Archive News
This is our archive news page to see all the latest news please click here
Irish Success at World Championships
Newlands Taekwon-Do Instructor Stephen Smullen was part of the Irish team that returned from the World Taekwon-Do Championships in Mar Del Plata, Argentina with a total of 11 medals. The Irish Team managed to medal in all disiciplines with most notable performances coming from Louise Mc Cagh who brought home an impressive 5 medals, as well as Luke Woods who became the Senior Sparring -63kg World Champion and Dylan Fitzgibbon who became the Junior -63kg World Champion.
Mr. Smullen represented Ireland in the Individual 3rd Dan Patterns section as well as Individual Special Technique and as part of the Senior Male Sparring Team, the team took Bronze after impressive performances against England, Bolivia, Slovenia & Argentina. To read a full report on the World Championships, please Click Here.
Taekwon-Do & Tigers Christmas Demonstration
Newlands Taekwon-Do Club was recently invited to perform a demonstration at the Rathcoole Senior Citizens Christmas Party. A team of 15 students made up of members from the Tuesday & Thursday Tigers Classes and the 6pm Taekwon-Do Class took part in the event.
After several practice sessions in the week beforehand the team took to the stage at 9pm on Saturday evening where they demonstrated Punches & Kicks, Pad Work, TKD Patterns & Special Technique as well as TKD Tigers Bully Drills!
Well done to the team, everyone watching was very impressed and we look forward to taking part in more demonstrations in the future.
Mr. Smullen gets set for World Championships with impressive displays
Mr. Stephen Smullen recently took part in two national competitions: the INTA National Championships and the ITA Irish Cup. The National Championships were staged in Little Island Cork on the 17th & 18th of October. Mr. Smullen was very happy with his performance as he came through three rounds in the 3rd Degree Pattern section to claim Gold, later in the -71kg sparring contest, Mr. Smullen won through 2 rounds of sparring to reach the final where he took silver after a close fight.
Most recently, Mr. Stephen Smullen attended the Irish Cup, staged in Tallaght’s National Basketball Arena on Sunday November 15th. Mr. Smullen this time took Silver in 3 – 6th Degree Patterns section. For this tournament he decided to compete in the heavier -80kg sparring section where he came through two tough rounds to take Gold. These competitions were a great warm up ahead of the World Championships in Argentina which take place from November 26th to November 30th. Mr Smullen will represent Ireland in the 3rd Degree Patterns Section, Male Senior Special Technique and as part of the Male Senior Team for Sparring & Special Technique. Newlands Taekwon-Do Club wishes the Irish team every success in what promises to be a very exciting championships
Newlands Team in Dublin Club Competition
22 Members of Newlands Taekwon-Do Club took part in a Dublin Region Club Tournament in Rivervalley on Friday 6th November. This competition was for white & yellow belt students only and was used to gain sparring experience for our young students.
Also competing were Rivervalley Taekwon-Do, Blanchardstown TKD, Donabate TKD & Integrity Martial Arts. For some of the Newlands Team it was their first taste of competition and they took to it very well, while the others in their 2nd fight day showed a definite step up in performance.
All competitors got 2 or 3 spars and they all learned a lot from their experience. Well done to all and to see pictures from the day, Click Here.
Thursday TKD Tigers Class Grading
The Thursday Tigers class tested for their yellow stripes on Thursday 24th September in the St. Joseph’s School Clondalkin. 13 Tigers tested for the Yellow stripe and Bully Awareness badge. In the weeks coming up to the grading all students put in a lot of effort in order to do their best on the day.
During the grading all students did fantastic and the instructors Mr. Stephen Smullen & Mr. Carl Smullen were very proud of the group’s performance as were all the parents & families in attendance. It is amazing to see how much the children have learned since starting Tigers a few month’s ago. The class will now move on to more advanced Taekwon-Do techniques as they aim for their green stripe. Well done to all, to see pictures from the day please visit the club gallery.
2nd Newlands Taekwon-Do Club Grading takes place
Newlands Taekwon-Do held its second club grading on Sunday the 20th September in Clondalkin Leisure Centre. The Grading was once again conducted by Mr. Stephen Cooley and participants were tested on all aspects of the I.T.A Grading Syllabus including Hand & Foot Techniques, Patterns, Self Defence & Physical training.
32 students tested in total including 16 students testing for yellow belt, 11 for Yellow Tag & 5 for achievement tags. All were successful on the day & club instructors Mr. Carl Smullen & Mr. Stephen Smullen were very happy with the effort that all students put in to their training in the lead up to the event.
The club would like to thank all parents for their help in setting up the hall for the grading and congratulate all of our students. Finally we would like to thank Mr. Cooley for making time to conduct the grading & congratulate him on his promotion to 6th Degree Black belt at the International Instructors Course in Benidorm, the weekend following the club grading. Pictures from the day can be found in our Club Gallery
Tuesday Tigers Yellow Stripe Grading!!
On Saturday 5th September, the Tuesday Tigers class had their first grading in the St. Joseph’s School, Clondalkin. 11 Students tested for their yellow stripe and their Bully Awareness Badge. All the students had trained hard in the classes before the grading to make sure their Bully drills & Taekwon-Do skills were in tip-top shape!
On the day, all students did fantastic in all parts of the grading. The instructors Mr. Carl Smullen & Mr. Stephen Smullen were very happy with the effort the children put in as it was obvious they were all trying their best. All parents & families in attendance were also impressed by how much the children had learned in only a few short months. Well done to all.
Click here to view pictures of the day
South Dublin Sports Activity Day
The Newlands Taekwon-Do Club Instructors recently took part in a Come & Try Day for sports in the South Dublin Area. The Activity Test days were run by the South Dublin Sports Partnership and invited local adults to come along to the Clondalkin & Tallaght Leisure Centres to try out various sports including Taekwon-Do, Krav Maga, Rugby, Badminton, Orienteering, Rollerblading and many other activities. Our club used the activity day in Clondalkin to promote Taekwon-Do & our new Krav Maga classes starting in Clondalkin & Rathcoole.
The club instructor’s Mr. Carl & Mr. Stephen Smullen also got a chance to demonstrate some Taekwon-Do & Krav Maga techniques for a short documentary being put together by the South Dublin Sports Partnership, about the Come & Try days. The club received very good feedback and a number of people we spoke to on the day have since become involved in the Taekwon-Do & Krav Maga classes. We would like to thank South Dublin Sports Partnership for there help on the day and we look forward to taking part in the next activity day.
September is BEGINNER’S month at Newlands Taekwon-Do
Newlands Taekwon-Do Club is currently welcoming new members to join our club and experience TAEKWON-DO!! If you would like to book a place for your child in our TKD Tigers Classes (for 3 – 6 year olds), our Children’s Taekwon-Do class (for 7 -10 year olds) or our Junior Taekwon-Do class (for 10 – 15 year olds) please call our instructors: Carl Smullen on 087 285 5250 or Stephen Smullen on 087 975 4773.
Taekwon-Do is a fantastic activity for children & teens as it improves fitness & discipline, builds confidence and provides an environment for children to have fun & make friends. Taekwon-Do also provides young people with a chance to compete in tournaments in Ireland & throughout Europe and to learn self defence. If you are interested in a free trial class – please click here to contact our instructors. Places are limited so call soon!
Mr. Smullen completes Krav Maga Instructor Course
Newlands Taekwon-Do Instructor, Mr. Carl Smullen recently completed an Intensive Instructor course in Krav Maga. Originating in Israel, Krav Maga is a practical and tactical system which teaches how to prevent, deal with and overcome all kinds of violence and attacks including kicks & punches, knife attacks, stick & bat attacks and multiple opponents. KM prepares the trainees in the subjects of self-defence, self protection, fighting and combat skills, as well as skills to defend others. It is a proven system of close quarter self defence and has been tried and tested in many real life situations. Krav Maga is the official close quater combat of Israel's Armed Forces and many SWAT, Law Enforcement and Military units all over the world. Mr. Smullen completed his Instructor’s Course which spanned over a total of 23 full days of training & testing under the Global Instruction Team of the International Krav Maga Federation (I.K.M.F.) Adult, Beginner Krav Maga Classes will be starting in Clondalkin in the coming weeks, anybody interested in joining, please click here to contact the instructors.
Newlands Taekwon-Do at ITA Summer Camp!!!
Between the 6th and 10th July,4 members of Newlands Taekwon-Do Club (Conor Brennan, Alec Walker, Lee Kavanagh & Kacper Kencler) as well as Instructor's Mr. Carl & Mr. Stephen Smullen attended the ITA Summer Camp in Cappoquin, Co. Waterford. The ITA Summer Camp is an annual event which is attended by Taekwon-Do Students from all over Ireland.
Those in attendance took part in up to 3 sessions of Taekwon-Do a day which covered a wide range of activities from sparring, special techniques, self defence technical training & patterns under some of Ireland's top Taekwon-Do instructors. In between classes they enjoyed a tag rugby & soccer blitz as well as scaling the climbing wall!! After such a successful camp, next year's one is already planned for July16th - 20th. Newlands Taekwon-Do club will once again be present, next time with a bigger team of students.
Click here to see photos from the camp
Ms. Smullen wins Silver at European Taekwon-DoChampionships
The ITF Taekwon-Do European Championships took place in Benidorm, Spain from the 24th – 26th of April. Newlands Taekwon-Do Instructors, Carl Smullen & Caroline Smullen were part of the squad representing Ireland at the event. The European Championships is the highest level of competition for Taekwon-Do in Europe, with over 30 countries sending their highest ranking competitor in each division. Ms. Caroline Smullen achieved a fantastic result claiming a silver medal for Ireland in 2nd Dan Patterns after a close 3 – 2 decision in the final to her German opponent
.
Ms. Smullen was delighted with her performance and put her success down to the hard training she put in, in the lead up to the event. Mr. Smullen won against Sweden before narrowly being beaten in the quarter-finals by Hungary. The Irish team as a whole took medals in eleven categories including Ms. Sabina Mason & Ms. Lyndsey Conway who both took Bronze in their respective patterns and sparring divisions and the male senior patterns team who took Gold to become European Champions.
Irish Team set for European Championships
The European Taekwon-Do Championships will take place in Benidorm, Spain from the 24th to the 26th of April. Newlands Taekwon-Do Instructors Mr. Carl Smullen & Ms. Caroline Smullen have been selected as part of the team that will represent Ireland at the event. The club wishes the Irish team every success at what promises to be an exciting championships. Click here to see the team photo.
Successful Irish Open for Newlands Taekwon-Do Instructors
The INTA Irish Open took place on the 21st & 22nd of March in the National Basketball Arena, Tallaght. This competition was used to select the Irish Team for the European Championships in Spain later this month and featured competitors from Ireland, England, Scotland, Wales, Belgium & Portugal. Taking medals for Newlands Taekwon-Do were instructors Mr. Carl Smullen & Ms. Caroline Smullen.
On Day 1, Ms. Smullen took part in the 2nd degree patterns section beating two Irish boys before eventually taking Silver. In the sparring section Ms. Smullen took bronze in a tough open weight section, which pitted her against Irish & Belgian opposition
On the 2nd Day, Mr. Smullen took Silver in the Senior Patterns section having beaten Irish & English opposition in the previous rounds before facing Belgian competitor, Mr. Wim Vermeir in the final. In the -71 kg sparring section Mr. Smullen took bronze beating Scottish opponent, Mr. Michael Leask, on his way to the semi-final against Mr. Hong Looi who went on to win the tournament.
During the same weekend, an international fight night took place in the Integrity Martial Arts Academy, Ashbourne. This event featured Scottish & English competitors including English World Champion Matt Cadle. Representing our club was Newlands Instructor Mr. Stephen Smullen, who won an exciting fight against his Scottish opponent, Mr. Andrew O’Hare.
First Club Grading a Huge Success!!
Newlands Taekwon-Do Club hosted our first grading on Sunday 1st March in the Clondalkin Leisure Centre. The grading was conducted by Mr. Stephen Cooley 5th Degree blackbelt and in total 34 students tested with 8 of our younger members testing for achievement badges and the other 26 graded for their yellow tags, the first step on the journey to blackbelt.
All students arrived on time at 12:15and were put through some last minute practice by Ms. Caroline Smullen. The grading began sharply at 12:30 with Mr. Cooley being introduced to the candidates and their parents. Students were then called up in groups of 5 and tested on a wide range of Taekwon-Do aspects, including hand & foot techniques, patterns, theory & self defence.
All students performed exceptionally well on the day and their hard work in the previous weeks was evident as all students passed on the day. Newlands instructors Mr. Carl & Mr. Stephen Smullen would like to congratulate all our students and thank their parents for coming to support the day. More photo’s from the day can be seen in our photo section: Click Here
Taekwon-Do Equipment Now Available
The Taekwon-Do suit (Dobok) is now available. The Official ITF Dobok bears the ITF crest on the left side of the jacket, the Taekwon-Do tree emblem is on the rear of the jacket and the letters ITF are on each of the trouser legs.
Also available is the Sparring Safety Equipent, consisting of Gloves, Head & Feet Guards, Groin Guard, Gum Shiels and Shin Guards, which will be needed for the sparring aspect of the class which we will be starting in the new year.
If anyone wishes to purchase these items, please speak to the club instructors or call 087 2855250.
ITA Irish Cup 2008
The 3rd ITA Irish Cup took place in Gormanstown College, Co. Meath on the 23rd of November 2008. This event is the ITA’s largest annual tournament and includes junior & senior sections, with clubs travelling from Cork, Kerry, Waterford, Clare, Tipperary, Dublin Meath and many other counties. Mr. Stephen & Ms. Caroline Smullen represented Newlands Taekwon-Do Club in the event with Caroline taking 3rdplace in both her patterns & sparring sections. Mr. Stephen Smullen took 2nd place in the senior male black belt patterns, narrowly losing the final to Mr. Danny Dillon of Midwest Taekwon-Do. Stephen had 3 rounds of sparring to get through coming up against Mr. Simon Deignan, Mr. Robert O’Sullivan & finally Mr. Stephen Browne in the final, Stephen won all 3 fights to become the Irish Cup Champion.
Irish Fighter Charity Challenge
On Saturday 8th November, the 2nd Irish Fighter Charity Challenge fight night took place in Confey G.A.A hall, Leixlip. This fight night brought together a number of Taekwon-Do, Kickboxing & Karate groups from throughout Ireland. In the Taekwon-Do group, the Irish Taekwon-Do Association (ITA), the AIMAA & East Coast Taekwon-Do battled it out. In their first bout, the defending champions, the ITA team of Mr. Darren Smith, Mr. Alan Mc Donagh, Mr. Karl Kelly, Mr. Luke Woods, Mr. Paul King and Ms. Lyndsay Conway, coached by Mr. Stephen Cooley 5th Degree defeated the AIMAA team. This victory was marred by a calf injury to Mr. Darren Smith, preventing him competing in the next round. In the final the ITA team came up against the East Coast Taekwon-Do team with Mr. Stephen Smullen of Newlands Taekwon-Do Club, stepping in to the place of the injured Darren Smith. Once again the ITA team prevailed and became the Irish Fighter Charity Challenge Taekwon-Do champions for the second year running. It was a fantastic night and it was great to different styles of martial arts competing together in the same ring.
3rd ITF World Cup – Riva Del Garda
The third ITF World Cup took place in the beautiful town of Riva Del Garda, Italy from the 15th to the 20th of October. The Irish Taekwon-Do Association (ITA) was very well represented at the event with 79 competitors from throughout the country, taking 40 medals and 4 individual best competitors’ awards (Karl Hynes, Chloe Aboud, Louise McCagh & Sarah Sheehan). This placed Ireland 2nd, behind winners Poland and ahead of 3rd place New Zealand. The fantastic achievement of the ITA squad is highlighted by the fact that this was the largest ever event in International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF) history, with 1,200 competitors from over 100 Clubs & Associations around the world taking part.
