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.