Tournament Team
ON THE ROAD TO BLENHEIM - TOP OF THE SOUTH 2011
London 2012 Olympics: taekwondo guideTaekwondo translates into English as 'the art of foot and fist' – and it is exactly that, a battle of kicks and punches.The protagonists compete on a mat inside a eight-by-eight-metre zone, over three rounds of two minutes. The aim is to land accurate kicks and punches on the scoring area of their opponent. A kick or punch to your opponent’s torso scores one point, an additional point is awarded if the attacker has his back to his opponent at the point of contact - so spinning kicks score two points. Punches to the head are illegal, but kicks score three points. To be valid, shots must be of sufficient force. If the scores are level after three rounds, a fourth “sudden death” round is held to determine the winner. The 64 fighters in each gender and 16 in each weight category, who compete in a straight knockout tournament with the final two playing for gold and silver. All fighters who lose to one of the two finalists enter another tournament to earn a chance to play the defeated semi-finalists for one of the two bronze medals. 
Competitors need powerful and explosive legs - to launch jumping attacks from and to support themselves during standing, single-leg kicks.Like boxing, they must also be conditioned to a level where they can ‘take’ attacks from competitors. Tactics employed vary from fight to fight. For instance, taller competitors are likely to sit back and use their greater range against shorter opponents, who will be trying to get in close to prevent or avoid the kick. Most points in taekwondo are scored via counter-attacking kicks or punches which require fighters to posses good anticipation. It is a sport about speed - of thought and execution - more than a sport of sheer brute force. Injuries are common due to the physical nature of the competition - and the intensity of training. The most frequent types of injuries are, unsurprisingly, calf, hamstring and quad problems. Back strains, sprains of the foot and concussion, because of head-shots, are also common. An important part of competition fighting is refueling and preparing the body between bouts. This involves eating increased amount of protein to aide muscle regeneration, treatment of bruising (ice-baths) and plenty of rest. 
Jargon:Dobok: White uniform worn by competitors. TUNZ National Club Championships Oct 2010Congratulations and a really good effort from our members that competed at the national event held over labour weekend at the Rolleston community centre. Thanks for those members that helped on the day especially Ming for all his work as team coach. Tournament's are not all about sparring and poomsae. There are opportunities to start as a corner judge, on the front desk as juror, and then referee. TUNZ and TNZ does provide courses for officials to get formal training and this can lead to international events where you can be sponsored to attend by the WTF.
The TUNZ National Championships held in Rolleston was a very well organized tournament due to the unforeseen implications after the Report by: Nat Campbell
Christchurch Olympic Taekwondo results for the TUNZ South Island Championships. This event was held on Saturday June 26th 2010 in Dunedin.
Congratulations Nathaniel Campbell who also won the TUNZ trophy for Poomsae
TUNZ National Championships 2009 Last weekend seven Christchurch Olympic Taekwondo competitors and two Shirley Olympic Taekwondo competitors took part in the 2009 TUNZ National Taekwondo Championships, held in Wellington. This was a large tournament with over 300 sparring and 100 poomsae competitors. This meant for two days of competition spread over three rings.Due to the amount of entries, the organisers chose to schedule the days competition into specific times throughout the day, this resulted in all competitors knowing exactly when they would be due to compete and resulted in the competition running smoothly and on time. All seven of Christchurch Olympic athletes competed on the Saturday. There were some close fights and overall we came away with very good results. Tayo Hart was the first up for the day, a tough first fight saw him lose, however in the play off for bronze, he upped his intensity and took a well deserved win. Nat Campbell had an easy fight and was too strong for his opponent and comfortably came away with a gold medal. Karesha Walker had two tough fights against heavier competition, however her superior speed and timing saw her come away with two wins and another gold medal. Alyssa Ong competing in the junior black belt division, had to use all her skill to overcome her opponent, some solid counterattacking saw her take the win. Andrew Dyblenko, taking part in his first tournament, drew an aggressive opponent. His fight was very close, and he had to dig deep and did well to win by 1 point. Devon Bishop got the lucky draw and had a straight final. An interesting fight saw her competitor receive 6 points for a head kick. This resulted in her opponent being declared the winner. This discrepancy saw the fight protested and in good spirits the result was overturned and Devon was given the win. Nathan Pryor had a tough day. His opposition took advantage of a couple of his mistakes on defence and scored some quick counter attacks. Unfortunately Nathan couldn’t get the points back and ended up taking the bronze medal. Sunday saw Shirley Olympics two competitors. Rob Ross was the first up competing in the men’s black belt veterans division. His superior speed and strength saw him take two easy wins. Lucille Tullet was the last to fight. It was a close match with both fighters displaying a lot of aggression. However Lucille’s determination won her the match.
Overall some very promising results:
Bronze: - Tayo Hart
The Taekwondo TUNZ Nationals was very well run and organised. I have
Karesha Walker
TNZ Black Belt Championships 2009
The 2009 TNZ National Black Belt Championships were held at Avondale College, Auckland on the 29 August. The level of competition was high as this was seen as a selection tournament for the 2010 Junior World Championships and a selection tournament for the 2010 World Poomsae Championships.
Christchurch Olympic Taekwondo sent 5 athletes to this event, all competing in the sparring category. Due to the fact that the competition was for black belt competitors only, the tournament attracted approximately 70 competitors. This meant there was one ring operating and the competition wrapped up around 5pm. Christchurch’s two junior competitors, Sarah Vergeer and Chris Casey both dominated their opponents. With only one fight each, their instructions were to fight smart and to pressure their opposition. Both fought confidently and won easily by a high point’s differential over their opponents. This should hopefully put them in a good position to vie for places on the NZ Junior World Championships team. In the senior divisions there were some mixed results. Alan Brian was the favorite heading into the men’s under 68kg division. Alan proved too strong and experienced for his first opponent winning 14 points to 1. In the process though he sustained an injury to his right foot, this was later found out to be a broken big toe. In the final he struggled to score, and although he threw plenty of kicks and was the superior fighter he lost narrowly 1 point to 2. Tneal Wilson competing in the women’s under 73kg division came up against fellow NZ team mate Hayley Schofield in a combined weight division. Tneal’s opponent proved too strong and experienced and although Tneal never gave up she was defeated by quite a few points. Hopefully she’ll learn from this loss and it should help to motivate her during training coming into next months World Championships. Nic Dorman was the last Christchurch competitor. Nic, competing in the men’s over 87kg division, drew one of his old Auckland team mates who had beaten him in July at the TUNZ North Island Champs. Nic showed good composure and his improved footwork saw him take the win, scoring with a back kick, and a head shot.
Overall some pleasing results.
The team would like to extend their gratitude to Jan and Bren Dorman for hosting the team for the weekend. Thanks for looking after us all.
TUNZ North Island Championships 2009
Results-
The club sent a small team of four fighters up to New Plymouth for the TUNZ north island champs. The competition was held on the 25th July at the TSB Arena in New Plymouth. There were approximately 300 entries in the tournament, as a result there were three competition rings, and the fighting continued through until 7pm in the evening.
Due to the high number of entries, the organisers opted to keep the 7-point gap and 12-point ceiling rule. This helped to ensure the fights would run through quickly so as not to run too late into the evening.
Alan Brian
TNZ Open (Auckland March 09)
Two hard long days + One excited big team = Successful results and 2 enjoyable days.
The New Zealand Tae Kwon Do International Opens was held in Auckland on 28th and 29th of March. Two international teams came, which were New Caledonia and Aussie, this just spiced up the competition a bit more. The Christchurch Olympic team sent up 16 competitors, we came back with 11 gold, 3 silvers and 2 bronzes. We were kept very entertained with these fights with one of our fighters winning with a knockout in his fight! The 1st day went to midnight, the team and supporters were exhausted. But all of us gained great experience especially using the new electronic body pads. The body pads were a bit different but much more accurate with the scoring. These body pads will start being used a lot more often so the more we use them the better. The next day we gained 2 golds, 2 silvers and one bronze in the poomsae. The competition was tough. The tournament ended at 3pm on Sunday. Well done to these competitors! The medal talley Sparring Poomsae: Tournament Team Update 22 July 2009 The last 12 months has seen some changes in the team, with both Danny and Aroha, two very experienced fighters, leaving the team. As you know Aroha has gone to live in Sweden with her partner and Danny has left to focus on other pursuits. Subsequently this has resulted in some minor changes to the dynamics of the team, with my-self taking over the main coaching responsibilities. Personally I think the changes have been minor, and with the help of some of the parents and supporters the team is going very well and our results over the last 12 months can support that. September last year saw Christchurch Olympic TKD sent a team for the first time to the Australian Open. We had some very good results with Alan taking a silver medal after 5 fights, Danny taking a bronze, Sarah getting a silver and Nathan getting a bronze. I see the Australian Open as a tournament that the club should be targeting as a major event for promising up and coming fighters. There has been some interest in attending this year, however as I will be competing at the world championships the same month, I won’t be able to participate. September last year also saw our fighters compete at the TUNZ nationals in Christchurch. I’m not too sure of the exact results, but I know that the team performed strongly. November saw the Commonwealth Championships in Canada. Both Nic and my-self were selected to represent NZ. We both gained some valuable international experience, and both walked away with bronze medals after winning fights against international opponents. After this tournament, we both attended a week long training camp with the Canadian National team, consisting of Olympians and professional Taekwondo fighters and coaches. We learnt quite a few new exercises, and just the opportunity to train alongside top ranked TKD fighters is not only beneficial for myself, but has been beneficial in the training of the team. So far the events we have taken part in this year have been the NZ Open, and the South Island champs. We had a lot of medal winners at both events and that can be attributed to the tenacity of the fighters and the help of our passionate supporters. Goals for the immediate future are success at this weekend North Island Champs in New Plymouth. We are sending a small team consisting of; Alan, Nic, Sarah and Chris Casey. In case you weren’t aware both Tneal and myself have been selected in the NZ National team to compete at this years World Championships in Denmark in October. This means that there will be an increased focus at trainings, and more emphasis on the Tuesday speed/fitness and conditioning class that I have been taking every Tuesday over the last 12 months. So please don’t plan on starting up a class that night as I have been taking this class for a while now and I don’t plan on cancelling it anytime soon. This also means a huge financial commitment from the two of us as well. Approximate costs to attend the world champs have been roughly estimated at around $5000. So any kind of help would be much appreciated. Other immediate goals are the design of a new tournament team tracksuit, polo shirt and team bags. We have found a style that we are happy with, I just need to get organized and start getting that all together. We are trying to keep costs to a minimum. The other goal that I have is obtaining new focus mitts and kicking pads. I believe Joanne has applied for some funding for this, as the current state of most of our gear is embarrassing. And this would not only benefit the tournament team but would benefit the whole club, as this equipment is used at most training sessions. Overall the Tournament team is going very well, we have some very dedicated team members who attend all classes, and our parents and supporters are the most passionate that I have been involved with over the 15 years that I have been part of the club. Hopefully we can get the results that we are after and I believe that with the on-going support of the club, we can uphold the reputation that we’ve built up over the last 15 years. Thanks to everyone who has helped myself and the team over the last 12 months.
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