DPRK TOUR - NORTH KOREANS TRAIN WITH AND TEACH THE LOCAL STUDENTS

NORTH KOREANS TRAIN WITH AND TEACH THE LOCAL STUDENTS

 Dr. George Vitale

The Chosun National ITF Taekwon-Do Team trains with and teaches the Czech students. The training session was so popular that it had to be held in 2 public school gyms, with each side switching so all participants could benefit from exposure to all the team members!

Text & Photos Below:

After the training the Czech Taekwon-Do students in Prague everyone sat down for a Korean BBQ dinner, complete with home made Kimchi, compliments of Grandmaster Hwang Ho Yong's wife! Grandmaster Hwang is a graduate of the 2nd Special Instructors Course that the ITF held in North Korea. The class ran for 7 months in 1982, 6 days a week, with more that 8 hours training a day. The course was taught by an ITF Master from South Korea, Lim Won Sup, who was the Pioneer of Taekwon-Do in Scandinavia (Sweden). Grandmaster Lim was also a member on the historic 7th ITF Demonstration Team that General Choi Hong Hi led to the DPR Korea in September of 1980. After the successful introduction of the Original Taekwon-Do there, the North Korean Instructors trained by General Choi and his ITF helped spread the military style of Taekwon-Do that he created along with soldiers under his command in the ROK Army in the 1950s around the world. Grandmaster Hwang is the Pioneer of Taekwon-Do in the Czech Republic, when it was still Czechoslovakia back in 1987!

After departing from Prague the team was driven to Havirov in the eastern part of the Czech Republic, approximately 25 miles from the border with Poland. Here the team performed again before a standing room crowd. The spectators again were thrilled and lined up to take pictures with the team and to get their autographs on the broken wooded boards, programs, posters and anything else they could get their hands on to have the Korean team members sign. As was the case in Prague, the Czech Taekwon-Do Federation donated all ticket sales and monies raised at the demonstration to the 5 orphanages that they have had a 7 year relationship with.

After the show the team was taken to dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant before retiring back at the Hotel Rudolf for a much-deserved night of rest. After breakfast the team departed for another 4-hour drive through snow covered mountains to their next stop, in Nitra, Slovakia.

JOINT TRAINING AND SHARING WITH THE CZECH STUDENTS TOOK PLACE ON TUESDAY FEBRUARY 19, 2013

EXHIBITION IN HAVIROV TOOK PLACE ON WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 20, 2013

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