Newsletter Newsletter 3/2006 Belarusian Delegation Visit Lublin

A delegation of five people from Belarus visited Lublin from the 23rd to 25th August 2006. The delegation were; Mr. Vitali Zil, Mr. Vitali Mikhelson, Mr. Oleg Pronievich, Ms. Yuliya Buividovich and Ms. Angelika Zil. During a series of meetings the delegation outlined the current situation of ITF Taekwon-Do in Belarus.

Our guests indicated that there are four Taekwon-Do groups presently operating in Belarus, however, the various groups do not cooperate with each other regularly. There are domestic competitions organised occasionally, however the competitor numbers are not as high as elsewhere in Europe.

Two of the four groups, one under the leadership of Mr. Vitali Zil and Mr. Vitali Mikhelson and the other under the leadership of Mr. Aleksei Petrovski and Mr. Aleksander Kozachenko have stated that they wish to cooperate with our organisation.

The delegation informed us that since our last meeting, which was held on 19th May 2005 (as reported in the AETF Newsletter on this website http://www.itfeurope.org/NL2005-02-26.html) that Belarusian competitors participated in the 2005 European Championship in Italy, 2005 Moscow Challenge and the Presov Open 2006.

In order to progress with a structured approach to administration of Taekwon-Do in Belarus , the delegation is considering officially registering a Sports Club called "Sparta". The delegation from Belarus are keen to build an in-depth understanding and relationships with other groups and plan to send competitors to the World Cup of ITF Taekwon-Do in Spain and also to organise an International championships to be held in Minsk, Belarus.

The main purpose of the visit of Belarusian representatives was to verify all procedures and policy in our organisation.

There are some obstacles which have to be overcome to support strong international relations for Belarusian Taekwon-Do, such as; the language barrier, the problems by receiving of all information’s trough internet, which makes it difficult to for them to observe the international situation in Taekwon-Do. They have also received much disinformation from North Korean representatives and their supporters.

The meetings in Lublin were conducted in a very positive atmosphere. The delegation also had time to sightsee in Lublin and was presented with Polish Taekwon-Do Association calendars and other souvenirs by Mr. Tadeusz Loboda and Mr. Jerzy Jedut.

We hope to arrange the next meeting at the World Cup in Spain.