2010 News

The Munster Championships (January)

This year’s Munster Championships were held in Tralee in January. This marked the first change to the IUTF tournament structure which proved to be an unprecedented success.  The competition was broken into three sections in terms of time allocation. Black belts began at 9.30am. Children started at 11am and adults at 1.30pm. As a result all children were finished by 1.30pm and adult colour belts finished by 3.30pm. Thus each competitor had only a short wait prior to their respective section. In the upcoming years the Munsters, Leinsters and Connaught Championships will all be run between January and April. As usual this year’s Munster Championships featured competitive black belt sections with Mr. Paul Manning, Mr. Brydone and Mr. O’ Connor all dominating the men’s sections. The seven fully matted rings ran continuously throughout the day without incident. The event was supported by ITF Ireland associations such as Pulse TKD, TKD Ireland and Red Star Taekwon-Do and also by other organisations such as Warrior TKD and ITA. As usual all associations worked seamlessly together. The black belt sections were completed by the fight off for the upcoming Intercontinental Cup between team Europe and team Asia which will be held in Moscow. The final of this trial featured two of the IUTF’s best competitors Mr. Brydone and Mr. O’ Connor. After a competitive and hard fought bout the Kerryman triumphed. It will be Mr. O’ Connor’s second cap for team Europe having already fought against the Americas in Buenos Aires.

The Leinster Championships (March)

This was the second time that the Leinster Championships has been held in Athlone due to the success of the 2009 event. Master Dalton was not present due to the Intercontinental Cup in Russia. The competition was hosted by Mrs. Mary Mannion (III) and the Tournament Director was Mrs. Dalton (V). There were six rings in action and the event was finished by 3.00pm. There was excellent support from Red Star TKD, NITA and Pulse TKD. The competition featured newly designed medals which were hugely popular with all the participants. As usual there were two bronze medals on offer in all sections. The men’s Lightweight sparring was again won by Mr. Manning from Blackrock TKD, while Mr. Alvydas Jankauskas of Red Star was excellent in winning -76kgs. Mr. Sean Keane again dominated the Hyperweight section with another fine display. The men’s black belt pattern section were also very competitive with Mr. Trevor Healy of Grenagh and Mr. Diarmuid McSweeney of Ballyvourney taking gold.

The Kinsale Championships and The Blackrock Championships (February)

IUTF members travelled in strength to Mr. Liam Corkery’s Kinsale championships and Mr. Manning’s/Mr. Dwyer’s Blackrock championships in February. Both events were well attended with over 300 participants at each competition. There were around 50 IUTF members in attendance at each event with the majority coming from the south of the country. The vast majority of the IUTF entrants were placed in their respective sections with most winning two medals. The IUTF would like to thank fellow ITF Ireland members Mr. Dwyer and Mr. Manning for their invite and also to good friend Mr. Corkery.

R.I.P. Mr. Robert O’ Shea

It is with a heavy heart that I inform you of the passing away of Mr. Robert O Shea, 4th Dan. Mr. O Shea was sick for the past week. A life long practitioner of Taekwon-Do, he began his training in 1982. He was the grading examiner for Grenagh, Bweeng and Rathpecon Taekwon-Do schools. His deep love for the art was aptly demonstrated by his many wonderful photographs of the various competitions and events throughout the years.

Robert was an artist at heart, a very straight and honest man. He was a wonderful family man. Those of us that consider him our friend will forever miss the special times spent in his presence. Our lives were enriched by his presence. It is extremely difficult to accept his passing but his spirit will remain etched in our memories. His students Mr. Daren Healy and Mr. Alan Walsh were true friends-the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. He will remain in Taekwon-Do through their students. The IUTF would like to offer our sincere condolences to his family. Robbie, our friend, our brother, who was loved by all that know him, will be sadly missed.
Don Dalton

Some examples of Robbie’s talent and passion are below.

Happy Days At The WKA Trials

This year's WKA Trials were held in Kanturk in May. The event featured many competitors from around the country with a large IUTF contingent as well as a big group from Champion Kickboxing. The competition was very friendly throughout- a characteristic the IUTF is proud to foster in all their ebents. The WKA Worlds will be held in Scotland this October. There will be WKA packages to suit all needs from camping sites to four star hotels. Please contact WKA Ireland President Ms.  

Patricia Dalton for further information.

Connaught Championships

This year's Connaught Championships were held in Gort, County Galway.  The competition featured many of the various ITF Ireland member groups including a bus load from Red Star, Dublin. The competition began with Black  Belt sparring and patterns. The men's heavyweight final featured Mr. Padraig O' Connor from Listowel and Galway and Mr. Sean Keane from Charleville TKD. This time Mr. O' Connor was the victor reversing the result from the Leinsters. The middle weight final also featured the same two finalists from the Leinsters- Mr. Alvydas Jankauskas (Red Star) and Mr James Dwyer (TKDI Bandon). This was another reversal from the previous competition with Mr. Dwyer the victor. Mr. Paul Manning of Blackrock again won the lightweights and is now aiming for the Golden Four Award.

All and all the competition was another great day. The usual friendly atmosphere pervaded throughout and the event finished on time as usual. The IUTF would like to thank all the ITF Ireland competitors and referees for their support.

Referee Course Held in Tralee

The IUTF recently held it's annual Referee and Umpire Course in the full time centre in Tralee (South West Taekwon-Do Centre). The course was instructed by Master Dalton who is a member of the ITF Tournament Committee. Master Dalton has completed five ITF Certified Tournament courses under the instruction of Master Galarraga and has huge experience in running major competitions over the last decade. The session covered sparring and pattern. It included a practical for ever member and also scoring of video footage. There will be a refresher session in November for all attendees (which will be free)

A group of colour belt IUTF University Students travelled to England on the May Bank Holiday Weekend to compete in Master Wolfe’s British Championships. Two members (Connie Vaughan, D. McSweeney) were unable to compete due to injuries sustained the previous week but the remaining four all prospered in the well organised event. The purpose of the trip was to give valuable international experience to students who began their training in University in an attempt to create a serious culture of tournament attendance within Universities, to maintain a high level of Taekwon-Do practitioner within our Third Level Educational Institutions and to flood our tournament ranks with new competitors at Senior level who may not have began their training in Taekwon-Do as Children or Teenagers.

All competitors flew from Kerry International Airport and were greeting by Ms. Lucy Wolf fat the tournament venue in Margate, Kent on Saturday May 1st. After a swift opening speech and bow, where Master Wolf thanked everyone for attending, the tournament commenced.

Our first success of the day was with Sharon Buckley, CIT, who Won Silver in Tul. Sharon fought hard in her sparring section to beat off strong competition to Win Gold. Ms. Alice O’Leary, UCC, and Josephine Carver, CIT, both fought well in their point sparring sections to win Silver and Bronze respectively.

The true hero of our day was Barry Hurley of UCC. Barry has been training exceptionally hard since he began training 2 years ago at the age of 18, and has gone from being over 100kg when he commenced his training, to fighting in the -75kg section. He fought off brilliant opposition to fight a worthy Belgian opponent in a two round final where he faced a stiff mental and physical battle to come out on top. Barry won the hearts of the crowd and was rewarded for his efforts with Gold.

All four competing members returned to Kerry International Airport on Sunday May 2nd with medals and valuable experience and enthusiasm for their future Taekwon-Do careers. Hopefully this will mark the first of many IUTF University Team trips over the coming years. I would sincerely like to thank UCC and CIT Sports Departments and the IUTF for their moral and financial support for this trip.

Diarmuid McSweeney,

IUTF University Committee Chairman

University Trip to Britain

Golden Four Award/Super Eight Award

The IUTF recently made a presentation to three students at the Munster Championships. The Golden Four Award to given to any member the wins one gold medal in each of the four major tournaments- the Munsters, the Leinsters, the Connaughts and the International Irish Championships. Two members achieved this award. Conni Vaughan from UCC and Millstreet and Shannon Murphy of Coachford and Ballyvourney were both recipients. Jordan Dalton of Coachford and Tralee won eight gold medals in the four events and thus became the first IUTF member to achieve this feat. He was presented with the Super Eight Award. Conni and Shannon will travel to Korea for the ITF worlds while Jordan will go to Scotland for the WKA Worlds in October.

The IUTF annual dinner meal was held  in the Abbygate Hotel, Tralee.  The meal included a special presentation section for the 2009 black belt grading and for the IUTF Competitor of the Year Awards. Mr.  Fitzgibbon won the Male Competitor of the Year Award for the fourth time. Ms. laire O' Sullivan won the women's award. The best junior award went to Shannon Murphy of Coachford and Jordan Dalton won the youth award. The final award went to Ms. Conni Vaughan for best colour belt.

IUTF Annual Dinner Meal

Mr. Padraig O' Connor recently returned from Moscow were he was a winning member of Team Europe in the Intercontinental Cup. The opposing  team was Asia in the 6th edition of the event. Team Europe was again coached by Master Dalton. The team also comprised by two competitors from Spain (Mr. Christian Oriolani and Mr. Gabriel Leske), one from Slovenia and Ms. Silvia Farigu of Italy. It was the first time that the team included a female competitor. Mr. O' Connor easily won his team fight but the score was a draw after five bouts .Master Dalton again asked Mr. O' Connor to go out and he duly obliged  by easily winning the 6th bout. Mr. O' Connor followed this by winning gold in the Open Russian Championships. The Irishman has had a sparkling career winning ITF gold medals in the Junior World Championships in Argentina in 2002 and the Senior World Championships in Korea in 2004. In the past he has also won gold medals in the WKA Kickboxing World Championships, the Open Taekwon- Do World Championships and the AIMAA World Championships.

Master Dalton would like to thank the Russia Taekwon-Do Federation, Master Kang and Mr. Valera Kang for the fantastic hospitality and for running such a professional, high standard competition.The trip was fully funded by the IUTF.

O' Connor Excels in Russia

IUTF Black Belt Grading

The IUTF held a black belt test in May in Listowel, County Kerry. More than 50 members were taking the grading exam on the day. The test was conducted by IUTF President, Master Don Dalton and he was aided by the senior instructors, Mr. Riordan, Mr. Fitzgibbon, Mr. Moriarty and Mrs. Dalton. The test included sparring (hand: foot: step and free sparring),

fundamental movements, special techniques, realistic self defence, board breaking (power and special) pad work, line work, referee practice and theory. Every student performed all of their tul.  According to Master Dalton "the grading panel was delighted by the overall level, particularly with the young students who excelled. We are now seeing the fruits of the yearly work with Master Maidana and the resultant changes to our syllabus. We will have a new crop of excellent senior black belts in the next decade as a result of these changes." The IUTF would like to thank the parents and families for all their support over the last few years. The best grading awards went to the following persons:

Youth: Donal Doyle, Listowel

Junior: Shannon Murphy, Coachford

Adult: Mr. Shane Rabbite, Galway

Jordan Dalton WKA World Champion

Jordan Dalton of Tralee and Coachford Taekwon-Do schools won gold in continuous sparring in Edinburgh, Scotland. Jordan dominated his Scotish opponent in the final after previously beating American, English, Canadian and German opponents in the early rounds. More news to follow!

The Friendship Tournament

The Friendship Tournament was held in Grenagh, County Cork in June. The Grenagh Taekwon-Do Club is instructed by Mr. Darren Healy and by assistant instructor Mr. Trevor Healy. The Day kicked off with a squad session by Master Dalton for the upcoming world championships in Korea. The hall was already set up at this point by Mr. Healy and Mr. Alan Walsh (3rd Dan). Having completed the squad training the registration for the event began. After 30 minutes the students lined up while the last of the registration was being completed. Mr. Walsh took the children through a brief warm up which relaxed all of the competitors and the competition started at 1.15pm. There were IUTF participants from across Cork, including the IUTF clubs in Genagh, Bweeng, Rathpecon, Coachford, Hollyhill, Mallow, Youghal, Charleville, Ballyvourney, UCC, CIT and Millstreet. There were also a large group from Kerry, especially Tralee and Killarney and also from Galway. Each sparring section had four members. The concept of the Friendship Tournament is to develop experience and improve confidence in the younger participants. There was a great atmosphere on display throughout the day.

In addition to the normal sparring and pattern sections there were also sections for team patterns, jumping high kick, a splits competition (every child with full side splits wins a gold medal) and a competition for side kick. Every team had to have at least one member from another club. There were four on a team with 15 teams in total.
This was the final event of the day and all six sections were completed be 6.40pm. There were beautiful newly designed medals to be one and some of the exceptional entrants actually won six medals! Jason O' Connor from Millstreet won five gold and one silver! The strength of the IUTF was aptly demonstrated by the fact that on the same day there was another similar event running simultaneously in Listowel. Sterling work was done throughout the day by the referees and umpires who were very caring with the children in the four working rings. The IUTF would like to thank the referees, club instructors and parents for a very special day. There were also six best competitor trophies for each age category.
The winners were;
Scott Healy (Grenagh)
Mathew Hogan (Youghal)
Julian Dalton (Coachford)
Darragh O' Sullivan (Tralee)
Jason Murphy (Millstreet)
Feargal O' Connor (Millstreet)

Jordan Dalton wins second Gold

Jordan Dalton made it two gold medals at the WKA World Kickboxing Championships in Scotland in the -35kg Full Contact section. It was silver medals galore for the remaining competitors as the men's team took 2nd place. Jessica Flannagan (full contact) Shannon Murphy

(continuous) and Brendan Kenny (cadet team) also won silver. Well done to all for a fantastic achievement.