2007 News

Mr Dalton Seminar for IUTF Dublin

End of Year seminar with Mr Dalton
December 9th saw the eagerly awaited seminar with IUTF senior coach and President Mr Don Dalton 6th degree black belt and national team coach.
50 students from Pilsung Taekwon-Do Acadamies filled the Parnell Room of the Royal Dublin Hotel and waited patiently for the arrival of Mr Dalton. The event was also supported by our good friends in the GTI under Mr Fran Plunkett.
With the arrival of Mr Dalton the seminar was started and after a warm Dublin welcome the warm up began.

The seminar focused on sparring techniques and drills. Mr Dalton brought the students through a series of very enjoyable drills which included lead leg side kicks to back kicks, ake kicks and the transition to half facing position for punching, jumping punch drills, deceptive kicking drills, defensive guard work and much more including classical Argentinean style pad work introduced to the IUTF by Master Maidana. Mr Dalton as usual lead the seminar with fine examples of each drill, his precision, speed and eloguance in technique clearly highlighted why he is one of the most respected and sought after instructors in the ITF today.

The seminar was scheduled for 2.5 hours and to the shock of everyone present the time had whizzed by unbelievabley fast, a clear example of the result on time when fun is to the fore!
Mr Dalton finished the seminar with some conditioning drills, working on the particular mucles needed to be fast and powerful kicker. The seminar turned into a mini squad session with an IUTF atmosphere filling the room, yells of encouragement and enthusiasm became the order of the day!

50 students packed into the Royal Dublin Hotel to train with Mr Dalton Mr Dalton gives a talk on goal setting and keeping a positive outlook in life Mr Dalton is assisted by Mr Mackey for the sparring drills Students listen and learn from one of the best in the business! Mr Dalton demonstrates the lead leg high hook kick Mr Dalton spoke about the differences between Northern European fighters and Latin American fighters It wouldn't be an IUTF seminar if there wasn't plenty of smiles! This time the joke is on Mr Mackey! Mr Dalton worked with almost every student on the day

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Presentations

After the seminar finished up Mr Dalton and Mr Plunkett presenting the annual awards to the Pilsung Taekwon-Do Academy students for special achievement. With the IUTF expansion in Dublin this year the student awards now spanned from Cabra to Finglas and Castleknock.
Awards this year were presented to a number of students who have trained exceptionally hard and who have improved in different areas of Taekwon-Do training.
As with every year an award is presented to the best beginner, this years best beginner awards were presented to

Castleknock seniors - Mr Chris Dunlop
Castleknock juniors - Michelle Banaag
Cabra seniors - Shauna Russell
Cabra juniors - Nicole Rogers

Indomitable spirit awards were presented to

Nathan Cogley - Cabra juniors
Michael Ruane - Castleknock juniors
Ausra Jankauskaite - Finglas juniors
Casey Dixon - most improved sparring
Lauren Bradshaw - most improved patterns
Peter Germaine - Best jumping high kick

This years student of the year awards were presented to those that have excelled in their training, and who have represented IUTF Dublin at various tournaments successfully and most importantly those who have a good attitude towards training. The following individuals are those that relish the chance to train and who constantly work on self improvement.
Congratulations to;

Pierce O'Brien - Cabra juniors
Lauren Russell - Finglas juniors
Neidin Coulahan - Cabra seniors

The final presentation was a presentation of appreciation and thanks. IUTF Dublin instructor Jon Mackey presented Mr Dalton with a crystal bowl, finishing the speeches Mr Mackey informed the students how Mr Dalton continuously works towards the betterment of the IUTF and the expansion of the ITF through continents such as Africa Asia and South America. More importantly for Mr Mackey however was the guidance and tuition that Mr Dalton has provided since joining the IUTF in 2004. Mr Mackey thanked Mr Dalton for his continued support, citing that Mr Dalton is aways at the end of the phone to answer any questions and offer advice, Mackey finished by staing that Mr Dalton was more than just an instructor, but more a mentor and friend. Mr Dalton accepted the crystal and thanked everyone for attending, he also paid special tribute to Mr Plunkett of the GTI who the IUTF have a new and special relationship with.
The seminar attendees then applauded Mr Dalton for a really enjoyable days training.

International Irish Championships

The International Irish Champs were held over the weekend of the 24th and 25th of November this year. The tournament, which is one of Europes largest, attracted top competitors from all over including, Scotland, England, Germany, Holland, Italy, Belgium and across Ireland.
Red Star fielded a strong team this year with 22 competitors making the weekend trip. Most of the competitors came from the well established Cabra Academy with some new members, Alvydas and Ausra Jankauskas from Finglas Academy attending for the first time.
Everyone was in fine form and did exceptionally well over the weekend.

The Saturday saw the senior black belts competing. IUTF Dublin instructor Jon Mackey was first to add some silver ware with a bronze in the senior black belt patterns. This years senior sections were huge, and the standard was very high.

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The Pilsung Academies had one more celebration to make this weekend as 2 of its members were selected to represent Ireland on the national teams. This year saw Neidin Coulahan and instructor Jon Mackey selected for the national senior men's team. This years team event - the Celtic Cup - had a very tough line up with national teams from England, Scotland, Holland, Germany, Ireland and local teams enter the fray. The Irish team faced Scotland in the preliminary round, in a tough encounter the Scots put up a Gallant fight but Ireland were just too dominant. England faced Holland also in the prelims, Holland fielded an exceptional team but England's team were superior this year with some highly talented internationals including world champion Richard Belle. Germany faced Team Focus with Focus taking the win.
In the next round Focus faced Team Ireland, with Team Ireland taking the win to face England in the finals the following day.
The Celtic Cup finals took place on the Sunday morning. With Neptune stadium now packed to the rafters both teams warmed up in the centre ring. The atmosphere was electric as the home and visiting supporters got behind their fighters. The opening round saw Ireland pull a draw with Sean Keane performing excellently. The next round Kevin Larkin was beaten after a fierce battle, Ireland were now one down. Next up Leon Brydon took on Michael Belle in a cracking match, Leon took the win and we were level pegging again. Next up, world champion Richard Belle faced Irelands David O'Sullivan, in a massive encounter Richard Belle proved why he holds the title, David O'Sullivan fought indomitably but couldn't secure the win. Next up was Jon Mackey, who took a win after a heavy battle and brought Ireland back in with a chance, it was now a fight off - England fielded their best, back out was Richard Belle, Ireland put David O'Sullivan back out - again unfortunately for Ireland Richard controlled the fight and England were given the victory on a cats whisker 3 wins to 2 and 1 draw each.
The crowd applauded the fighters as they both exchanged hand shakes and hugs, Master Wolf rightly told the crowd they had witnessed two of the best teams in the world battle it out.

Neidin picked up gold in the girls team event.

In the individual events the Pilsung students performed out of their skins taking home several national titles. A special mention should go to new student Donna Mackey who won her patterns and sparring sections with ease. Also taking golds were Rachel Murphy and Neidin Coulahan. Robin Butler was pipped in the final of his parring section taking home a well deserved silver. Rising star Neidin Coulahan was in great form in her sparring section beating some of Irelands best junior girls to reach the final to face a tough opponent from Tralee. Neidin kept a closed guard and dominated the fight with her strength and determination. Ireland's national coach Mr Dalton was very impressed with her performance, she has a bright future.
Congratulations also to Pierce O'Brien, Casey Dixon, Lauren Bradshaw, Jake O'Connor, Dylan Russell and Ausra Jankauskas all from the junior classes who competed. For such young competitors to travel and fight at one of Europes largest tournaments is a massive acheivement for them, they did our club proud!

RESULTS:

Donna Mackey GOLD (patterns)

Donna Mackey GOLD (Sparring)

Neidin Coulahan GOLD (sparring)

Neidin Coulahan GOLD (team sparring)

Rachel Murphy GOLD (patterns)

Shauna Russell SILVER (patterns)

Adam Quinn SILVER (patterns)

Robin Butler SILVER (sparring)

Rose Donovan SILVER (sparring)

Martin Moylan BRONZE (sparring)

Pierce O'Brien BRONZE (sparring)

Frances Brown BRONZE (patterns)

Jon Mackey BRONZE (patterns)

Jon Mackey SILVER (Celtic Cup)

Charity Challenge Cup

Irish Fighter Charity Challenge Cup
This year saw the beginning of a very special event in Irish Martial Arts. The Irish Fighter Charity Challenge was an idea brought together to raise money for a designated charity. The idea being that different teams from different styles would come together to compete against each other and raise money whilst doing so. The very first Charity Challenge brought together teams from the 4 main ITF Taekwon-Do associations in Ireland - the IUTF, the ITA, the RITA and East Coast TKD. Also on the night teams from Karate and kickboxing squared off against each other in what was a friendly though competetive night of martial arts.
In the Taekwon-Do sections, the first draw drew the IUTF and East Coast TKD to be followed by the ITA versus the RITA. The IUTF team beat East Coast to meet the ITA in the final. This year the ITA took the Cup after an explosive battle of ITF sparring between 6 competitors from each team.
After the event, it was hugs and smiles all round as fellow Taekwon-Do fighters shared notes and exchanged ideas for future collaborations!

IUTF Dublin instructor Jon Mackey competed on the night with the IUTF team, here are some snaps from the night.

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Leinster Championships report and photo's

Leinster Championships a huge success!

This years IUTF Leinster championships was a great success and was the largest Leinster championships to date. With over 220 competitors battling it out on the day for each sections lucrative Leinster title!
With so many competitors the day was buiding up to be a fantastic day of Taekwon-Do, and as usual it ran seamlessly throughout.

Our very own Red Star students performed excellently on the day in both patterns and sparring sections. At one point it seemed as if Red Star students dominated every patterns section with many sections going 1st, 2nd and 3rd to the Academy! Not to be out done in sparring either, Red Star students fought gallantly on the day and took away many gold medals from their respective bouts.

"I think it says a lot about our training at Red Star that students continue to shine at competition level. We take great pride in our pattern and sparring training, to be a good all rounder you must focus on the two important parts of Taekwon-Do training. Again we have to count our lucky stars that as members of the ITF Irleand we can host tournaments like this one and have access to national instructors and international masters and instructors who have all influenced our training methods at the the clubs, and now with the firm establishment of ITF Ireland things can only get better for all its Students" - Jon Mackey

The tournament was supported by our friends from Focus Martials Arts under Mr Daragh Bolton, Elite Taekwon-Do Academy under Mr Terry Donnelly, Irish School of Taekwon-Do under Mr Paul O'Brien, National Irish Taekwon-Do Association under Mr Jim Faulkner, Ennis Taekwon-Do under Mr Tim Forde, Combat Martial Arts under Nicky Duffy, East Coast Taekwon-Do under Mr Chris McCabe, Global Taekwon-Do (GTI) under r Fran Plunkett and from IUTF schools under Messrs Don Dalton, John Riordan, Shane Fitzgibbon, Red Star under Mr Jon Mackey and both Mrs Mary Mannion (Athlone) and Mrs Sandra Doyle (Loughrea).

Leinster Championships 07 (20)

Thomaz Barada seminar

Red Star were kindly invited by the INTA to a recent seminar conducted by Taekwon-Do sparring legend, Slovenia's Thomaz Barada. Barada holds a record of 3 ITF world championships, 6 ITF European championships, 3 times King of Taekwon-Do and a WAKO pro record of 84 fights with 0 losses. The seminar focused on sparring drills and, foot work and conditioning.
After several really functional drills which included leading your opponent on to back kicks and reverse hook kicks, including axe kick drills and hand techniques,we then did heaps of sparring now putting them drills into practice.
Barada's knowledge and easy manner made the seminar one of the most enjoyable to date. In ITF and WAKO Pro circles Barada is a true legend and is featured heavily on this website! - see the video below.
"A big thank you to the INTA for this kind invite. Thomaz Barada is an inspiration to all who like to compete. After the seminar I was invited to Slovenia next year to participate in the Thomaz Barada training camp, this is something I am truly looking forward to! " - Jon Mackey

Thomas Barada continued on to Cork to finish off a weekend of top class Taekwon-Do instruction.

Thomaz Barada and Jon Mackey IUTF students with Thomaz Barada GTI's Fran Plunkett with Thomaz Barada Jon Mackey with the INTA's Mr Kevin Hannigan.