Two venues, two different activities and a small grading – all on the same day?  Didn’t Il Shim LaTrobe and Il Shim Melbourne have a busy day!

By Mr Dave Proctor, 3rd Degree

Sunday the 18^th March was, thankfully, a clear and sunny day as Il Shim’s LaTrobe and Melbourne clubs joined together for both a demonstration and seminar.

The demonstration was part of the LaTrobe City Multicultural festival and was a great opportunity to expose people to the art of TaeKwon-Do.  After the usual pre-performance jitters (and a few minor hiccups) we kicked off (no pun intended -honestly) with Il Shim Melbourne performing fundamental movements in walking stance. Due to the limited stage space (thanks principally to the many volunteers from both clubs!) the Melbourne people then made way for LaTrobe students to demonstrate “L” stance techniques.

At this stage we were to demonstrate self defence techniques and strategies but time was against us so we moved to Melbourne students demonstrating tournament style sparring which was performed extremely well. LaTrobe student were then sparring using a non-contact system to show the variation in sparring methods and how TaeKwon-Do is accessible to all ages.

After sparring we began power breaking. This was a new experience for some of the Melbourne students as we were using timber boards they’d not encountered before.  All performed very creditably, although Mr Harper nearly sent a board flying through a speaker on the stage!

After a short, and mostly illusory, lunch break the two clubs adjourned to Churchill for a seminar at which Mr Harper had consented to grade four junior white belts. In the spirit of inclusivity it was decided that all present would be on the floor for the grading. For the four juniors this meant that their assessment lasted 40 minutes – at which they performed extremely well.  At this point the four gradees were free to depart but, to their credit, they elected to stay and watch proceedings for an hour or so – by the time the left there were more than a few very weary juniors.

Mr Harper then spent time with those still on the floor discussing fundamental technique. We then split into small groups to practice patterns appropriate to our grade.  At the conclusion of the seminar all gathered for afternoon tea (lunch in many cases) and the Melbourne students prepared for the long drive home.

Many thanks are owed to those students of Il Shim Melbourne for making the journey to LaTrobe and assisting with our promotion of the art. Special thanks are due the Harpers, not only for bringing their entire family to the event and Mr Harper running a seminar for LaTrobe students but to Mrs Harper who spent much of the seminar fitting new LaTrobe students with doboks.