NORTH KOREAN TEAM KICKS IT OVER TO CHARITY
Dr. George Vitale
The
Chosun National ITF Taekwon-Do Team stared the day with an early
breakfast and then checked out of their Vienna Hostel on a cold,
brisk day. They loaded into the vehicles and took off on a 4-hour
drive from Vienna to Prague (Praha), the capital city of the Czech
Republic. Prague is their largest city with a population of about 1.3
million. The team made it to their hotel that will serve as their new
lodging for the next couple of days just in time for lunch. After
settling in and resting for a while, they then made the trek to the
venue of the next performance.
The
show was held on a Monday evening in an arena that has seats for
1,100 spectators. A member of the organizing staff expressed early on
that they were afraid of what the turnout numbers would be. But it
was clear when the team pulled up by the lines that were already
standing in line waiting to enter, that they would have a good
showing. However it was not apparent until the doors opened and the
seats all started to fill up how good a showing it would be. With no
available arena seating left, some chairs were added. It was
estimated that close to 1,500 people filled the arena in what turned
out to be a standing room only event!
When
the exhibition ended there wasn’t a disappointed viewer to be
found. The evening started with the Chosun team doing their warm-ups.
They then cleared the floor to make way for the local youngsters who
represent the future of Taekwon-Do in the Czech Republic. The
audience watched the children perform Dan Gun Tul. This pattern is
named after the holy, legendary founder of Korea who was their first
King back in 2,333BC. These junior students started by reciting the
student oath and ended by sitting together in a quiet meditating
state. This is another example of the power of Taekwon-Do, as it gets
students to think about and make promises, as well as taking some
time to think, reflect and focus.
The
demonstration contained the usual crowd-pleasing techniques from the
spectacle flying high combination kicks and powerful self-defense
scenarios. The team also performed the same pattern (Dan Gun) the
children did. When the show ended the spectators and children’s
team swarmed the Chosun team members to have their picture taken with
them and to get then to sign autographs on the program, tickets,
broken boards and other mementos of this special night. What an
opportunity it was for the junior students to meet their heroes from
across the globe in such a personable way!
Perhaps
the highlight of our wonderful first day in this historic city of
Prague was when over dinner we discovered that all the proceeds for
this event would go to charity. Mr. Martin Zamecnik, the President of
the Czech Taekwon-Do Federation and member of the ITF Technical and
Education Committee explained that all the proceeds of the tickets
sales would go to the orphanages that they work with. Instructor
Zamecnik advised that it was not just the profit left after their
expenses, but every single penny taken in. The Czech ITF Taekwon-Do
Federation covered all the expenses related to hosting the team from
both their budget and by raising money through sponsor’s donations
for this charitable cause. Additionally the Czech Black Belt students
volunteered all of their time for the event and will continue to do
so in the various support roles needed to be the gracious hosts the
Czechs are demonstrating they are!
President
Zamecnik told us that they have a special relationship with 5 local
orphanages going back about 7 years. They have in place a program
where the youngsters can train in Taekwon-Do for free courtesy of
their local affiliated ITF Taekwon-Do DoJangs (schools). The
Taekwon-Do schools also donate all the equipment needed to train and
insure safety, including the DoBok (Taekwon-Do practice suit or
uniform). The Czech ITF Taekwon-Do Federation covers the yearly
organizational fee and any related testing costs. One of the children
that performed before the over capacity crowd was a 7 year old girl
who is currently a green belt. Her 2 sisters are also enrolled in
this wonderful program. The oldest sister (16) is a member of the
Czech National Junior Team. While their middle sister is 12 years old
and she is preparing for her Black Belt test.
General
Choi Hong Hi, the principle founder of Taekwon-Do envisioned his
Korean Martial Art of self-defense as having the ability to build a
more peaceful world. The Czech ITF Taekwon-Do community is certainly
contributing to this laudable goal by the teaching example they set,
work they do, the important programs they support, including hosting
this fantastic cultural exchange with the Chosun National Team. They
should be commended for advancing TKD Times and Grandmaster Jung Woo
Jin’s vision of uniting the world through Martial Arts!
Please
keep checking back on our website for further reports as the Chosun
Team from the DPR Korea continues it Goodwill tour of Central Europe.
Today the team members will tour this historic city and then train
with the Czech students. A dinner of Korean Barbeque and a sampling
of local dishes prepared Korean community in Prague and the families
of the students that will be served in the DoJang will follow the
training. The next stop is Harirov in the Czech Republic, near the
border with Poland for a show on Wednesday February 20. The final
show will be in Nitra Slovakia on Friday February 20, 2013, before
returning back to ITF Headquarters in Vienna Austria.
EXHIBITION
IN PRAGUE TOOK PLACE ON MONDAY FEBRUARY 18, 2013
Dr. George Vitale encourages readers to comment on the above stories & to bring to his attention any mistakes, oversights, added information or any other corrections by posting a comment on the blog.
No comments:
Post a Comment