Acting President

Mr James Rimmer, 6th dan, will be Acting President of ITFNZ over the period 18th May to 28th June, in the absence of Mr and Mrs President Master Davidson for 5 weeks. Contact can be made via the ITFNZ Secretary

ITFNZ's New Board

Want to be involved? Read about what is required here.

Please download the final notice regarding our upcoming AGM.

Please consider seriously taking on a position or seeking good people to take on positions within the new and exciting ITFNZ

ITFNZ Get's Real

2008 has gotten off to a "real" good start for many, with ITFNZ hosting several Get Real self defence courses run by Phil and Athena Thompson from Protect. Many describe these courses as the "missing link" in their martial arts training... learning how to deal with the realities of real life violence.

The seminars are fully endorsed by the ITFNZ Technical Committee and all regions are encouraged to host a seminar for their members. Here are some photos of recent seminars and you can read a report on the seminar hosted by Nibun last year here.

Counties Manukau Seminar

CD Seminar

Wellington Seminar

ITFNZ Re-Structure

Last weekend Instructors voted on the biggest change to the structure of ITFNZ since it was born 27 years ago. In simple terms, the constitution will be changed so that ITFNZ will be governed by a Board, not by the Executive Committee / Regional Directors. Members can get information from their Instructors, who have had the opportunity to discuss the proposed restructuring with their RDs.

Motion: “That International Taekwon-Do Foundation of New Zealand Incorporated adopts the new Constitution dated the 9th of March 2008.” Moved Kris Herbison, Seconded Vince Pygott

Total number entitled to vote = 65 Those entitled who are in favour of the motion = 57 As this exceeds the 2/3 majority of 43 THE MOTION IS CARRIED.

Of those entitled to vote: 2 people where against the motion and 6 people did not cast a vote In terms of the voting strength: The total voting strength was 105 with 94 For 4 Against 0 Abstentions and 7 votes not cast.

Mr Banicevich in Norway

Our very own Mr Mark Banicevich was recently appointed to the ITF Business Development Committee and is currently in meetings in Norway. Here is a quick email Master McPhail received on his trip so far...

After Mr van Schaik arrived on Monday, we went straight to Master Andresen's gym for black belt training.

You've never seen anything like this! This is only the 13-19 year old red belts - there are also classes for younger reds, and older reds (although the borders are a bit blurred).

Tuesday and today we worked ourselves to the bone. About 14 hours yesterday - it was fantastic! I hope the ITF is ready for us! We are off for 90 minutes training, then we return here for a bit more work, and finally dinner at Master Andresen's tonight with some Taekwon-Do friends. Mr van Schaik returns to the Netherlands tomorrow; I depart very early the following morning. Everyone is very impressed with the Taekwon-Do Television DVDs, and Master Andresen was very impressed with the self defence DVD (he asked me to pass his greetings to Mr Pellow).

Other photos are the exterior of the gym; Master Andresen, Mr van Schaik and I take a (very short) break; and the office team, Roger and Gunnar. Gotta go - they are standing over me. :}

Wait 'til you see the stuff I am bringing home! Master Andresen has been wonderful, and very willing to share his hard work. Always Mark.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I arrived safely in Norway yesterday afternoon - after a few hiccups on the way. (I was delayed overnight in Amsterdam, because they had too much weight on the plane. "Fat boys off! You can fly tomorrow." I ended up spending the night and a few beers with a bunch of brain surgeons. It was surreal! They downplayed their jobs a lot, which was interesting. I kept saying things like, "I'm no brain surgeon, but I think they could save a lot of our time if they did this..."

Anyway, Norway is amazing. I have been lucky with the weather - clear skies and a fresh dusting of snow overnight. Master and Mrs Andresen are lovely. They are really looking after me. You know how much you enjoyed learning about NTN? Wait until I get home! We could learn so much from these guys. Master Andresen has 1000 students in his school in Trondheim! I look forward to visiting his school and training with his black belt class tonight!

I attach photos of Master and Mrs Andresen, and of the building that houses the NTN office."

Midlands Regional Camp Photos

Kiwis in Slovenia 2008

Read the updates here

Dynamic Knife Class

Mr Phil Thompson from Protect Self Defence taught a "Dynamic Knife Defence" class at the Auckland Black Belt Academy on Tuesday 29th January. Phil and his wife Athena are running more courses for ITFNZ members this year - see our Events Calendar for details.

SPARC Grants

We are thrilled to announce that seven of our top athletes were awarded financial assistance from SPARC this month. They were awarded the Performance Enhancement Grant of $15,000 each to assist with their training over the next 12 months. Mr Carl Van Roon and Miss Carolina Dillen were also awarded over $8000 in addition for the "Prime Ministers Athletes Scholarship". This grant is for University students who are also recipients of the Performance Enhancement Grant. The athletes were nominated by ITFNZ under a strict criteria that included having to medal in a Senior World Championships (which they did in Canada). They also had to show the ability to be able to medal in a panicle event within the next 12 months (World Cup in Italy 2008). Thank you to ITFNZ Executive member Mr Kris Herbison for making this happen, and the support of the Coaching & Selections Director Mr Greg Skinner. Coaches of the 2007 Team also had input into the nominations.
Carl Van Roon	Carolina Dillen	Mark Trotter	Luke Thompson	Richard Lavin	Kane Baigent	Daniel Thompson

	Gen. Choi Hong Hi Founder of Taekwon-Do passed away June 15, 2002. Profile NEWS BRIEFS ITFNZ's Bid to host the 2011 ITF World Champs ITFNZ Statement on the ITF Situation 2002 ITFNZ Press statement March 2004

As you know, the 42nd year of the creation of ITF (period from March 22nd 2007 to March 21st 2008) was declared The Year of the Family. As this grand celebration comes to an end, we would like to remind you to send your application forms for the Family of the Year contest at the latest on March 21st. Please refer to this page for more information. Good luck to everyone!

ITF President Office