Mr. Tony Maguire
Our great friend and colleague Mr. Anthony Maguire passed away yesterday. He will be greatly missed. Our thoughts and deepest sympathies are with Gwen and their family at this time.
GRAND MASTER DOUGLAS 9TH DEGREE
On Saturday the 13th of June 2020, Master Douglas, Vice President of the INTA, was presented with his Grand Master Certificate by Grand Master O’Toole, President of the INTA, on behalf of Grand Master Weiler, President of the ITF.
The Grand Master rank recognises a lifetime of dedication to the art, to the association and to its members.
We are delighted to see this recognition of his constant courtesy, integrity, self-control, perseverance and indomitable spirit.
INTA Umpires Course / National Championships
In light of current restrictions, the INTA have decided to cancel the next umpires course scheduled for September and the 2020 INTA National Championships which was scheduled to be held in October. The INTA will be guided by HSE guidelines for all future events and will keep members informed.
INTA Open 2020
The Irish National Taekwon-Do Association ran the 21st edition of the INTA Open International Taekwon-Do Tournament; this is the longest running Open competition in Europe! Competitors arrived from Poland, Scotland, Norway, Belgium, Northern Ireland, and Ireland; 505 in total. Guests of honour were the President of ITF Belgium, Master Annick van Driessche VII Degree; the President of ITF Scotland, Master Dunbar VIII; and Technical Director of ITF Belgium, Grand Master Vanberghen IX Degree. They were joined by the Vice-President of the INTA, Master Douglas VIII Degree, and the President of the INTA, Grand Master O'Toole IX Degree.We commemorated the loss of our friend and champion of Taekwon-Do, Grand Master Sheena Sutherland IX Degree with a minute silence.
Colour belt children of 13 and under filled the first day of the event. It all started with the Flying high front kick for all participants across all 7 rings, followed by patterns and sparring. It's always a pleasure to see so much young talent on the floor. The first day went very smooth, with the last bouts stopping just before 4 p.m. It was a very enjoyable day.
The Sunday was reserved for all black belts, and any colour belt over the age of 14. The INTA is very happy with the high standard of the competition. There was patterns and sparring for everyone, but the spectacular Power category was only available for black belts over 18 years.
Sunday was also the ITF International Women's Day in sport. The President of ITF Belgium, Master Annick van Driessche VII Degree, gave a speech during the opening ceremony on the unfortunate necessity of this day, after which all female umpires, competitors, and coaches got together for a group photo. They received a fantastic round of applause. International Women's Day (March 8) is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating women's equality.
We congratulate all competitors; you put on a great display! Many thanks to all the umpires, coaches, and parents, who all gave up their free time to make this tournament possible. A big shout out to INTA's new Tournament Director, Master Martin VIII, and his assistant Mr Matthews V Degree; they made a tremendous effort in organizing this tournament, and it all ran smooth as clockwork.