Two of Canada's top athletes — Karine Sergerie and Jocelyn Addison — are fighting for their final chance to attend the 2008 Olympics. They arrived in Columbia yesterday for the international tournament, and will be on their way to Beijing this summer if they qualify within their division.

Sergerie and Addison narrowly missed qualifying for the Olympics at September's Manchester Qualification Event. At the same tournament, Ivett Gonda (BC) and Sebastién Michaud (QC) managed to qualified in their respective divisions. According to the IOC selection rules, the Pan American Qualification Event in Columbia is Canada's second chance to send a full Olympic team (two male and two female).

But the quest continues for Sergerie and Addison, because even if they win this Saturday they've only secured their weight division in the Olympics. Taekwondo Canada will decide which athlete actually fills that division at the two-day Olympic Team Trials this February in Regina. Considering that Sergerie and Addison are the National Champions in their division, it's likely they'll come out on top in any case. The Olympic Team Trials will still happen even if Canada qualifies no additional division in Columbia, however the results would only count for national ranking points.

Also in Columbia is Head of Team and Taekwondo Canada President Grandmaster Kee Ha, Team Manager Grandmaster Woo Jung, National Head Coach Master Raymond Mourad, and Team Doctor Terry DeFreitas. Karine Sergerie's trainer, Réjean Sergerie, is also assisting his daughter prepare.

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An important note to athletes and coaches:

The 2008 Senior National Championships have been removed from Manitoba and awarded to Quebec. The event will now be held in Montreal on March 8-9, 2008. - Taekwondo Canada

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Since Taekwondo made its Olympic debut in 1988, it's been the dream of Canadian players to win that coveted gold medal. And it wasn't because of the money, because there was none — until now that is.

The Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) announced today that Canadian athletes who win gold in Taekwondo or any other sport will receive $20,000 for their efforts. Silver wins $15,000 while bronze gets you $10,000. Better still, in non-Olympic years any Canadian player who places in the top 4 or 5 at that year's highest competition will receive $5000.

Other countries have been doing this for some time now. The US compensates athletes by a similar amount, Russia paid $100,000 to their gold medallists in 1996, and Chinese medallists have been awarded up to $200,000 in some cases. For high-profile athletes, commercial sponsorships after the big win can be worth significantly more.

This is especially good news for the two confirmed Taekwondo players representing Canada this Beijing Olympics: Ivett Gonda from B.C. and Sebastien Michaud from Quebec. Both have a clear shot at the podium, and may soon be joined by Quebec's Karine Sergerie and Jocelyn Addison who will be fighting for the right to participate this December in Columbia.

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It was a day at the beach for some of Canada’s Junior WTF Taekwondo Team. Twenty of the top 14-to-17 year-old players fought at the Junior Pan Ams in Daytona Beach last week, and fourteen of them came back with impressive souvenirs:

Medaling in the Junior Pan Ams is certainly an accomplishment, but just competing in them is priceless international experience for Canada’s young Taekwondo athletes. Kevin Hatt is a rising star player from Nova Scotia who won bronze in Daytona:

My experience at the Junior Pan Ams was amazing, it was my second year being on the junior Canadian team and I loved it. All of our fighters showed everyone that as a country, we are becoming stronger, faster. smarter and I believe we are soon going to be one of the most feared countries that competitors are going to have to face.

When a strong country (U.S.A. in this case) has the home-crowd advantage, strong team spirit can have a big impact on the match. Kevin recounts how the team found strength in unity:

Our spirit was the best there. Our cheers would block out everyone else’s, and win or lose, we would keep cheering for our fighters and win or lose, our fighters would walk away form the ring with their heads held high showing the class and respect that Canadian fighters consistently show.

There is no junior division for Taekwondo at the Olympics, so for players like Kevin whose dream is to represent Canada at the Olympic level, Junior division is an important developmental stage before hitting Senior division. Students can start at a young age in Junior Division C (under 10 years), then progress through Division B (11-13) and Division A (14-17). The rules in each division are modified for the appropriate development and safety of the younger competitors.

The team members for the Junior Pan Ams earned their spots by winning their weight divisions at the Junior Canadian Championships, held last July in New Brunswick.

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Canada's wildest hopes were realized Sunday when Sebatién Michaud from Quebec placed first at the Olympic Qualifier in Manchester, England.

The odds were against him when he drew the Middleweight World Champion (Bahri Tanrikulu from Turkey) as his first match. Michaud took the match to sudden death (2-2), where after no points scored, he was awarded the match by judges' decision (superiority). He followed that performance by taking out Senegal, Ivory Coast, and Puerto Rico, landing him in the finals against Olympic Gold Medalist Steven Lopez (USA). But already having qualified his spot, Lopez was done for the day and withdrew, leaving Michaud in first place.

So Lopez escapes this time, but in 2008 we'll see him back in Beijing for the main event: Michaud vs. Lopez.

Karine Sergerie started off strong on Saturday, dominating Turkey (5-0) and Egypt (2-0), she was narrowly beat 3-2 by Welterweight World Champion Hwang Kyung Seon of Korea, and therefore failed to qualify for the Olympics.

Jocelyn Addison also failed to qualify when he lost to Germany, after beating Belgium 3-0.

Both Sergerie and Addison will get a second chance this December at the Pan Am Qualification Tournament, where if they qualify their division they'll still have to win the right to fill it at Canada's Olympic Team Trials this February in Regina.

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In the first day of the Olympic Qualifer, British Columbia's Ivett Gonda earns her spot in the Beijing Olympics.

After defeating both the U.K. and Israel by a whopping 7-point spread, she lost a tight match against Cuba. After re-focusing with coach Shin Wook Lim she faced Brigutte Yague, the current World Champion from Spain, who had beat Gonda in their last encounter at the 2007 World Championships. Taking an early lead on Yague, Gonda received kyong-go (warning penalty) for holding, leaving her with a very narrow 1-0 advantage. In the end her preparation paid-off with a 2-0 win, securing her the last of three Olympic spots.

This is a major success for Canada, as only two Taekwondo players have represented the country at the Olympics: Dominique Bosshart who won Bronze in 2000, and Ivett Gonda — the same Ivett Gonda — in 2004.

Considering that she's a far stronger player today than in 2004 and that she already knows the Olympic experience, Gonda will be a serious contender next year in Beijing.

Karine Sergerie and Jocelyn Addison compete on Saturday, and Sebastién Michaud wraps it up on Sunday.

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The road to Beijing is a long one, but four of Canada’s Taekwondo athletes are well on their way. Jocelyn Addison, Ivett Gonda, Sebastién Michaud, and Karine Sergerie (pictured below) arrived in Manchester England and are set for one of the most important battles of their careers.

The Manchester Qualifier is one of five continental qualification games for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. If they win (place in the top three in their division), they secure Canada a spot for that division at the Olympics. If they fail, they could end up only watching the games on TV with the rest of us.

But with 350 top players from over 100 countries, winning will not be easy. All eyes are on Sergerie (Female 57-67 kg division) who recently became the first Canadian to win the Taekwondo World Championships and is currently the highest-ranked Canadian player. Gonda (-49 kg) participated in the 2004 Olympics, and most recently won bronze at the Pan American Games. Addison placed first at the 2007 Pan American Taekwondo Championships, and Michaud placed third at the 2007 World Championships.

Each country can send two male and two female players to the Olympic Qualifiers, which run September 28-30. Canada selected their team based on current ranking points.

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When was the last time you enjoyed a good martial arts show? Canadians have so far been out of luck for well-rounded, family-friendly (language and violence) live martial entertainment. Out of that void was born the Open Black Belt World Championships (OBBWC) which kicked-off August 18 in Toronto.

The two-day show had pretty much everything you could hope for: lively demonstrations (capoeira, dragon dance, "Afrikan" martial arts), tournament sparring (WTF Taekwondo, kung-fu, karate, kickboxing), and forms competitions (Chinese, Okinawan, and Korean).

And of course several martial art personalities attended, including Bill "Superfoot" Wallace, Don "The Dragon" Wilson (kickboxer and actor), Dan "The King of Breaking" Netherland, and Michael Jai White (who you'll see in the upcoming Batman movie).

Taekwondo sparring was one of the main events, and the highlight of the weekend according to several spectators. "When the sparring started, I was almost off my seat… the speed and power of the guys and their determination was incredible" said a young couple from Toronto.

Two representatives of Taekwondo were Ontario Champions Randi Byrne and Natalie Simon, who both won their divisions. While this was not an official WTF event, it has the potential to draw serious international talent and expose the sport to a new audience.

Although the celebrities studied different styles, their experience and insight can benefit all martial artists. An interview with Bill "Superfoot" Wallace revealed his concern for children in competition:

When I started [47 years ago] there were no children in martial arts. Most schools wouldn't teach students under sixteen. Today they start much younger, and the technical level is improving because of it. But too many competitions a year can damage a child's fighting spirit and take their eye from the true goal of self-improvement.

One of the differences between Canada and the U.S. is corporate involvement in martial arts, which I believe is overall a positive thing because things like sponsorships enable athletes to do what they otherwise couldn't do. Of course we also see down-sides, such as how sponsorships can possibly influence tournament results.

And then there was Dan Netherland's, who attempted to surpass a world record (currently held by himself) by breaking 20 bricks at once. Taekwondo breaking tends to focus on speed and accuracy, so how could power breaking benefit the modern student? Netherland explains:

Breaking is essential to develop confidence, and compassion. Students need a calibration of what damage their techniques can do. This gives them balance when striking, and confidence in their ability. And confidence reduces aggressiveness because they know how bad they can hurt people, and can choose to walk away.

His tips for practising breaking?

I used to train every day, but now [after 53 years of training] a few times a week is enough to maintain bone density and strength. I never strike the air during practice. Some people say this will cause bad form when missing - I say it makes good form when hitting. A big mistake for beginners is starting too heavy too fast, which leads to injuries. Start slow and let your body adapt.

The 1^st OBBWC was MC'd by martial art instructor and radio personality John Harada, who kept spectators informed about the martial art styles and fighters in the ring.

Don't worry if you missed the event: it was professionally filmed and will be showing in select Cineplex Odeon theatres this October 20. If you prefer it live, the second OBBWC is already planned for next year in Toronto.

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It's the top event for university students around the globe, and the largest multi-sport competition after the Olympics. Taekwondo is a big event at the biennial Universiade (World University Games), and just because they're university students doesn't mean the competition isn't world class.

While the Canadian team never saw podium, the competitors were first to admit this event is more about gaining experience than winning medals. Reggie Lawrence is a Newfoundland fighter who could become a deadly force by adding serious experience to his athleticism and determination:

The experience was incredible for me... and the biggest thing that I took from this tournament was that I realized the world's best are not out of reach for me. Going into my first match, I was so confident that I was going to win that I couldn't stop moving around with anticipation... but this was from total excitement and the anxious desire for wanting to hurry up and fight. I will try to remember and put myself in this state of mind for every one of my fights from now on. I won that match 3 to 0... I have a clear taste of the Olympics now.

Despite being the Bantamweight Canadian Champion, Shannon Condie considers the Universiade useful for honing her skills:

I was excited to have beat China in my first fight as I had lost to her not long ago at U.S. Open. This match showed me where I have matured, but at the same time there are still kinks to be worked out. It was nice to have high level athletes such as China and Korea in my division and ultimately those were the girls I came here to fight.

By several accounts Shannon actually beat Korea in her extremely close (2-1) second match, but questionable refereeing wasn't in her favour. Like a true martial athlete Shannon shrugs it off: "The ref'ing was generally bad, but as an athlete it is something that we all had to deal with while here."

Shannon reports the Canadian Team bonded well and enjoyed the trip in and out of the ring:

The people of Thailand have been very welcoming — asking us where we're from and saying hi in passing. Our support staff was awesome! I would like to thank all of them (including our Manager and Coach Scott Woodhouse and Ashley Casteneda) for giving up their home life and paying to come help us out in Thailand.

This year Canada's Taekwondo team was not funded, so all competitors needed was a university enrolment, a black belt, and a few thousand bucks to fly to Bangkok.

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Just two months after winning the World Championships in Beijing, Karine Sergerie strikes gold again — this time in Brazil. And she was not alone; team mates Shannon Condie took silver and Ivett Gonda won bronze. These are spectacular results for the Canadian Team (in particular, the Female Team), although by all accounts Male Team members put up good fights, but were eliminated in their first matches of the single-elimination tournament.

These are better results than four years ago at the last Pan Am Games when Canada won no medals. Way better. But this is no small event, and of the 470 elite Canadian athletes in 41 sports, Sergerie's gold medal was one of only six brought home to the Great White North so far. That puts Canada fifth in the medal count out of 42 countries.

Sergerie, from Ste-Catherine, Quebec, fought three matches to win the 67-kilogram division. She defeated Heidy Juarez of Guatemala 8-2 in the gold-medal bout. Earlier, she dispatched Asuncion Ocasio of Puerto Rico 7-0 in a semifinal and edged Taimi Castellanos of Cuba 1-0 in the quarter-finals.

"The beginning of the day was a bit difficult for me - I put way too much pressure on myself," said Sergerie. "I was quite tight, but things went much better in the afternoon bouts. In all, it was a very good tournament."

Ivett Gonda (British Columbia), who fought at the 2004 Olympics, received an early injury which contributed to her semi-final loss to Mexico. Shannon Condie (Ontario) first met Brazil for a tense match which she won in sudden death. She was clearly superior in her next two matches (winning 5-0 and 4-0) but lost the finals against an experienced Mexican fighter.

And Brazil really loves their Taekwondo. Sure their fighters are solid, but the fans are a force to be reckoned with too. Team Doctor Terry Defreitas recounts the opening ceremony:

...we walked through a narrow path made by gates and police, along the entire gate were spectators and participants in the opening ceremony .... at first we could only hear drums, then once we saw the people they began clapping and cheering CANADA!! CANADA!!! The drums got louder and more people waved and cheered as we walked by.... The Brazilian people cheered for us almost as much as they would cheer for Brazil. They booed USA. They were indifferent to many others...

That's great, but any fondness for us evaporated once the competition began. In Shannon Condie's match vs. Brazil, fans were booing Canada before the match even started. But Canada's Taekwondo athletes are no stranger to this; similarly engaged fans are always seen at national games and may, it turns out, have helped prepare our fighters for situations like this.

Other Canadian athletes were not as prepared. One trap shooter from Edmonton admits: "It was a difficult final because of all the yelling by the Brazilian fans. It's not part of our sport to cheer, and especially to cheer when the shooters miss the target."

A 14-year old female gymnast became flustered after receiving cheers for falling off the beam. After falling off a couple more times for good measure, she said "I've never ever experienced this as a gymnast, and I find it a lot like a hockey game".

As unnerving as the crowd may have been for Canadians, the US had it far worse. Anti-American sentiment was a big issue at the games, aggravated by an incident which got one fellow kicked off the U.S. delegation.

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Everyone knows this has been a very hot year for Taekwondo in Canada. But can we keep momentum and bring home a win at the Pan Am Games next week?

The Games are held every four years and are similar to the Olympics in many ways. The Canadian Team has been training in Toronto the past few days, and took off for Rio de Janeiro yesterday where they will resume training.

Female Pan Am Games Team
Photos by Champion Photos
Ivett Gonda (BC) Fin	Shannon Condie (ON) Bantam
Karine Sergerie (QC) Light	Dasha Peregoudova (ON) Heavy

Male Pan Am Games Team
Jocelyn Addison (QC) Fin	Ali Ghafour (ON) Bantam
Sebastien Michaud (QC) Light	Eric Ahn (ON) Heavy

» Check out Team U.S.A.

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Saint John New Brunswick was rocked by three solid days of Taekwondo competition this Canada day Weekend. Things kicked off with the "Colour Belt International" tournament on Friday, where the sparring-only format was very successful. (The event was hosted by JVK Taekwondo and assisted by JD TKD , Quispamsis TKD and T.G. Roy's TKD)

The Junior WTF Canadian Championship has three divisions: Poom C (under 10 years old), Poom B (11-13), and Poom A (14-17). The tournament is only for black belts, and rules are modified to make competition safe for young players.

Saturday was dedicated to Poom B and C competition and witnessed hundreds of young athletes show determination and sportsmanship beyond their age. While they may be tomorrow's champions, at this stage they are still learning the basics of high-level competition.

Poom A Division on Sunday was enormous: 267 competitors from across Canada made it the largest turnout in Junior Championship history! These players show some serious fighting spirit as they hone their skills for eventually fighting at the Senior Championship (17+ years).

Poom A Highlights

In Women's Featherweight, Yvette Yong (BC) vs. Lea-marie Dumont (QC) had the crowed on their feet when Dumont took and held and early lead in the final. When the judges awarded Yong a controversial point the Quebec fans exploded in the stands, causing Yong to go crazy berserk for the last round, bridging the gap and convincing spectators she deserved the final 10-7 win for gold.

Meanwhile Kevin Meija (AB) was defending his title (2006 Flyweight Champion) against the up-and-coming Lawrence Phamhung (ON). They battled point for point to a sudden death final round, won by Lawrence for the gold medal. In the very next match his brother Eric Phamhung completed his domination of Welterweight by point-gapping Emile Laberge (QC) 10-3, his fourth point-gap win in as many fights.

The new Junior A Team (gold medalists) will represent Canada at the Junior Pan Am Championships this October in Daytona, Florida.

Poomsae (patterns) competition is also an event at the Junior Championships, and for the first time electronic scoring was used in a way similar as with sparring: judges use a hand controller to score the competitor, and the score is shown on a display immediately after the performance. This system is not only faster, but also provides scoring transparency and instant feedback to competitors and spectators. Canadians will be glad to experience this system because it is used in international poomsae competition. Starting this year, the Senior Poomsae Championships will happen at the Canadian Hanmadang, separate from sparring.

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After finishing out of the medals at the 2003 Pan American Games in Santo Domingo, Canada's Taekwondo athletes will be looking to get back on the podium in Rio de Janeiro. Heading into the Games, the WTF Taekwondo Association of Canada has set a target of winning more gold medals and more total medals than any other nation competing in Brazil.

Despite a talented roster, achieving success at the Pan American Games is not guaranteed for Canada as all the Taekwondo events feature a random draw with a single elimination format - meaning anything can happen. Nevertheless, Canada's eight Taekwondo athletes are all expected to contend for medals in Brazil.

In 2006, Canada's Taekwondo team enjoyed a highly successful international campaign highlighted by the team capturing the overall title at the Senior Pan American Championship for the first time in the event's history.

On the men's side, Canada will be led by two of its top senior athletes, Jocelyn Addison (58 kg) and Sebastien Michaud (80 kg). Michaud is currently Canada's top ranked Taekwondo athlete and recently won a gold medal at the 2007 U.S. Open [not to mention bronze at World Championships]. Ranked as the number two male athlete in Canada, Addison captured gold in his respective weight class at the 2006 Senior Pan American Championship.

The top international challengers in the men's division are expected to include Mexico's Oscar Salazar Blanca (58 kg) along with Santos Leonardo (80 kg plus) and Wenceslau Marcio (58 kg) of Brazil.

Blanca is the defending Olympic and Pan American Games silver medallist in the flyweight division while Brazil's Leonardo and Marcio should also figure prominently in the men's competition as each is coming off a gold medal performance at the 2006 Senior Pan American Championship in Argentina.

In the women's event, Canada's team will be led by Ivett Gonda (49 kg) and Karine Sergerie (67 kg). Both Gonda and Sergerie are veterans of the Canadian Taekwondo team and both medaled in the 2006 Senior Pan American Championship, Karine with gold and Ivett with bronze.

An Olympian in 2004, Gonda is expected to make her second consecutive appearance at the Pan American Games and will be looking to build on her top-16 finish from four years ago in Santo-Domingo.

Over the last four years, her team-mate Sergerie has arguably been the most successful Canadian Taekwondo athlete competing for Canada on the international stage after recording podium performances at the last two World Championship events [and Gold in 2007].

Canada's main competition in the women's tournaments at the Pan American Games is expected to come from Cuba's Mirna Hechavaria (67 kg) and Dainellys Montejo (49 kg) and Mexico's Iridia Salazar (57 kg).

A relatively new competitor on the international stage, Hechavaria took home the gold medal at the 2006 Pan American Games Qualification tournament while her compatriot Montejo captured a bronze medal at the 2005 World Championship and was a gold medallist at the 2006 Pan American Games Qualification Tournament. Salazar finished first in her weight class at the 2006 Pan American Games Championship and will be looking to defend her Pan American Games gold medal from 2003.

» 2007 Pan Am Games site

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It's hard to believe that for all the past and present talent in Canada, the country has never won gold at a Taekwondo World Championships. Well that's no longer true. Quebec's Karine Sergerie smashed the dry spell with a stellar performance at this year's Championships in Beijing, and few could argue that anybody deserves it move than her.

The 2007 Championship was a record-breaker for size with over 1,400 elite athletes and officials from 116 countries in attendance. The event follows Olympic Taekwondo rules with one exception: eight weight divisions are run instead of four, allowing more participants and tighter competition.

The truth is that despite having a very strong Canadian Team this year, Karine was a favourite all along for many Taekwondo fans. She had already collected silver and bronze World Championship medals (2003 and 2005) and had the experience and conviction to win the complete set. But even more amazing than the feat itself was how she accomplished it. After disposing of her first several opponents Sergerie met Korea's Park Hye Mi in the finals. By the end of the second round Karine was losing 0-3, a desperate situation in the best of times, but more so against an experienced opponent of this caliber. "I trusted my coach and kept patient" Karine said of her bout. "Deep down I knew I needed to follow the plan I made before the match and it worked out well." Her aggressive plan worked well enough to tie the score 3-3, sending them to a very tense sudden death which Karine won.

It was another Quebecer that put the men's team on the map. Sebastién Michaud blasted his way onto the Canadian scene two years ago with his first National gold and has been untouchable ever since. In Beijing he won his first three matches but was stopped by USA's Olympic gold medalist Steven Lopez in the quarter-finals, putting Michaud on the podium with a bronze medal. The last time Canada's male team scored a World Championship medal was 14 years ago, a fact that illustrates the extreme level of competition involved.

Other Canadian athletes were stopped just short of the podium. Yvette Yong (Women's Finweight), Courtney Condie (Women's Welterweight), Dasha Peregoudova (Women's Middleweight), and J.F. Lebreux (Men's Lighweight) all placed in the top 8 of their divisions. The outstanding overall performance of our Women's Team placed it third in the team standings. In a related matter it was Canadian Women's Team Coach Jamie Dossantos that received the Best Female Coach Award (best Male Coach went to Spain's Francisco Martin).

The next major event is the 2007 Pan Am Games in Brazil, but all eyes at this point are on the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. In the Canadian Taekwondo ranking point system Karine Sergerie is firmly in the lead, giving her the greatest chance to qualify her division for the Olympic Games and to ultimately represent Canada there.

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By the third day of competition at the World Championships, Sebatién Michaud has won a bronze in Welterweight after defeating Tonga, Ivory Coast, Australia, and Thailand. He lost in semi-finals to 4-time World Champion and Olympic Gold medalist Steven Lopez (USA).

Dr. Terry Defreitas reports from Beijing:

[Day 2]

Melissa Pagnotta fought against a tough Italian opponent and lost, and Maikol Pinto met Portugual and lost in the last round.

[Day 3]

J.F. Lebreux had several fights and won three, he met Hadi from Iran in the quarter final (World Champion, Olympic gold) J.F. held his own but lost the last round.

Jocelyn Addison had a good day, advancing through 2 fights, but ended up meeting Chinese Tai Pei (World Champion, Olympic Champion).

Ivett Gonda won her first fight and then met up with Spain. She lost in a close match. The Spaniard won gold.

Dasha Peregoudova won against Chinese Tae Pei, then United Emirates. She met Korea in the quarter final. Dasha fought extremely well and was ahead, the Korean went for her head but missed. Then the Korean coach stopped the match and asked for 2 points. The Korean was awarded 2 points and they ended up going into sudden death. The Korean won the sudden death and was in the final, where she got silver.

Sebastién fought extremely well, advancing through the preliminaries, he met Steven Lopez in the semi final. He fought very well against him, but lost the match. BRONZE MEDAL for Canada!

Although at this point we have only one bronze we have made some great advances. We have had 2 women in top 8, one top 8 male, and one bronze.

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After the first day of competition the Canadian contenders put up a great fight but failed to reach the podium. In this prestigious tournament each division is packed with 50 to 60 fighters, each top players and national champions in their own countries.

Team Doctor Terry Defreitas reports from the event:

In Beijing we had a wonderful opening ceremony; starting out with children of Taekwondo, and finishing with aerial sword demonstration, the event was conducted with perfect timing and precision. There is no doubt that China is well on its way in preparing for the 2008 Olympics.

The referees were instructed to call any moving back or holding. Unfortunately Akmal was given a few deductions and it was difficult to keep up with his opponent from Turkey.

Shannon Condie advanced easily through the first and second eliminations. She met Russia in her third fight — it was an exciting one, with a heart breaking loss 12-11.

Yvette Yong made a great debut easily advancing through 2 matches. She met up with USA in the quarter final, USA leading 2-1 in first round. By the beginning of the third round it was 5-3 for Yvette. Charlotte (USA) poured it on and with less than 10 seconds to go, she won 6 to 5. To be perfectly clear though Yvette really fought hard, and had several excellent scoring shots in the third round.

All of our Canadians fought well regardless of the outcome, and tomorrow is another day.

Gold medals went to Gessler Viera Abreu (Cuba - Male Featherweight), Jung Jin-hee (Korea - Female Bantamweight), Wu Jingyu (China - Female Finweight).

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It's been a very long journey for most of them, but all 26 members of the Canadian team arrived safely in China on Saturday. The team is training together in TianJin near Beijing while acclimatizing to the hot weather and shaking off jet lag. The team heads back to Beijing on the 13th for final preparations and to play the big game starting on the 18th.

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In this tournament, the only place that counted was first. There were no medals, and no second place finishers. It was all or nothing, with the winner getting what could be their one and only shot at the Taekwondo World Championships.

It seemed somehow fitting that these World Championship Team Trials were hosted in Ottawa's historic Cartier Square Drill Hall, where Canadian Forces have been doing combat training for over 120 years. With only the top competitors for each weight category allowed to participate, the fighting on April 7 was as intense as it gets. To many competitors this event meant far more than the Canadian National Championships because the Worlds is the top Taekwondo event and happens only every two years — and it's an important step towards making it to the Olympics in 2008.

Fans were not disappointed by the action in Men's Bantamweight! Early on, Bernard Lorde proved beyond a doubt that he was a serious contender by beating Sean Vrtacic (2007 National Champion) in sudden death overtime.

In the next ring, Ali Ghafour was head-to-head with Yannick Lebreux — one of the most anticipated matches of the day (in a recent Combat Canada poll, both fighters were voted equally to win the division). It came down to sudden death where both players gave solid shots, and Ghafour's was scored for the win. After this critical loss Yannick forfeit his remaining matches. Ghafour went on to beat Lorde, and then Vrtacic (9-2) making him the undefeated winner and recipient of a ticket to Beijing.

Ghafour says about his performance:

I like to keep my opponents guessing all the time so having both a strong left and right leg allows me to change up my game and keep them guessing. My division had some really excellent and proven players: Yannick — Jr. World Champion and National Team Member, Sean — Jr. World Bronze Medalist, and Bernard — a fellow team mate and rising competitor. I have competed against all of them in my division before, but in Taekwondo anything can happen. In addition to knowing my opponents, it was even more important for me to prepare mentally as well as continuing my physical training. All these factors combined helps me be consistent in my results and feel 100% ready.

My goal for the World Championships (along with Pan Am Games) is to medal. This will be in line with my other goals this year and continue to put me further up in the running for the Olympic Qualifiers and thus Olympic Games.

Yannick's brother J.F. Lebreux had better luck in lightweight division. J.F. (six-time Senior National Champion) sought retribution for his sudden death loss to Chris Iliesco at the 2007 Nationals which cost him the title — and got it, hands down. A much bigger challenge was Chris Hodgins, who gave J.F. so many injuries during the match that it looked like he'd win by default. But J.F. came back in the last 30 seconds with a series of explosive combinations which took the match, and ultimately the division.

Everyone was wondering if four-time Korean National Champion Joo-han Cha would defeat two-time Canadian National Champion Sébastien Michaud. Cha won every other match that day but Michaud stayed focused and won in a tense sudden death round. Michaud could be a real force at the World Championships; his style is simple, but his timing and distance is superb.

All eyes were on Ivett Gonda's rematch with Annie-Pier Turcott in Female Flyweight. Gonda (2004 Olympian) was hampered by injury and denied gold by Turcott at the 2007 Canadian Nationals. This time — a month later — Gonda was recovered and back on top of her game, having little trouble beating Turcott 7-4 and making the Canadian team.

The biggest upset of the day was in Middleweight where experienced players Radomir Samardzic and François Coulombe-Fortier both lost in sudden death to Manitoba's Michael Kitschke. Kitschke will be the only member who hasn't been on the official Canadian Team before.

The individual Team Members will be training vigorously for the next three weeks until they depart on May 4 for Beijing (coaches and team management have not yet been officially announced). The five-day tournament kicks off May 18.

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The Taekwondo World Championship is happening in May and Canada needs to send a team. Only the country's top black belt competitors are invited to fight for a spot at the Team Trials next weekend (April 7) in Ottawa.

This elite tournament will deliver some of those closest and fastest Taekwondo matches in Canadian history and is a must-see for any Taekwondo fan or student. Each of the 16 (8 male and 8 female) divisions compete in round-robin format, so unlike the National Championships (which are single-elimination), every fighter will face every other in their division. Only the day's best fighters win a spot on Team Canada and a ticket to Beijing this May.

Men's Bantamweight is the division to watch; here's the lineup:

Ali Ghafour (Ontario)

Sean Vrtacic (British Columbia)

Yannick Lebreux (Quebec)

Bernard Lorde (Ontario)
The fourth and final Bantam contender, Bernard is the least experienced and is not favoured to win this year. Yannick beat Bernard 10-3 at the last Canadian Championships — but in Taekwondo, anything can happen...

Other hot divisions:

Female Fly: Olympian Ivett Gonda (BC) seeks retribution for her sudden death loss to Annie-Pier Turcotte (QC) that left her in 2nd place at the last Canadian Championships.

Men's Welter: Sebastien Michaud (QC) is hot lately but faces a rematch with Joo-Han Cha (AB), who lost a fierce 4-3 fight with Michaud at the Canadian Championships.

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