June 2-3, 2017 CTFI National Championships, Longueuil, Quebec

Congratulations to all DSATaekwondo athletes who participated at the 2017 Canadian Championships in Longueil, Quebec. it was hard fought but we ended up with a couple of Canadian national Champions and 2 first time members to the national team: Kento Vince  and Jenna Wong. They will represent Canada at the 2017 Jr. and Sr. World Taekwon-do Championships in Dublin, Ireland.

Following are the results:

May 6, 2017 BC Cup, Kelowna, BC

Congrats to everyone who participated at the 2017 BC Cup Kelowna!

Following are the results:

Darius, Gold for Patterns, Gold for Powerbreaking, 

Dana Bronze for patterns, Darson, Bronze for power, Kento Gold for Power and Sparring, Jenna, Silver for Power, Roanna had an awesome try worthy of a medal. Thank you so much for everyone's support and see you back in Vancouver!

Congratulations to our delegation to the recent ITFofBC Provincial Taekwon-do Championships in Kamloops. We hope everyone had fun and LEARNED something new about themselves. Even if you won, you should find something that you have to improve on.

November 13, 2016 DSA Friendship Tournament

Congratulations DSA students for another successful test of skills!

November 11, 2016 Movie Night: Ice Age Collision Course

Thank you so much to everyone who participated on our fundraising Movie night We all had fun watching and spending the night with you!

June 11, 2016 Prince George BC Taekwon-do Cup

Congratulations to our winners at the recent BC Cup in Prince George!

May 29, 2016 DSA Championships

Thank you so much for everyone who participated at our first DSA Championships. It was a great day for the kids to show their parents and friends what they have learned so far. Congratulations to our winners and remember that there is always room to grow and get better. Keep on training!

July 16, 2015 #IAMDSA #WeAreDSA Launched

Keep spreading the word. Be proud! Be Loud! I am DSA!

May 27-31, 2015 2015 World Championships, Jesolo, Italy

The Andaya Family, wishes to thank everyone for their love and support for Dana and Manuel as they compete at the World Championships in Jesolo, Italy. Although they were not able to bring home the gold, it was an experience they will never forget and it was an honour to represent their adopted country. Go! Canada Go!

May 15, 2015 Synergy Fundraising Concert, Windermere Secondary, Vancouver, BC

On May 15, (Happy Birthday Ms. Andaya!), DSA Taekwondo in cooperation with Windermere Secondary hosted the Synergy Concert. A fundraiser to benefit Dana and Manuel Andaya's quest for Gold at the World Championships in Italy. It was definitely a night to remember with some great talents showcased at the concert.

A huge thank you to Mara Ayque, Matthew Jeff Elizalde Uy, Lorenzo Carlos, Trisha Ignacio, Jewel Mendoza, Ia Cruz, Miguel Manrique, Christian Jay Andal, Jaydee Onil, Gil Del Rosario, our BC Akafellas chorale friends with Alfonso Mendoza, Connie Dazo Mendoza, Silvia Dazz, Marius Pira, Jojo Romero, Mike Olango, Stella for hosting the event and all the many others behind the scenes who graciously lent us their talent and time for this event.

Aside from the musical numbers, the Andaya kids also presented a Taekwondo Demo:

January 1, 2015 DSATaekwondo moves to its own Dojang, 4600 Imperial, Burnaby

It's moving day for DSA! DSA moves from the community centre to its own dojang in burnaby with new competition quality mats, wall to wall mirrors and 3600 square foot space! Thank you to all my students who followed us here. This is for you too!

November 7-8, 2014 National Championships Regina, Saskatchewan

Congratulations on a great performance by the DSA team who went all out to compete at the 2014 CTFI National championships in Regina Saskatchewan on Nov 7-8, 2014!

Out team composed of DSA, Manuel, Dana, Xiang Wei and Eleazar bagged several medals for the DSA contingent.

Ms. Dana Mae Andaya magnificently sailed through both Set A and B groups to bag the gold medal in Patterns and was selected as a member of Team Canada.

Mr. Manuel Darson Andaya received Silver in Patterns and was also selected as a member of Team Canada. He also received Silver in Prearranged Sparring, Silver in Jr Team Sparring, and bronze in Powebreaking.

Mr. Xiang Wei Wan won bronze in Patterns, Silver in Prearranged Sparring, and Silver in Jr Team Sparring.

Mr. Eleazar Pestano won bronze in Sparring and Team Sparring as well as Gold in Team Patterns.

Mr. Darius Andaya won Gold in Patterns, Gold in Team Patterns and bronze in Powerbreaking.

CONGRATULATIONS to the Ms. Dana Andaya and Mr. Manuel Andaya as they train to compete at the 2015 World Champioships in Jesolo, Italy!

October 12, 2014 BC Cup, Burnaby, BC

On behalf of all the members of the DSA Royal International Taekwon-do, I would like to express my wholehearted gratitude to everyone who helped us organize this event: All our wonderful and generous volunteers in Vancouver, in particular Stella, Chris, and my wife Weng for coordinating everything, my mom Rosalina and Chelita in the Philippines, all our generous sponsors, all instructors and my co-directors at the ITFofBC and everyone else I have not mentioned.

May 31, 2014 Provincial Championsips, Prince George, BC

Excellent Job Team DSA at the 2014 Provincial Taekwon-do Championship in Prince George! Mr. Manuel Darson Andaya swept all golds for Patterns, Sparring and Junior Powerbreaking. Kento Vince and Meagan (on her first tournament) both got double golds for Patterns and Sparring. DSA (Me) won gold on Sr Men's Patterns after three tiebreakers on the finals. I also got bronze on Sr. Men powerbreaking. Angelito Ruiz won silver for his patterns, while Kenzo won silver for sparring and bronze for patterns. Christopher, Aaron and his mom Maricar Adams, won double bronze for both their patterns and sparring. All in all, another excellent competitionand everybody enjoyed themselves. Thank you Mr. Jordan Boudreau for an excellent tournament. Hope to see your guys in Burnaby n October 12 for the BC Cup!

April 5 , 2014 Western Canadian Taekwon-do Championships, Warman, Saskatchewan

November 15 , 2013 Challenger Taekwon-do Starts at Windermere Secondary, Vancouver, BC

As our way of giving back to our community. DSA Taekwon-do has started the Challenger Taekwon-do Program. Beginning with Life Skills Class of Windermere Secondary, we are hoping that this will continue to benefit these challenged yetincredibly remarkable kids.

View their progress at https://www.facebook.com/wsslifeskills

October 23-27, 2013 ITF World Taekwon-do Championships Benidorm, Spain

A LETTER OF APPRECIATION

Manuel Darson and family would like to thank each and everyone of you for your support and generous donation during his journey to the World Championship.

I am pleased to report that Manuel finished on the top 5. We are very happy with his performance. He beat out 28 other delgates from around the world who were mostly older and bigger than him. He is very motivated to try again in 2 years for the 2015 World Championship in Italy.

Manuel exceeded his personal goal for this Championship. As this is his first World Tournament, he was understandably nervous. He is glad that after all the training out in the cold, he was able to perform better than he expected. All competitors were complaining that the boards where extra hard yet Darson still performed excellently. Manuel broke 7 boards with no red flags (no errors on balance, technique and attacking tool) which is equivalent to 21 points out of a possible 33. A lot of people were really impressed that he had so much power in such a small frame.

On November 17, Darson accepted a Maharlika Special Award for Sports from the Filipino Canadian Cultural Heritage Society for the honour he gave to the Philippines by representing the Filipino prowess in the International scene. 

We, his very proud parents, appreciate all your love and support.

-DSA and Family

October 5 , 2013 BC Taekwon-do Cup, Kelowna, BC

Congratulations to our only representative to the BC Cup, Kento for representing Gold Medals for both Patterns and Sparring. You are a welcome addition to our Wall of Champions..

May 18-19 , 2013 CTFI National Championships Quebec City, Quebec

QUEBEC, QUEBEC - the beautiful city by the edge of the Saint Lawrence River, has borne witness to many a significant event in history, not the least of which is being the first city established as a permanent settlement in Canada.   The Victoria Day long weekend on May 18 – 19 is another such day.  ITF Quebec  hosted the  2013 International Taekwon-do Federation National Championships at the Cégep Limoilou Sports Complex, and the city once again recorded a new page in history as it witnessed the emergence of a new breed of champions. 

The best of the best in ITF taekwon-do from all over Canada gathered to compete in various events that included patterns, sparring, powerbreaking, special techniques, prearranged sparring, team patterns and team sparring. This year, gold and silver medal winners of these events were invited to become members of Team Canada which will represent the country at the World Championships to be held on October in Benidorm, Spain.

Three of our Blackbelts travelled to the east to answer the challenge: Mr. Xiang Wei Wan (with Dad, KS Wan), Mr. Manuel Darson Andaya and coach Mr. Darius Andaya. Although our boys did a great job on their patterns, they came up short and failed to get to set A on the first day. At the end of the next day however, Mr. Manuel Andaya won gold in Powerbreaking, a surprise win considering this is his first entry to the event. None of the other competitors in the Junior Blackbelt division were able to break any boards on the first round and therefore did not qualify for medals and consequently, membership to Team Canada. The championship title gave our club our first student to qualify for the World Taekwon-do Championship. Mr. Darius Andaya also dis well with a bronze medal for the Super senior powerbreaking.

Congratulations Manuel! Train hard and have fun in Benidorm, Spain on October!

February 10, 2013 ITF of BC Provincials, SFU, Burnaby, BC

Once again, DSA students showed true taekwon-do prowess at the 2013 ITF of BC Taekwon-do Provincial Championships held on February 10, 2013 at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia.

The tournament, attended by more than 290 competitors from all over BC, was open to all students wishing to test their skills on patterns (technical know-how), sparring (fighting prowess) and powerbreaking (strength). Twenty DSA delegates, won a total of 37 medals: 19 gold, 11 silver and 7 bronze. On several divisions, DSA students met at the finals to win top honours.

December 21, 2012 Christmas Party Laserdome Plus, North Vancouver

12/21/12. No end of the world blues in this club. We're going to have a lot of lasertag fun, climb us some rocks, and eat cake in preparation for Christmas and 2013.

December 15, 2012 Vanrun Fun Run for the Vancouver Food Bank, Stanley Park Sea Wall

DSA, together with Darson and Ethan, in the midst of pouring winter rain, ran with the Vancouver Running club to raise funds and food for the Vancouver Food Bank. Total food donations reached 767 lbs, and cash donations hit $345.00.

November 17, 2012 Self Defense Seminar with Master Kurt Ottesen

October 6, 2012 Dinner for Master Lipscombe

DSA with Dana and Manuel attended a congratulatory dinner for Master Hal Lipscombe held at Milestones Grill in Coquitlam. He, together with Master Kurt Ottesen, successfully tested for their 7th degree black belt. The attached photo is a gift from DSA to Master L.

May 18, 2012 Black Belt Test

Congratulations!!!

• Ms. Laikheng "Sue" Mah, 2nd degree
• Ms. Dana Mae Andaya, 2nd degree
• Mr. Manuel Darson Andaya II, 2nd degree
• Mr. Eezaiah Pestano, 1st degree

May 12, 2012 CTFI Western Canada Taekwon-do Championships, Port Coquitlam, BC

It was another great day at the tournaments for DSA Taekwondo!

Our club's first attendance to the Westerns Championships was a great success and added another 24 medals on our collective virtual wall of fame.

All of our athletes took home a medal for ALL of the events they entered. Final Tally: 13 students, 12 Gold, 6 Silver, 6 Bronze.

Well done everybody. Proud of you all!

April 12, 2012 72nd International Instructors Course, Richmond (Vancouver), British Columbia

From Friday April 20th to Sunday April 22, 2012 the 72nd International Instructors' Course was held in Richmond, (a suburb of Vancouver) British Columbia, Canada.

Hosts were Hal Lipscombe/Pacific Rim Institute of Taekwon-Do and Kurt Ottesen/Freedom Taekwon-Do Schools.

The seminar was conducted by the International Taekwon-Do Federation's Technical Committee, lead by Grand Master Marano, Chairman of the Technical Committee and Grand Master Bos, member of the ITF Technical Committee, along with their special guest Master Norman President of the Canadian Taekwon-Do Federation, International.

The seminar hosts' special guest was Master Pierre Laquerre, 8th Dan and Technical Director of the Canadian Taekwon-Do Federation International.

In total there were 123 participants at the course. In keeping with the truly international scope of the ITF participants came from Canada (Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Quebec, and Nova Scotia), Anguilla, Argentina, Bahamas, Italy, and Jamaica.

97 of the participants were members of the ITF of B.C.

As always the Grand Masters and Masters were in top form seamlessly guiding the participants through Chon- Ji to Tong IL. They provided detailed analyses of the movements and application of techniques within the patterns as well as reviewing the most common mistakes in Color Belt patterns. Step Sparring, Sparring Techniques, and Sparring received a lot of attention and Grand Master Bos reviewed recent changes in Tournament Rules which was very beneficial.

The participants were inspired by the Grand Masters and Masters´ knowledge and skills. It was a great pleasure for all involved to have the benefit of these fine gentlemen's expertise.

-Excerpt from Mr.L's report to the ITF

Jan 6. 2012 We are Back at Collingwood!

We are now back at our old training hall at 5288 Joyce St., Vancouver, BC (in front of the St. Marr's Parish). Please check out our new schedule here.

Dec 19, 2011 Bowling night Christmas Party

Nov, 12, 2011 2011 CTFI National Taekwon-do Championships, Calgary, Alberta

Ten Competitors with their families braved the winter weather conditions to participate at the 2011 National Tournament held at the Talisman Centre in Calgary, Alberta. As expected, our students gave their all and came back winners with 7 gold, 7 silver and 4 bronze medals. Below are the medal tally:

Nov, 6, 2011 Class C and B Umpire Training , Coquitlam, BC

Students from blue belt to blackbelt attended the Umpire Seminar held in Coquitlam. Mr. Rod Johnson and Mr. Chris Law updated the students on all facets of Class C and Class B umpire duties and responsibilities. The seminar was based on the most recent updated ITF Official Rules of competition.

The practical component consisted of umpire exercises for both patterns and sparring. Volunteers were asked to perform various patterns to allow the participants the opportunity to practice judging patterns based on the five criteria: technical content, power, balance, breath control, and rhythm. Following patterns students practiced judging sparring. To assist Class B registrants an additional 2 hours was added at the end of seminar to review centre ring umpire duties, hand signals and protocol. There was a written test for both Class C and Class B registrants. All students passed with flying colours.

October 1, 2011 BC Team Trials and Training Camp

Led by Coaches Master Mike Barker, Mr. Kurt Ottesen and Mr. David White, Vernon, BC

Congratulations to the following for getting through the first round to become a BC Team member.

• Dana Andaya (Team Patterns Junior Girls)
• Manuel Andaya (Team Sparring Junior Boys)
• Eleazar Pestano (Team SParring Junior Boys)

August 6 , 2011 Pinoy Fiesta Parade Unang Hirit sa Taginit

July 1 , 2011 Canada Day Demo with the Pacific Rim at Castle Park Coquitlam

Our affiliate Pacific Rim Institute of Taekwon-do called for support and we were there to give our all. Every year the Pacific Rim group provides a demonstration for the citizens of Port Coquitlam and this year we were lucky enough to participate and show them what we can do on patterns, sparring and breaking. Among the special techniques displayed was a team pattern by Dana Andaya, Manuel Andaya, Roanna, Edgar and Roni Deguzman, and Angelito Ruiz. Dana also demonstrated the application of techniques used in the pattern Joong Gun. Mr. Andaya showed great form in breaking with a flying triple kick and a hammer fist break on a cement brick.

April 9, 2011 Provincial Championship Kamloops,BC held at the Tournament Capital Centre

January 28, 2011

Congratulations! 

Student	Current Belt	Promoted to
Ezekiel	Red stripe	Red
Ethan	Blue	Red Stripe
Edgar	Blue Stripe	Blue
Roanna	Blue Stripe	Blue
Qi Shin	Blue Stripe	Blue
Rinzel	Green	Blue Stripe
Nicholas	Green	Blue
Roni	Green	Blue Stripe

 

January 14, 2011

Congratulations! 

Kharl promoted to Green Stripe

Christopher promoted to Yellow Belt

Jared promoted to Yellow Belt

January 1, 2011

Happy new year!

December 17, 2010

2nd Annual Skills Demonstration and Christmas party

Thank you very much for all the parents and friends who attended our 2nd Skills Demonstration and shared some of their favorite dishes. Thanks Mr. Chris Law for coming in and showing support to our students.

The Annual Skill Demo was introduced in order to show parents what their children have learned throughout the year. Much like a music recital, or an art exhibit, the demo gives the student a chance to show off their skills (which under normal circumstances) they cannot do anywhere else. Students who won competitions during the year are also honoured by announcing their current titles or medals received.

After the bow-in, recital of the oath and a quick warm up, demo started with Alex, Danayee, Glen and Jay  showing their basic fundamental movements, followed by a team pattern (Chonji) by Jared,  Christopher, and Hikaru.

Roanna and Edgar, was next and delivered an exciting prearranged sparring.

Kharl was fierce as he demonstrated self-defense against three opponents (including a slow-motion.)

Edgar, Roanna, Rustin and Rinzel performed a high flying overhead kick.

Next, was a team pattern (DoSan by Nicholas, Qishin, Xiang Wei and Sue.

Rinzel performed a fast, one-leg three section turning kick.

As an intermission, Roanna sang My grown-up christmas wish.

Mr. A demonstrated self-defense against a knifeattack or gun.

The yellow belts consisting of Andrea, Jeremy, Benjamin, Raymond, Renato and Philip, stood up to do their version of Danggun. 

Next was a breaking demo of various techniques by Alex, Christopher, Hikaru, Nicholas, Jared, Darryl, Rustin, Roni, and Andrea.

Ezekiel demonstrated a double knifehand side strike followed by a head strike breaking two boards.

Eleazar followed by jumping off a wall breaking a board with a jumping turning kick and a reverse turning kick to another board.

Sue did a one leg fast break with a turning kick, hook kick and side kick.

Ethan broke boards with a split kick followed by a middle punch.

Dana did a one hand cart wheel followed by a double reverse knifehand strikes.

Next was a series of flying side kick. Nicholas over 1 person, Rustin over 2 and Xiang Wei over 1 person.

Ethan, Eleazar, Eezaiah, Dana and Manuel did a great team pattern rendition of Choong Jang.

Mr. A and Mr. Andaya finished up with a prearranged sparring. 

The demo was followed by a great dinner, photo ops and fun games for the kids as we say goodbye to 2010.

SEE YOU NEXT YEAR!

December 10, 2010

Black Belt Grading Officiated by Mr. Hal Lipscome, 6th Dan and Mr. Chris Law, 5th Dan Held at t3121 Kingsway

Congratulations! 

Darius Andaya promoted to III Dan

Dana Mae Andaya promoted to I Dan

Manuel Darson Andaya promoted to I Dan

November 13, 2010

2010 Canadian National Taekwon-Do Championships

Held at the Richmond Olympic Oval on November 12-13, 2010. Out of 18 delegates (11 of them first-timers), our club continued to be successful in producing quality taekwondo students, receiving a total of 31 medals: 19 GOLD, 7 Silver and 5 Bronze. Congratulations Everyone.

Following the event, a Potluck victory party was quickly organized and the parents brought lots of food on November 19. The kids had fun and the parents had time to get to know each other more.

August 15, 2010

Pinoy Fiesta: Unang Hirit sa Taginit Parade

Our club together with Ms. Diana Henson of Pacific Rim Institute of Taekwondo participated in the parade celebrating the Philippine culture. It was a long walk but our students persevered and showed their mettle. Below is a picture of Darryl. This photo won the Photo contest.

June 12, 2010

Pista ng Bayan Philippine Independence Day celebration 

May 2,  2010

2010 Umpire Certification Seminar, Vernon, BC

The Canadian Taekwon-Do Federation International (CTFI) hosted an official Umpire and Officials Training Course on Sunday, May 2, 2010. The seminar is open to all Red and Black Belts age 16 or over who are often asked to help at all tournaments to judge patterns and free sparring for the lower ranking coloured belts. 

Held the day after the B.C. Provincial Championships (May 1, 2010), the course was run at the Sandman Hotel in Vernon from 8:00 am – 4:00 pm. What an information packed day! The program was instructed by Mr. Kurt Ottesen, C.T.F.I. Director of Umpires.

Each participant received the new C.T.F.I Official's Training Manual and the C.T.F.I Officials Handbook. In Attendance was Mr. Darius Andaya who received a class B umpire certificate.

June 3, 2010

Renfrew Elementary talent show. 

Dana and Manuel demonstrated a great taekwondo routine showcasing the different aspects of Taekwondo.  Well done.

May 2, 2010

Mr. Andaya receives Class B Umpire certification.

On Sunday May 2 Mr. Kurt Ottesen, member of the ITF Umpire committee presented a Class C and Class B umpire seminar in Vernon B.C. The seminar was sponsored by the ITF of B.C. There were 41 participants. The seminar was divided into two parts: theory and practical. In the morning Mr. Ottesen reviewed rules and procedures for umpire responsibilities. The 4 hour power point presentation was based on the most recent updated ITF Official Rules of competition.

In the afternoon the practical component consisted of umpire exercises for both patterns and sparring. Volunteers were asked to perform various patterns to allow the participants the opportunity to practice judging patterns based on the five criteria: technical content, power, balance, breath control, and rhythm. Proper protocol was followed to ensure students understand the correct procedure to start and finish a match. Following patterns students practiced the intricate hand signals involved with centre umpire sparring duties. All too soon it was time to end the seminar.

The seminar was very professional in presentation. Mr. Otessen constantly stressed that safety and fairness were the major responsibilities of an ITF umpire. He also encouraged participants to devote as much time preparing for umpire duties as a competitor prepares for competition. Throughout the day Mr. O related some of his experiences on the world stage both as a competitor and umpire. His stories and anecdotes made the time fly by. We are very grateful to Mr. Ottesen for sharing his wealth of knowledge with us.

-Taken from ITF of BC Website

May 1,  2010

2010 Provincial Tournament Hosted by Sundance, Vernon, BC

Congratulations to our Provincial Champions!

Pictures in gallery

April 22nd 2010

52nd International Instructor's Course In Denver Colorado

Mr. Darius Andaya and Manuel With Grand masters Jacob Willem Bos and Pablo Trajtenberg (ITF President)

The weekend of April 9th - April 11th saw over 120 participants from all over North America attend the 52nd International Instructors Seminar in Denver Colorado. In attendance were instructors and assistant instructors from Pacific Rim Institute of Taekwon-Do  and DSA Taekwon-Do.

The course was instructed by the ITF Technical Commitee consisting of Grand Master Hector Marano ( 9th Dan and Chairman of the Technical Commitee) , Grand Master Pablo Trajtenberg (9th Dan and Acting President of the ITF) and Grand Master Wim Boss (9th Dan and Secretary General of the ITF). Also in attendance was Grand Master Van Binh ( 9th Dan and President of ITF USA) as well as a handful of masters.

The seminar covered all 24 patterns, Step sparring, self defense, free sparring and protocol, the course also introduced new dynamic drills enjoyed by all participants. A special banquet was held to celebrate the course as well as celebrate the 55th birthday of Taekwon-Do.

We'd like to thank Master Fred Akard and his organizing committee for doing a fantastic job all weekend. In attendance was Mr. Darius Andaya, II Dan, and Manuel Andaya, Red Belt.

With Grandmaster Van Binh

Pictures in gallery

March 20th 2010

POW WOW! Demonstration

On March 20th Pacific Rim Taekwon-Do along with DSA Royal Taekwon-Do were invited to do a demo at the "Awakening the Spirit of Ya-Xwa" Powwow. Members in attendance were:  Narrator - Michelle Sokolowski; Instructor & Organizer - Diana Henson; Members: Clayton Sokolowski, Darius Andaya, Brad Smith, Dana Andaya, Manuel Andaya, Eezaiah Pestano, Jay Wittur, Karlos Wittur, Evan Hanson, Georgina Willis, Jasper Gao. The members did some warm up exercises followed by patterns and then sparring that really started to get the crowd excited, especially the fast paced match of Brad Smith vs Darius Andaya. The crowd was also amazed by the breaking ability of our students from Jasper up to an unbelievable triple break by Darius Andaya.

Pictures on the gallery.

Dec 19,  2010

First Annual Skills Demonstration and Christmas Party

On Dec. 19, 2010, DSA Royal Taekwondo held its first annual skills demonstration / Christmas Party to showcase the skills learned by the students so far. Parents and friends were invited to watch the students exhibit their phenomenal abilities in patterns, sparring, powerbreaking, team patterns, special techniques and many more. 

Video and pictures on the gallery.

November 14th 2009

Results

November 14th 2009 saw 141 competitors from BC compete at the 2009 friendship tournament. The tournament was organized by Mr. Kevin Reinelt and Triumph Taekwon-Do. The tournament also served as a fundraising tournament to support our BC members on the Canadian Team.

Congratulations to the following Participants:

November 2008 1st COLOURED  BELT TOURNAMENT

The  First Annual Coloured Belt Tournament was held at the Champlain Heights Community Centre in Vancouver. It's aim was  to give coloured belts some experience in competitions but in a less stressful atmosphere. Net proceeds from the tournament are donated to the BC women's team and the Covenant House.

This year, our representatives were Dana and Manuel who performed exceedingly well for very first competition. Although they were on different teams, Dana was with the SAGI team and Manuel was with the JIRUGI team, both of them performed really well to garner points for their respective teams.

In patterns, Manuel and Dana both took the first place spots on their divisions, earning 50 points each for their teams. They both used Won-Hyo as their competition pattern.

In sparring, Manuel won 1 out of 2 sparring bouts while Dana won both of her bouts. For the sake of our other students, in no-contact sparring, make sure to keep your attacks close but not hitting to get the points. Too far and too separate from your opponent gives you no points.

After all their points were combined, the SAGI TEAM came in first, the MATSOGI TEAM was second, and the JIRUGI team was third.  All members of each team were given ribbons and certificates of participation.

In the end,  although they both won and the ribbons were excellent, what was most important was the experience. Dana, who was very anxious the day before, can't wait to get to the next  tournament. Manuel was aiming for the world cup!

Who knows, if you train well enough, maybe you could get there too!

Pictures in the Gallery

Dec. 14, 2008 BELT PROMOTION RESULTS

Congratulations to all the students who took their belt promotion test last December 14, 2008. Mr. Hal Lipscombe, 6th Dan ITF, administered the test and he was quite impressed at how the kids have progressed. Most of the them even jumped one belt level because of their impressive performance. Excellent work everybody! Keep it up. 

Here are the complete results.

• November12 Surrey Class re-starts

• November 3 Monday Training starts at Collingwood (6-7 kids, 7-8  adults)

October 4 - 6th 2008

Fifth Annual ITF President's Seminar

Mr. Andaya, Dana and Manuel Andaya attended the Fifth Annual President's Seminar hosted by the Pacific Rim Institute of Taekwon-Do.  The seminar was conducted by the President of the ITF, VIIIth Degree Black Belt  Master Tran Trieu Quan and his son Mr. Nicholas Tran IVth Degree Black Belt . Master Tran and Mr. Tran brought new teachings to a variety of different students from white belts to 6th degree black belts. Master Tran talked about how all the different aspects of Taekwon-Do are not separate; they all are equally important. Master Tran kept to this saying by going over all the different aspects of Taekwon-Do from self defence to free sparring to patterns. Master Tran offered a great learning experience for everyone who attended the seminar.

The seminar started on Friday night with a three hour class for the senior instructors. The focus of this class was " how to analyze ITF patterns and tips for competition. Master Tran then worked with the 5th and 6th dans on their patterns.

Once the sparring began everyone saw Mr. Tran start to take over and show everyone a few good moves and strategies in sparring. We all learned key parts to winning in sparring. We were reminded about  distance, and how that at different distances, certain attacks are better to execute than others.  Master Tran also explained to everyone about the nine targets on someone's body in free sparring.  We were also reminded about the three different types of timing; before, during and after the attack. Master Tran and Mr. Tran also explained about how different timings should be used on different fighters at different times during a match.

 On Saturday afternoon, Master Tran also taught everyone different techniques for self defence and how to tell if a moment was very dangerous, where you needed to fight to save your life, or if you could just get away fast and safely. We also learned a variety of new techniques, from ones that would get you away from someone fast to other ones that would make sure the person never came after you again.

Sunday featured a special class for red and black belt instructors,   Master Tran spoke about the importance of practicing and teaching the Do in Taekwon-Do. On this day Master Tran explained how the Do is not protocol, it is not something you memorize, but is something that is in your head, all the time. It also takes part in the different tenets of Taekwon-Do, which symbolize how someone who is practicing the Do should act not only in the dojang but also in their personal life. Master Tran explained that someone who may practice the Do in the dojang but not in their personal life is not actually practicing the Do. Master Tran also showed that through practicing the Do we all can be a step closer to a happier life.

A select few people also had the great honour of going out for dinner with Master Tran, to a Korean barbeque, which showed a lot of people the culture from which Taekwon-Do originated from.

Pictures in the Gallery