AETF reporter
Donal O'Donoghue

Email to DO

The Irish Taekwon-Do Association (ITA) annual general meeting took place in Thurles, Co. Tipperary on Sunday 9th January 2010. Irish Taekwon-Do Association is the ITF affiliated allied member association in Ireland which was established in 1984. The association comprises 60 Taekwon-Do schools nationwide and is a member of the Irish Martial Arts Commission (IMAC) which is the National Governing Body (NGB) representing martial arts to the Irish Sports Council (ISC).

The annual meeting was chaired by Master Kenneth Wheatley 7th Dan. Some key agenda items covered were the; President’s Address, Treasurer’s Report, Acceptance of Audited Accounts, Secretary General’s Report, Technical Committee Report, Tournament & Umpire Committee Report, Business Committee Report, Report from IMAC Board of Directors, Report from IMAC/TAB Coaching Committee, Report from National Coaching Team members, ITA Bylaw amendments, ITA Constitutional amendments and, very importantly, a detailed report from the IIC Organising Committee regarding the upcoming International Instructor Course (IIC) taking place at the end of January in Ireland.

Following the reports the elections to the ITA Board of Directors took place, followed by elections of the various ITA committees that drive the operational functions of the organisation.

Elected 2011 Board of Directors:

• Master Kenneth Wheatley 7th Dan, President
• Mr. Stephen Cooley 6th Dan, Vice President
• Mr. Stephen Ryan 5th Dan, Secretary General
• Mr. Kevin Kinsella 5th Dan, Treasurer
• Mr. Adrian O’ Mahoney 6th Dan, Director
• Mr. Mark Buckley 6th Dan, Director
• Mr. Adrian Byrne 5th Dan, Director
• Mr. Hong Keat Looi 4th Dan, Director

Master Kenneth Wheatley 7th Dan, I.T.A. President

Following Master Wheatley’s election to another term as ITA President, I would like to share some information about him.

• DOD: Sir, please share some information with us about your path in Taekwon-Do.
  Master Wheatley: I started my Taekwon-Do training in September of 1979 in a small function room in the town of Greystones located approximately six miles from my home town. As over forty people attended to try out this new martial art we were split into two groups and took turns on the floor. It was obvious many people wanted to experience Taekwon-Do as it had not been seen in our area before.
  I had no previous knowledge of Taekwon-Do, or indeed any other martial art and was very curious as to what it would be like, I did try one Karate class several months earlier but found it was not to my liking. Indeed this was my first time to stand close to someone who wore a black belt around their waist and the occasion was made even more intriguing when I recognised one of the Instructors as my cousin, Robert Wheatley.
  The Greystones School of Taekwon-Do was soon established and regular training began at the St. Kilian Hall. We attended class diligently and prepared for our first kup testing with Master Ki Ha Rhee as Examiner, thirty nine students from the Greystones School undertook their test and all were successful.
  The next time I was tested by Master Ki Ha Rhee was in 1983 at the Taekwon-Do Centre in Dublin. I was, along with several others from our school, testing for my first degree black belt. Thankfully Master Rhee was satisfied by our performance and we were promoted to the rank of black belts.
  During the following years, our instructor, Mr. Wheatley travelled to America several times, eventual he decided to emigrate to America and our school was left in the charge of one his associates and fellow Instructor. Several months later the instructor informed us that he could no longer teach at our school and suggested four of the school’s black belts, including myself, took charge of the school and continued with our training.
  During the years which followed there was transition within Taekwon-Do in Ireland, an additional association was formed and the All Ireland Taekwon-Do Association began (now known as Irish Taekwon-Do Association). Our school was, by default, a member of the AITA. I continued with my training and after several years I became the principle instructor at our Taekwon-Do school, the other black belts took different paths in their lives and I was fortunate that my path allowed my continued involvement with Taekwon-Do.
  I attended an International Instructors Course, during 1992 in Dublin; it was a five day course and was led by our founder, General Choi Hong-Hi. It was here I first met General Choi and was inspired by his passion and knowledge. I could hardly believe I was being taught by the founder of Taekwon-Do, some among us have trained for years and had never even seen General Choi, and it was, at that time, the highlight of my Taekwon-Do involvement. Over the next seven years it was my good fortune to be in attendance at several other IICs which were led by General Choi and also to play host as association President, to General Choi, GM Choi Jung Hwa and GM McCallum in 1999 when our association hosted an IIC in Dublin.
  Following the great loss of General Choi in 2002 there was much turmoil in our Taekwon-Do world, even in Ireland. Many people among us sought to move their allegiance from our ITF to elsewhere. There were outside influences trying to persuade and lead us to other so called ITF groups. However, I as President of our group, urged a time of calm and held fast to the allegiance to our ITF. My patience and non-volatile actions were rewarded a hundred times over when in March of 2003 I travelled to Scotland to attend an IIC which was being led by the Technical Committee of the ITF and GM Trân Triêu Quân ITF President. I had travelled from Ireland with an anxious heart as this was my first time to experience the leadership and knowledge of the ITF Technical Committee. However, my apprehensions were very quickly dispersed when GM Hector Marano, GM Pablo Trajtenberg and GM Wim Bos displayed infallible technique and knowledge of all aspects of our beloved Taekwon-Do. This was also my first time to meet GM Trân Triêu Quân our President and the new leader of our ITF. I was inspired as I listened to his teaching on the Do of Taekwon-Do, before this time I had no real understanding of the moral culture in our Taekwon-Do and having listened to GM Trân I felt that a whole new aspect to Taekwon-Do now lay before me to be learned and understood.
  It was at the IIC in Scotland that I tested for 6th Dan Black Belt and was fortunate that the Examiners found my performance to be acceptable and promoted me accordingly. However, it was not my promotion which brought such overwhelming joy on my return to Ireland. I had experienced the new technical leadership of the ITF and listened to our new President and was very happy that I had made the correct decisions as to which ITF we should have loyalty with, both for myself and the association which I led.
  I continue to train in my Taekwon-Do and always try to learn, I believe there is so much more for me to learn both technically and philosophically. When attending the Leadership Camp and International Workshop on teaching of the Do, in Spain during 2006, I realised the ITF has a good plan in place to promote the philosophical aspects of Taekwon-Do and I look forward to understanding and teaching it. I was delighted to reach the milestone in my Taekwon-Do journey of being promoted to 7th Dan Bkack Belt at the IIC in Benidorm, Spain in 2009 alongside many colleagues from Ireland, notably Master O’Toole who was promoted to 8th Dan, Master Martin who was promoted to 7th Dan, Mr. Stephen Cooley who was promoted to 6th Dan and five of our instructors who were promoted to 5th Dan; Mr. Kevin Kinsella, Mr. Adrian Byrne, Mr. Stephen Ryan, Mr. Jamie Rigney and Mr. Brian Coughlan.
• DOD: Thank you for sharing this information Sir.
  Master Wheatley: You are very welcome!