ITF Taekwon-do world championships in Finland
Chief Instructor Toms thoughts. Its been a busy few months! Myself and Anna were lucky enough to attend the world championship in Finland in September.
It was an unbelievable experience having the opportunity to rub shoulders and compete with the best in the world. The Australian team had 7 competitors so very small compared to the Argentinian team who had around 150. Australia only won 1 bronze medal as the competitors from every country are just amazing. The europeans in particular are so strong as every month they would have access to high class seminars, training camps and each countries national competitions.
Personally i put one of my best performances on the mat on the big stage so extremely happy with myself. I competed against 32 of the very best and felt that i could have beaten a few of them to possibly make the top 25. Anna did an outstanding job with her patterns and was flawless. She beat the English champion with ease and came up against the ukranian champion. The scores could have gone either way but for Anna she was beaten by the smallest of margins.
The whole experience has given me the confidence to know that i am teaching my students world class technique. It is a life changing opportunity to represent your country and i am so happy that i can offer that to my students in the future… if they are hungry enough to chase this dream. I was also lucky enough to carry the Australian flag at the opening ceremony and meet some of the former world champions who are seen as gods for us Taekwon-do die hards.
For any of you that dream as big as me, here are the next big world events that we have the chance to attend. The World cups are an open competition so each country can send as many competitors for each event that they like, the world championship is the most prestigious event in our TKD world as each country can only send 2 competitors for each event.
Argentina world cup 2024
Croatia world championship 2025
Ireland world cup 2026
After such an amazing journey filled with so many highs, i do have some unfortunate news. Anna is taking a break from taekwon-do. She has been our little champion and has proven that hard work and dedication can give you once in a lifetime opportunities. Anna wanted me to pass her words on to everyone that supported and believed in her.
Dear students/families of Australian School of Taekwon-Do,
I want to thank you for your support & encouragement leading up to and whilst in Finland! It was a great comp and it was awesome to see some of our international TKD friends whilst there!
I have decided to take a break from training/teaching for the time being to finish year 12 & see where the new year will take me after school (possibly university!) Your support is much appreciated!
I wish the very best for the club & am excited to see it continue to grow! It has been awesome to teach & learn with such a great group of people. I encourage each every family to continue to support the club in any way you can, as it has such a great community & the future looks bright!
From Anna!
I am not going to sugar coat the situation. I was hurt by Anna’s decision as it was a complete shock to come back to after such a high. I get upset when i lose any student as i build up relationships and give everything i have to new people in my life and those relationships suddenly end. Every student that i lose is like a kick in the guts…lucky for me i do a lot of core work outs so i can take them, haha.
Anna will always be part of our family and i am confident that she will be back one day in the future. Anna also used to make up these newsletters so i cant promise that they will be very good in the future as they are in my (average at best with technology) hands.
Again, thank you for your ongoing support.