Niketa Wells - International Taekwon-do Federation of New Zealand

NEWSincluded) led by Grand Master Van Binhwent to shake hands with them in turn.What an experience this was!Next we went to New York. It was my firstvisit to the Big Apple. So many clichés frommovies, TV series and documentaries werein my mind that I was very surprised to seehow different NYC can be. For instance,skyscrapers are mostly only located in theManhattan area. If you went to Queens,for instance, (where Master Suarez’s clubis) you will mainly find low rise buildings(less than 10 stories) or individual houses.I was also amazed at the sheer size ofcentral park (approximately 4km x 1 km);that would be an awesome place for our2.4 kms run at grading!Master Suarez’s dojang is located in theheart of Queens. The subway/train linesrun above the street on which the club issituated. The dojang is small compared towhat we are used to here in New Zealand,but I guess it is very difficult to find spacein Queens (and New York) at a not tooprohibitive cost. The dojang is perfectlyequipped: mats on the floor, mirrors onthe wall, pads, targets… It is opened everyday and is operated full time from early inthe morning to late at night. Most of thestudents I met were training every day andI can say that they were all in very goodphysical condition. Master Suarez toldme that he liked to emphasise this in hissessions. I must say that I was not preparedfor this and I had to take a breather whilethe others continued at full speed. Theydo not seem to take any break at all andgo from one set of exercises to anotherwithout needing to drink a little bit of water.One thing to note was that most of theteaching was done in Spanish – to reachthe local community that mostly comesfrom South America... they had to switchto English from time to time for my sake.Thanks guys, it helped!The warm-ups are usually led by one ofthe senior black belts and seem to followa routine consisting of running exercisesfollowed by series of abs (ca. 200) andtriceps push-ups (laying of the floor andpushing with the hands to lift the upperbodywhile flexing the spine, about 50times). As I said, most students do thatevery day. My first session was taught byMaster Suarez himself. His abilities areimpressive. I will definitely remember histips for properly training the waving kicksin Yoo-Sin.The second session was led by Mr. WilliamPerlaza (VI dan), coach of two-timesparring world champion Julio Carloswho is a member of the club and wasat training as well. I was able to observeMr. Perlaza training with Julio on varioussparring techniques and I am not sure I cansay who the best fighter was! This sessionwas full endurance, non-stop line work,patterns (all 18 of them for the III dans)and sparring. Not having my sparring gearwith me I chose to stretch and observewhat techniques and routines Mr. Perlazais teaching to his students.I am very grateful to all of these awesomeinstructors for having given me theopportunity to train and for sharing someof their knowledge with me during mystays. I would also like to thank all thestudents I met, both juniors and seniors,who made me feel welcome and withwhom we share the common passionof Taekwon-Do. I was duly impressed bytheir level of courtesy and discipline. Forinstance, at both clubs, after training, alljuniors (colour belts) go around to bow orshake hands with all black belts! Somethingwe all could definitely learn from.I strongly encourage any one of you whohave the opportunity to travel overseas tonot hesitate to contact clubs in the areayou will be staying at, whether it be forleisure or business. The experience andinsights in Taekwon-Do you may gain fromthis can be far above what you expect. Itwas the case for me and I will definitelyrepeat the experience in the future.Master Suarez and the authorHow to organise a visitto another clubAsk your instructor’s approval to visitother clubs during your trip.Ask your instructor if he/she alreadyknows local instructors you could contactor if he/she can introduce you to them.Nowadays, most instructors use emails.Send one to the instructors of each clubyou would like to visit. Do not forgetto use our first tenet “courtesy” whenwriting the email! Start with “Dear MasterSir “or “Dear Sabumin Sir” etc... and endwith something like “Kind regards, “ andyour full name and grade.After having received a positive replyinviting you to join them during your stay,send a reply yourself in the same way asin #3, thanking them for the invitationand looking forward to attending someof the sessions.Once you arrive at your destination, tryto locate the club before you go for yourfirst training. It might not always be easyto find! Be also aware that some clubsmay ask you to pay for training. You couldalso bring a gift; if your instructor knowsthe persons you are visiting he/she maybe able to tell you what is most properin that particular case.When you arrive for training, rememberALL what you have learnt about ethicsof conduct!!! Bow to all your seniors,seek the instructor that has invited youto thank him and present yourself (youcould show your ITF ID card, if you area black belt)Be attentive (language can be differentfrom your own), observe, learn, do whatyou are told (even if this can differ fromwhat you are accustomed to) and aboveall: ENJOY!!!At the end of your last session, thankthe person who invited you and thefellow students with whom you trained.Take pictures!When you have time, write downsome notes in one way or another toremember what you have learnt. Whoknows you might be able to share sometips with your mates (or your ownstudents) once back homeIt is always nice to send a thank younote to the instructor who welcomedyou. You can include some of the picturesyou took for example!ISSUE TWO, 2012 15