully unaware of the circling wind.
A small winding road through some forest land led is to the beginning of Sliabh Gullion where waiting for us were Moore Streets finest mandarins. Nothing tasted so good. As we munched on mandarins we chatted with some local Armagh people who gave us some of the local history. We were told that on the top of Sliabh Gullion a small megalithic tomb existed. The druids of times long gone by burned the bones of the deceased in this ancient tomb. We headed on, excited of what lay ahead of us.

The lads on my team were a pleasure to have around. Both Gerry and Oisín were full of out door knowledge. There was plenty learned, new found knowledge ignited a possible new found love for the outdoors in this city dweller.

On the top of Sliabh Gullion my legs felt like they had taken part in two of Master Dalton's squad sessions, back to back. I was relieved to have made it. The fresh air up there was crisp and extremely clean. You could tell the difference. We were surrounded by nothing but clouds and it felt liberating.
We sought out the tomb and sat for a while as we loaded up with hot ribena, quinoa and simple carbs.
I took a moment or two to wonder at this marvelous structure on the top of the mount. It always amazes me that the people of a period over a thousand years ago paid such respect to their dead. Building this structure on Sliabh Gullion would have been no easy feat. Remarkable indeed.

We said our goodbyes to the tomb and to the Stewart's who were camped there for the day and we set off towards the ground. The descent was as challenging with most of the falls and tumbles happening as we clambered down. There was no serious injuries though, just damaged ego's and bruised rear ends.

About two hours later the ground started to level off and we were back near enough to sea level. Down through some small streams and across some knee deep soft ground and we had about 5 miles left back to the base.

On arrival we were timed, 5 hours 20 minutes it took us. We also found that the winners of the challenge did it in 2 hours 30 minutes. They ran it. I kid you not. Alvy reckons we could run it the next time. He's on his own.

After some soup and more mandarins we said a fond farewell to the folks that looked after us and headed back to the noisy polluted metropolis. Legs a bit weaker but minds a good deal clearer. Adam says we have to do this more often, I agree with him. And we will. I have now a new love for the outdoors that is tangible and not some pipe dream. The day was well worth it, and to make it even better it was a good days training.

As for the Sunday session, we took a break today. The memories of the mountain yesterday are good enough to create a sudden sweat. That will do us for today.

Inspired

I love to be inspired. There are few people in this world who inspire me. Those that do will know I hold them in high regard. These are the people I admire as leaders and from who I honestly accept their advice. These people carry similar traits, successful coaches and leaders all carry similar traits. For me these traits are;

Honesty - It's inspiring to hear people who are in leadership positions being honest. Honesty is hard to come by these days.

Open minded - Without an open mind a person is going no where. When you hear someone in a leadership position with vast experience in their field take on board a point you've made and then say I'm going to incorporate that straight away, that is inspiring. Not the fact that they simply agree, but the fact that they hold an open mind to others is the inspiring part.

Integrity - The bed rock for successful leaders.

These are just some of the things we covered today, day 3 of a special course I'm on. The course which is run by the Irish Times and delivered by two professors from the University of Ulster and Trinity college is in itself, inspiring.

The list we made of examples of leaders that inspired us was a bit longer than that, none the less all the points raised on it were very relevant. It allowed me as a person to establish with scientific fact that people whom I may have thought were good leaders were in fact very poor leaders and the people whom I thought were weak were in fact very strong. Good leaders are recognisable by their achievements, but most importantly a good leader will have a high level of emotional intelligence or in other words good people skills.

I'm happy to realise now that I have these people around me. I'm a person that needs inspiration from time to time, other wise I can fall into a rut.

I've learned a lot about my own personality this last week also. Apparently I'm an introvert! Well I knew that. I like my own company. Nothing like silence and a good book, I don't like parties and I think socialising for the sake of it is a waste of time unless it's with one person with whom I share the same interests or similar open minded people, at least this form of socialising allows you to come away with a new point of view or knowledge gained. You don't need something to be 'alive inside' to enjoy this.

I'm also someone that acts on intuition, that gut feeling that has guided me up to now, I trust my instincts, I've learned some valuable lessons in the past about ignoring my gut, I'll try not to let that happen again. I don't like to humour people either, your mood won't effect how I react to you.
I also like to be thanked, so thanks to me!

It's amazing what you can find out about yourself when you have the right circumstances and guidance. Day 4 tomorrow and then two more days in March. I'm thankful for the opportunity to be inspired this week.

A week in review

Last week was good. Training is going well. The effects of cardio training are kicking in. The road work is now enjoyable as the legs are well up for it. The new weight set we got for the dojang is a great addition to the training. I run down to the dojang now and train there for an hour with the weights and then run home. Very enjoyable.

The Sunday session was equally as good. We did the colour belt patterns, then the first degree patterns with the lads and then I did the 2nd and 3rd degree patterns and they felt good. We also did some one step and some practice breaking. I'm going to have to start practicing my special break. I'm thinking about doing the twin directional kick from Juche/Kodang, although that may not be required, it might be something more steady like jumping reverse turning kick. Either way I need to have an array of special breaks ready to roll. The conditioning has kicked in now also.

I had the opportunity to participate in some 'leadership training' courses this week. We started on Monday. This stuff is very interesting indeed. This is training that leading executives get to experience. It's a real eye opener to see why some people behave they way they do. Thought patterns, meta programmes and perceptions, all extremely interesting and thankfully I now have a better understanding as to why people feel the need to make daft decisions, Even myself!

Towards the end of this week we cover the hot topic of managing people. That should be as interesting.

I'm looking forward to Korea. The whole event looks very exciting. There is a special training course with GM Choi Jung Hwa towards the end of the week in Korea in a special Taekwon-Do training centre, that I really am looking forward to. It will be a once in a life time experience. I never thought that the day I walked into Thomas Carthy's training hall that one day I would be heading to Korea to participate in a world Taekwon-Do event. Surreal in many ways. You know my home had an outside toilet up to when I was 17, now there's contextualisation, what was that about looking at the stars?? ;)

Sunday session

We gathered at the dojang this morning to go over some patterns.
The morning was freezing, you would think we would be used to the cold by now. I'll say it again - I hate the cold. It affects my enthusiasm. In the ice box we call our dojang it isn't uncommon to have the temperature of your toes drop to -1000 degrees farencelcius.

It's frustrating.

Anyway, we went over a number of colour belt patterns in detail. Do San, Yul Gok, Joong Gun and Hwa Rang. Then I went over Choi Yong. I'm not turning the wrong way anymore. I studied one of the video's of this pattern on the legacy DVD so I was able to pin point the moment I was turning left instead of right.

After the opun sulkut tulgi, it's the right leg that pulls up into narani sogi as you perform the sonbadak golcho makgi, then instead of left leg, it's right leg. So it's all right, which makes it alright!

That was the only bug bear I had with my final three patterns. I've known them now for two years so the movements and the diagram shouldn't be a problem. I really want to pull off a nice Juche/Kodang. I love this pattern, it presents all the relevant problems to an 88kg guy but when I'm warm I can do a nice one.

Master Brendan O'Toole said in 2007 that I had the dexterity and the grace to do a really good Juche, he was right in 2007. I just haven't practiced enough.

I look forward to grading in Korea. At least it will be warm and I won't feel so stiff! O how I'd love a warm dojang. Anyone any ideas??

Stay tuned.

As I read some place before, situations and circumstances change.

The directions of this blog has changed also. Circumstances.

The date and venue have now been set for this blogs grading, and all going according to plan this blog will test in July, in the belly of the beast, the birth place of Taekwon-Do. Korea.

And so it will be.

Your man was right, I better get the finger out!

Your man says I better get the finger out. I tried telling him that the last few weeks have been complicated. "Excuses, excuses" he says back to me.

Things change. Situations and circumstances are constantly in flux.

"Here we go again" says your man. "But it's true", I told him.

He sits down beside me and calls for two more of the same. Mine's a tonic water and lime, "I'll have something stronger" says he. He's interested now.

"Circumstances?" he asks. The bar man lands a pint of Guinness in front of him and he rubs the condensation off the cold glass with his thumb.
"What circumstances would that be?" he continues.

"well" says I. "You know the way sometimes you throw yourself into a project, and everyone in it has great ideas, everyone says the future is bright and the road will rise with us?

"No" says he, "can't say I have, the only project I threw meself into was PROJECT 1, but I got meself threw out of it just as quick" - his eyes light up as the Guinness has finally settled and he slurries a fine mouth full.

Project 1 was a pub off Clanbrassil Street back in the day, apparently.

"I don't remember that place" says I. "anyway, I threw meself into a different kind of project, one that promised resources a plenty, it was a grand project with a fair amount of potential"

"yeh I get where you're goin' alright. Dya want a bag of crisps?". Your man is hungry.

"Go on sure, I may as well, salt and vinegar" says I.

"So what happened?" He elbows me to continue.

"Nothing" I replied.

"Nothing?" says he. Your man is easily confused.

"indeed" i nodded. "Nothing."

"Ah jaysis" says he. "Have you been sneakin' shorts into that tonic water?" He second glances the bar man.

"I love salt and vinegar crisps" says I. "There's not a taste on the earth that equals it"

"will ye get on with it" says he, his mouth stuffed with cheese and onion.

"Are you still workin' with the window cleaners?" I asked.

"sure am" says he, just finished Carnlough this mornin', why dya think i'm in here now?"

"right, well imagine you decided to leave your window cleaning business for another. The other business promised you a much better way of doing things, they offered you certificates of approval and identity badges. New buckets and new ladders and new rags and more business, how would you feel?"

"Well" says he. "I could do with a few more rags, that's for sure, I'd suss it out for meself anyways"

"I'm sure you would, sure you're a man after me own heart, you'd suss out any project that promises you more than what you've got, wouldn't you?" I asked with interest.

"defo would yeh, i'd be mad keen I reckon" - He's half way through his pint now and he's well and truly settled for the day.

"Yeh course you would" I agreed. "You'd obviously get stuck in and help the project succeed"

"ah yeh, I would, I'd use all me local resources to get it off the ground, especially if it offered me a few new windows"

"you mean avenues?"

"well I do them as well, but I prefer cul de sacs, at least you have a starting point and finishing point with them"

I shakes my head with a smirk.

"So" says I continuing. "imagine that you've thrown your lot into the new window cleaning business, but nothing happens"

"ye mean, no new rags and stuff?"

"yeh no new rags, no new ladders no new avenues"

"ye mean windows?"

"Them too!" I quips back

"Well I'd be a tad confused alright" - he sits upright on the stool and places his fists on his hips. "Cos ye know, when I threw me lot in, I give it everything. I'd be profiling the business, telling everyone about it, supplying people to manufacture logo's and websites, jaysis I'd even offer me own house to meet up for business meetings"

"I've no doubt ye would" says I. keeping an eye on his dwindling Guinness.

"two more!" I shouts at the bar keep. He gives me a nod.

"Is there many window cleaning business out there like that?" I asks.

"There'd be a few alright. Most pretend to offer you everything you need, pffff never happens" he shakes his head.

"What would be the defining moment that tells you, you've made a mistake?" I asks, with genuine interest.

"Well, there'd have to be a few I reckon"

"go on" says I.

"Well if all your work went without a simple thanks at christmas time, that would make me think. If nothing that was promised came about, that would also make me think. The icing on the cake would be if the new company decided it was going to use your own ladders, buckets and rags to do it's business instead of buying it's own"

"well that's a bit rich isn't it" says I. Thinking he's exaggerating a bit.

"It can happen I'm tellin' ye. While the polit bureau keeps you distracted with red tape, the workers are up using your ladders. When ye go to look for one yourself, they're not around."

"Sure that's not on"

"Better believe it!" says he. He's animated now. Good job that second Guinness arrives.

"Well" says I. "I'll let you go"

"are you not staying on for a few, shakey will be down later"

"No I won't bother" says I, "I've plenty to be doing"

"right you are so, don't let those projects get you down"

"I won't don't worry" I says as I pat him on the shoulder.

"Their loss" - In more ways than one, I think to myself.

"Listen" he catches me by the arm before I set off.

"Will ye keep an ear to the ground for a bit more work for me, maybe ask Margaret Daly up on Viking Place if she wants her windows done"

"I will" says I. "Not a bother, but it'll cost you" I winks at him and leaves.

"Not you as well!" he laughs.

"Good luck to ye!"





"