ISSUE 1 MARCH 2018 VOLUME 12

A word from the

CHIEF INSTRUCTOR

Breaking striving for perfection

moderntkd.com

upcoming events

13th - 15th April All Rank Camp

@ Mudjimba

5th May Tournament Rnd 1

@ Redcliffe

19th May All Rank Training

@ Murrumba Downs

2nd June Grading

@ Kallangur

planted, the roots grow deep. We have already had a two all rank training sessions this year and I would like to thank those students who attended. Our first was to be held at Bribie Island but it was a washout with rain, so we relocated to the Murrumba Downs club hall and had a fantastic turnout, with close to 60 members getting extra tuition and feedback from multiple instructors. Re-cently we had our second session in my home of Ipswich, at the Bundamba Pool and Gym complex. Again I was happy with the num-bers, albeit them being a bit down from the first session (I think mainly to do with the one-hour trip required, but remember...it’s the same distance for me the many, many times I come to the North side). It was a very hot and sunny day so the final part of training was spent in the pool which was a great way to bring the body temperature back down. If you haven’t been to one of these weekend ses-sions, I encourage you to get along to the next one which is coming up on the 19th of May. April 13th - 15th will see our first training camp for the year at Mudjimba on the beauti-ful Sunshine Coast. This is a brand new loca-tion for us and it looks like it is going to be a great venue. It will be at the Apex Camp Mudjimba, 171 Nojoor Rd Twin Waters, starting from 4pm on the Friday with the first session at 6:30pm. This is a fully catered camp with all meals supplied (except on the Friday night) so be sure to feed yourself be-fore you arrive or have something prepared for after training (unfortunately our training is on at their normal serving time.) The cost of the camp will be $140 each or if there are two or more in the family it comes down to $130 each. For those wishing to come only for the Saturday, a $20 fee will apply. Make sure to bring your own bedding as the accommoda-tion is dorm style with bunk beds. We have some great training sessions set aside for you all with an added treat on the Saturday after-

Welcome to a new year of training! 2018 is well and truly here and it is shaping up to be another great year for the club. To all our new members, we hope you take full ad-vantage of the opportunities that the club offers, from the regular training nights, the monthly all rank training sessions, the tourna-ment series and the training camps. It’s our hope that your training continues and be-comes a lifestyle that you can enjoy for many, many years. I’d also like to welcome back a few returning members who have come back to the club after spending time away. It just goes to show that when a martial arts seed is

noon—we have a short excursion planned to go to the Aqua Fun Park at Twin Waters which is approximately a three minute drive from the camp. It is not compulsory if you can’t swim or walk after the training. We have arranged a group discount to make it more affordable and it will cost $15 if you wish to join in. So make sure you have swim-wear, towel and sunscreen. We require names and payment two weeks before the camp (April 1st), and we have camp forms already available so be sure to get them in early as we can only accommodate 80 people. I have al-ways considered the training camps as a high-light of the training calendar, so if you have never been to one make sure this is this one. We have our three round tournament series ready to go with the first round being hosted by the Deception Bay Club early in April. This year will see a few changes, mainly re-lated to Team Demonstrations divisions—we wish to make a it a more structured event, so the demos need to be minimum of 3 minutes with a maximum of 4 minutes (the length of a song really—and we want music incorpo-rated). The demo must consist only of train-ing curriculum (so no play acting), must have three major elements involved such as pat-terns, self defence, sparring or set sparring, with some optional element such as bag work, breaking etc. We are still finalising the details so stay tuned for more information. This dis-play should be something that you would be proud of to show a total stranger to our mar-tial art system. It needs to be of a standard as if we were performing it at a school fete or shopping centre. There will be points towards your club on offer as added incentive, so the smaller clubs can move up into contention for the perpetual trophy for the best performing class. So get a team together and start practic-ing, make it exciting and well rehearsed. Good luck to you all. Last year we were very happy to have had a

By Peter Cameron

6th Degree Black Belt

Chief Instructor

Founder of IMT in Australia

redcliffe review .... 2

lee’s lair ................ 3

mastering the art .. 3

Ipswich outlanders 4

Murrumba maniacs . 4

kallangur news ..... 5

deception bay buzz 5

banyo breakers ..... 5

gladstone grapevine 6

ormeau report ....... 6

By Jason Parker

4th Degree Black Belt

Welcome back to another busy and exciting

year of training. I would first like to wel-

come all new members to IMT. At Red-

cliffe, we have had a good number of stu-

dents join the junior class, with 5 new

members signing up and a couple more to

hopefully follow.

I would also like to welcome back to train-

ing Amielle Humphries. Amielle trained at

Kallangur previously, but with her family

moving to Redcliffe, I’m extremely happy

to have her continue her training with us.

Another familiar face to return this year is

Brenton Dodds. It’s been a couple of years

since Brenton has trained, but he is getting

his fitness back and is looking as sharp as

ever!

On a slightly sadder note, Anthony

Sgualdino will no longer be training full

time. He has been helping out here and

there when I need it, but with it being his

final year at high school, he has decided

to put focus on his studies.

I’m hoping to have a more active year

myself this year. So far, it has not been

quite as I’d like it, but I will knuckle

down and get some more training done

What I am seeing a lot of, is students load-

ing the knee correctly, but then bringing

their heel behind themselves, so the closest

thing to their target is their toes. The kick

is then extended across the body to the tar-

get like a turning kick. So event though the

final position may be correct, the power has

not travelled there the correct way.

If you think this may be you (and it is), ask

your instructor to assist you in correcting

it. Of course, I am always more than hap-

py to give you any advice, so ask me next

time you see me. This is such an im-

portant kick to master, so try your hardest

to do it more often.

I may even drop into your class and take

over for a week just to work on it! Ask

Jaz Forbes what that’s like!!!

for myself and get back into the AMAC

tournaments. It seems a strange contra-

diction, there is always so much training

on offer, but it never seems to be

enough!

As a quick training tip for everyone,

keep working on your side kicks. It is

no secret that this is one of my all time

favourite kicks, but lately I have seen a lot

of sidekicks crossed with turning kicks. Be

sure after you load your knee, to get your

heel across your body too. When your heel

is across, as you extend your leg, your foot

will travel to your target directly in front of

your knee in a straight line. Keep practic-

ing this, as it is very important and will

make your kick stronger and give you more

options to hit your target.

Redcliffe review

couple of weddings between members of the club, and it is happening again this year. Con-gratulations will be in order later in the year with Jacinta and Joseph planning to marry in September. I have known Joe since he was 6 years of age when he started training at the Redcliffe class. Jacinta joined my class at Kallangur also at a young age (I am being polite now and won’t mention numbers). Af-ter many years of training together, a relation-ship blossomed (which they were very good at keeping a secret). I could not have dreamed of a better match for each of them, and I am

so happy for them. We all wish them the best in this life together and look forward to their big day. I did say a couple of weddings...because the other one is mine. In June this year, I will be also making a commitment with my partner of the past five years. It is going to be a small service with only a limited group of friends and family celebrating this occasion with us. I would have loved to have had everyone invit-ed but we wanted it to be an intimate day. We then take off on a world trip taking in Hong Kong, Shanghai, London, Spain and America. In the past I have kept my personal life sepa-rate from the club and my role as your Chief Instructor for a few reasons, mainly as I was told by my original instructor to keep home

life to myself. They always said to distance the two, but these days I have an amazing group of instructors, students and friends that make it possible for me to open up a lot more. Some of you would hopefully have seen the many changes in me over these past five amazing years. I thank you all for your sup-port and love and look forward to my life as a legally married man. We still have plenty more in store for you through the rest of the year, with more all rank sessions, a black belt camp and the rest of the tournament series just to name a few things. So train hard, kick high and keep striving for perfection.

A word from the CHIEF INSTRUCTOR

By Lee Griffith

2nd Degree Black Belt

* Martial arts helps us to learn to deal with adversity - the tough moments, the tough times….perhaps a perceived tough life. This is something that many other ‘recreational’ pursuits don’t offer * Martial arts promotes the understanding that consistent effort, determination and practice is required to achieve success in any aspect of our training, and also in all aspects of life. Martial arts is often to referred to as a sport, but that is such a small component of what we do. The sporting aspect comes into play during tournaments and general sparring and fitness activities. I encourage you to reflect and think deeply about where you personally stand with all those aspects outlined above.

Greetings from Lee - aka Mother Duck

Have you ever pondered the philosophy be-hind the Martial Arts? When Mike and I started Taekwondo some 25 years ago, we delved into the philosophy behind the martial arts (in this case, Taekwondo) which we would never have imagined would become such a huge part of our lives. One of most impactive books we could have read at that time was ‘Zen in the Martial Arts’. We de-rived such great insight into the deeper philo-sophical practices in the martial arts and it was from there that we both based our train-ing and growth through the ranks. If you ever get a chance to read this small but powerful book, grab the chance with both hands.

Over the next few newsletters, I will discuss the many elements under the banner of the 'Philosophy of the Martial Arts’. Please read and reflect on the many aspects that will be shared with you, as each element is a most priceless gift that the martial arts offers to the dedicated practitioner.

The Philosophy of the Martial Arts * To get to know yourself both inside and out -to be acquainted with your mindset, your thought processes, your inner drive as well as discovering what your physical body is capa-ble of. This becomes more pronounced when you are advancing into your senior years. (Not ‘old’ age!!) * The martial arts gives you the amazing po-tential to master your mind. Ever felt like giving up and just going home? Most of us will have had experienced those fleeting mo-ments when it felt like it was all too much. Most of time it is borne from being physically or mentally tired. But the mind is an incredibly powerful but sometimes under-utilised thing and we can overcome those odd moments of negativity or perceived hopeless-ness but just reining in those unhelpful thoughts and determinedly continuing on our journey that we set out upon towards growing as a human being and as a martial artist. * In both training, sparring and even general day-to-day life (be it in business or learning at school or university), finding balance, be-ing entered and calm have life-long benefits.

Another year is already underway and just as quickly as it starts, the end of year gradings will be here. For a number of students this means higher rank gradings, especially black belt gradings. Most stu-dents train two nights per week at class, however this is not enough to prepare for the more difficult gradings. It is important to train at home or attend additional clas-ses at other clubs. Within IMT all students have the fantas-tic opportunity to attend any other club

ty to work on the individual aspects of Tae Kwon Do. One area in particular is your patterns. This is something that eve-ryone can always improve on. If you practice these strongly, they are also a fantastic fitness workout. Other areas you can train at home is your technique for different kicks and your fitness (push-ups and sit-ups). The thing to remember is that they don’t always have to be really hard and long sessions to get the most out of it. If you are watching TV you could do some pushups during the commercial break, or do a few patterns before you start your homework. Every little bit of extra training helps.

and train at no extra charge. This is a great way to work with a different in-structor and other students. Another in-structor could explain something differ-ently or give another point of view on areas you could improve. Different stu-dents that you do not always train with will provide a new challenge as you are not used to their sparring style and abili-ties. It is always good to put yourself in unfamiliar situations that will challenge you more and in turn help you improve faster. If you can't make it to other clubs, you can also train at home. While most people don’t have a partner to spar with or prac-tice self defence, this is a great opportuni-

By Joseph Sandona

3rd Degree Black Belt

Mastering the art

Lee’s Lair

Hi everyone and welcome to 2018 from the Murrumba Club. 2017 ended in a bang for the club with 2 new black belts – Jayda & Connor. Both worked hard throughout the en-tire year and it showed on the grad-ing day. As a gift for all the students at the end of 2017 the Murrumba club purchased a club polo shirts for all the students to wear to &

2018 will be a challenge for some of our higher grades including Gabby & Connor F who will be working towards their black belt at the end of 2018. It does take a year to prepare so be ready for a year of hard work!! To all students who will be grading this Sat-urday. Best of luck, relax and focus. It is everything you have already done in class.

from training and to events such as tourna-ments. There was also numerous end of year trophies awarded to:- Best Overall Student - Jayda White Best Female Student – Emma Heijboer Best Male Student - Adam Scott / Brett McCabe (Tie) Most improved student - Ella McCabe Encouragement award - Mel Heijboer So that is how 2017 ended for the Murrumba club…. 2018 has started with a BIG influx of new students – there are 12 new white belts who have joined the club taking our club num-bers to 44 students. I must admit it does make teaching a challenge, but nothing like a challenge to make life interesting.

By John Barron

2nd Degree Black Belt

Maniacs Murrumba

By Peter Cameron

6th Degree Black Belt

enjoy training. Thank you in particular to Lisa for your continued support with assisting in the class both on and off the floor. You are an excel-lent teacher, even if you claim it doesn’t come naturally.

We recently all went for a walk around the neighbouring streets putting flyers into mailboxes to help promote the class. It was great that we had so many of the class come and help out—this sort of support is essen-tial for a class to continue to grow and pros-per. We are very excited to be hosting the third and final round of the tournament in No-vember, and we’re already planning how we will set up the hall and use this oppor-tunity to promote the class even further in our area.

I would like to congratulate the students at the Booval class. We might still be only a small group but the standard is continuing to improve. The commitment that the stu-dents show is fantastic—they are there reg-ularly and always listen to commands very well and strive to develop their skills. I have seen some great improvement within the students, with Stephen really shining in the area of pattern work—he placed second in his first try in a tournament last year and I think that has made him more committed to improving...and to hopefully take out a first place this year. Jarrod is also starting to find his feet within the class with big im-provements in all areas of his work. Zeb and the kids are continuing to improve also and it is so pleasing to see how much they

Ipswich Outlanders

Kallangur By Kris Ashton

3rd Degree Black Belt news

By Jason Pascoe

2nd Degree Black Belt

back at training in no time. I hope to see you at the next grading and remember to keep your hands up.

Hello from the Tae Kwon Do Deception Bay club. I would like to welcome all new students and parents to the new 2018 year of martial arts and of course to my current students. It is a big year planned, with our first all rank camp coming up in April at Mudjimba and a combined Red-cliffe / Deception Bay round 1 tournament. This will be great for the club. Well done to Jacob Johnston who competed in the 1st

round of the AMAC competition 2 weeks ago. Jacob stepped into a higher category of sparring and came away with a couple of placings. Training in Tae kwon do is a big part of my life and I hope it can be a big part of yours. It is very challenging but very rewarding once you have learnt the basics, so get a good foundation and let it evolve from there. Get well to Isabel who has been in hospital you will be

Deception Bay buzz

By Tony Robinson

3rd Degree Black Belt

other. This is always sad as I like to think of the class as one big family. With Jaz also taking some time out for herself and Kathy having a wretched run with illness, the classes have been a bit different to say the least. A big thankyou to our black belts for stepping into the breach and helping me out. With the first term being fairly short, our focus

has been on most of the class to grade midyear. So this grading will be very quiet for us. Good luck to everyone today.

With the new year now well and truly under way, it’s great to see everybody back to class and training hard. It’s crazy how much some of the students have grown over the break. We at Banyo only have one new member so far so it’s a big warm welcome to Blair’s daughter, Sophie. Unfortunately we have also lost a few members from last year for one reason or an-

Banyo breakers

Keep this up gang and you’ll be rewarded by the great results you get. Well on with an exciting 2018 for the IMT, I look forward to seeing you all at the all rank training camp.

While I’m handing our warm and fuzzies I also like to give my thanks and full respect to Brett Parker for allowing me not only the opportunity but the honour of taking over his club…so thanks mate. I’ve been very impressed by the standard shown by all students this year already, I can run a pretty tough class sometimes and you all still put in a huge effort every time.

WOW…it’s already the end of March, this year is up and moving already… As this is my first letter as the Instructor of Kallangur I’d like to take the opportunity to thank all of the students for the smooth transition of instructors. I’m very happy to say that you have all shown me complete respect and have welcomed me in as your new instructor.

Ormeau By Troy Johnson

2nd Degree Black Belt report Speaking of grading, to be able to succeed at grading requires more than just 2 x 1 hour classes per week. As martial artists it is important to take some personally re-sponsibility for your progression in both your technique and your fitness. The Or-meau team were issued a challenge last year that they need to take some ownership of this and every student at every level & in-structors alike are tasked with a bare mini-mum of 30 push ups per class, 30 sit ups and 1 min of star jumps. While this may not

seem like a lot it is a great starting point and those students who used to struggle are now able to do this easily. To wrap this up, I would like to say good luck to all who are grading today,

you have more than earned the privilege to be here today. Keep your hands up,

enjoy the journey and keep striving for perfection.

Newcastle, Sydney, Mackay… just to name a few. I recently celebrated my 40th birthday with my extended IMT family and also got to attend an awesome not 40th party. I also want to share that I recently took part in the Worlds Greatest Shave taking off both my hair and beard and was able to raise over $1600 to support the leukaemia foundation. So when you see some random bald guy at the grading wearing black yes that is actual-ly me.

Welcome to the first newsletter from the Ormeau crew for 2018. It’s hard to believe that we can finally say that it is 2018. This article will be kept short and sweet as there is not much to report from down our way. We have been training hard in preparation for today and we know our students will perform to the best of their standards and put in maximum effort. I would like to welcome our new students Steven, Leanne and son Cooper. I am looking forward to seeing your progress. Unfortunately I have not had much time at class over the past month, and I have left the class in the capable hands of Leana who is trying balance class with her own study commitments. I sincerely thank her for her efforts and willingness to step up and help out while I have been travelling to, Adelaide, Perth, Mel-bourne, Townsville, Cairns, Darwin,

also make memories of funny things that happen that don’t always have to do with

training, remember to ask me about tent poles some time. Continue to train hard and

I will see those of you that make it to the training camp with possibly some of the

Gladstone students making the journey to the camp.

from the Christmas break. We are hoping to grow the class with a couple of new ban-ners to put up around the town.

Apply yourself to your training and you will see the improvements. The all rank

training camp is almost upon us again and it is a highlight of the training year where you

learn many new thing and things you al-ready knew but in a different way. You will

By Daniel Jays

3rd Degree Black Belt

Gladstone grapevine

Training is back in full swing now at Glad-stone and it is encouraging to see the im-provements made by the students when they apply themselves in class. The class up here is starting to grow and it is encourag-ing to see all of last year’s student’s return