ISSUE 3 SEPTEMBER 2018 VOLUME 12

A word from the

CHIEF INSTRUCTOR

Breaking striving for perfection

moderntkd.com

upcoming events

29th September All Rank Training

@ Redcliffe

20th October All Rank Training @ Deception Bay

10th November Tournament Rnd 3

@ Murrumba Downs

1st December Grading

@ Kallangur

the rest of the other styles but we offer a much more personal and inviting martial arts organisation, which you will discover as you learn and progress within the club. Let us start by touching on all the upcom-ing events that will pretty much see us out till the end of this year. Firstly, our second-last grading for the year is on 8th of Sep-tember at Kruger Hall in Kallangur, start-ing at 9am sharp for the white belts. Good luck to all those members moving up through the ranks of the club. Remember that your instructor believes that you are ready if they have given you the go ahead for the grading. Each grading is a privi-lege to attend, not a right. If you have trained regularly and put the work in, then you will do well. If you haven‟t been con-sistent with class and haven‟t quite got your pattern right then don‟t panic, there is always the December grading just around the corner. Progress within the club is not a race to get to black belt. Speaking of gradings, we have three extra gradings booked before the end of the year. Firstly we have Jason and Brett Par-ker both looking to move up to their 5th Dans. These two brothers have been train-ing with me since they were teenagers, and truly embody the philosophy of the club, and they serve as a great example as to what you can achieve through constant training and dedication. This important date is set for October the 12th, at Kruger Hall. This is a very big deal not only for these two instructors but also for the club. It also allows the other 3rd and 2nd Dans to move up too. The next lot of Dan pro-motions are locked away and set for the 16th of November where we have some of

Welcome to the Spring 2018 edition of our quarterly newsletter. The year is just flying by and we have had quite a few additions to our calendar which I‟ll dis-cuss, as well as some small changes to a couple of events. But I will start (as al-ways) by welcoming all our new members to the club. We hope you enjoy your train-ing and the events we have planned out for your benefit. You have joined one of Australia's leading clubs with a focus on quality training and instruction, where our motto is “striving for perfection”. Re-member our standards are high amongst

our 1st Dans making the move towards 2nd Dan and into the black uniform. We have Matthew Baker and Daniel Lee both training hard and preparing for what is traditionally our toughest and most physical gradings. Good luck guys, keep the mind focused and the body healthy. Two weeks later on the 30th of November we will have Kris Ashton, our instructor from the Kallangur class attempting his 4th Dan. Kris moved up from Sydney and was a black belt at age ten when he ar-rived into Queensland (but we know who he supports during the State of Origin Series) and continues to inspire our next wave of students. He has a wealth of knowledge in all things health related due to his past business and interest in body-building. He is one of our fastest black belts who I still enjoy kicking around with (and sometimes getting kicked around by). Good luck to all of you in your lead up to these dates, and as always, try and look after your body and be at full health. This is always the challenge as I remem-ber breaking a toe 2 weeks before my 6th Dan grading–which set my training back by 2 years. So stay away from any boy-mountains and elbows guys. Away from classes for the moment and onto something very special for a lot of us...another wedding. This time we see Joseph Sandona and Jacinta Manley say those very important words in front of their family and friends. Joe started at about age 6 with me at Redcliffe and Jacinta was of similar age at my Kallangur class. As I was teaching both classes back in those days and always combining the two classes for sessions, these two soon

By Peter Cameron

6th Degree Black Belt

Chief Instructor

Founder of IMT in Australia

mastering the art .. 2

redcliffe review .... 3

important dates ...... 3

kallangur news ..... 4

gladstone grapevine 4

black belt camp ..... 5

hip health .............. 6

a special invitation 6

lee’s lair ................ 7

tournament rnd 2 .. 7

banyo breakers ..... 8

Murrumba maniacs . 9

became friends and over many, many years a relationship was formed (which was kept very quiet at first). This is our clubs‟ second Wedding this year, follow-ing my own only a few months ago, but is also our second wedding from members within our clubs. Last year we saw Jason Parker and Cassie Sutherland also get married, both hailing from my class at Redcliffe. Both were young teenagers and again a friendship was formed which con-tinued to grow into a partnership of many years, till finally the knot was tied. From all of us at the Institute of Modern Tae Kwon Do we wish Joe and Jacinta the absolute best in the future and hope the life you build together is full of love...training. Back to the upcoming events–our 3rd Round of the Interclub tournament series was to be held at Ipswich, however as the numbers and size of the tournament has grown so much we have decided to hold it again at the much larger Murrumba Downs venue on the 10th of November. This should make for a smoother running

of the tournament. It‟s also just a great facility and central to the majority of the members. We had a very successful round 2 recently at this location, so be sure to read the article in this edition of the news-letter. Other tournament news includes the AMAC series that we have some mem-bers involved with, they have Round 2 on the 9th of September and then the QLD state titles on the 21st of October. Good luck to all those that take part in this com-petition against other clubs and styles. Our next black belt session is set for the 21st of this month and I look forward to seeing all those going for their black belts at the end of the year there, the following month the 19th of October is another black belt session. These are a very im-portant part of our clubs success and de-velopment as it allows the higher grades to push themselves much harder than in our normal sessions. This level of intensi-ty is vital to keep us black belts on our toes. Remember all black tips are invited and expected to be there as this will help in your preparation towards your black belt grading. Likewise, our all rank sessions held

monthly are also very important to attend if you can. You get to train with other members not from your class and you get to hear other instructors telling you simi-lar teachings as your current instructor, but in a different way. I love listening to all the instructors teaching as I often hear in them what I taught them so many years ago, but with their own twists they have developed over their years of teaching. The next all rank sessions are on the 29th of September at Redcliffe, then on the 20th of October, and 17th of November. These are only an additional $5 to attend and well worth making the effort to be there. And yes...I watch who comes to these sessions and can see a big difference in those who attend at their next grading. They are put on for your benefit alone, so make the most of them. That is all from me for this edition. Get your training at an optimal level, and keep motivated within class. Remember to train hard, kick high and keep striving for per-fection.

A word from the CHIEF INSTRUCTOR

for your rank. And at each level work on executing your techniques with both speed and power. This way you will de-velop the understanding of how to per-form the technique correctly without the worry of injuring your opponent. As you move up the ranks this range will slowly get smaller and smaller. But as you are more skilled and more confident your technique will continue to be performed with the same speed and power. Before you know it you will be executing your techniques just like a black belt with a perfect understanding of Range Apprecia-tion.

tor tell you the appropriate range for your rank. Lately I have noticed a lot of stu-dents trying to fast track this natural de-velopment process by punching and kick-ing as close as possible to their opponent. However in doing so they are executing their desired technique very slowly and with little power as they are not confident they can control it at that range without making contact. In doing so they are actu-ally not improving their range apprecia-tion and will never develop the under-standing and confidence they need. The best way to train this is to let is de-velop naturally throughout your training. Stick to the range your instructor tells you

By Joseph Sandona

3rd Degree Black Belt

Mastering the art

Have you ever wondered how your in-structor can execute techniques at full power within millimetres of their target yet not hurt their partner. This is called Range Appreciation, which is just a fancy way of saying understanding your range, or even simpler; knowing how long your arms and legs are, and how far away your opponent is. This is one extremely im-portant skill that most students don‟t think about as it naturally improves throughout their training. I am sure you have all heard your instruc-

By Jason Parker

4th Degree Black Belt

For the last 2 months I have been on long service leave from my job. It has given me time to do a bit of ex-tra training leading up to my grading on the 12th of October. I was doing an extra 30mins before class on Tuesdays and Thursdays, as well as making my way to Deception Bay class on Monday and the Bracken Ridge and Kallangur classes on Wednesday. I was trying to fit as much extra training time as I could before I went overseas for my Euro-pean holiday in August. It was great to get to train with and teach at dif-ferent classes.

opponent freespar, or even making some training suggestions that allow them to participate. Above all, just have some understanding it they need to take some personal time in class away from teaching. It is im-portant that we help each other out to achieve our goals. You can even offer advice on their training if you think they need it. You may think of them as your Instructor, but we are still students as well. We still want to learn and improve. After all „Striving for Perfection‟ is our clubs motto, a motto we all take very seri-ously.

A big thank you as well to Jason Pascoe who took my class while I was away, I really appreciate it. Congratulations to Igor and Andrew, who were both successful in obtain-ing their Black Belts at the last grad-ing, Both of them did extremely well and I am very proud of their achievement. The both have a fan-tastic attitude and work ethic in class, an it definitely showed on the day. It will be a busy end to the year, with more Dan promotions sched-uled between now and the end of the year. For all students who have an Instructor grading, please do your best to assist them as much as possi-ble. This can be as simple as offer-ing them to join you in a multiple

Redcliffe review

IMPORTANT UPCOMING EVENTS Please make note of the following changes and additions to our training calendar for the

remainder or the year. These changes can also be found on our website: www.moderntkd.com/Events

12th October 6:30pm - 5th Degree Black Belt Grading at Kallangur

Jason and Brett Parker will undertake this grading, it is a closed grading. If you wish to attend, please contact them personally. You will not be let in on the night.

10th November - Tournament Round 3 at Murrumba Downs (location changed)

16th November 6:30pm - 2nd Degree Black Belt Grading at Kallangur (formally Black Belt Training session)

Matthew Baker and Daniel Lee will undertake this grading, it is a closed grading. If you wish to at-

tend, please contact them personally. You will not be let in on the night.

30th November 6:30pm- 4th Degree Black Belt Grading at Kallangur

Kris Ashton will undertake this grading, it is a closed grading. If you wish to attend, please contact them personally. You will not be let in on the night.

Kallangur By Kris Ashton

3rd Degree Black Belt news

the key thing is the placement of your feet when stepping to change the angle, too

close or too far away and the range of your attack will be wrong. Get it right and hope-

fully you will be hitting an opening that was not there before you moved. Keep

training hard and good luck to all those grading today as well as the higher ranks attempting Dan promotions before the De-

cember grading.

attractive to families wanting to get active together.

After being inspired by some of the work we did with attacking at angles at the recent Black Belt camp we have spent a few les-

sons concentrating on improving this aspect of our set sparing using set attacks and

combinations. When using angles to change the line of your attack remember that one of

By Daniel Jays

3rd Degree Black Belt

Gladstone grapevine

Hi from Gladstone. This grading marks 1 year for the Gladstone Club. We have a few students here but in an effort to attract more students to the club we will be changing our training times from 5.30-6.30 to 6-7.30. Hopefully this later time will make it more

dent and black belt gradings 1st De-cember. I wish students sitting for promotions all the best, stay focused and get the job done. Good luck!! With Septembers grading well upon us our focus on training will now shift to-wards round 3 of the club tournament and of course bringing the trophy back to Kallangur. Get ready team it‟s about to get real. #letsdothis #gokallangur Train Hard

the training leading up to the tourna-ment, your skill grew and your fitness defiantly grew. Nobody complained (too much) but instead everyone of you took it in your stride and got the work done. As a re-ward we won… Our focus moving forward from the tournament has been strongly directed towards September‟s gradings. All stu-dents eligible to grade have been work-ing hard to prove themselves ready. It‟s great to see more new white belts join-ing our club and ready to grade. Speaking of gradings the next few months are full of them. Matthew and Daniel will be sitting for their 2nd dans mid November closely followed by my-self sitting for my 4th dan. Jason and Brett will be sitting for their 5th dans mid October….And of course our stu-

What an exciting couple of months it‟s been at Kallangur with a well deserved win in round 2 of our club tournament. A huge thanks goes out to all the mums and dads that helped out in some way or another. A special thanks goes out to my wife Anita and Mel Parker for organising…pretty much everything, without you two awesome ladies the day would not have been as successful as it was. And of course to Brett Parker for his contin-ual guidance and support within the club. Now to the students, well done guys…well done. You‟ve all shown determination along with outstanding sportsmanship in your performance and I‟d like to say its very humbling as your instructor to see. You all grew so much as martial artists in

ring Training. The Saturday morning began with the now traditional walk / jog down to the Natural Bridge, on a warmer than expected morning. Straight after Breakfast we moved into the much enjoyed patterns session, with the Black Tips in attendance com-pleting their Black Tip assessment with the Chief Instruc-tor. It was really great to see so many black tips in attendance (Go Girls!), they really stepped up to the challenge of the weekend and made excellent progression towards the De-cember Grading The following session was taught by the Sandona Brothers and focused on advanced jumping spinning kicks, with everyone pushed well out of their comfort zones (the theme of the weekend), this much loved session was followed by

The 2018 Black Belt Camp was again held at The Log Cabin the Gold Coast Hinterland. A Favourite venue for IMT Black Belt camps. One of the smaller Black Belt camps we have had in a few years, however the approx. 20 who came to train was just the perfect fit for the Log Cabin facilities. It was the first camp (probably this century) missed by Jason Parker who was holidaying in Europe dur-ing that weekend, but was also good to see Daniel Jays from the Gladstone Club make the 7hr Journey down for the weekend. The Friday night session was a later than usual start, with most campers on the road for 2-3 hours battling Friday night Gold Coast Traffic, thankfully on arrival Peter and Tony had already started the fireplace in the training hall, and just as well, it was a very cold evening, the warm fire made for a much more enjoyable session of mainly Spar-

BLACK BELT CAMP

multi-opponent set and Free Sparring, which lead into a much needed break for lunch The Multiple Opponent & Weapon Self Defence scheduled after lunch was moved to the Sunday, it was remiss of us to plan a board breaking session for the Sunday, what were we meant to burn around the fire that night? So the afternoon session was swapped and filled with timber board breaks as well as tile breaking for all in attendance, all in all I think we managed to smash approx. 200 tiles in that session. The final session of the day was of course the favourite 1hr Free Spar Session, this session really pushes everyone outside their comfort zones, and gives all the students and instructors a chance to spar one another at a high level of technique and intensity. An awesomely intense day was followed by a nice relaxing evening around the camp fire, with most of us in bed by 9.30-10pm A well-deserved sleep in on the Sunday morning was just what the sore bodies ordered, and thankfully too, because it was straight into more advanced training with the 3 main sessions to finish out the weekend all focusing on Dan preparation grad-ings with Multiple Opponent & Weapon Self Defence, Takedowns/Throws and finished out with Kick Combos and Sparring Thanks for all who attended and see you again next year for another weekend of advanced, fun training and good laughs with good friends

Guide to Hip Health: What Damages Them and How to Strengthen Them

Martial arts training can place more stress on the hips than any other sport. Therefore, it‟s crucial that all practi-tioners familiarize themselves with the most common types of hip injuries, as well as the causes, treatments and, most important, strategies for preventing them. Doing so not only will enhance your physical performance in the short term but also will ensure a healthy martial arts career that spans decades. The martial arts are the No. 1 cause of injuries to the knee and hip, particularly amongst older athletes such as those in their 30s and 40s, doctors are seeing an epidemic of hip replacements, especially in those over 50. They identify the turning kick as the most common culprit. Those problems, along with chronic conditions such as osteoarthritis, are caused by the dislocation of the la-brum, a crucial tissue within the joint capsule that‟s housed in the pelvic bone. Attached to the capsule and la-brum, which are closely tied to the meniscus in the joint, are the large muscles of the thigh and hip. When a person executes these [kicking] movements, particularly with great force, the labrum can be shifted or pulled out of place within the capsule if he does not possess a high level of muscular strength [and] flexibility or if he performs the movement incorrectly. This is the single greatest cause of martial arts hip injuries. Recognizing the signs of injury is crucial. If they are having pain in or around their hips and point to one of three areas: their groin, their side hip area (the pocket) or their buttock. Groin pain means damage to the hip, the pocket means it is bursitis or tendonitis, and the buttock indicates the injury is to the lower spine. Anyone who experiences pain or soreness in that area immediately consult a physician. Athletes wait too long to seek help for a potential injury because of the no-pain-no-gain ethic of some martial arts. Successfully treating your body is about listening to it on a daily basis, not waiting for it to shout. Perhaps more important than recognizing the symptoms is implementing a plan of action that will enable you to prevent them from occurring in the first place. The following strategies can be used to minimise injury. • Control your weight and body-fat levels. • Maintain appropriate strength and flexibility for your activities. • Avoid running and other hard, repetitive-impact movements. • Engage in balance training, especially if you‟re older. • Take a vitamin C supplement because it’s the main antioxidant responsible for joint health. • Try recumbent biking and water workouts to improve your conditioning. Water workouts are of particular benefit not only in preventing hip injuries but in treating them, as well. Warm water, up to about navel height, affords an opportunity for your joints to be almost weightless, and it provides many unique angles and loads of resistance. *This article has been edited from it’s original publication in Black Belt Magazine

Our big day is almost here and we would love to invite our extended Tae Kwon Do family to our formal wedding ceremony. The ceremony will

be held at St Joseph's Nudgee College Chapel on the 22nd September at 2pm. We look forward to

sharing this special day with you!

Joseph & Jacinta

A SPECIAL INVITATION

By Lee Griffith

2nd Degree Black Belt

by a conference with the student to pinpoint areas for improvement. In our truly wonderful organi-sation, where instructors all have their own unique methods, it should not stop a student from undertaking this process of self-evaluation them-selves. After your next successful grading, take the time to find out what skills you will be learn-ing, the minimum standards expected and any-thing else required at your new rank. Parents of our younger members, might support their child with this process. Stay around after your grading to watch the next one to get an idea of what‟s ahead. The only thing that is a given in our organisation is that you will be encouraged and guided to be the best that you can possibly be, taking into ac-count your „vintage‟, your physical capabilities and your determination and drive. The rest is up to you. All the very best for your ongoing journey through the ranks.

IT‟S NOT A GIVEN It‟s true to say that the only thing in life that is cer-tain is, in fact, uncertainty. We enjoy, often taking for granted, life when it‟s all running smoothly. Life is good, happiness abounds and we can take the time to breathe, to relax, to savour life and all that it has to offer. But it‟s a time when the mind and spirit is not being tested….the tough times are when we learn the most about ourselves and have the oppor-tunity to grow, to be fortified, to release the inner strength we could never have imagined that was stored within us. Transcending the classification as a sport, our Taekwondo training and progression up the ranks towards and beyond attaining Black Belt, actually mirrors life in so many aspects, more than you might realise, and uncertainty reins there too. For some, an unexpected injury or illness will stall or slow training for a period. Don‟t give up! There is so much to learn at each rank, so much to refine and perfect (as best as each student can) and when a coloured belt grading looms near, instructors will be assessing their students‟ readiness to grade, the readiness for the next stage of their development as an IMT martial artist. In this age, when unfortu-nately a sense of entitlement is particularly preva-lent amongst the young, students may expect to grade every three months or so, eager to get that next belt. For the young, it‟s quite natural and un-

derstanding to have that expectation. At the risk of disappointment, disillusion even, the readiness or being given the go-ahead to grade is not a given, not a right. In the foundation stages of Taekwondo, such as white and yellow belt, the fundamental skills need to be practised and refined – con-sistently and with a great sense of commit-ment and purpose. These are the essential building blocks upon which all the layers of advancing skills rely and if there has been little consolidation or committed practice of the basics, in addition to any bad habits hav-ing developed, a student should not expect to grade. Again, it is not a given. A student preparing for their brown belt, black tip or black belt examination should not be having to undo bad habits such as poor stanc-es or sloppy patterns. I would encourage all students to discuss their progress with their instructor, not just before an impending grading, but throughout the training „term‟ to establish goals and strate-gies to achieve those goals. Practice is un-doubtedly the key. As an instructor of a club (in hiatus), I used to provide my students with a self-assessment document where they would reflect on each of the skills outlined in the curriculum (for their particular rank). This would be followed up

Lee‟s Lair

Tournament Round 2

Once again, we have hit the 90 competitor mark for our tournament series. A very big thank you

to everyone who supported the tournament hosted by the Kallangur club on the 28th of July. There

is a lot of hard work on the day, both on the mats and behind the scenes. Firstly, a big thank you to

the supports group at the Kallangur class, who ran the canteen, donated prizes for the raffle and

helped the day run so smoothly. Your efforts are greatly appreciated.

Secondly, to all of the students who competed with such spirit and sportsmanship on the day;

you are truly fine Martial Artists with an amazing attitude towards your sport and you show great

camaraderie with your fellow competitors. You all epitomise the spirit of the Martial Way. We are, as we are sure your family also is, very proud of you

a nd your attitudes in the spirit of competition.

Lastly, to all of the students and instructors who helped with the running of the tournament. Your commitment and professionalism is second to none.

Thank you for your hard work to ensure everyone has a great day and we get out of there on time!

As the tournaments grow in size, we are endeavouring to maintain a smoothly run tournament, whilst giving each students the means to perform at their

best. To do this, we must grow and adapt to suit our students needs, while balancing our time to make the tournament series a success. They have, and

always will be, run with the students best interests in mind and to allow them to reach their potential in a safe and controlled environment. At the same

time, we are training the next generation of Black Belts to become judges, table judges and referees. We are always open to new ideas and suggestions on

how to make the day as fun and fair as possible. With these amazing attitudes from everyone involved, we look forward to growing even more as the

years go on. Thanks you for your continued support.

By Tony Robinson

3rd Degree Black Belt

ment but unfortunately Kallangur beat every-one for the win on the day. Congratulations to them. Now to try and hunt down runaway leaders, Murrumba. We also had 5 of us attend the Black Belt camp. Again, although I couldn‟t do as much as I would have liked, I couldn‟t have been more proud of the outstanding effort the other four put in. As did everyone else that attend-ed. Their will and determination to show their best and learn from every session, certainly made my weekend much more pleasurable. I have been stressing to our class of the im-portance of practicing at home. Especially if they have learned something new like a new self defence or pattern. I have been encourag-ing them to go home and show their folks what it is they have learned. It is really im-portant that things like self defence get thor-oughly ingrained into their minds. One of the best ways for them to understand it better is for them to be explaining it to someone else.

So parents and partners, I‟d ask that you often quiz your children/husband/wife/etc about what new things they have learned in class and then get them to actually show you. Also once they have shown you they have been taught some new ways of defending them-selves, take the opportunity to “attack” them from time to time when they aren‟t expecting it and see just how well they are remember-ing. I know my wife still comes at me from time to time with a knife or a stick just to keep me on my toes.

G‟day again from the guys at Banyo Since the last newsletter we have had a small surge in new white belts. We welcome Flynn, Alida, Luke, Prakariti, Krish, Carlie, Axel, Lance and Manraj to the IMT family. All have been training hard and join Ren, Jaara, Sophia and Nara in hopefully complet-ing their first grading.

The last couple of months have been a bit up and down for myself as I have painful hip injury that has limited my personal training to almost nothing. I only wish I got it sorted straight away instead of thinking I‟ll be right. “It‟ll heal itself soon enough.” Couldn‟t have been more wrong. Please don‟t follow my lead. On the up side, everyone in both classes has really been putting in the hard yards. We put in a really good effort at the tourna-

Banyo breakers

Hi everyone and welcome to another update from Murrumba. With the grading this weekend all the best to Emily who will be attempting her first ever grading – I am sure you will do fantas-tic. As I normally do at least once a year, I would like to hand the article over to a student. I have asked Brett McCabe to write on behalf of his family, about their TKD experience training with the Murrumba class. Over to Brett. John The McCabe Family‟s IMT journey started back in October 2016. We had been thinking of enrol-

dedication of all our instructors has blown me away. They put so much effort into every stu-dent and this makes the club a truly special place to train. It has taught our kids self-discipline, self-confidence and given them the tools to be them-selves. They have the confidence at school to stand up for what they believe in and what they know is right. The fitness side of things has also impressed me. Personally, I‟ve never in my life felt fitter or more challenged than I have while training at IMT (particularly in my latest grading to brown tip). Looking back now to when the kids first started, neither one of them could even hold a forward stance, now I see how much stronger they have become both mentally and physically. This makes me super proud. IMT is more than just a club to us, it is an exten-sion of the family and we are very proud to be a part of it.

ling, our son Aiden, into martial arts for a few months. Aiden is on the autism spectrum and we wanted something to assist him with his strength, confidence and discipline. At the time I happened to be doing a job for Matt White (Jayda‟s Dad) who recommended IMT to me. He was saying how impressed he was with the club and how taekwondo had been such a posi-tive influence on his daughter‟s life. We decided to wander down to Murrumba Downs to check it out and our daughter, Ella ended up joining. It wasn‟t long before I could see the benefits in the training and I decided to give it a go myself. Aiden watched from the sidelines for a bit before deciding he liked what he saw and joined in. Since then taekwondo has become a big part of our family life. As a family we have not only trained together but also participated in Saturday training sessions, gradings, tournaments, camps and AMAC too. The experience from being involved with IMT has been nothing short of amazing! The skill and

By John Barron

2nd Degree Black Belt

Maniacs Murrumba