2013 Junior A National Champions – Gold Medallists

	Name	Province	Club	Division
Female
	Rowena Lau	BC	Oriental Martial Arts College	Fin
	Emma-Lee DiGiovanni	QC	Chong Lee Taekwondo	Fly
	Amélie Henry	QB	Chong Lee Taekwondo	Bantam
	Skylar Park	MB	Tae Ryong Park Academy	Feather
	Nicole Joycey	NS	Inner Strength Taekwondo	Light
	Evelyn Gonda	BC	Tae Geuk Taekwondo	Welter
	Gabrielle Rousseau	QC	Club de taekwondo de Beauport	Light-Middle
	Rachel Cuma	ON	Uxbridge Taekwondo Academy	Middle
	Selena Russell	MB	Tactical Taekwondo	Light-Heavy
	Madeline Power	NB	Chung Won Taekwondo	Heavy
Male
	Jef Ogues	ON	Team Fast	Fin
	Shane Britton	BC	Woo Kim Surrey Taekwondo	Fly
	Jadon Nahibuan	ON	Myung’s Taekwondo Academy	Bantam
	Hunter Carroll	NS	HP Atlantic Taekwondo Centre	Feather
	Jackson Carroll	NS	HP Atlantic Taekwondo Centre	Light
	Jonathan Riverin	QC	Académie de Taekwondo de Chicoutimi	Welter
	Hervan Nkogho Mengue	QC	Club de taekwondo de Sainte-Foy	Light-Middle
	Raphaël Salvail	QC	Chong Lee Taekwondo	Middle
	Adam Tomlinson	ON	A.T. Martial Arts	Light-Heavy
	Youssef Hoballah	QC	CCMM Ultimate Taekwondo	Heavy

2013 Junior B National Champions – Gold Medallists

	Name	Province	Club	Division
Female
	Isis Oro	MB	Tactical Taekwondo	Fin
	Emily Lee	ON	Authentic Taekwondo	Fly
	Savanah Tardy	QC	École Taekwondo Laurentides	Bantam
	Melynda Visouvath	ON	Tri Star Taekwondo	Feather
	Gabrielle Hudon	QC	Académie de taekwondo de Chicoutimi	Light
	Skylar Park	MB	Tae Ryong Park Academy	Welter
	Alexandria Forman	ON	Tri Star Taekwondo	Light-Middle
	Ashlyn Arnold	BC	Tae Geuk Taekwondo	Middle
				Light-Heavy
	Alison Gwyllt	MB	Tae Ryong Park Academy	Heavy
Male
	Ryan Kondo	BC	Kee’s Taekwondo	Fin
	Thomas Shin	ON	Master Seo’s Dynamic Taekwondo	Fly
	Mohamed Farsi	QC	Académie de taekwondo Raymond Mourad	Bantam
	Santiago Herrera	BC	Tae Geuk Taekwondo	Feather
	Joseph Narca	ON	Team Fast	Light
	Joshua Cleghorn	ON	Authentic Taekwondo	Welter
				Light-Middle
	Philippe Berthelot	QC	Taekwondo Chutes Chaudière	Middle
				Light-Heavy
	Zachary Hiebert	MB	Tae Ryong Park Academy	Heavy

2013 National Poomsae Champions

	Name(s)	Province	Club	Division
Female
	Ella Hill	BC	Tae Geuk Taekwondo	Individual – U10
	Emily Waung	ON	Myung’s Taekwondo	Individual – U13
	Jaden Chong	ON	Myung’s Taekwondo	1st Poom/Dan – U17
	Chloe Lee	AB	Calgary Taekwondo Academy	2nd Poom/Dan – U17
	Emily Swann	BC	Parksville Taekwondo Academy	3rd Poom/Dan – U17
	Jaden Chong	ON	Myung’s Taekwondo	Overall – U17
	Hyun Young Cho	ON	Team Fast	Individual – U29
	Tania Makarenko	AB	Master Rim’s Taekwondo	Individual – U39
	Nicole Burt	AB	Master Rim’s Taekwondo	Individual – U49
	Shelley Vettese-Baert	AB	Tiger Taekwondo	Individual – U59
Male
	Carter Kropp	AB	Tiger Taekwondo	Individual – U10
	Thomas Shin	ON	Master Seo’s Dynamic Taekwondo	Individual – U13
	AJ Assadian	ON	Chu’s Martial Arts	1st Poom/Dan – U17
	Jinsu Ha	ON	Team Fast	3rd Poom/Dan – U17
	Jinsu Ha	ON	Team Fast	Overall – U17
	Charlie Chong	ON	Han’s Taekwondo Academy	Individual – U29
	Hyun-Seok Seo	ON	Master Seo’s Dynamic Taekwondo	Individual – U39
	Derek Sadler	AB	Precision Martial Arts Academy	Individual – U49
Pair/Team
	Brianna Lor  Emily Waung     Justina Hoi-Nam Yu	ON	Myung’s Taekwondo	Team – U13
	Brian LamJustina Hoi-Nam Yu	ON	Myung’s Taekwondo	Pair – U13
	Maria Alvie Dela CruzJaden ChongAshley Leong	ON	Mudo AcademyMyung’s TaekwondoMyung’s Taekwondo	Team – U29
	Jinsu HaChyang (Jeff) HsiaoRidge Menezes	ON	Team Fast	Team – U29
	Charlie ChongJaden Chong	ON	Han’s Taekwondo AcademyMyung’s Taekwondo	Pair – U29
	Nicole BurtTania MakarenkoRosalind Widmer	AB	Master Rim’s Taekwondo	Team – 30+
	Hyun-Seok SeoTania Makarenko	ONAB	Master Seo’s Dynamic TaekwondoMaster Rim’s Taekwondo	Pair – 30+

2013 Club Ranking – Sparring

2013 Club Ranking – Poomsae

Originally Posted at WTFCanada

The Canadian National Senior division results are as follows:

Women’s

Finweight

1. Yvette YONG
2. Katherine YEE
3. Sydney O’SHAUGHNESSY

Flyweight

1. Melanie PHAN
2. Camille DALLAIRE-LEBLANC
3. Sibyl TAN

Featherweight

1. Ruxandra RODGERS
2. Audree GIGUERE
3. Sabina MOPSIK

Bantamweight

1. Cecilia LEE
2. Charlotte BROWN
3. Tumai BAPTISTE

Lightweight

1. Ashley KRAAYEVELD
2. Katy-Sue HAYNE
3. Ashley PETTA

Welterweight

1. Melissa PAGNOTTA
2. Nathalie ILIESCO
3. Monika LEONARD

Middleweight

1. Jasmine VOKEY
2. Alison WOOKEY
3. Jessica JANSEN

Heavyweight

1. Rachelle CARUSO
2. Rebecca GARAND
3. Suzanne SAGBO

Men’s

Finweight

1. Miggy DIAZ
2. Tyler MUSCAT
3. Nicholas CHOW

Flyweight

1. Vincent FOSTER
2. Riley ARNOLD
3. Kenny LY-QUANG

Bantamweight

1. Seddik MEGRAOUI
2. Samuel COUTU
3. Raphael GIGUERE

Featherweight

1. Jean-François LABERGE
2. Alexander HYLTON
3. Andrew LEITOLD

Lightweight

1. Maxime POTVIN
2. Christopher ILIESCO
3. Matthew STEWART

Welterweight

1. Olivier APRIL-LALONDE
2. Eloi PARADIS-DESCHENES
3. Nicolas BERTRAND

Middleweight

1. Marc-André BERGERON
2. Andrew CUNNANE
3. Davorin KAJTEZ

Heavyweight

1. Francois COULOMBE-FORTIER
2. Stefan BOZALO
3. Matt ROSS

We experienced and caught on tape, phantom points from the Daedo Sparring Pads system (PSS) and are reviewing the video to see what if anything could have caused these points to occur.  If this remains a trend in our testing, perhaps the KP&P system will take a strong hold over Daedo for 2014?

Team Rankings process is based on points earned at eligible events.  Here are the details that matter:

Eligible events are

•  US Open 2012 (G2) – February 19~23rd, 2012
• German 2013 (G1) – March 8-­‐10, 2013
• Dutch Open 2013 (G1) – March 15-­‐17,2013
• Spanish Open (TBD)  – 2013
• Belgian Open – April 5-­‐7, 2013
• Canada Open – approx. mid to late May, 2013

The ranking scale looks like this:

Total points for each eligible event are calculated as follows:

(((# Match win x Points per) + ( # Match win Double elim x Points per)) / (Number of victories + Number of losses)) + Points for position

Each athlete’s ranking will be calculated by adding the points of thebesttwo Open event achievements and the 2013 Senior Canadian National Taekwondo Championships.  The athlete with the highest total points in each weight division will be selected for the 2013 Senior World Championship Team.

The terms and conditions of the new contract will remain the same: All athletes from European National Federations will be able to use Daedo’s PSS for the competitions on ETU’s calendar, the Spanish company will be able to set up an exclusive stand with Taekwondo products in every of these events and it will also be present on the billboard advertising of these tournaments.

The competitions currently organized by the ETU are:

- European Senior Taekwondo Championships
- European Junior Taekwondo Championships
- European Under-21 Taekwondo Championships
- European Cadet Taekwondo Championships
- European Team Taekwondo Championships
- European Para-Taekwondo Championships

The recent recognition of KP&P’s PSS by the WTF made some high commands within the ETU have some doubts about the extension of the agreement, but they finally decided to go ahead with Daedo after having received a very positive feedback on its PSS from the WTF members present at the ETU Executive Committee meeting, held at the Alpha-Palmiers Hotel of Lausanne on the 9th of November.

WTF’s high authorities informed ETU’s Board with comparative data about Daedo’s PSS and KP&P’s system, which showed that the PSS created by the Spanish company is really stable and significantly more dynamic than the Korean Company’s one when it comes to Taekwondo competitions. Daedo’s PSS is capable of correctly collecting consecutive points, so that all points scored by a fighter in really short period of time are counted and no good hits are missed. That is a really important point, as athletes who have competed in events controlled by KP&P’s system have reported that back kicks were not counted in many occasions during those events.

With this information in hand, the ETU has finally decided to continue using Daedo’s PSS in all its competitions for the next 4 years. The WTF and the ETU have no doubts about Daedo’s PSS future. Even though they both think there are some aspects in which Daedo can work to improve its system, both organizations are really satisfied with its performance and have the Spanish company’s system as part of their plans for the future of Taekwondo in Europe and Worlwide. Following this intention, the WTF will call a meeting for next month with representatives from both PSS companies (Daedo and KP&P) to unify criteria and settle improvements for the good of our sport.

Originally Posted

Competition will begin October 10 – 12, 2012.

“Head Coach Lim stated that the team should expect quite a lot of podium results.  Lim also commented that it will be interesting to see how the Junior athletes on the Pan Am Team will adapt and perform in Senior competition.”

2012 PAN AM CHAMPIONSHIPS TEAM

Athletes:

Women’s Team

• Fin – Yvette Yong
• Fly – Melanie Phan
• Bantam – Ivett Gonda
• Feather – Evelyn Gonda
• Light – Jade Taillon
• Welter – Melissa Pagnota
• Middle –  Jasmine Vokey
• Heavy- Rachelle Caruso

Men’s Team

• Fin- Jackson Carroll
• Fly – Vincent Foster
• Bantam – Jocelyn Addison
• Feather – Siddhartha Bhat
• Light – Maxime Potvin
• Welter-  Olivier April- Lalonde
• Middle – Marc-Andre Bergeron
• Heavy – Olivier Pineau

Team Leader: Grandmaster Su Hwan Chung
Team Manager: Christian Hrab
Therapist: Ashley Dalton
Head Coach: Shin Wook Lim
Coaches: Raymond Mourad and Paul Germain
Development Coaches: Katy Pyke and Evangelos Ligeros

2012 PAN AM CHAMPIONSHIPS POOMSAE TEAM

Poomsae Athletes:

• Mohsen Kazemi
• William McLaughlin
• Jim Rennie
• Hyun-Seok Seo
• Paul Thibault

Team Manager/Coach: Master Seoung Min Rim

Read more at: World Taekwondo Federation Canada

bctaekwondo.org

Ivett Gonda is a Canadian Taekwondo competitor.  She moved to Canada when she was four.  She currently resides in Port Moody, British Columbia where she trains under her coach, Shin Wook Lim at Tae Geuk Taekwondo. Wikipedia

vaniercollege.qc.ca

Karine Sergerie is the 2007 world champion in women’s 67 kg Taekwondo. She is Canada’s first female world champion in the sport. Wikipedia

taekwondodata.com

Sébastien Michaud started in taekwondo at the age of five in his fathers and brothers footsteps. Born in Joliette, Quebec, he currently resides in Quebec City, Quebec where he studies software engineering at Université Laval. Wikipedia

wtfcanada.com

François Coulombe-Fortier is a Canadian taekwondo practitioner. In 2011 Coulombe-Fortier won a bronze medal at the 2011 Pan American Games and later in the year followed up by winning a silver medal … Wikipedia

There are many variations of belt colors depending upon the Taekwondo Federation that you are involved in such as the World Taekwondo Federation & Internation Taekwondo Federation. 

When students start, they begin with a White Belt moving up through the levels (colors) accordingly.  This mirrors the educational systems in place throughout the world.

Each color has a philosophical meaning to them.

Think about the deep meaning of your next goal and enjoy receiving your new belt and level in Taekwondo when you are training towards your next belt level.

White Belt:

In historic times, there was only one color of belt – white which became “black” with dirt over time as you never wash a belt.   Having no color in the white belt, signifies purity and innocence for the new student as they hold no knowledge of Taekwondo.

Yellow Belt:

Basic Taekwondo techniques begin with the color of the rising sun (which is yellow).   Seeds in the ground begin to sprout and grow towards the next level.

Orange Belt:

When the sun rises, the color orange is strong. It shows that you are growing your basic techniques and are making solid progress.

Green Belt:

When you achieve your Green Belt, your power will begin to further develop and grow. – the color green indicates that growth has taken place.

Blue / Purple Belt:

Reaching for the sky, all things that grow must do so.   Stabilization of your power begins as well as your physical and mental power.

Brown Belt:

All things that grow need firm roots, your stability in mental and physical power are now apparent.

Red / Bodan Belt:

Without the color of blood, life would not be possible.   As your character, honor and respect are exhibited, your maturity shows through.

Black Belt:

Black is the final stage, the combination of all color.   Mastering techniques within a humble and serene beauty now shins through your abilities, strengths and achievements.

The belt levels will also vary depending upon the particular school that you attend, these variations include various stripes, color combinations which all indicate your progress through the various levels towards you blackbelt.

Once you have reach your blackbelt, your training now begins as a Martial Artist.  Many Masters say that this is when you are becoming a true Martial Artist with the ability to begin to control your emotions, thoughts and to live a life as a true Martial Artist!

If you are into competitive Taekwondo, once you achieve your Black Belt, you will then move into the “Official” rankings.  This means that you can now compete at a high level, collect ranking points for your province/state and ultimately Nationally.

When you “graduate” to the Official Blackbelts and you enter competitions, you will start using competitive sparring pads such as Daedo Electronic Sparring Pads.

More on the competition side of things in another post!

When you enroll in a class, then you will learn the basics and fundamentals of your chosen style whether it is traditional or competition focused for the Martial Art you have selected.

When starting out, it is all about getting the form down correctly prior to really focusing on speed and power. You will spend a lot of practice time on pad work where a partner will hold the pad while you work on your striking by hitting the pad. Having a target to hit will help you develop your range and coordination. All Martial arts involve some form of striking therefore you will learn the proper way to throw a punch & kick in a manner that delivers the most speed and power.

There are focus mitts that come with hand inserts. This enables one person to strap on the pads while another person works on his striking. The person wearing the mitts can hold the pads from different angles, so the striker can work on different forms of punches, such as the jab, straight, hook and uppercut. The pad holder can also throw strikes with the mitt, which forces the striker to block or evade and counter.

In addition to focus mitts, there are also larger pads used for kicking. The pad holder can hold it forward for front and sidekicks and turn it to the side for a roundhouse. It can also be held against the lower body, so the striker can work on leg kicks. If held against the torso at a tilted angle, the striker can clinch the pad holder and work on knee strikes.

Most pads are made from some sort of foam. This allows the striker to go full force without hurting the pad holder. Practitioners are also encouraged to wear sparring gloves and shin pads. This will prevent the skin on your knuckles and shin from peeling off.

Having the right martial arts sparring pads and protective gear will help you get the most out of every training session. This will lead to improvement as the striking combination begins to flow more naturally. This will also hone your skills when sparring with a fellow student or competing.

“This is only the second game using Daedo PSS in which I had officiated. In the previous event, we also used the Daedo electronic helmets, which I found would periodically score 6 points for a head kick. The electronic helmet was not used at the US Open. I like the Daedo PSS better than the Lajust brand, but it is still not perfect. I found the hand controller very uncomfortable, but I understand that there is another judge’s scoring instrument – a box, which is also in use, just not at this event.”

Summary Points:

• Head kicks when using the Electronic Helmet should not be 6 points but not used at the 2012 US Open
• Liked Daedo better than Lajust
• Uncomfortable hand controller

I saw a few back kicks that did not score, that I would have scored as a corner judge, if we were not using PSS. Of these non- scoring back kicks, one was so strong to put the opponent on his back side, and another that the opponent had to receive a kyeshi time. To me, this is disturbing, because the players that threw those back kicks deserved two points. Not only that, the player that received kyeshi should actually have been counted out, and his opponent declared the winner.

Summary Points:

• Back kicks did not score
• Hard kicks did not score

On the upside, knowing that Deado had been scoring the “powerless” cut kicks and push kicks, I saw very few of those score here. I overheard my wife speaking with the engineers from Silicon Valley in California who developed the Daedo PSS. They indicated to her that they were working very hard on correcting this issue. They said that they adjusted an algorithm in the programming of the equipment, and said other programming jargin that I didn’t understand. But there would be a trade off, far less of those non powerful kicks would score, but also, less back kicks would score.

Summary Points:

• Improvement against scoring low power kicks
• Over Compensation means less kicks would score

Master J. Glenn Marian
5th Dan Kukkiwon
3rd Class IR

There are several reputable brands, here is a comparison of the most popular:

Century

If being in the business for a long time is proof enough to help determine quality, then Century is the brand you need to look for. They do produce every sparring gear imaginable and they have pads that specifically designed to fit right for all ages of kids and of course, a wide range of sizes for adults. Century also specialize in two kinds of headgear: Full Headgear for full faced protection & the traditional open-face model so that the wearer has unobstructed sight.

Adidas

Surprisingly, for a popular brand in sports gear, Adidas makes pads that fetch some of the lowest price tags however their reputation in other sports has helped them earn a niche in the martial arts arena. Headgear is made from both foam and vinyl. We have had feedback from some users that the Arm protectors and shin protectors tend to be bulky compared to other brands. Adidas provides quality gear at really affordable prices which is a very happy medium. Of course, Adidas is an approved vendor for World Taekwondo Federation which means you can also use this gear at any WTF tournament and not only for practice!

Proforce

Another respectable name in makers of sparring pads is Proforce. They make three different lines for different levels of expertise. These are the Lightning for beginners, Thunder for intermediate and Gladiator for the experts. The pads come in different predominant color schemes that are apt for the series name and function, such as gold, silver and teal. This brand comes with a relatively low price tag and are very lightweight compared to other brands.

Daedo

Daedo has been selected by the World Taekwondo Federation as the official Electronic Scoring System for the 2012 Olympic Games. Previous to Daedo, the WTF had sanctioned Lajust however, there are current ongoing litigation battles over the status of Lajust with the WTF which to our knowledge has yet to be concluded. Daedo has head to toe protection and most recently has incorporated the Electronics into their Head Gear however this has yet to become a defacto standard for tournaments but we believe this will slowly make its way into more National and International events over the coming years.

The only complaint we have received feedback on about the equipment is that the wireless transceivers are not the highest quality with long replacement timelines… if Daedo can resolve this issue (if they haven’t already) we would strongly recommend that every WTF training center be outfitted with this equipment thereby providing their competitors with the best advantage possible when competing against other countries that are in fact, using this gear on a daily basis.

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