Archive Events 2008

The May Brown Belt & above training session focused on Black Belt and Senior Black Belt grading preparation. This session included all Coloured and Black Belt Patterns and Set Sparring, power striking techniques in preparation for board, tile and brick breaking, bag and shield drills and controlled contact free sparring.

The second round of the AMAC tournament series saw 9 AFTA students competing in a wide variety of categories including non-contact point and free sparring, sword combat, sumo wrestling and also “ full contact bare knuckle” continuous free sparring. The competition was fierce on the day, and all of our AFTA competitors excelled in their divisions resulting in most competitors finishing the day with a 1^st, 2^nd or 3^rd Place!

The May Power Breaking Night at Caringbah saw students of all ranks attempting pine board and tile breaking, some for the very first time! This was a huge breaks night for Caringbah, with over 400 pine boards and 70 roof tiles being supplied on the night! This night also allowed Drew Scheidl, Peter Spanos and Brad Price the opportunity to perfect their compulsory breaking techniques for their upcoming 1^st Degree Black Belt examination. The night was a great success and thank you to all Instructors, Black Belts and students who came along to help out on the night!

The Bankstown May Power Breaking Night included students of all ranks attempting pine board and tile breaking, some for the very first time! This night also allowed Larry Gilmore the opportunity to perfect his compulsory breaking techniques for his upcoming 1^st Degree Black Belt examination. Everyone put in a fantastic effort and enjoyed their breaking experience and thank you once again to all Instructors, Black Belts and students who came along to help out on the night!

Round 3 of the AMAC tournament circuit included 7 AFTA competitors in the point and continuous sparring, sword combat, sumo and advanced patterns divisions. Congratulation to all of our fighters, who placed in their sparring and sword divisions, and well done to the Black Belts and Senior Belts on excellent displays of advanced forms!

In June we hosted our second grading for the year at the Caringbah Dojang, and being a winter grading it was quite challenging (just to get warm)! This grading included a number of White Belts attempting their first grading examination in Tae Kwon-Do, and also a number of Yellow Belts and Green Tips, all of whom showed good determination and effort during their exam. A special mention to Josh Briggs and Connor Honey for successfully completing their long and tough 1^st Grade (Black Tip) examination on the night – well done Josh & Connor! A special thank you also to all of the Instructors, Black Belts and Coloured Belt students who came along to lend a hand on the night!

On the 3^rd July the Bankstown Dojang hosted its midyear winter grading. This examination included White Belts, Yellow Belts, Green Tips, Green Belts and Blue Tips. All students were put through their paces on the night, displaying basic technique drills, patterns, set sparring, self defense, bag drills and sparring skills, with all students displaying a very high standard and a very determined performance. A special thank you to Chris, Alison, Jake, Larry, Emma and Anthony for assisting on the night!

On Saturday 19^th July, Caringbah Dojang was the host venue for the 1^st Degree Black Belt grading examination of Drew Scheidl, Peter Spanos, Brad Price and Larry Gilmore. AFTA Black Belt grading examinations are renown for being extremely demanding both mentally and physically for the students attempting them, and this one was no exception with the exam taking place over 3 ½ hours. Drew, Peter, Brad and Larry were tested on all aspects of their AFTA Tae Kwon-Do training including all Coloured Belt forms, all Coloured Belt set sparring, senior grade self defense, power board and tile breaking, controlled contact free sparring, bag work and calisthenics. All four students displayed exceptional physical fitness, focus and fortitude to complete the exam, showing excellent standard and ability. Congratulations Drew, Peter, Brad and Larry on an outstanding performance and your promotion to 1^st Degree Black Belt!

Students from all three southern Sydney Dojangs were invited along to a night of Laser Tag at Zone 3, and I’m pleased to announce that once again we booked out the facility! All student (both young and old!) enjoyed battling it out in the pitch black two story maze with their laser guns, and then pizza and ice-cream cake for dinner hit the spot! Then it was free play on the arcade machines and then back into the maze for a “students versus Black Belts” challenge (which sounded like a good idea at the time until we realized it was 21 students versus 9 Black Belts!). I’m sure all students had a great night and I look forward to another night of Laser Tag action soon!

August hosted the final round (Round 4) of the NSW AMAC tournament circuit, and the competition was red hot with competitors making the most of their last chance to qualify for the NSW State Titles! The AFTA had 7 competitors entering in non contact point and continuous sparring divisions, sword combat, sumo wrestling and advanced “freestyle” patterns. Congratulations to all of our AFTA competitors on the day, as all competitors finished with either a 1^st, 2^nd or 3^rd place and hence an invitation to compete in the NSW State Titles later in the year! Strong performance, great results!

The September Brown Belt and Above Senior Grade training session focused on grading preparation for Senior Coloured Belt students approaching the rank of 1^st Grade (Black Tip). This session covered all patterns (including Black Belts forms), as well as all set sparring, Brown Belt self defense, advanced bag drill focusing on power and technique and free sparring.

The September grading examination at the Bankstown Dojang proved to be a very large grading, with students from the rank of White Belt through to 2^nd Grade (Brown Belt) being examined on the night, as well as a contingent of nine Black Belts in attendance. All of the junior grade students displayed outstanding determination and good basic technique, and also showed good progression with their free sparring ability. The senior students demonstrated strong patterns and bag drills and some very impressive set sparring and self defense techniques. Well done Kelly on the high standard displayed by your students.

The October Grading Examination consisted of students from the Caringbah and Sutherland Dojangs from the rank of White Belt through to Brown Belt. All students were put through their paces and demonstrated excellent basic Tae Kwon-Do techniques, fast and varied set sparring attacks and counters, and effective self defence. The free sparring and bag work sections of the grading were very physically demanding, with all students showing offensive and defensive skills in sparring and strong bag techniques.

On 26^th October the AFTA entered a team of 10 competitors in the AMAC tournament 2008 State Titles. The State Titles are invitation only, and only the competitors which had achieved 1^st, 2^nd or 3^rd Place in previous 2008 AMAC tournaments were offered the opportunity to compete. There are two words which describe how our competitors performed on the day – “AFTA action”! Of the 23 divisions entered, the AFTA competitors achieved places in 17 of these divisions, consisting of 4 x 1^st, 6 x 2^nd, 5 x 3^rd & 2 x 4^th places! Well done to Kelly, Jake, Peter, Reannan, Emma, Jaden, Chiara, Sam, Guy and Dylan for an outstanding effort and excellent results! Special congratulations to our four State Champions Chiara Pagano (Continuous Sparring), Sam Pagano (Point Sparring), Guy Pagano (Sumo Wrestling) and Dylan Creasey (Sword Combat) on achieving 1^st Place in their divisions in New South Wales!

The November Brown Belt and above training session focused on correct execution of controlled joint locks, knife defence and finishing techniques. All students practiced a wide array of wrist and arm submission locks, which are incorporated into their self defence and set sparring. Knife defence principles of evasion, control and disarming were also extensively practiced, as knife defence is a compulsory prerequisite for all Senior

Caringbah’s next Power Breaking Night was held on the 26^th November and was once again open to students of all ranks. Many senior Coloured Belts and Black Belts practiced their required breaking techniques for their Black Belt examinations on the night, with the December Back Belt grading examinations for Sam, Reannan and Matthew quickly approaching! Well done to all students who attempted and were successful with their breaking techniques (very impressive!), and thank you to all of the Instructors, Black Belts and Coloured Belt students who came along to lend a hand!

The Bankstown November Power Breaking Night was open to any student who wished to attempt to break, and this breaks night saw a large variety of students break from the ranks of Yellow Belt through to Black Belt! Well done to all of the Junior grade students who were breaking for the first time on the night, as this is a great achievement! Congratulations to all of the Coloured Belt students who were successful with their breaks on the night, you all displayed very good technique! A special mention to Chris and Emma on their excellent display of their breaking skill, and once again thank you to the Instructors, Black Belts and Coloured Belt students from both Bankstown and Caringbah Dojangs who attended to assist on the night!

The December Coloured Belt Grading at the Caringbah Dojang was quite a specific examination, focusing on testing the abilities of the Caringbah Green Belt (6^th Grade) and Blue Tip (5^th Grade) ranks. All students attempting this examination were tested on their basic and belt grade techniques, multiple patterns, Yellow Belt & Green Belt set sparring, Green Belt self defence, bag work and free sparring techniques, with the challenge of a different “fresh” Black Belt facing them for the different sections of their exam! Well done to Mitchell, Bonnie, Dylan and David on a very technical, long and demanding examination and very well earnt promotions! Thanks again to all Instructors, Black Belts and Coloured Belt students who assisted on the night and enabled the students being examined to display a diverse range of their abilities!

The December grading examination at the Bankstown Dojang saw students being examined from almost every Coloured Belt rank! The Junior students showed exceptional standard through all of their basic technique drills, and a very determined performance with their bag drills. The Green Belts and Blue Belts also displayed good focus and strong and effective techniques in their set sparring and self defence and very impressive patterns. Congratulations to Anthony Newton who successfully completed his 1^st Grade Black Tip examination, with a display of strong basic techniques, fast, effective and varied set sparring and self defence skills, precise and powerful breaking technique and good offensive and defensive free sparring skills. Thank you to the Instructors, Black Belts and Coloured Belts from the Bankstown, Caringbah and Sutherland Dojangs who all assisted on the night.

The AFTA once again returned to Jamberoo Action Park for our 2008 Christmas Party and what a great day it was! The day proved to be very warm down at Jamberoo, with the water rides being quite a hit! The newest ride at Jamberoo is The Taipan, which consists of an inflatable rubber ring full of people going down a water slide in complete darkness, and I think most of us went on it just enough times to not feel very well! Billabong beach is always cruisy (unless you float around it with AFTA students and then it is chaos!), and the large wave pool and speed slides were also very popular! As always the toboggans were great fun, but as it was a hot day the water ended up being the place to be! Thanks everyone for coming along and making it such a great day and I can’t wait until 2009!

On Saturday 20^th December, Caringbah Dojang was the host venue for the 1^st Degree Black Belt grading examination of Samuel Kemp, Reannan Honey and Matthew Speer. AFTA Black Belt grading examinations are renown for being extremely demanding both mentally and physically for the students attempting them, and this one was no exception with the exam taking place over 3 hours. Samuel, Reannan and Matthew were tested on all aspects of their AFTA Tae Kwon-Do training including all Coloured Belt forms, all Coloured Belt set sparring, senior grade self defense, power pine board and tile breaking, controlled contact free sparing, bag work and calisthenics. All three students displayed outstanding technique, exceptional physical fitness, focus and determination to successfully complete their exam. Congratulations Samuel, Reannan and Matthew on an outstanding performance and your promotion to 1^st Degree Black Belt!