We have a slight change to the schedule for Mr. Kim's visit. On Sunday the 29th we will be having a short Club Demonstration at 4:30pm. This should last no more than 30 mins and all members, family and friends are very welcome to attend.

One of  Black Belt members, who has been with us for almost 4 years will unfortunately be leaving us for a while. 
Ms. May Weber, on the right with her eyes closed (she loves this pic!), is moving to Colorado with her family for 2 years. She achieved her Black Belt from Mr. McSweeney last year and received a bronze medal at the recent PUMA World Championship. 
We will be having a small party in her honour next Friday week (20th) at 7pm in the kitchen of the community centre. The party has been labelled the 'Max Exodus' and all members, parents and friends (over 12's only) are welcome to join us.
Mr. McSweeney has also taken the opportunity to challenge us all to a cake making competition. Everyone is encouraged to try their hand at making a cake of some kind and bringing it along on the night. We will have 3 categories for judging. We have a juniors, an adults and a parents/friends category.

In honour of our guest, Grand Master Jae Hun Kim. We will be holding a free demonstration on Friday evening, the 27th of June.
The demonstration will start at 6:30pm sharp in the main hall and will last approximately 30 mins. We would like to see the hall as full as possible for this so please spread the word. 
Everyone is welcome!!

J H Kim Taekwon-do Institute has lots of success at the Open PUMA world Championships in the UK

The J H Kim TaeKwon-Do Institute took a team of 14 people plus coaches and a team manager to the PUMA World Championships on the weekend of the 7th 8th and 9th of March 2014.

The team consisted of:

Logan Mills, Alex Healy, Adam Gray, Ryan McSweeney, Rebecca Crawford, May Webber, Lilias Healy, Andrew Green, Dylan McSweeney, Andrew Quinlan, Scott Mills, Mark Healy, Fiona Barrett Burke and Faye Cooney.

We won 14 medals in total; 3 gold, 4 silver and 7 bronze. The team were fantastic ambassadors for the Country, the Institute, but most of all to themselves and their families.

The team was managed by Mr Joe Green and coached by Mr Kevin O' Donovan,  both of whom did a great job. It goes without saying that every student gave tremendous support when a  fellow team-mate was in the middle of battle. This just showed the togetherness which has emerged within the institute.

A very special mention must go to Philip Gray who travelled to support the team and did trojan work with the gear and minding anything that we lost!!!.

On behalf of the J H Kim Institute I want to say that it was a pleasure to see you all do so well and to see you all earn respect form other competitors and students. I can say that it a very successful event for the Institute. I think we have made a lot of contacts for the future.

Click HERE to view our photos of the event.

A few of us were lucky enough to be able to attend a seminar tonight with a true martial arts legend. Bill 'Superfoot' Wallace was hosted by Warrior Taekwondo in Clonakilty for a rare seminar. 
We were treated to some insight as to how he achieved his great success in the ring. Mr Dylan McSweeney, Mr Andrew Quinlan and Mr Joe Green were lucky enough to stand toe to toe with Bill, a memory I'm sure they'll cherish. Even at the ripe old age of 68, Bill has a hell of a sidekick that even had Mr Quinlan flinching!! Click HERE to view our photos from the event.

On Saturday last, the 23rd of February, the second edition of the Robbie O'Shea memorial cup was staged in the beautiful Celtic Ross hotel in Rosscarbery. This event was first run last year by the J H Kim Institute in Carrigtwohill and is run with friendship and fair competition firmly in mind. Having made the long trip down to Rosscarbery, the members of the Carrigtwohill club accepted the expected warm welcome which was offered by our hosts, Dan O'Mahony's Warrior Martial Arts. The night got off to an entertaining start with a very well thought out and enacted practical self defence routine being performed by members of Warrior. This was followed up by a demonstration from Warrior's younger members who put on a very impressive push-up show.


The fighters were then matched up as was best possible and it was time for the main event. As has become the custom, teams were a mix and match of both Warrior and J H Kim students, yet another show of friendship between the two cork outfits. The opening bouts were well contested affairs with Dylan McSweeney and Andrew Quinlan defeating their respective opponents. A very unique aspect of the night was the inclusion of music during the bouts which added a fun and exciting aspect to the already explosive action. the next fight was a titanic affair with one of the newest black belts in the club, Scott Mills making his ring debut. Scott gave a commendable performance and his fight ended in a draw. A very special mention must go to Tracy Morley, a recent newcomer to Taekwondo having made the switch from Kaizendo fitness. Sparring a black belt is never going to be an easy task but Tracy gave as good as she got and can be incredibly proud of her first venture into the ring. Andrew Green was our next competitor onto the floor and can count himself very unlucky not to come away with the result having put on an impressive showing in his bout. Another one of our new breed of black belts was next to put his talents on show as Mark Healy took the floor. Mark showed some impressive technique during his entertaining draw. Fiona Barrett announced her most recent 'retirement' in style with a very solid display in the penultimate fight. Then came the turn of the club stalwart that is Noel Maher. Noel was tasked with closing the show and he did it in fantastic style, winning his bout and leading the team home as captain. It would be Noel's turn to take home the Robbie O'Shea cup as Carrigtwohill emerged victorious.


A great night of action was rounded off with a brilliant social in the hotel as both sides mingled and talked over the events of the evening. The members of the J H Kim institute would like to extend their gratitude to Warrior for putting on such a great night and treating us with such great hospitality as is always the case.

The J H Kim Institute, Carrigtwohill was recently delighted to host Mr.Martin Williams from Boston for the second time this year. Mr.Williams is a leading instructor in the flagship JH Kim taekwondo school in the heart of Boston. Having delivered a fast-paced, intense and informative weekendʼs worth of teaching in February, it was to no-oneʼs surprise that the Carrigtwohill based school would take up the opportunity to once again welcome Martin and his family back to Cork.


Martinʼs classes are both dynamic and informative, coupling traditional taekwondo techniques with practical self-defence, grappling manoeuvres designed to simulate real-life scenarios. Martinʼs expertise in this area was apparent from the very start of the weekend with students quickly picking up the basics and executing them with ease in partnerfocused training sessions. Martin took sessions with students ranging in age from as young as five to students who have long since entered their adult years, with a resounding seal of approval coming from all.

The 15th of December 2012 was a very historic day for the students of The J H kim TaeKwon-Do institute, based in Carrigtwohill, Cork, Ireland.

For the students involved, who had undertaken as many as sixty classes in the previous four months in preparation for what was to be one of the biggest achievements in their lives to date, were understandably experiencing a mix of emotions as their barrels of enthusiasm were delicately balanced with a (to be expected) supply of nerves. They appeared primed and ready for what the next six hours had in store for them. The grading commenced at nine o’clock in the morning with the first group of four students being asked to showcase the basic skills and knowledge of the art which they have acquired over their years of training.

An abundance of skills, both accurate and powerful were on show as they made their way up and down the hall. Any mistakes which may have been present in the anxious few weeks leading up to the big day were blatantly absent as all involved gave a commendable account of themselves in the early going. Patterns and step sparring were performed with precision and flair as the students continued to impress all the other school black belts in attendance.

A first for European taekwondo, the all-round system known as full-range sparring was undertaken with the power, speed and accuracy expected of black belt candidates. The students can be proud of the fact that they gave this system a proper first showing on European soil. The grading was completed when we asked the students to do self defense which had been pre-prepared.

The breaking of the boards was to act as the curtain call for the event as the students battled with the pressure of being watched by both a gathered gallery and the knowledgable gaze of the many black belts present.

The Awards dinner was held in the beautiful Elm Tree where the Belts were handed out to the students one by one as I welcomed them in to the Black Belt ranks .I pointed out the importance of what it meant to be a black belt and what responsibility went with the rank. All involved represented their families, their club and most importantly, themselves admirably and can be incredibly proud of their efforts and achievement in getting to the position of black belt which they hold today.

A very special mention must go to an incredible group of young boys who have, in the past, made the jump from junior black belts to normal coloured belts and now the almighty leap to the position of full black belts. What is unique about this group is that they are all under the age of ten and apart from attending the same dojang, they share the same classroom, making them a very special group altogether.

I am so pleased to say that all candidates performed above and beyond what I expected and I am proud to announce that they are the first ever J H KIM Certified black belts in Europe and will add hugely to our Institute in Ireland.

Mark Healy 1st Degree

Matthew Roche 1st Degree

Scott Mills 1st degree

Dan Irwin 1st degree

James Barry 1st degree

Lorna Maher 1st degree

Adam Gray 1st degree

Ryan Mc Sweeney 1st degree

Darragh Cullinane 1st degree

Cian Murphy 1st degree

Hugh Healy 1st degree

Anna Szymczynska 1st degree

John Twohig 2nd Degree

Aaron Burke 2nd Degree

Daniel Griffin 2nd Degree

Andrew Quinlan 2nd Degree.

Mr Kim invited me to the world head quarters in Boston so that I could see first hand how his very successful school operates. I was met at Logan Airport by Mr David Hourigan from Switzerland who was there to work with me for the 4 days. I was a guest of Mr Kim in his family home where we sat and talked of our plans for the future of the school here in Ireland. All fundamental aspects of the school and its system were discussed in frank and open discussions.We had dinner and talked some more about the future of Europe and what we could do to help other schools who would like to achieve the same as what we had.

There is an impressive aura about the school which hits you as soon as you are met by the admirable Mr.Smith, one of the most senior instructors in the school. The School has 3 dojangs, all used extensively throughout the day and evening. Classes start at 10 .00 am and end at 9.00 pm.


I watched some of the morning classes and met students and instructors. From then,I was involved in the classes from 5 30 which emcompassed full range sparring techniques and at 6.30, which was the designated time for forms classes for all levels. Full range sparring classes began at 7.30. This is an exciting new type of class which aims to prepare the student for a real-life confrontation. An all level class was running from 8 to 9 for forms. I took a lunch break and was a guest of Mr Smith and Mr K M Hwang at a students bar and restaurant, owned by Angus O'Leary, a fellow Irishman. His Irish bar is a must visit for anyone going to the School.

On Saturday morning, an early morning was the order of the day as it became clear that a new schedule for our school should be drawn up, with the purpose of increasing the number of classes over a seven day period to facilitate everybodys needs in what is a busy world. The mass availability of classes in Boston prompted me to add ten more classes to our ever expanding schedule. One of the things which struck me most about the school was how seamlessly people from all walks of life blended into school life. Doctors, bankers, graduates, shopowners all have found a place within the school.

I have been training for 33 years and I have trained with many masters and instructors. I have to say that Mr Kim has the perfect balance. He operates a very successful school and he has very well trained and hard working instructors who work long and hard days. The students are at a very high level and some whom I met train as many as 6 days a week. Some of the senior people in terms of age not grade trained 3 classes in one day.


Mr Kim’s extensive knowledge has come from being personally trained by Gen Choi himself at his home,and from the years of teaching in USA Korea, Singapore, China, Canada and soon Europe.

Dear members,
     I returned from my trip to China and Korea yesterday evening.  The trip was a lot more rewarding and exciting than I had imagined.  I must start by telling you about Shanghai. 


     We opened our first branch school in China one year ago.  We picked Shanghai as the location for our first China branch, and I saw firsthand what a great city Shanghai is.  Shanghai is a modern cosmopolitan city of 23 million people.  If you count those who are not yet registered officially as Shanghai “residents”, the number grows to over 30 million.  That’s about five times the population of Massachusetts in that one city, Shanghai. 


     The number of students at our Shanghai school surpassed 220 at the end of our first year.  This means we will end up with roughly 450 to 500 students within three years.  It seems pretty clear that our high quality content and the international image gave our Shanghai school a great advantage in attracting students.  And, there seems to be no other such school anywhere in that city.  I think we have a huge potential in Shanghai.  Just during the few days I spent there, I gave my approval for a second school in that city, and three other people approached me about opening additional branch schools in Shanghai.  It seems everyone else recognizes our potential over there as well.


     What is even more baffling is to realize that Shanghai is only one city in a country that has many more such cities.  Our potential in China is just tremendous.  If I were a bit younger, I think I would be seriously tempted to move to China for a few years so I can supervise the expansion of our network in that huge country.

  
     Jin, Oh-Mee, Erika and Eric (Erika’s dad) came with me from the Boston area.  Santos and his students came from Singapore, and David Horrigan traveled from Switzerland to join us in China.  It was especially fortunate for us to have Jin there with us.  I spoke in English during the one year ceremony and during my seminars, and Jin translated everything into Chinese for our Chinese students.  Having Jin there with us was extremely helpful. 


     I also visited Korea to conduct promotion tests and seminars for our students and to train school owners and instructors from our affiliate schools.  We are trying to help these schools establish adult classes in their schools as part of our effort to bring adults back into Taekwondo in Korea.  The Korea Taekwondo Association (KTA) and the Kukkiwon World Headquarters all expressed their appreciation for my efforts in this regard during my visit.  They asked if I could conduct additional seminars for them in the future, and I said I could do so if the timing can be worked out.

  
     A news reporter did a story on our Korea school while I was there.  He said our Korea branch has the most number of adult students in all of Korea, so it became a news story.  It is a good accomplishment for our team in Korea (Seong-Hee, Jed, Instructor Choi and Instructor Sohn).  I hope our example will motivate other schools to work even harder to establish successful adult programs in their schools.


     All of these trips are wonderful and exciting, but my trip to China was extra meaningful as I was able to see our potential in that country firsthand.  I have a feeling we will be training a lot of instructors who can teach in Chinese very soon.  I am happy to be back, and I look forward to seeing you in class.
                                                                           

Sincerely,

                  Jae H. Kim