The Irish National Taekwon-Do Association held its Annual General Meeting in the Maldron Hotel in Tallaght, Co. Dublin, on Sunday 8 December.

Grandmaster O'Toole, President of the INTA, welcomed everyone and opened the meeting at noon sharp.

Ms O'Keeffe quickly reviewed this year's agenda and last year's minutes, after which Grandmaster O'Toole gave an year-end review. Grandmaster O'Toole thanked all those that put a lot of their time and tremendous effort in to the functioning of the INTA; most of the work of the Executive, the Board and various committees goes unnoticed to most, but behind the scenes an lot of work gets done, for the benefit of all INTA members.

After this various reports were discussed, and extensive calendar of events was handed out. The items in the calendar will appear on this website shortly.

At the end, Grandmaster O'Toole wished everyone a good holiday season and a happy new year, and closed the meeting.

The INTA Winter Black Belt Grading 2019 took place in the Maldron Hotel in Tallaght, Co. Dublin, on Saturday 7 December.

A team of five 7th Dan Masters graded the eleven candidates going for 1st Dan. These aspirant black belts were tested in groups of four or five for basic movements, patterns, self-defense and 1, 2 & 3-step sparring. The same groups were later called to the floor for sparring. After a short break, the candidates presented themselves individually for the theory and power test. All twenty-one applicants passed to first degree.

Grand Master O'Toole was flanked by Master Douglas and Master Martin, to form the grading panel for those going for 2nd Dan or above. A total of fifteen black belts hoped to promote to a higher degree. Unfortunately, two candidates didn't succeed.

At the presentation of the results, all who promoted successfully were presented with an INTA Black Belt Certificate; the official ITF certificate will be sent out at a later date.

The INTA congratulates all those who passed.

Results:

Master Franks Fitness Centres held their 5th invitational Taekwon-Do Tournament The Crystal Classic on Sunday the 22nd September. The whole event was a huge success competitors from 30 ITF schools from all corners of Ireland attending.

The Tournament started at 10 a.m. with the Black Belt division, followed by special techniques up to 12 years competing in 6 rings for the one Gold medal in each height category for male and female in this very spectacular special technique event (Overhead kick). Following that was the Panda division (children from 4yrs to 7yrsold) where all kids were Crystal Classic Champions after completing an exciting and challenging circuit of events with their black belt mentors.
After that was finished it moved on to the colour belt patterns and sparring competition, where everyone put in a great performance. When the patterns were over the children and the adults were eager to get into the sparring gear where there were more great displays, from the competitors taking part in their first competition to the more seasoned competitors. It was also a great privilege to have Masters present from Dublin, Cork & Waterford Incl Master Nigel Stogie, Master Alan Troy, Master Neil Franks (Waterford), Master Donal O’Doherty, Master Derick Flynn & Master Mark Buckley.

Everyone enjoyed the day in a safe and friendly atmosphere, this was a great opportunity for members to catch up with old friends and make new ones.