2011 Kick Off Camp Review

On Friday the 25^th of January Mr Paul Harper, Mr Steve Harper, Mrs Michelle Harper, Amber Harper, and Mitch Sammut boarded a plane to the Gold Coast to take part in the 2011 Kick off camp, we were the Victorian contingent. Amber and Mitch were travelling to their first Kick off Camp. We were certainly putting the fear into the newbies about the two days of intense training in front of us!

Saturday morning saw us journeying down to the beach. After lining up, Master Daher was welcomed to the beach by 65 of us. The first session, instructed by Master Daher consisted of self defence techniques. All of us ended up flat on our backs at one stage or another with each participant learning 3 new techniques to combat an attacker’s punch.

On returning to back to our central base Mr Robbie Medlin spoke about leadership and what is required by not only Il Shim instructors but every student. Concepts such as integrity, self discipline, respect, perseverance, effort, encouragement, courtesy and self belief were discussed.

The second session was taken by Mr Paul Harper, the topic covered a five day program to increase strength, endurance and cardio for tournaments and reduce the risk of injury. We also learnt that Mr Van Beelen makes a very good weight bench while Mr Kelly can act like he is pushing a lot of weight very well! The session was wrapped up with Mr Peter Evans presenting a talk on nutritional products to help us in not only tournaments but our normal training routines.

After lunch Master Daher introduced our mystery guest for the weekend. Mr Henry Park had trained with Master Daher in the 70’s when Master Daher was a yellow belt.  He was very well spoken and provided an entertaining overview of training through the Taekwon-do boom of the early 70’s, thanks mainly to the appeal of everyone wanting to be like Bruce Lee! Mr Park had coined the name of our organisation “Il Shim”, meaning “one mind”, for Master Daher. Mr Park spoke about the changes he had seen in Taekwon-do and martial arts over the years and how we could increase our membership today. Mr Park elaborated on the skill and determination seen in Master Daher very early in his martial arts career and the hard work and effort they had put into their training. Out of the original training group practising under Master Yun, Master Daher was “the last man standing”. Mr Park’s presentation gave us great insight into our Masters’ early days.

The next session for the day was run by Mr Christensen. We ran through sparring drills to warm up and to “switch” us on to the requirements of tournament sparring. Mr Trent Hayden and Mr Rick Scholes, under guidance from Mr Christensen then demonstrated the different techniques required for round sparring versus sudden death sparring. After the session was complete Mr Trent Hayden spoke about his aim in becoming World Champion. Mr Hayden won gold at the World Cup in Europe last year. His insight into top level tournament sparring was beneficial to all. His drive and determination will surely see him attain his goal.

The final session for Saturday involved a mini soccer game on our knees and special technique on the banks of Tallebudgera Creek. It was a fun way to finish up the day, or so we thought. There were some very tired bodies after the soccer but Master Daher would not let us slack off! We finished up training in the creek; Master Daher let us know that this was just a taste of what was to come the next day.

The BBQ on Saturday night was welcomed with open arms; we were tired and very, very hungry!

Sunday morning saw quite a few sore and tired bodies line up for more training. Mr Kelly ran through the requirements of umpiring sparring at tournaments. Mr Kelly’s enthusiasm for umpiring rubbed off on all of us with us all yelling “Hae-Cho” at the top of our lungs! The session was beneficial for all of us as umpiring is an essential part of any tournament.

The second session was conducted by Mr Van Beelen on power breaking. Good technique, speed, focus and confidence is essential for successful power breaking and this was demonstrated by Mr Van Beelen. We then got the pads out to practise our new found knowledge.

The first lesson of session 2 was the beep test. Mr Chamberlain from the Gold Coast runners club ran the session and explained the setup of the beep test. If the fatigue from the last couple of days hadn’t presented itself it sure did after this session! Our fitness levels were noted down for future reference.

The final session of the day began by doing push-ups and sit-ups while advancing into the cool waters of Tallebudgera Creek. While this was respite from the heat the final session, run by Master Daher, was one of the toughest of the weekend. Team running through the water and 3 on 1 sparring in the water were just a couple of the exercises we ran through. There were many exhausted participants by the end.

We all thoroughly enjoyed our weekend; the variety of the sessions was great, and I’m sure every participant came away from the weekend with tips to aid their training. Most of all the weekend was a lot of FUN! Everyone from white belt to black belt had a great time, the camaraderie within the group was excellent and I am sure that everyone will be back next year for a bigger and better Kick off camp.