As a student of taekwondo, I often enjoy watching videos that feature different forms of fighting styles. This seems to be common to many martial arts students and a recent poll on Combat Canada shows that many of you enjoyed Ong Bak, featuring Muay Thai artist Tony Jaa.

Ong Bak 2 has been recently released to DVD to much anticipation. The story is not a sequel to Ong Bak, and takes place in ancient Thailand as we follow young Tien, the son of a murdered nobleman. After witnessing his family’s massacre, Tien eventually finds himself under the care of a group…

2009 Junior Canadian Pan Am Team. Photo courtesy Alff Henry / Exposure Net

In November 2009, the top Taekwondo players in the Americas convened in El Salvador for the biennial Junior Pan Am Championships. The Canadian team performed with excellence and earned two special awards:

• Best Male Athlete: Charles Bedard Desilets
• Best Referee: Master Eric Wah

See more photos in the Junior Pan Am photo gallery

Jeffrey Trieu: Gold medal, welterweight. Photo courtesy Alff Henry / Exposure Net

» 2009 Junior Pan Am…

Visit our Taekwondo Video page to see popular new Taekwondo videos from Canada and around the world. Thanks to those who’ve suggested videos, and to Dartfish for preparing the 2009 World Championship videos (coming soon). Check back later as new videos are automatically added!

Monkey makes 3-point kick on trainer

A man who trains animals in the art of Taekwondo was viciously beaten by his own monkeys during a demonstration.

Lo Wung was entertaining crowds with his monkeys in Eastern China. When he slipped during the show, one quick-thinking money delivered a devastating jumping roundhouse to the trainer’s head.

A bystander reported “I saw one punch him in the eye – he grabbed another by the ear and it responded by grabbing his nose. They were leaping and jumping all over the place. It was better than a Bruce Lee film.”

When the trainer finally got his footing…

Over the last few weeks the city of Copenhagen was witness to a historic Taekwondo event: the 2009 World Championships. The Canadian Team’s impressive performance resulted in three medals:

• Maxime Potvin (lightweight): Silver
• Yvette Yong (finweight): Bronze
• Sébastien Michaud (welterweight): Bronze

Canada’s Taekwondo team earned one silver and two bronze medals at the 2009 World Taekwondo Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark.

2009 Canadian World Championship Results
	Maxime Potvin (light)	Silver
	Sébastien Michaud (Welter)	Bronze
	Yvette Yong (fin)	Bronze

Canada placed 6^th in total medal count, an improvement from 2007 when Canada’s Karine Sergerie placed frist, and Sébastien Michaud placed third.

More World Championship details will be posted as they become available.

» Official World Championship website

» Full results (Wikipedia)

The world’s top players have prepared nearly two years for this week. The World Championships have already officially begun, with competition running from October 14 to October 18 in Copenhagen, Denmark. The Canadian dream-team of 16 Taekwondo athletes was qualified nearly three months ago in Kingston Ontario. This Championships is notable as being the first using the new WTF sparring rules, which include a smaller ring, three-point headshots, two-point spinning kicks, and a video instant-replay system. Electronic scoring will also be used, which is now standard at international and some national events.

The Korean team has always dominated the World Championships, winning more than double the total number of medals (and eight times the number of gold medals) than the second-place country, Spain. However Korea’s team roster is weaker this year, with several players lacking significant international experience.

Time to dust off your tournament video collection: there’s a few Taekwondo video contests starting this week at Fight Tube.

The contests are:

» Taekwondo – Most Exciting Sparring Match

» Taekwondo – Best bagwork or target combos

» Taekwondo – Best advice or tip

First prize for each contest is $200 cash. Second and third place gets a copy of the new Tae Kwon Do World Champion video game.

» Taekwondo video contests

… an unlikely thing for a mugger to utter, but that’s exactly what he told police while being arrested. The Italian thief made the mistake of stealing a handbag from a group of South Korean tourists who were skilled in Taekwondo.

» Read the full story