The Unified Taekwondo Association (UTA) on behalf of England-ITF was proud to host the Master Class Seminar on 6th September 2009 at Stevenage Arts and Leisure Centre.  Over 220 instructors and students attended the seminar including students from Belgium, Ireland and Germany.

The seminar began at 9.00am with the Chairman of the UTA and England ITF starting with a warm up, a practice photo session and some basic techniques.

Around 10.30am, Mr Horan got the word that Grand Master Choi had arrived and left the hall to greet him.  The hall was silent; you could feel the anticipation from the students most of whom were meeting the Grand Master for the very first time.  We stood and applauded Grand Master Choi as he walked through the centre line and you could see the look of awe on the student’s faces.

He started off with a speech about Taekwon-do, introduced the Masters and ITF officer Mr Mark Skyrme that assisted him, which also included Grand Master Lee Won Il from Spain.  Once he had finished we were ready for our photo session.

Following the photo session Grand Master Choi left to get change and Mr Horan continued with a few more techniques.

When Grand Master Choi returned the seminar was well and truly underway. The topic of the day’s seminar was to be Power and how we can apply power in to our Taekwon-do technique by utilising the body to its maximum potential.

The rest of the morning was spent on Chon Ji and the first movement being the lower outer forearm block.  Master Wheatley told the students that originally students would spend 3 months perfecting this one technique.  We then applied the same technique and power to the pads.

The morning session was soon over and it was time to break before lunch, but just before we broke for lunch Grand Master Choi made a presentation to Grand Master Lee Won Il with an official ITF recognition of his 9th Degree Black Belt.

After lunch Master Wheatley continued with his passion for power. We moved from Chon Ji to Dan Gun and Do San working on techniques and again maximising the potential of the body to unleash devastating power.  When Grandmaster Choi rejoined the seminar and we moved on to Won Hyo, a small group of coloured belts performed in front of the group followed by a small group of Black belts as Master Wheatley and Grand Master Choi broke down each technique.

We continued with Won Hyo a few more times before moving back on to bag work with the knee in which one person had to be sat down on the floor to ensure that you lift your leg up high enough to hit the pad.  This followed turning kicks on the pads again utilising the momentum of the hips and body for explosive power.

Before you knew the seminar had come to an end.  The students looked tired from a long day, but they also looked inspired by what they had learnt today, and couldn’t wait for their next Taekwon-do lesson to enable them to apply what they had learnt on the day.

After the seminar a group of students remained in the area, warming up, practicing their patterns, preparing for their grading under Master Wheatley, Master Nicholls and  Master Hogan. All of the students that took the grading from 7th degree to 4th degree passed after 3 hours of patterns, sparring, self-defence and breaking. Mr Deedigan who took his 7th degree performed all patterns from Tong-Il down, and was asked to perform all aspects of Taekwon-do. Truly inspirational to see that his 7th degree was well deserved, so becoming a Master.

In the evening, several members of the England ITF and our overseas guests, along with Grand Master Choi met up at the local Chinese for a meal.  At the end of a delicious meal Grand Master Choi sat with each of his guests for pictures before making his exit back to his hotel.