News from the Aberdeen Club

DSC00583We woke at 4:30 am for the 4hr drive to Parramatta, with a sense of excitement and expectation, for the much anticipated Mark Trotter seminar.
We have been very fortunate to know Mark through our previous overseas travels and were well aware that we were about to be instructed by one of the worlds most popular and recognisable Taekwon-do competitors. Mark is a multiple world champion in several disciplines, and this was a rare opportunity to be coached by him in a small group environment.
For this seminar, the main focus was on some fundamental sparring skills, with a short session of traditional sparring thrown in to the mix. As well as a mix of students from the Sydney area, there were several instructors and students from as far away as Melbourne and the Sunshine

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Coast who traveled to learn from Marks experience. He gave everyone in attendance a number of things to work on to improve their fundamental sparring techniques as well as a challenge to work much harder during their everyday training sessions on strength and conditioning.
I am sure that the people who attended this seminar have been challenged to work hard on improving in the areas identified, and we are all looking forward to the next opportunity to train with Mark.

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At the grading on the 17th of December for my black belt, I was very nervous. I didn’t want to forget any of my theory or my patterns. Months and months of hard training, theory work and instructing the class throughout the 3 month period helped my confidence and power. When Master Daher arrived, I was nervous more than ever. I felt very proud when Mr Christensen asked me to say The Oath. Master Daher asked everyone if we wanted to do the grading first or the master class first, it took only seconds for everyone to decide to do the grading first – everyone was nervous and wanted to the grading out of the way.

Mr Christensen asked me to run the warm up and some of the junior grading session (naming the patterns and holding kick pads). After helping the junior class with their grading and slipping them some tips with their kicking e.g. pivot, more power etc, it was our turn. Emily Tisdell and I had put our hard training and all our effort into this next hour. After a gruelling session which included sparring against 2 opponents, Master Daher finally said the words Emily and I had been waiting for – “Brendan Love, Emily Tisdell you have successfully graded to 1st Dan”. I was so happy and proud of myself – all the hard work had paid off.

Master Daher gave us our Do Bocks and asked us to get changed for the Master Class. While I was getting changed I was so excited that I started jumping up and down and waving my arms everywhere – I was that happy.

Master Daher asked Emily and I to demonstrate the techniques throughout the Master Class which made me feel respected. Looking back at this year, I think the Instructors course in October helped me a lot because it improved my foot stance and balance techniques. I would like to thank Mr Christensen for his hard work, patience and belief in my abilities throughout the past 4 years, without his knowledge and assistance I would not have been able to achieve my 1st Dan black belt.

To all those younger students, I encourage you to continue to train hard and listen to and respect your instructors, as they will know what you are capable of even before you do and they will help you achieve your goals.

Tae Kwon

Brendan Love

1st Dan

Hey,

I’m Emily Tisdell and I’m a black-tip from Aberdeen Tae kwon Do. Last weekend I went to an instructing course in Sydney run by Master Daher and I must say, “I loved it”! On the way to Sydney, I was nervous because I had never been to one of these before but I soon realised that there was nothing to worry about and going there was a terrific learning opportunity. I now understand allot more about the theory and practical sides of Taekwondo, including some terminology when refereeing. I feel I learnt not only about taekwondo, but also myself and gained confidence to strive for bigger and better things in life. I recommended that everyone who can attend an Instructing course to make sure they do.

Tae Kwon

Emily Tisdell

P.S Thanks for the B.B.Q Master Daher. I love your dog “Sampson”

Instructor’s Course – Parramatta 2011

 

The instructor’s course was fun, enjoyable and very helpful.

The course helped me learn things that I had never heard of, like a low stance. The first time Master Daher said to perform a low stance I just went blank, I had no idea what he was talking about. But after the course I have a couple of new moves to add to my knowledge of tae kwon do.

At the start of the course, I was very nervous because I didn’t know how many people would come, and I didn’t want to forget my patterns. The start of it was the scariest part, and by the second session the nerves went away and I started to have the best time ever.

The course atmosphere was just great because if I made a mistake then Master Daher would help fix it straight away. There were many black belts also who shared their knowledge with the group. I also learnt that you should never be afraid of asking a question, because if you don’t know the answer Master Daher, the senior instructors and the other black belts will help you understand the answer.

 

Tae-Kwon

Brendan Love 14 years

(1st Kup-IL Shim Aberdeen)

Aberdeen MC

Master Class – Aberdeen – March 2011

Aberdeen class members were treated to a very enjoyable day at the Master Class held in March 2011. There was certainly an International flavour to the event with World Championship representative Léonie Therrien-Tremblay from Canada, and Harold Hortig from Germany in attendance as well as special guest (and close friend of Master Daher) Mr Henry Park.

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To begin with, Master Daher took the class through a recap of self defence techniques learned at the previous Master Class before handing over to guest Instructor Mr Michael Yasser for a demonstration on rolling, falling and throwing techniques. The class members went through a number of exercises and had a lot of fun. Then Master Daher got everyone to put on their sparring gear. No-one expected what was to come next as Master Daher asked everyone to get on their knees. We all had to spar on hands and knees against either one or two opponents. As the accompanying photos showed, there was no limit to the tricks that some people would resort to in order to gain the upper hand. Next it was on to practicing sparring techniques with some innovative moves on display. After the sparring drills it was time to warm down and stretch, but true to form Master Daher has no end of tricks up his sleeve in his ability to extract maximum pain (and enjoyment) out of his students. At the end of the day a great time was had by all.    

View photo’s here

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On Wednesday the 10th of November, Aberdeen had their first Master Class. I can easily say it was a complete success. Almost all of our members were able to attend, some with a bit of apprehension about what to expect, as this was for most of them their first Seminar with Master Daher.

We started the seminar with self defence technique. We learned about techniques to release from an attacker if grabbed by the wrist, elbow and shoulder.  After a bit of confusion, and with practice we slowly got through this. It really is something that we will need to practise many times so that it becomes a subconscious “reaction” movement. I know everybody really enjoyed this part of the seminar.

We then moved onto reviewing some of the kicks and it was back to basics. We all needed to practice this as over time the correct technique can easily be lost. So we worked on side- piercing kick, turning kick and back kick “movement by movement”. I know this was really important and it encouraged everyone in the class to really think about what they were doing, how to do it correctly and why it is important to do it that way, rather than just throwing the kick out there.

Master Daher was a very good and patient instructor. I know everyone came away feeling very good about what they did and will be looking forward to the next Master Class.

Thankyou Master Daher.

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Other members of the class who were grading for colour belts were also put through a rigorous assessment in front of a panel of senior Black belts.

Afterwards Master Daher took time to explain to the class that in order to achieve a promotion, all of the students must expect to be scrutinised much more closely on their technique and effort, not only at grading but also in their normal class training, as they continued to progress through the ranks to the more senior belt levels.

Congratulations to new Black belt students: Johnny Bowman, Cecilia Love and Braiden Lewis.

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By invitation Master Daher spoke first to talk about the earlier days of the IL Shim International Taekwondo Federation. Where most if not all IL Shim tournament competitors were feared as they were superior in the ring. Highly driven by discipline and respect for their instructor and themselves, not to mention their hunger for a good hard fight to win.

After warm-up we were straight into it!

First, concentrating on foot work, getting the body and feet to move in the quickest and most effective ways to enable a good counter attack when moving. Also emphasising the importantance of your breathe. If you are not breathing correctly you will tire too quickly.

2nd, we moved into the feel of contact sparring, practicing sparring combinations with contact to a protected area at first to feel the contact before moving into contact sparring. Too often we are afraid of getting hit, and without the contact training it is difficult to tell your mind that you will not feel pain! It is just a shock. With this kind of training the shock becomes less and less until you don’t feel anything anymore……. Then you are ready to fight.

After lunch everyone was treated to a session with Master Daher. Whom firmly touched back on to the discipline and respect side of training. Your actions show your discipline and respect, using a strong and confident voice.

For instructors it is difficult to teach those whom do not respond. It is your responsibility and duty as a student of taekwondo, whom is there to learn from the instructor, to focus and respond with respect.

Respect what your instructor does for you so you can do for yourself!! The weakness in your technique is the weakness in your discipline…

Senior Members remember that you are to set an example!!

And Instructors must demand total focus & respect to get the results!!

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After the speech came the work to put the key elements into practice with fundamental movements and the 5 elements of movement (Signwave, Back Motion, Action Reaction, Twist  & Breathe….)

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If any of the Key Elements are missing you loose parts of your power and performance….

We finished the afternoon with more sparring techniques. To include the all important hands (No Gaps) philosophy. Followed by continuous (No Gaps) and contact sparring.

For dinner we all enjoyed a quiet get together at the local RSL where everyone could mingle.

Sunday was the big day for sparring! Well done to everyone for their participation and enthusiasm.

Thank you to Master Daher, Mr Christensen and to Gail Hayden for getting this happening for us out of sheer passion and commitment.

On behalf of all students present, we now owe it to you to put this into every day practice.

 

By Sally Clark-Petrassi

IL Shim Newcastle

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Master Daher was a special guest for the weekend and brought with him several students from his Parramatta club. Mrs Sally Clark-Petrassi from Newcastle also attended with a group of very keen students, who had recently moved south from Queensland. Most of the students in attendance were Black tip and above and as such the training was intensive.

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Training started at 10am Saturday with a warm-up and fitness session, then lots of sparring technique, with Mr Christensen teaching some of the training methods that he and Trent Hayden had learnt when they trained in Germany earlier this year. I’m sure the drills were enjoyed by all!

The students then had a Patterns session run by Master Daher. During this session the students learned a great deal about focus, and worked hard on correcting areas of weakness. Then it was back to sparring techniques.

The day ended at about 3:30pm. We all met later that night at the Muswellbrook RSL Club for dinner and a chance to get to know each other in a more relaxed environment.

 

Sunday morning kicked off at 9am with a warm-up with Mr Christensen, then straight into Patterns with Master Daher. Next up was a Special Techniques session with everyone having a go. Mr Christensen then gave everyone the opportunity to put into practise the sparring techniques learnt by giving everyone sparring time in the ring with a variety of partners. Everyone agreed at the end of the day that they had learned a great deal and looked forward to future weekends. Some of the sessions over the weekend were quite challenging and it was exciting to see a group of students who were keen to extend their knowledge and willing to place themselves in intense situations in order to improve their performance.

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