Il Shim Taekwon-Do Kick off Camp 2011

Kick off the 2011 Training year with an exciting training camp to be held at the beautiful Tallebudgera Beach on Queensland's Gold Coast. This camp will feature instructors from Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland. Fitness, endurance and flexibility and most of all, FUN! are the objects of the camp. The camp will be held over the weekend of the 29th and 30th of January, 2011.

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Wow what a weekend!

IIC 2008

The 39th International Instructors Course was held over the weekend of July 25 - 27, 2008 at the Nambour PCYC on Queensland's Sunshine Coast. Taekwon-Do practitioners from around the country as well as New Zealand were in attendance. The Harper family as well as Mr James Walsh represented IL Shim Melbourne at what was a fantastic weekend of training. Conducted by the ITF Technical Committee (8th Degree Black Belts, Master Hector Marano and Master Pablo Trajtenberg, both from Argentina) with assistance from New Zealand's Master Paul McPhail, the course provided students with the opportunity to develop and refine many aspects of the art of Taekwon-Do.

From Mr Harper: " I had the priviledge of attending the 39th International Instructors Course on the Sunshine Coast. This was my fifth Instructors course and was once again fantastic. The attending Masters were Master Trajtenberg and Master Marano, supported by Master McPhail and Master Daher. Each Master brings a different skillset and focus to the course but all have a clear passion for the art that flows through all teachings. The details in the pattern work we did were invaluable in assisting instructors to impart the reasons for movements to their students and also for their own technique. I particularly enjoy the way we move through the patterns at the various levels in such fine detail. I also enjoyed the one-step sparring drills with Master Trajtenberg and Master McPhail which gave us a different, more realistic, perspective on what we do. They provided us with techniques that are linked and based on what we do in our patterns and sparring but were translated into more real-life situations. These four Masters are certainly an inspiration to me and help drive me to continually develop my TKD skills in myself but also in my teaching methods. It's so valuable having access to such experience and skillsets. I would like to thank Master Daher for hosting such a great event and Mr Gerard Kelly for making sure everything ran smoothly. "

The opportunity to train directly with Masters of our art only arrives on our shores once every two years and is something not to be missed! Keep an eye out for details of IIC 2010 to be sure of your opportunity to train with the best.

IL SHIM Punch-Out 2008

This was the scene following the inaugural Il Shim TKD Punch-Out 2008! The aim of our Punch-Out was to help raise funds for contribution towards the costs of the International Instructors Course held on the Sunshine Coast July 25 - 27, 2008. Bringing 3 International Masters to our shores was well worth the efforts of our small but strong band of supporters on the day! With a sausage sizzle helping to keep everyone's strength up following the morning's grading, the Punch-Out saw a great mix of talent emerge particularly from our junior students. At 11,667 punches in just under an hour's worth of punching, Mr Harper lead the field in what was a fun-filled afternoon of fundraising. Not far behind, Ms Sue Whitfield clocked in 11,600 punches, stopping only to honour the "deal" made with Mr Harper that they would both stop at 11,600 punches..... *oops* Mr Harper "accidentally" kept going! Lucky for Ms Whitfield, as Head Instructor Mr Harper was ineligible for any prizes on offer, and so congratulations must go to Ms Whitfield on winning a new uniform and one month's free training!

As far as our juniors go, the standout by far was 10 yr old Patrick Bennett. Wow did he blow the competition out of the water - 10,000 punches in total!!!! What an effort!!! Pat certainly will be keen to put his technique into further practice whilst wearing his prize of a set of brand new sparring gear. Younger sister, 8 yr old Amy Bennett also deserves special mention and receives our runner-up prize of a month's free training for her fantastic effort of 3,000 punches! Well done Pat and Amy, and congratulations as well to some close competition from 9yr old Dexter who put in a super effort of 2,040 punches(doubling mum's total too!), with 7yr old Ethan not far behind on 1,780 punches.

Thankyou to everyone who helped to make Punch-Out 2008 a success, here's looking to an even bigger one in 2009. Special thanks goes to Shane Blackwell for his donation of sausages, onions and sauce for the sausage sizzle and to Sue Whitfield for donation of bread.

Your Instructor is now Fully Qualified!

As some of you are aware, our Head Instructor, Mr Paul Harper has completed his Certificate IV in Fitness, qualifying him as a Personal Trainer and Fitness Instructor. Here's what he has to say about his recent achievement::

 " I have recently received my accreditation as a Fitness Instructor and Personal Trainer. I completed the course in order to supplement the knowledge I have gained over my 18 years in Martial Arts. The course was fantastic and gave me great insight into the reasons why we perform particular exercises the way we do in Taekwon-Do. The course also gave me some pointers into my own training and, in particular, adding more weight training into my own routine. I previously focused on strength training for my legs to assist in the management of a few long-term injuries. After learning more about the benefits of weight training as a whole, I developed a program that was based on strengthening my whole body. The idea behind this program was to develop muscle endurance, which is particularly important in Taekwon-Do. Overall I feel stronger and fitter and therefore my Taekwon-Do has improved as well. Along with my assistant instructor Ms Sue Whitfield, who is also a fully qualified Fitness Instructor, we are happy to discuss your personal fitness requirements."

kidfest 2007

Thankyou to everyone that helped us out on the day. A fun time was had by all, despite the wind doing its best to sweep us all away! There was even opportunity for some to learn some new skills outside of Taekwon-do, as the photos below indicate!