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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 and grabbed a staff to subdue his students, he found himself in a tense face-off with an aggravated stick-wielding monkey. The monkey out-maneuvered the trainer and bashed him over the head.

The trainer eventually managed to tangle the monkeys up in their their own leashes.

» Related monkey attack articles

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

Maxime Potvin – Silver

Maxime dominated his first two matches until tying Venezuela 4-4, and winning by superiority. Then after a 15-14 win against Iran, Maxime beat Germany 6-3 in the semifinal. In the final match Maxime lost 2-5 to Korea’s Joon-tae Kim, who had won his semifinal against USA’s Mark Lopez.

»Maxime’s YouTube channel

»Maxime’s website

»Lightweight result tree

Yvette Yong – Bronze

Yvette won her way through a series of tight matches against Greece, Iran, and Spain. She narrowly lost her quarterfinal match 2-3 against Zoraida Santiago of Puerto Rico. Yvette says this is the highest achievement in her taekwondo career so far, although other significant accomplishments include Gold at the 2006 and 2007 Junior Pan Am Championships, and Gold at the 2009 U.S. Open. Yvette explains her World Championship matches:

Up until the day of my fight, my injuries were still holding me back, but I was able to pull through with the help of our team doctor Kazemi, and I felt prepared for each match and knew exactly what I was supposed to do and focused on those specific techniques that I discussed with coach Bernier. Before my first match, I had never been so nervous in my life, but luckily I managed to finish in the first round and my nerves settled and each fight after that I felt more confident.

After I won the quarterfinals and was secured for the bronze, I was overwhelmed to make it this far, but coach Bernier kept me focused and ready for the next match. During the semi-finals, I was confident and relaxed, but somehow I let loose a bit and carelessly attacked a few time and I could hear and see out of the corner of my eye, coach Bernier telling me to stay calm and coach Jamie Dossantos in the stands and even Doctor Kazemi screaming out for me to stay focused, and that really helped me get back into my game.

In the end of my semi-finals, it came out to a 3-2 win for Puerto Rico. I went out of that ring giving everything I had and wasn’t disappointed. Only that I knew the next time I go into that ring, I’ll be even more prepared.

»Finweight result tree

Sébastien Michaud – Bronze

After battling his way through Grenada, Greece, Armenia, and Italy, Sébastien faced-off against USA’s Steven Lopez in the semifinals. Although the extreme technical skills of each player were clear, a questionable three-point face kick in round two put Lopez in the lead 4-1. Michaud performed much better than his previous encounter with Lopez at the 2007 World Championships, where he also won bronze. Steven Lopez went on to beat Spain in the finals, making him history’s first five-time World Champion.

»Michaud vs. Lopez video

»Welterweight result tree

Team Rankings

Despite speculation that the South Korean team may have be weaker, Korea still managed to place first in the medal count (9 total, 5 gold) just ahead of Spain (with 7 total, 3 gold). Canada placed 12^th overall — 7^th for the male team, and 9^th for the female team.

»Official World Championship website

»Medal table (Wikipedia)

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)

2009 World Taekwondo Championships

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.

 

2009 Canadian World Championship Team
Male Athletes
Fin	Nicholas Pereira
Fly	Jocelyn Addison
Bantam	Simon Cox
Feather	Jerome Cabanatan
Light	Maxime Potvin
Welter	Sébastien Michaud
Middle	François Coulombe-Fortier
Heavy	Michael Kitschke
Female Athletes
Fin	Yvette Yong
Fly	Brigitte Crockford
Bantam	Ivett Gonda
Feather	Shannon Condie
Light	Karine Sergerie
Welter	Sylvie Barker
Middle	Courtney Condie
Heavy	Dasha Peregoudova
Officials
Head of Team	Oh Jang Yoon
Team Manager	Gérard Lauzière
Head Coach	Woo Yong Jung
Coach	Jamie Dossantos
Coach	Alain Bernier
Coach	Shin Wook Lim
Team Doctor	Dr. Hemen Shukla
Team Doctor	Dr. Mohsen Kazemi

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.

The big question is: can another country adapt to the new rules better, and capitalize on Korea’s weakness to edge them out on the medal count? If so, it won’t come easily. For example, the Korean coaching staff is reported to have customized new training methods to perfect each of their players’ face kick techniques.

The Korean men’s team coach Park Jong-man says, “Unlike in the past, there is no gap in skill level between Korean taekwondo athletes and athletes from other places around the world. In order to take a clear lead in a match, we must make good use of the new scoring system. Our athletes are in good condition. We are expecting three gold medals in men’s competitions and three to four golds in the women’s events.”

With this power imbalance and new rules that encourage attacking, we can expect some very exciting matches out of Copenhagen. The good news for Canadians who can’t make the trip is that all matches will be broadcast online courtesy of Dartfish.

»Official World Championship website

»List of new sparring rules

 

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

This official new WTF video promotes Taekwondo as an Olympic sport. Short videos such as this can easily be added (embedded) to a school’s website to generate more interest in Taekwondo.

» Video link

If you’ve ever searched for “Taekwondo sparring rules” or anything similar, you know the results are dissapointing at best. Part of the problem is that rules change often, and there are several country- and league-specific versions.

TKDrules.com is a handy new microsite that hosts current WTF Taekwondo kyorugi and poomsae rules. The real benefit is that it’s easily accessible by cell phones with browsers, so you can review the rules while on the move or at a competition.

» TKDrules.com

The team that was chosen at the World Cup Team Trials held in Laval are now ready to fight in Azerbaijan from June 11 – 14. Not all countries are represented at the World Cup, as only 23 male and 23 female teams are chosen. Canada qualified to send a full contingent of ten athletes:

2009 World Cup Team
Male Athletes
Division 1	Nicholas Pereira
Division 2	Simon Cox
Division 3	Jean-François Lebreux
Division 4	Sébastien Michaud
Division 5	Michael Kitschke
Female Athletes
Division 1	Yvette Yong
Division 2	Ivett Gonda
Division 3	Carla Bacco
Division 4	Vanessa Larochelle-Meilleur
Division 5	Dasha Peregoudova
Officials
Head of Team	Oh Jang Yoon
Head Coach	Woo Yong Jung
Team Coach	Jamie Dossantos
Team Coach	Alain Bernier
Team Coach	Shin Lim
Team Doctor	Dr. Mohsen Kazemi

With these strong players and experienced coaches, a best-ever showing for Canada is very possible.

This World Cup is the first WTF-promoted event where electronic chest protectors will be used. Based partially on how the system performs this week a decision will be made on whether to also use electronic protectors at the 2009 World Championships, an event that could prove the system is ready for the next Olympics. The revised WTF competition rules will also be in full force, including an instant video replay system for assisting judges.

Preceding the World Cup by a day will be the first World Para-Taekwondo Championships. Para-Taekwondo athletes will compete by the same rules with only two exceptions: head kicks are forbidden, and athletes will be grouped by amputation above elbow(s), and amputation below elbow(s). Para-Taekwondo is planned to become an official event at the next Paralympic Games.