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Mr. Dalton won the trials for -80kgs for the joint Taekwon Do Ireland and IUTF team for the upcoming International Team Challenge in Wales. This is the first joint Irish team to represent Ireland at a major TKD event. The competition will feature a 5 man team sparring section as well as one member competing in breaking and patterns. Mr. Dalton also won the right to represent the team for both special technique breaking and Tul. IUTF member Mr. Jerry O’ Neill also won the trials for the -63kg position. Mr. John Riordan was handed a poor decision in the -75kg division but will still compete for Ireland on the second team.

Tralee instructor Don Dalton, who is a 4th Degree Black Belt, captained Ireland in a multi nation tournament in Wales last week. Dalton has won numerous tournaments over the last decade and recently qualified to represent Ireland along with student Gerry O’ Neill in a qualifying event in Cork. The team comprised of the top five international competitors from the “Irish United Taekwon Do Federation” and “Taekwon Do Ireland.” Dalton was selected as the only member to represent Ireland in special technique breaking and patterns. While in Cardiff he also was the only Irish man to remain undefeated on the day winning in all three disciplines for his country (sparring, breaking and patterns). Having beaten the Dutch team in the semi finals the Tralee man was the only Irish member to win in sparring amassing a total of 6 of the 7 points accumulated by Ireland.

The IUTF funded a total of nine members to attend the GTI training weekend in Kent and to engage in a Kerry versus Kent exhibition match at the end of the three day course. Special praise should go to Mr. Jason Moriarty who looked particularly effective in his bout against his GTI opponent. During the exhibition matches the crowd was treated to a special technique breaking demonstration by Mr. Dalton who also took part in a “one step” sparring exhibition with all time great Mr. Tony Sewell. Afterwards Mr. Dalton commented that “This event is only the first step in a long term plan which aims to make our Federation a major international force. To do this we need to give our top practitioners the opportunity to compete against world class competition on a regular basis. This is the key to success along with a structured squad training regimen. On a personal level, it was a great buss for me to get the chance to perform a demonstration with my childhood hero Mr. Sewell who is the greatest Taekwon Do fighter of all time.” The trip was funded by the IUTF.