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:

With these strong players…

Five Taekwondo athletes will represent Canada at the 2009 Universiade. Similar to the Olympics in many ways, the Games are held every two years and allow student athletes a chance to compete internationally. This year’s event run from July 1 to July 12 in Belgrade, Serbia. Athletes will stay in a 14-building athlete village, newly-built for the games.

Taekwondo events include sparring, individual poomsae, mixed (one male, one female) poomsae, and team (three person) poomsae.

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» Junior A results (Taekwondo Canada)

» Junior B results (Taekwondo Canada)

» Junior C results (Taekwondo Canada)

» Event photos

Vancouver was warm and sunny for the 2009 National Taekwondo Championships on May second and third. It was the first national event to adopt some of the new WTF sparring rules, including an 8 by 8 meter ring, 2-point spinning kicks, and 3-point head kicks.

Sebastien Michaud delivers a front leg attack that leaves his opponent staggering.	Bernard Lorde scores a 2-point back kick
Woo-Jin Kwack takes a running jump kick in welter preliminaries.	Jerome Cabanatan makes a double kick attack in featherweight.
Jocelyn Addison attacks relentlessly in the final moments of the fly semifinal.

Kelsie Burns has competed both nationally and internationally for years, but she’ll be representing Canada in a very different way when she arrives in Kandahar later this week. The 19 year old from Ontario started Taekwondo when she was five, and it will take more than a war to stop her now:

“My sergeant is more than willing to train with me,” says Kelsie. “He does it for my own good because he knows if I don’t do taekwondo every once in a while I get a little snappy.”

Kelsie is keeping her eye to the future with impressive goals: to place…

Five Canadians were recognized on April 10 for their dedication and accomplishments in Taekwondo. The 2009 Taekwondo Hall of Fame award ceremony was held in New Jersey, and attended by over 700 inductees and spectators.

As pictured above (left to right), award recipients were:

Master Julio Vasquez

Grandmaster Chong Soo Lee

Master Karine Sergerie

Master Darrel Henegan

Master Evangelos Ligeros (not pictured)

Various new rules have been rumoured for years, and now the final list is out. Some of these rules have already been tested at the Beijing Olympics, while others will take more time to roll out. The following are rule changes that will be in effect for the Senior National Championships this May in Vancouver.

What are you doing this weekend? The forecast is ideal for traveling to Laval, where spectators can watch Canada’s top Taekwondo athletes compete for a spot on the Canadian World Cup Team. The World Cup Championships will run June 10^th to 14^th in Baku, Azerbaijan, at which time the 1^st Para-Taekwondo Championships will also be held. According to the WTF Secretary General, “The [Para-Taekwondo] championships are our initiative to organize sport-for-all events for taekwondo athletes with a disability. We hope that, in the long run, the sport of taekwondo could someday be included in programme of the Paralympic Games.”

» Event information (pdf)

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For martial art enthusiasts going to Las Vegas to watch 4 days of Taekwondo from some of the world’s best fighters it’s a dream come true, and it definitely was not disappointing.

Students who are thinking of getting involved in tournaments and who are already doing the local events, but want to move or get involved in a higher level should think of attending the US Open. From the colour belts to the black belt juniors to seniors this event had fighters from 60 countries and they were top fighters. Also it was a great venue to test out the new…