Excellent Performance in the Irish Cup

The Newlands TKD Team attended the I.T.A. Irish Cup on Saturday 19th & Sunday 20th of November 2011. This year the event was held in the state of the art University of Limerick, Sports Arena. A team of 23 from Newlands where among the 530 competitors who took part in the event over the two days which included sparring and patterns as well as power breaking and special technique for black belts. The Newlands Team performed excellently over both days taking home 6 Gold, 8 silver & 3 bronze, leaving Newlands TKD 5^th place of 36 clubs in the overall club standings, an excellent achievement from our small team of yellow & green belts. Newlands Taekwon-Do instructor Stephen Smullen also competed in the senior blackbelt section winning Gold in the 3^rd Dan patterns sections and taking silver in the senior heavyweight section after a tight final with Darren Smith. Full results where as below, please click here for pictures.

 

Competitor	Result	Section
Lee Kavanagh	Gold	14 – 17 Yellow/Green Patterns (male)
Claire O’Sullivan	Gold	14 – 17 Yellow/Green Patterns (female)
Reece Byrne	Gold	11 – 13 Green Belt Patterns
Megan Mc Daid	Gold	U10 -145 Yellow/Green Sparring
Artur Janos	Gold	Male Yellow/Green Sparring
Tanya Purcell	Gold	Female Yellow/Green Sparring
Stephen Smullen	Gold	Senior 3rd Dan Patterns
Tanya Purcell	Silver	14 – 17 Yellow/Green Patterns (female)
Adam Mc Eneaney	Silver	U10 +145 Yellow/Green Sparring
Angelika Diminarig	Silver	11- 13 U145 Yellow/Green Sparring
Lee Kavanagh	Silver	14 – 17 Yellow/Green Sparring
Mergim Frrokaj	Silver	14 – 17 Yellow/Green Sparring
Claire O’Sullivan	Silver	Female Yellow/Green Sparring
Adam Delmer	Silver	Male +155 Male Yellow/Green Sparring
Siofra Hennessy	Silver	Female Yellow/Green Sparring
Stephen Smullen	Silver	Senior Blackbelt Heavyweight Sparring
Daniella Oana	Bronze	U10 -145 Yellow/Green Sparring
Reece Byrne	Bronze	Male +155 yellow/green Sparring
Jack Nolan	Bronze	14 – 17 Yellow/Green Sparring

 

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Dublin Developmental Competition, October 2011

On Sunday 16th of October Newlands Taekwon-Do Club hosted a developmental competition in the Clondalkin Leisure Centre. The competition was for students under 12 years old and up to green belt level. Over 120 competitors took to the floor from Newlands Taekwon-Do, Rivervalley TKD, Integrity Martial Arts, Donabate TKD & Portmarnock TKD. Each competitor had 2 to 3 matches on the day regardless of the result, this ensured all students gained as much competition experience as possible. The competition was unique in that a senior instructor was placed on each ring to coach both competitors regardless of which club they came from. The competition was run in a very friendly environment and all competitors, instructors and parents enjoyed the day.

 

 

 

 

There was a very high standard of sparring on show and the young competitors showed great potential for the future. When the competition was finished the competitors were delighted to receive their participantion trophy for the effort they had put on on the day.     Following the competition some members of of the Irish National Team, who had given up their Sunday to assist with the running of the competition stayed on for some final training ahead of the European Championships in Slovakia the following weekend. We now look forward to the Irish Cup which will take place in Limerick in November for yellow belts and higher grades. Pictures from the competition day can be seen at our online Photo Gallery.

 

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Summer Training Camp in Norway

Newlands Taekwon-Do Instructor Carl Smullen recently travelled to Surnadal, Norwayfor the National Taekwon-Do Norway, Summer training camp, also attending the camp from Irelandwas Mr. Hong Looi, Ms Sabina Mason & Mr. Paul King. The camp ran from Sunday 31^stof July to Thursday August 4^th. Summer training camps are very popular in Norway with the NTN running over 5 camps for various age groups in the different regions and this camp for adults was very popular with over 450 participants ranging from white belt to Master level all over the age of 16. The popularity of the camp was highlighted by those participants who where attending the camp for the 18^thyear in a row.

 

 

The camp was led by some very high level instructors including Master Per Andresen, Master Per Christian Garnes, Mr. Roger Stokke and many other high level instructors and covered all aspects of Taekwon-Do including Patterns, Sparring, Special Technique, Technical Kicking, Self Defence and Step Sparring.

As well as the high-level Taekwon-Do training there was also a strong social element to the camp which created a great bond between the participants, the extra events included team-building games on the beach, a barbeque, a mountain-trekking trip, a quiz, and concert.

The Irish participants where invited to train with the Norwegian National team in a sparring session and it was great to train with the members who of their team who took bronze (alongside Ireland) in Team sparring in the world championships in New Zealand in March

 

We also had the opportunity to watch a grading at the camp, where two participants graded to 3^rd Degree Blackbelt while Ms. Elin Roekke graded to 4^thDan. All participants put on a very impressive display in front of the large crowd.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank Master Andresen, Master Garnes, Mr. Stokke, Mr. Magnus Bjoergan & Ms. Hege Sagmo and all those at NTN Norway (there are way too many to name them all individually :-) ) for their hospitality and the excellent training over the training camp and we look forward to returning to the camp next year. Click here for pictures 

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Mr. Stephen Smullen selected for the Irish Team for the European Champions

The selections for the Irish National Taekwon-Do Team for the upcoming European Championships in Bratislava, Slovakia took place on Saturday July 23^rd in Donabate, Co. Dublin. Newlands Taekwon-Do instructor Mr Stephen Smullen was selected for 3^rdDan Patterns, Team Patterns & Team Sparring for the championships.

 Mr. Smullen will be hoping to build on his performance in the 2010 European Championships in Swedenwhere he took Bronze in patterns and the World Championships in New Zealandin March 2011 where he was part of the Bronze-medal winning Irish sparring team. The team now has several months of tough training ahead as they prepare for the championships; we wish them luck in training and in Slovakia  

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ITA Summer Camp 2011

The Irish Taekwon-Do Association held its annual Summer Camp in Mt. Melleray Scout Centre, Co. Waterfordfrom Friday July 15th to Monday July 18th 2011. Students from Newlands Taekwon-Do and instructors Carl Smullen & Stephen Smullen where among the 90 participants ranging from yellow belt to 7th Dan black belt attended the camp, and some extra participants popped in to visit, for example Master O’Rourke VII Dan one of the ITA’s most senior members attended the first day of the camp just to enjoy the training. The participants arrived on Friday morning, dorms were assigned and the participants were divided into 2 groups, 10 to 12 year olds in group 1 and 13 years and older in group 2. The camp was also attended by several of the national team who used it as an opportunity to commence pre-season training for the upcoming European Championships. Over the 4 days there were many exciting and varied classes. To read the full report click more below.

Mr Paul King, current World Silver Medallist in -63kg sparring conducted a class on sparring where he imparted much of his philosophy on training methods and sparring tactics. Mr Adrian Byrne, member of the Irish National Coaching Panel, taught classes on sparring and used the “games for understanding approach” to sparring. This method involved building up a competitive game, where there is always a decision to me made, rather than the drills approach, this competitive games approach meant the students were constantly engaging the brain and using tactics for the whole session. Mr Byrne also conducted classes on plyometric and special technique. He taught exercises to increase the explosive power of the legs and jumping ability.

 

Mr Stephen Ryan, current World Silver Medallist in 4th – 6th Dan Pattern, conducted classes on Patterns and fundamental movements. The theme of the class was using the training secrets to improve the pattern performance; there was a big focus on using the sine wave properly to create maximum power, keeping the limbs in motion throughout the movement etc. Mr Ryan also conducted sessions on kicking and exercises to improve the balance, core and leg strength for kicking performance.

 

Mr Carl Smullen III Dan conducted classes in self-defence; Mr Smullen is also a qualified Krav Maga instructor and his expertise in this area made for very enjoyable and informative training in this discipline. The Krav Maga methods of training compliment the Taekwon-Do philosophy very well as they are both striking arts and all participants really improved their self-defence skills over the 4 days.

 

Mr Mark Buckley VI Dan also conducted sparring training; his sessions proved to be perhaps the most physically demanding of all over the weekend but were thoroughly enjoyed by all, Mr Buckley used the assistance of Mr Dylan Fitzgibbon, 2 times World Champion in sparring, for his classes. Mr. Rigney V Dan, National Team member also conducted classes for the junior group in pattern and sparring, assisted by Mr Luke Laffan II Dan. Mr Terry Donnelly VI Dan, a very experienced competitor, also conducted a class on sparring for the junior group.

Master Wheatley VII Dan, ITA President, visited the camp on the Saturday and Sunday. He conducted classes in Pattern and fundamental movements and he really focused on the detail in each pattern ranging from Chon-Ji up to Tong-il.

 

This year we also wanted to raise the profile of women in Taekwon-Do and show that we value the female participant in what is a male dominated sport and so two female instructors were chosen to conduct classes at the camp. Ms. Laura Cullen III Dan, conducted classes in pattern and team pattern for the junior group and Ms. Sabina Mason III Dan, well known international athlete and medallist, conducted classes in sparring for the senior group. All participants enjoyed the classes being led by a female instructor.

In the evenings there was plenty to keep the participants entertained including a mini-tournament in Olympic handball, tag rugby and a Nintendo Wii competition in the games room and a campfire outside.  Also in the evenings Mr. Ryan and Mr. Byrne conducted pattern consultations and despite the tiredness of participants from the days activities the consultations were very well attended.

Thanks to all participants for their effort over the 4 days and to the instructors who gave up their time to teach and impart their knowledge. Click here for Pictures

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Krav Maga Training Camp, Israel 2011

In June 2011, Carl Smullen along with other instructors from the Krav Maga Academy Ireland once again travelled to Netanya Israel for the KMG G-Camp, a six day training camp for Graduate level Krav Maga instructors. The camp began on Tuesday 14th of June and ran to Sunday the 19th.

Participants travelled from Australia, China, the United States, Russia and all over Europe to train with the top Krav Maga instructors in the world. Eyal Yanilov, the chief instructor of Krav Maga Global conducted most of the training personally with assistance from Global & International team members including Ilya Dunsky, Meyrav Ben-Haim and many others.

The camp was once again a tough and testing but enjoyable experience with training starting before 9am and running straight through until after 6pm everyday with just an hour break. Training locations varied from the Wingate Institute, to training on the beach & in the water, in a forest close to Haifaand several other locations.

Participants also took part in night training, where defensive tactics are changed by the level and position of light relative to the attacker & defender. Eyal also conducted a training session on a bus, which covered defending against armed & unarmed attackers in various positions (standing or seated beside or behind) in a tight space, this training simulates the limitations that apply if attacked at close-quarters on a bus, train, tram or other forms of transport.

On Saturday the grading took place, beginning at 11:30amthe test ran continuously to 6pmand covered all aspects of the KMG curriculum as well as sparring, fitness and pressure-testing drills. The testing groups were headed by Tal Knoves & Ilya Dunsky of the KMG Global team assisted by other Global & International team members including Franklyn Hartkamp, Ralf Ulbig, Peter Lakatos and many others.

Instructors from Irelandtook part in the test with Stephen Cooley and Oliver Sweeney grading to G4 while Carl Smullen graded to G3. The camp was once again very enjoyable and informative and allowed the Irish instructors a chance to train with the best instructors in the world and to make sure we deliver high-quality Krav Maga training at theirclubs in Ireland. Photos 

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Dublin Open Taekwon-Do Championships 2011

Newlands Taekwon-Do Team took part in the Dublin Open Championships in the Baldoyle Badminton Arena on the 21^st & 22^ndof May. The championships had sections for Senior & Juniors and was used as part of the selection process for the upcoming European Taekwon-Do Championships in Bratislava, Slovakia. The tournament had 422 competitors from over 30 clubs including 25 participants from Newlands Taekwon-Do. There were some excellent performances on the day, with a lot of students making their debut at a major championship. Click here for pictures. The club results where as below:

 

Competitor               Result            Section

Stephen Smullen         1^st                 3^rd Dan Blackbelt Patterns

Celena Labada            1^st                Sparring, 11 -13 + 155 Cm, Yellow / Green

Gabriela Vazquez        2^nd                Patterns, 11 - 13 Yrs, Yellow  Belt

Claire O'Sullivan          2^nd                Patterns, 11 - 13 Yrs, Green  Belt

Stephen Smullen         2^nd                Sparring, Blackbelt Senior -80kg

Megan McDaid             2^nd                Sparring, Under 10  126-135, Yellow  Belt

Daniela Oana              2^nd                Sparring Under 10  136-145, Yellow  Belt

Reece Byrne                2^nd                Sparring, 11 -13 + 155 Cm, Yellow / Green

Claire O'Sullivan          2^nd                Sparring, 11 -13 146-155, Yellow / Green

Siofra Hennessy          2^nd                Sparring, 11 -13 + 155 Cm, Yellow / Green

Lee Kavanagh             3^rd                Sparring, 53 - 58 kg, Yellow / Green

Oisín McEvoy               3^rd                Sparring, Yellow / Green

Angelika Dimanarig     3^rd                Sparring, 11 -13 -145, Yellow / Green

Joshua White              3^rd                Patterns, Under - 10 Yrs, Yellow  Belt

Celena Labada            3^rd                Patterns, 11 - 13 Yrs, Green  Belt 

 

 

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Mr. Carl Smullen completes HKC Kettlebell instructor course

On May 15^thNewlands TKD instructor Carl Smullen travelled to Londonto complete a HKC Kettlebell instructors course alongside Mr. Paul King of Rivervalley Taekwon-Do. Kettlebell training is an excellent partner to Taekwon-Do training as it improves fitness, strength, power, endurance and joint mobility & stability. The HKC course is a precursor to the RKC (Russian Kettlebell Certification), the RKC which is led by Pavel Tsatsouline, is the goldseal in Kettlebell training and all the training is based on sound scientific training principles. The course was delivered by Mr. Peter Lakatos, Senior RKC and was very informative with the focus not only on excellent technique but also on the teaching skills of the participants. The Hardstyle principles of training are very similar to those of ITF Taekwon-Do with emphasis on correct breathing and the contrast between relaxation & tension. Both Mr. Smullen & Mr. King successfully passed the course and where certified as HKC instructors, they are both now in training for the RKC course which takes place in October in Belfast.  
 

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Newlands Taekwon-Do host Club Grading

On Sunday April 3rd, Newlands Taekwon-Do Club held their first club grading of the year in the Clondalkin Leisure Centre. This was a very big day for the club with 66 participants taking part and family & friends there to cheer them on. There was a wide range of students testing with some taking part in their first grading, going for their yellow tag right through to the higher grades testing for Blue Tag.

Club instructor Carl & Stephen Smullen had been busy over the last number of weeks preparing their students for the grading, practicing patterns, sparring, self defence, technical kicking & special techniques. On the day of the grading Mr. Darren Smith & Ms. Ann Curran, both 4th Dan international instructors & members of the Irish Taekwon-Do Association examiner panel conducted the testing of the students. Both of these examiners have a lot of experience in the different areas of Taekwon-Do so where able to really test our students to their potential.

The grading was a very enjoyable day for students & their families alike and all the hard work put in it the preceding weeks, paid off as their were some excellent performances on the day. Click here for pictures 

 

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TKD Tigers programme a Great Success

The TKD Tigers programme has gone from strength-to-strength at Newlands Taekwon-Do since it began in January 2009. The first group of TKD Tigers recently moved from the Tigers class to the full Taekwon-Do group after completing their Black Stripe grading. The 20 children began training in January 2009 aged between 4 & 6 years old and have covered the full TKD Tigers programme including life-skills such as emergency, fire & water skills, how to deal with bullies & strangers and lessons on fitness & healthy eating were also included in the tigers classes.

 

 

The students also worked on agility, balance & coordination exercises  and learned the core Taekwon-Do skills including Hand & foot techniques, padwork, sparring drills & games, improving these skills through 5 grades over the 2 years. The tigers programme has proved to be a huge success and has given the children a great start into Taekwon-Do and sport in general. We have a limited number of places currently available in our TKD tigers classes in Clondalkin, Lucan & Rathcoole, anyone interested in starting their child in the class can contact the instructors by clicking here. Photos from the black stripe grading can be seen in the Club online gallery.

  

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Impressive performance from the Newlands Taekwon-Do Team at the Cork Open

The Newlands Taekwon-Do Team recently took part in the I.T.A. Cork Open on Sunday 20th February. This was the first competition for the club this year and was a massive event with 428 competitors from around the country. A team of 25 students from the Clondalkin Club were in attendance with eleven making their competitive debuts. The team put in an excellent performance on the day taking home 4 Golds, 4 Silver & 5 Bronze medals. Among the medals on the day was Celena Labada who put in an excellent performance to take 1st place in patterns before going on to win Gold in Sparring after a close final with club mate Siofra Hennessy. While elsewhere in the female 11 - 13 yellow & green sections, Angelika Diminarig took Gold, Hannah Swords Whelan claimed Silver & Tanya Purcell took Bronze in their respective sparring sections, while Claire O'Sullivan won the 3rd place playoff to take Bronze in patterns after 3 previous rounds.

 

 

In the Male sections Lee Kavanagh continued his good form with Bronze in patterns & he fought through 4 tough fights to claim Gold in sparring. Elsewhere in the 14 -17 year old section Mergym Frrokam made an impressive debut taking a Silver & Bronze, while Artur Janos won Bronze in Sparring. Oisin Mc Evoy continued his impressive competition streak in patterns taking Silver on his first appearance in the 14 - 17 green belt section.

 

 

There where also impressive performances on the day from Joshua White, Luke McGovern & Adam Delmer who fought through to the semi-finals but narrowly missed out on Bronze medals in their 3rd place playoffs, while Sean Molloy, Adam Mc Enaney performed very well on their competition debut. The Newlands team now look forward to gradings next month, along with the busy competition season ahead. Click Here for Pictures

 

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Newlands Taekwon-Do Team at the Midwest Open

The Midwest Open took place in Shannon Leisure Centre on Sunday 14th November and Newlands Taekwon-Do sent a small team to take part. As with all I.T.A. Tournaments it was run in a very professional manner with 344 competitiors taking part. The results where good on the day as Lee Kavanagh took Gold in green belt U13 Patterns & Gold in -155 yellow/green sparring section after 4 matches.

Celena Labada also took Gold in her +155 yellow/green sparring division after 3 matches as well as taking Silver in the Yellow belt patterns section. Oisin Mc Evoy & Claire O Sullivan also had great results taking Bronze medals in their patterns sections after winning the 3rd place playoff having met their clubmates, Lee & Celena in the semi-finals.

There where excellent performances on the day from other members of the team who despite not taking medals this time showed continuous improvement since their last competition. Newlands Taekwon-Do instructors, Carl Smullen & Stephen Smullen where very happy with performances overall on the day. Photos here.

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Luke Woods conducts Seminar at Newlands Taekwon-Do

Newlands Taekwon-Do welcomed Taekwon-Do World Champion Luke Woods to our club in Clondalkin on Wednesday 27th of October for a sparring class with some of our advanced competitors.

Mr. Woods brought the class through a range of sparring exercises & drills as well as some strength & speed training exercises. It was a very enjoyable & inspiring class for all involved and the students learned a lot of new drills & techniques which they will now introduce into their sparring. Click here for pics from the class

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Club Grading October 2010

On Sunday 3rd October, students from Newlands Taekwon-Do Club took part in a grading under Mr. Stephen Cooley at the Clondalkin Leisure Centre. In total 54 students from the club took part, testing for grades between yellow tag & green belt.

The participants were tested on all aspects of the I.T.A Grading Syllabus including Hand & Foot Techniques, Patterns, Self Defence, Step Sparring & Physical training and after a tough test all were successful in reaching their new grades. Club instructors Mr. Stephen Smullen & Mr. Carl Smullen were very happy with the effort that all students put in to their training in the weeks leading up to the event and with their performance on the day of the grading. Pictures from the day can be found in our Club Gallery

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Joint Training with South Dublin Taekwon-Do

In September, students from Newlands Taekwon-Do Club and South Dublin TKD club, a WTF-style club from Tallaght Leisure Centre came together for a number of joint training sessions.

Newlands Taekwon-Do hosted the first class in Clondalkin on Wednesday 22nd September and over 55 students from both club took to the floor for some ITF Taekwon-Do training with Newlands TKD instructors Carl Smullen & Stephen Smullen as well as some  TKD games.

On the 30th of September, Newlands TKD paid a return visit to South Dublin Taekwondo for a WTF-style session under Robert Taaffe & Niamh Buffini. This was once again a very enjoyable class and our students enjoyed experiencing a different style of training. Both training sessions where very enjoyable for all involved and students from both clubs now look forward to training together again in the near future. Pictures from the session can be found in our online gallery

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New Members Welcome!

Newlands Taekwon-Do Club is currently enrolling members for the new season which begins in September. We are inviting new members to come along to our club for a free trial class and experience TAEKWON-DO!!  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.

 

Our club is a fully registered member of the International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF), Irish Taekwon-Do Association (ITA), Irish Martial Arts Commission (IMAC) and Taekwon-Do Advisory Board (TAB). That means our instructors are highly qualified to teach martial arts, holding the following qualifications; ITF Black Belt Certificate, NCDP Coach Level 1, ITF Teaching Plaque, First Aid and Child Protection Certified.

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. If you are interested in a free trial class – please click here to contact our instructors. Places are limited so call soon!

Click here to learn more about Taekwon-Do

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Newlands Taekwon-Do members at the I.T.A. Summer Camp 2010

A small team from the Newlands Taekwon-Do Team took part in the I.T.A. National Summer Camp in Mt. Melleray Co. Waterford from the 16 to the 19^th of July.  Once again over 70 students of Taekwon-Do from all over the country took part in the event and all had the chance to train under some of Irelands top Taekwon-Do instructors. It was as always a tough training camp where all participants took 3 – 2 hour sessions of Taekwon-Do everyday which covered a wide range of activities from sparring, special techniques, self defence technical training & patterns.

As well as this there was a fun activity planned each evening which ranged from Olympic handball, to a special technique competition, to tag rugby. Late evening activities also included some very competitive games on the Nintendo Wii. Participants trained extremely hard each day which created a great atmosphere and team spirit in the camp.

Thanks to all the instructors on the camp for their time and for sharing their knowledge; Master Kenneth Wheatley VII Dan, Mr. Mark Buckley VI Dan, Mr. Adrian O'Mahoney VI Dan, Mr. Stephen Ryan V Dan, Mr. Adrian Byrne V Dan, Mr. Donal O'Donoghue IV Dan, Mr. Hong Keat Looi IV Dan and Mr. Carl Smullen III Dan. Thanks also to all the camp participants for making it a very enjoyable camp to be part of.

Click Here for Pictures from the camp in the I.T.A. Photo Gallery

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Tuesday & Thursday Tigers Classes take part in Summer Grading

The Tuesday & Thursday TKD Tigers class finished the season in style as they took part in a grading where they tested for their Blue Stripe and their Fitness & Healthy Eating Badge. The classes gathered in the Clondalkin Leisure Centre on Sunday 11^th of July at 10am for the grading with their parents and families looking on. As always the children put in loads of effort and where tested on all aspects of the Taekwon-Do syllabus including blocks, punches, kicks and bully drills. The children were also quizzed on the different aspects of a healthy lifestyle in line with the TKD Tigers Programme including how many pieces of fruit & vegetables we should eat and why we eat different types of food. At the end of the grading all the students present on the day passed to their new grades and received their new badges. Instructors Mr. Carl Smullen & Mr. Stephen Smullen were very happy with the performance of the children and it was obvious they were all trying their best. All parents & families in attendance were once again impressed by how much extra the children had learned in the few short months since their last grading. Congratulations to all.

Pictures to Follow

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Newlands Krav Maga instructor Grades in Israel

Newlands Taekwon-Do Instructor Carl Smullen has just returned from a Krav Maga training camp in Netanya, Israel. Mr. Smullen was joined by his fellow Krav Maga Academy Instructors Stephen Cooley, Oliver Sweeney, Keith Martin & Eddie Gavin in Israel. It was a very intense training camp which was open only to Krav Maga students who are above Graduate level with participants training up to 9 straight hours a day, with additional sessions in the morning & at night. The group trained with members of the Krav Maga Global Instruction Team including Eyal Yanilov, Amnon Darsa, Tamir Gilad, Ze’ev Cohen & Shachar Klarfeld. The G-Level Camp included participants from all over the world including Australia, United States, Hungary, Scotland, Wales, Germany, Israel, England, Ireland, Trinidad, Holland, Czech Republic & Russia, among many more.

The Irish Krav Maga Instructors in Jerusalem

 

The majority of the course took part in the Wingate Institute in Netanya where  participants on the course where put through many different aspects of Krav Maga training including real life simulations, knife & stick defence, defence against long guns, ground work and much more. The instructors were also put through varied training such as outdoor Night training, self defence for Buses & trains, training in water, Close Quarter training & multiple attacker simulations. The Irish instructors where also brought to the shooting range for firearms training with Tamir Gilad, a member of the KMG Global Team & also a firearms expert.

Mr. Smullen during Firearms Training

 

At the conclusion of the training camp 3 of the Irish instructors graded to for the next level with Stephen Cooley  grading to Graduate level 3(G3) while Carl Smullen & Keith Martin both moved up to G2. Those who took part in the grading where put through a very intense test which ran for over 5 hours & were tested on all aspects of the Krav Maga syllabus by Tamir Gilad, Amnon Darsa, & Ze’ev Cohen, with KMG Head instructor Eyal Yanilov also monitoring proceedings.

Mr. Smullen receiving his G2 Diploma

 

To summarise it was an extremely enjoyable & educating experience for the Krav Maga Academy instructors, to visit the source of Krav Maga & train under the best KM instructors in the world.

Click Here for Pictures

 

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Irish Cup Success for Newlands Taekwon-Do

Competitors from the Newlands Taekwon-Do Team took part in the I.T.A. Irish Cup on the 29th & 30^th of May in the Baldoyle Badminton Arena. The competition which had a very high standard was made up of 374 competitors from 29 clubs representing ITA, RITA, INTA, TKDI, Red Star, Pulse, ETA and NITA all of whom where competing for the title of Irish Cup Champion. The Newlands competitors achieved some fantastic results taking 5 Gold, 3 Silver & 2 Bronze medals. All the competing members of the team showed great progress since the Irish Open in March. Below are the full results for the Newlands Taekwon-Do Team  

 

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Irish Success at the European Championships

The Irish National Taekwon-Do Team returned recently from the ITF European Championships in Skovde Sweden with an impressive haul of medals. The championships ran from the 30^th of April to the 2^nd of May and the Irish Team took home a total of 14 medals including 3 Gold, 4 Silver and 7 Bronze, leaving Ireland with a fifth place overall finish. 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.

 

Newlands Taekwon-Do Instructors, Mr. Stephen Smullen & Ms. Caroline Smullen where part of the Irish team at the event. Mr. Smullen claimed a Bronze medal in the individual 3^rd Dan patterns sections and was also part of the Senior Male Special Technique & Patterns team which reached the Quarter-finals. Ms. Smullen was making her Senior European Championships debut, having claimed a Silver medal at junior level last year and was happy with her performances in both individual patterns & sparring.

The great results from the team come after months of hard work & dedication from the competitors & coaches alike. A full list of Irish results, where as below.

 

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Upcoming Tournament - ITA Irish Cup

The 2010 ITF Taekwon-Do - ITA Irish Cup Championships will take place on Saturday 29th and Sunday 30th May 2010 in the Baldoyle Badminton Centre, Baldoyle Industrial Estate, Grange Road, Dublin 13. There will be six full size ITF competition areas, computerised draw and scheduling, electronic scoring and top quality competitors. Please reserve the date in your diary.

Full information and invitation will be given out at classes in the coming weeks. Black Belt finals will take place in a gala show on the Saturday evening. For further information speak to one of the instructors or email info@newlandstkd.ie

 

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Newlands Taekwon-Do Team at the Irish Taekwon-Do Open

Newlands Taekwon-Do Club made the trip to Tallaght’s National Basketball Arena for the INTA Irish Open, International on March the 12^th & 13^th. This competition had an extremely high calibre of competition with eight countries represented in the 580 competitors which included several current & former world champions in the blackbelt ranks. The Newlands Taekwon-Do team was made up of 19 competitors some of whom were making there competitive debut.

Angelika Dimanirg receiving her Gold Medal from Master Gerry Martin

There were some extremely good performances on the day with Angelika Dimanirg taking Gold in the Yellow belt patterns section overcoming clubmate Reece Byrne in the final in a section where Celena Labada also took Bronze, while in the cadet divison Croia Kenny also took a Bronze for Patterns.

Competitors from Newlands Taekwon-Do

In the Sparring Divisions the team, did very well with Celena Labada & Ruth O'Brien, taking Golds in there respective divisions while Silver medals also went to Croia Kenny & Lia Keogh. There were many other top performances on the day, including that of Luke Mc Govern who came through 3 rounds to claim a well deserved Bronze in sparring and Adam Delmer who matched this result. Well done to all who took part we are now looking forward to the Irish Cup in Baldoyle on the 29^th & 30^th of May. Full Results below:

Pictures to follow...

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Club Grading in March 2010

Newlands Taekwon-Do hosted a grading on the 10^th of March, under Mr. Stephen Cooley, 6^th Dan.  This Grading was for our 7 – 10 beginner group and 23 students graded for Yellow Tag while one student tested for Yellow Belt.

The participants were tested on all aspects of the I.T.A Grading Syllabus including Hand & Foot Techniques, Patterns, Self Defence, Step Sparring & Physical training and after a tough test all were successful in reaching their new grades.

Club instructors Mr. Stephen Smullen & Mr. Carl Smullen were very happy with the effort that all students put in to their training in the weeks leading up to the event.

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Newlands Taekwon-Do at the Cork Open Championships

On Sunday 21^st February, Newlands Taekwon-Do sent a team of eleven to compete in the I.T.A. Cork Open Championships. It was the first time the club was represented at a Major tournament. The competition which had over 350 competitors began at 10:00am sharp and first up was Kacper Kencler & Luke Mc Govern in the Yellow Belt 10 & under patterns division; both performed extremely well in the large division, with Luke making it through 3 rounds & Kacper going on to take Gold. These performances inspired the older boys in the 13 & under section, where Reece Byrne, Adam Delmer, Lee Kavanagh & Oisin Mc Evoy performed very well, with Lee & Oisin taking 3^rd & 1^st place, respectively.
 

In the sparring divisions, all competitors performed very well, displaying courage & indomitable spirit. Kacper added to his earlier patterns Gold, taking a Bronze in Sparring while Tanya Purcell came through a hard semi-final to take Silver in her section. Lee Kavanagh came through 5 fights to take Gold in a very exciting final after extra time. Celena Labada matched Lee taking a Gold medal after several impressive performances against taller opponents. There were also good performances from Croia Kenny, Robert Wade, Reece Byrne & Adam Delmer on the day, who despite not placing in the top 3 at this competition, showed the potential that will see them winning events in the near future.

 

 The last competitor of the day was Conor Brennan who showed great fighting spirit taking Silver in his Cadet sparring division. The tournament was very well run and was finished by 16:30pm; tribute must be paid to the Organiser Mr. Mark Buckley, Chief Umpire, Mr. Stephen Ryan, Tournament Administrator, Mr. Richard Park and all the referees & officials on the day.

Click here for Pictures from the Tournament

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Successful Grading at Newlands Taekwon-Do

Newlands Taekwon-Do hosted a grading on the 10^th of February, under Mr. Stephen Cooley, 6^th Dan. In total 26 students, all from the 7pm class tested with 9 testing for Yellow Tag, 6 for Yellow Belt & 11 testing for Green Tag.

 

The participants were tested on all aspects of the I.T.A Grading Syllabus including Hand & Foot Techniques, Patterns, Self Defence, Step Sparring & Physical training and after a tough test all were successful in reaching their new grades.

Club instructors Mr. Stephen Smullen & Mr. Carl Smullen were very happy with the effort that all students put in to their training in the weeks leading up to the event. Pictures from the day can be found in our Club Gallery

 

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TKD Tigers Grading for Clondalkin & Lucan Classes 

On Saturday 30^th January, Newlands Taekwon-Do hosted 2 TKD Tigers gradings for our Lucan & our Tuesday Clondalkin classes. First up was the Lucan group who were taking their first test for yellow stripe & 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! This hard work paid off as all students performed very well on the day & achieved their new grades.

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