As parts of the nationwide celebrations of 125 years of GAA, Navan Taekwon-Do School were invited to the local KIlberry GAA grounds on May10th to do a demonstration of our art. 12 students met to perform the demo. Luckily the rain had abated the before but the going was 'soft' on the pitch. Instructor Dave Elson took the microphone to explain to the audience what taekwon-do was and what to expect from the demonstration. We did some fundamental movements, the yellow tags performed Chon-Ji, Yellow Belts did Dan Gun, Red Tag and red belts did Joong Gun and the three black belts did Choong Moo. Everyone did a round of sparring which the crowd enjoyed! We then did a breaking demonstration including jumping overhead kick performed by Mr Matthews, with Niamh Mc K eever on Mr Elson's shoulders, Mr Mathews again broke using a forefist punch. Mr Elson did a jumping back reverse turning kick followed by a flying side kick over four of the juniors. Ms Bergin peformed a front elbow strike. Lots of oohs, ahhhs and a few ow's!

Thanks to everyone who took part. Thanks to Ollie McKeown for the excellent photographs which are posted in our photo album.

Spring Grading.....

The date for the next grading has been set. It will take place on Saturday 14th March at 2pm in Wilkinstown Community Center.

Master Douglas will be travelling from Dublin to conduct the grading.

All prospective students should start preparing for it by doing additional practice at home, learn your theory and korean termonology.....don't leave it until the last minute.......remember 'Fail to prepare and prepare to fail'

Student of the Year 2008

In its third year, Navan Taekwon-Do School's student of the year award was hotly contested. This years format engaged prospective students in all aspects of Taekwon-Do.

Points were awarded for the following categories:

Gradings - Points increasing for L, O and A grades respectively.

Tournaments - Points awarded for attending, and points increasing for Bronze, Silver and Gold resepectively in Patterns, Power and Sparring.

Seminars - Points awarded for attending ITF seminars through the year.

..........and this years winner is Red Tag, Sally Deans!

Sally has been very close to getting this award in the past due to her dedication to both her training and the club, and this year she succeeded. Instructor Dave Elson, presented Sally with her award, at the final class before Christmas.

Congratulations Sally!

Christmas Break

We are going to take a well deserved break for Christmas this year!

Little Dragons: Final class before Christmas is Wed 17th December, and starting back Wed 7th January 2009

Junior and Senior Class: Final class Monday 22nd December, starting back on Monday 5th January 2009

We will present the Student of the Year prize to.........??? on Monday 22nd December. 

Navan Taekwon-Do's newest Black Belt!

Navan TKD hit a significant milestone on Sunday 7th December 2008 when the first of the club students was promoted to 1st Degree black belt.

Although we have two other black belts, Lindsay Butler and Nicola Bergin in our ranks, they joined us as black belts from other clubs.

Keith Matthews, from Rathkenny, produced a faultless test both in the preliminary stage and the actual grading along with 32 other hopefuls in the INTA headquarters, the TKD Center , in Dublin. The Grading panel of Master Brendan O'Toole, Master Val Douglas, (both 7th Degree) and Mr Gerry Martin (6th degree) put the candidates through a comprehensive grading over a 6 hour period. Fundamental movements and kicking techniques were assessed prior to the Patterns. After a break, the sparring took places, and finally the theory and power test. Keith successfully broke all boards using jump (spot) side kick, turning kick (both on 2" of timber) and punch (1").

All students passed the grading successfully and were presented their Black Belts by Master O'Toole.

Well Done Keith.........Mr Matthews!!

National Champions!

Navan TKD had a very succesful outing at the INTA National Championships, held at Maynooth on 11/12th October. 10 Juniors took part in both sparring and patterns competition taking 7 placings.

Mehan Barrett ,Gold, Sparring; Aidan Smith, Gold Sparring;  Matthew Deans, Silver, Sparring; Niamh McKeever, Silver, Sparring; Karl Rice, Bronze Sparring; Sally Deans Bronze in Patterns and Bronze in sparring.

For many of the juniors it was their first competition, yet they still took well deserved placings.

The two day event was very well organised by Mr Niall Jones V Degree and the event was very well supported by INTA umpires, all helpingh to make the event a success.

Team Patterns Seminar in August

Navan Taekwon-Do is hosting a team patterns seminar on Saturday 23rd August. This enjoyable seminar will be conducted by Mr Kevin Hannigan, V Degree, and is open to all INTA members fom yellow tag upwards.

Mr Hannigan was a member of the Irish Team who won Gold in the 2003 ITF World Championships team patterns event. He has also been Irish Team Coach for a number of years.

The seminar will take place from 11am until 2.30pm. Direections and further information are available in our 'contact' section.

Lee Morrisson Seminar July 08

Navan Taekown-Do instructor, Dave Elson, attended a self protection workshop, hosted by Rob Pepper of Urban Combatives Ireland, and conducted by Lee Morrisson. Morrison is considered by many to be one of the top instructors in reality based personal protection and deals with a structured approach to dealing with street violence.

Lee began the workshop by defining the nature of todays violent attacks and how they are perpretrated. Starting with a game plan..understanding what can happen and how it does, Awareness....knowing what to look out for and how to avoid it, Escape....always the best option, Pre-empting.....how to avoid receving the first attack, when this was unavoidable Lee showed us how to deliver an VERY effective and sustained retailiation.

Each section was taken in steps and it all culminated in role playing scenarios which covered all aspects of the workshop.

I was told that my this would be a real eye opener.....it sure was!

More info on Lee Morrissons website Urban Combatives

Grading May 08

On Sunday 25th May a small group of Navan Taekwon-Do students travelled to Master Douglas's Tempelogue dojang for a kup grading.

The main purpose was to facilitate those who had missed previous gradings, but mainly for the clubs two red belts, Gerry Murphy and Keith Matthews who were grading for Black Tag (1st kup). A May grading will give the two seniors a good 6 months preparation towards a Black Belt grading in December 2008.

Master Douglas, tested the two red belts along side two Lucan red tag seniors and put alot of the time of the grading into seeing the fundamental movements and kicking techniques - all movements called for in Korean.

The very comprehensive grading tested all aspects of taekwon-do and will no doubt be a good base for Gerry and Keith to work from towards their December goal.

Congratulations to the two black tags and the three jniors who also passed successfully.

Grading results or on the 'Gradings' page.

Next grading will take place in 6-8 weeks and will be held in our dojang.

Grading in March 08

We have set a date for Saturday 1st March for the spring grading.

Those who are eligible to grade should be at the dojang by 10.50am on Saturday morning. The grading will start at 11am when Master Douglas arrives.

Make sure you prepare for it and read our student manuals .....best of luck.

The grading results wll be posted on the 'gradings' page on Saturday evening.

Navan Taekwon-Do takes Leinster titles!

Students of the club had a highly succesful day at the Leinster 08 Open tournament organised by the Republic of Irleand Taekwon-Do Asssociation on 23 February.

SInce we had no seniors competing, the junior competition didn't start until 1pm. The venue was excellent, Tallaght Leisure Centre, a recently built facility on west Tallaght which the RITA had equipped with  3 ring areas and a clear schedule of the activities posted on the wall.

The patterns section was first up, first time competitor Jamie Dixon taking a Silver medal in the yellow belt division.

Kelly Marie Harris took Bronze after performing Won-Hyo no less than 4 times!

Unfortunately Niamh McKeever and Matthew Deans were drawn against each other in round 1 of the green belt section. Niamh got the decision only to come against Sally Deans in later rounds. Sally was narrowly beaten in the semi finals but reached third place  with a Bronze medal.

Sparring was next, tactics agreed in advance and Instructor Dave Elson on hand as coach allowed the Navan fighters to start winning bouts.

Niamh McKeevers first bout was a draw after round 1, draw after round 2 and Niamh won the 'sudden death' 3rd round. Sally Deans met a tired Niamh in a very clean controlled final where the center ref didn't have to step in once! Gold medal to Leinster Champion Niamh and Silver to Sally.

Kelly-Marie Harris, won three bouts, in the under 12 green belt division to take her 2nd tournament victory. Gold Medal and Leinster title No. 2.

Sean Lally took 2nd place in a division of 16 green belts, taking silver.

Jamie Dixon took 3rd place in sparring and showed great perseverence by not even flinching after getting hit with a back reverse turning kick to the head.

To sum up:

Gold Medals x 2,  Silver Medals x 3, Bronze Medals x 3

A great event for all and great preparation for the INTA Open in Cork in March.

INTA International Open 29th /30 March 08

 .....details to follow

Student of the Year Award 2007

This years award goes to.........Niamh McKeever!

Congratulations! Green Belt Niamh, received the award due to her demonstration of the tenets of Taekwon-Do in her training. Her indomitable spirit and perseverence shone through taking on the boys in sparring and especially in 'MurderBall'

Navan Taekwon-Do gets 1st Red Belts!

On December 9th 2007 senior students Gerry Murphy and Keith Matthews passed their 2nd kup grading and were awarded they're red belts. They are now the highest graded Navan Students.

The grading took place in the INTA HQ in Exchequer Street under Master Brendan O'Toole. The guys were grading alongside two TKD Center Red belts, which was good experience towards their next grade. Unfortunately a lack of control by one of the red belts in the free sparring (without pads) took the edge of what was a good test. Power test came in the form of spot side kick (2 boards) kick of choice (2 boards) and forefist punch (1 board).  Master O'Toole was happy with the level of the two navan students and only suggested minor improvements. Gerry and Keith, who both joined as green belts, are setting their sights firmly on 2008 for black belt grading.

Navan Instructor promoted to III degree

On December 2 2007, Navan Taekwon-Do School instructor Dave Elson, was promoted to III degree blackbelt by the INTA Examination Panel of Master Brendan O'Toole, Master Val Douglas and Mr Gerry Martin.

The grading, part ii of the dan grade process, took place as normal in the INTA head quarters in Exchequer Street, Dublin.

25 students were grading from I degree upto V degree with three grading for III degree. Nerves and tension, high as always, didn't hinder any of the 2nd degrees grading for 3rd.  2 on 1 sparring was exiting for all involved, including the spectators, who applauded after Mr Elson, Aeden McCormac and David O'Malley went at it. Leg kicks and take downs included in the bout and a great challenge given by the two (newly graded) 1st Dans.

A clean round in the power test  - kick of choice (2 boards), back knuckle strike (1 board) and jump back reverse turning kick (1 board) finished the grading for Mr Elson on a high note.

A pint with the Masters and students followed by a meal with his wife and daughters finished the day of perfectly!