She Needs Help

UK -- Scotland: Former martial art arts champion and WTF World Championship silver medal winner, 33-year-old Kirsten McLaughlin from Glasgow, has been heavily hit by multiple sclerosis, according to dailyrecord.co.uk.

In spite of her severe condition, which requires round-the-clock care from her 34-year old husband, she has been denied disability living allowance. Why? Because she can still talk ... that's why.

"My life and my social circle was based around taekwondo and I've lost everything," she says. "It breaks my heart not to be able to take the boys to training."

Update:
September 8, dailyrecord.co.uk wrote that 33-year-old Kirsten McLaughlin had her case overturned.

The authorities reportedly called the former TKD champion with the good news after her heartbreaking story appeared in the Daily Record.

Martial Arts Politics

Recently, I was contacted through my site Your Martial Arts Resources by a gentleman who wanted to know if there was a way to find out the number of people involved in martial arts world wide as well as in the US.

I told him that this was almost impossible to figure out. One of the main reasons, I told him, is all the politics involved in the arts.

Just to prove my point, you might want to read this article from Malaysia. It's titled "No more punch in taekwondo" and signed by "Disgruntled Parent". The writer says:

"My eldest child has a one dan black belt from the Malaysian Taekwondo Association (MTA). My second child is under another association whose certification is not recognised at the new school he is in, while my youngest is in a club that has no links to any national body. However, all three associations claim to be part of the WTF."

"My children argue over which of these taekwondo associations is better. Why should children be subjected to such nonsense in schools?"

"It is indeed disheartening for students after having put their heart and soul into taekwondo in one school, to be told that the same form of martial arts is not recognised in another school."

Tainted Past

Here's a very interesting and thought provoking article you should read! It is about the not-so-glorious past of taekwondo.

Nothing negative said about the art as such. However I think we all need to know the whole picture of all martial arts - not just the rose-painted and hyped up one.

Truly, there is so much politics - so much power play and bull going on, it sometimes make me quite sick. And by all means, this is not just within taekwondo!

An Innocent Gesture

UK -- Ottsun.canoe.ca reports that the World Taekwondo Federation secretary, general Jin-suk Yang, allegedly offered an envelope of cash to a member of IOC. However, Yang denies any wrongdoing, claiming it was an 'innocent gesture'.

The incident occurred at a meeting in Manchester, England in November 2007, $10,000 reportedly was offered to WTF Vice President and IOC member, Nat Indrapana.

Megadethkwondo

Shortly receiving a certificate of appointment as the WTF's Goodwill Ambassador of the World in a ceremony in Seoul on October 27, 2007, Megadeth leader Dave Mustaine said that his life had changed for the better thanks to taekwondo.

"Taekwondo is a great discipline. For me, it was one of the things that changed my life," Mustaine said in a recent interview. "It (taekwondo) helped me to eliminate a bad lifestyle of drug and alcoholism. It helped me to believe inside of myself and find the strength inside of myself that I never knew that I possessed."

TKD Fashion Feud

What started as a minor dispute over karate headgear has degenerated into an international incident that could tear apart an Olympic sport. On Monday, amid pugnacious rancor, the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) upheld a ban on Muslim hijabs during sanctioned matches, fueling cries of religious intolerance.

The fashion feud started at a tournament in Quebec last month when "five Muslim girls, ages eight to 13... were told they could not compete... unless they removed their headscarves." Though the official rules state that "wearing any item on the head other than the head protector shall not be permitted," the ultimatum sparked a flurry of outrage across Canada with protesters claiming unfair treatment and inconsistent application.

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TKD Merger

Korea -- The sole North Korean member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Chang Ung, said Sunday that a merger of the two world governing bodies of taekwondo would help the sport remain an Olympic event.

Chang, concurrently head of the International Taekwondo Federation (ITF) run by North Korea, came here on Friday for a meeting with Choue Chung-won, head of the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) that has been managed by South Korean officials.

"The merger of the two bodies will boost the popularity of taekwondo around the world and solidify the status of the martial art in the Olympic Games in the future," Chang said in a rare interview with a local TV station.

The Korean martial art, facing challenges from other combative sports, narrowly escaped elimination from the list of Olympic events in a vote of the IOC general assembly in 2004.

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WTF Secretary General

World Taekwondo Federation has named a Korean-American as its new secretary general.

Yang Jin-suk, 65, graduated from Kyunghee University in Seoul in 1965. After moving to the United States, he operated taekwondo gymnasiums in Colorado and California.

Yang, who holds American citizenship, will return to South Korea soon. He worked as a civilian attache for the U.S. military in South Korea from 1976 to 1986.

Yang now serves as a council member in the town of Corte Madera, California, where he was once mayor.

Source

WTF reform

Korea -- Choue Chung-won, the president of taekwondo's world governing body, said Wednesday he will complete full-fledged reform of the global body by this month, including recruiting foreign employees.

"Reform is the only way for the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) to survive, and without change the WTF has no meaning to its existence. With sweeping organizational changes, the body will soon embark on a new start," Choue said in a news conference in the body's headquarters in Seoul.

"I will transform the WTF in a drastic way and put more internationally minded and professional staff into the secretariat to make the WTF a truly global sports federation, helping taekwondo retain its Olympic status for good," Choue said.

Source

Electronic scoring system

Seoul, Korea -- The World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) said Monday that it will introduce the electronic scoring system as early as May 2007 during the 18th World Taekwondo Championships in Beijing.

"The introduction of electronic gear is expected to greatly enhance the image of taekwondo and the WTF, as it can reduce the likelihood of controversial judging decisions," said WTF President Choue Chung-won at a news release here.

"The use of electronic gear can make judging at taekwondo competitions more objective and transparent," Choue said, describing the move as "a milestone in the history of taekwondo."

Source

North Korean 'invasion'

Canada -- Nova Scotia's former black-belt premier, Russell MacLellan, has been fighting North Koreans in Austria.

MacLellan, a 5th dan in tae kwon do, recently returned from Vienna, where he testified in a court challenge aimed at stopping a North Korean invasion of the International Tae Kwon Do Federation. MacLellan was president of the federation for a year after the founder of the martial art, Gen. Choi Hong Hi, died in June 2002 at the age of 83.

"When General Choi died, there was a North Korean group that wanted to take over," MacLellan said. "To some extent, they forced their way in. Now we're trying to unravel it."

Yes, it seems the land of Kim Jong Il wants both nuclear weapons and roundhouse kicks. You see, the International Federation is headquartered in Vienna, and its rival, the World Tae Kwon Do Federation, is based in South Korea. That leaves North Korea out in the cold.

"The North Koreans want their own tae kwon do federation, so they saw this as their chance to do it," MacLellan explained. "They hate being left out."

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WTF suspensions

The World Taekwondo Federation has punished four referees with suspensions of up two years for their "inadequate remarks and actions" during recent games, a WTF spokesman said in Seoul on Thursday.

"In the recently ended WTF general assembly in Ho Chi Min City, Vietnam, the Competition Supervisory Board decided to give four referees one-match to two-year suspensions with another given a warning," said Kang Seok-jae, spokesman for the Seoul-based WTF.

Source

TKD and AIDS awareness

Zambia -- Taekwondo should be used not only for self-defence but also as a vehicle to sensitise and promote HIV/AIDS awareness, Taekwondo Association of Zambia (TAZ) vice-president Likando Nangonde has said.

And to commemorate the 33rd World Taekwondo Federation founding day that falls on May 28, WTF president Chungwon Choue said the mainstay were people who impact and are impacted by the sport.

In an interview, Nangonde said his association had decided to use the sport to integrate certain programmes in the community to sensitise people about the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

"We feel we can play a role in the fight against HIV/AIDS by encouraging people to take up taekwondo not only for self-defense but as a means of preoccupation so as to prevent people from indulging in vices that lead to promiscuous behaviour," Nangonde said.

Nangonde said his association looked forward to working with the defence forces and promote sensitisation, as the rate of HIV prevalence among them was high.

Source

Taekwondo crackdown

Not good - not good at all!

Story:
An official of the World Taekwondo Federation and five others were detained yesterday by Seocho district police in Seoul and charged with issuing referee licenses to unqualified persons.

A total of 31 persons who allegedly received those licenses were also charged.

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