2009 Kick Off Camp – Gold Coast

The first day saw us getting some excellent self defense traing from Master Daher himself! This session was fantastic with a variety of different techniques to deal with. Master Daher showed us the most effective ways to take the opponent down with a minimum of effort! The simplicity of using basic TKD blocks effectively for self defence was a highlight of this session, with Master Daher providing valuable one-on-one feedback whilst correcting individuals where required.

A quick break then we were off to find out who the Mystery man was!!! After a few guesses we finally got to meet him and it was Nelson, the first gold medal winner for Australia!! He put us through our paces with a variety of sparring drills designed to test our endurance and speed! This was a fantastic yet exhausting session! Additional drills included hand techniques, adding ducks & kicks & pointing out the position of the head, body & overall balance in attacking the opponent. This session was vigorous & included push ups & sit-ups while waiting in line to practice the techniques.

Following this exhausting session, Mr Paul Harper (a qualified personal trainer) gave a very informative talk on diet, exercise, stretching & the benefits of weight training for Taekwon-Do. The most notable point was the fact you must do weight training with proper stretching to improve, reduce injury & to be able to perform Taekwon-Do techniques to their fullest.

Day two and it was Mr Gerard Kelly’s turn to take the guys and girls through their paces with a variety of kicks and techniques used in patterns. We moved on to double and triple kicks and after that finished off with some slow motion kicking.

Ms Gail Jacobsen took us next with some fitness games which made us think as well as use our bodies! We had some flag races, crab games, and all of these games were tiring yet lots of fun showing everyone that training doesnt always have to have Taekwon-Do in it to be beneficial! Next was some sparring games with Mr Harper and Mrs Keenan, these were great fun as well as it gave us all a chance no matter what rank! And then we had the focus game, an exercise in self-control which was one of the highlights of the camp! We had to remain in Narani junbi sogi and not move smile or otherwise whilst others tried to make us blink, laugh, move etc. Mr Kelly delighted in playing the clown to get students to move, especially with Mr Fischer where he seemed to enjoy doing a most “un-Taekwon-Do-like” dance in front of him, causing Mr Fischer to crack up. Mr Kelly did alright….. till approached by Mr Harper!

The last session of the two days belonged to Master Daher for what he called an ” easy ” session! Master Daher put us through a gruelling set of exercises that would test everyones stamina and endurance to their limit! The session started with jogging up & down the beach into the water. Doing sit-ups & push-ups in the water, kicks in the water, running in the water out to Mr Abdallah who had fun in moving further out as the students got closer to him before they could turn back for the shore. The intensity increased & those of us with injuries were glad to watch as one by one students fell out until only Trent Hayden & Gerard Kelly dragged each other along the beach as the last men standing. The remainder of the session was spent doing patterns and exercises in the water, all of this of course whilst still in full dobok!

All in all it was a fantastic weekend and we will most definately be back  in 2010!!!!

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All participants left the weekend’s camp on a high. Here’s what some of them had to say about their experience:

“Great to meet people from other clubs and train with them. A great opportunity to train with Master Daher and other instructors. Loved the self defense session with Master Daher-hard work training in the sand! The water training fitness session in our doboks with Master Daher was one of the hardest training sessions I have ever done, but I was proud to complete it and come out of it mentally stronger. Sparring technique with Nelson (the mystery guest)-I picked up a lot of information about stance when sparring and worked really hard practicing hand and foot combos with him. Again training in the sand was very hard work. Overall the weekend was very worthwhile. I learned lots from every session and trained HARD!!! The location was beautiful, weather was great, our hosts from the Gold Coast made us feel welcome, and I would love to go back next year. “

Ms Sue Whitfield, Il Shim Melbourne

“A most enjoyable camp. I think all who attended will be spreading the word to other students to not miss next year’s!”
Mr Bruce Fischer, Il Shim Redlands

“The weekend at Tallebudgera was fantastic. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and look forward to next year. All the activities that were provided were great fun and i think that more people next year will really make it buzz. Great location and great instructors made a weekend that won’t soon be forgotten.”

Ms Gail Jacobsen, Il Shim Agnes Water

“I thoroughly enjoyed the 2009 Kick-off Camp – it was great to meet fellow ITF instructors/students from across the board and had lots of fun participating in the 2 day program on the Beach (great to be out of the dojang). Our surprise guest Nelson was awesome, and all instructors who provided the training brought something new & challenging for us all. A big thanks to the organisers & I look forward to the next camp!.”
Marissa Kapo, Il Shim Agnes Water

“Thought the camp was great. Had a great time and would be keen to make the trip from NZ over for it again next year.”

Alex Corkill, ITFNZ / Il Shim Melbourne

“I had a great time at the camp, varied training regimes, great people and great location. I particularly enjoyed the Saturday afternoon with Nelson, and training in the river with Master Daher. I would certainly recommend it to anyone and I will certainly be there next year!”
Steve Harper, Il Shim Melbourne

“The best part of the Kick Off camp was when we got to train in the water, it was exhausting but really fun.”

Luke Kapo, Il Shim Agnes Water

“I found the variety and different levels of physical activity to be a good over-all balance. It was a good time being had.”
Mr John Dwight, Il Shim Melbourne