Newsletter 4/2012 77th IIC in Israel
The organization of the 77th International Instructor Course to be held on November 30th – December 2nd in the Israeli Tel-Aviv was very seriously endangered due to the outbreak of the military conflict between Palestine and Israel. Both - the Israel Taekwon-Do Association as the organizer as well as all potential participants of the course – kept track of all information about the progress of the situation in the region. Most of the diplomatic missions were advising against visit in Israel at this difficult term, however, a ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement had come into effect late on Wednesday, November 21st, 2012. It finished the eight days of conflict and allayed a bit some fears of the Taekwon-Do practitioners who were going to take part in the seminar. The lack of other incidents in the next days confirmed their feelings that the situation in the region got controlled.
Tel Aviv welcomed everyone with a great weather with the temperatures reaching up to 28 degrees. At the airport all participants were greeted by the organizers and were transported to the hotel.
The second international instructor course held in the state of Israel was conducted by Grand Master Hector Marano, Grand Master Willem Jacob Bos and Grand Master Ung Kim Lan. There were 131 (29 from abroad) participants from Greece, England, France, Germany, Italy, Moldova, Poland, Rumania, Russia, Spain, Ukraine, USA and Israel took part in the course.
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On Friday, November 30th, in the sport hall Goren–Goldstein Country Club took place two training sessions: the first between 9.00 and 12.30 am and the second between 1.30 and 4.30 pm. The organizers took care of the transport for all participants.
The banquet hold on Friday evening was an occasion to celebrate the 10th anniversary of establishment of the Israel Taekwon-Do Association. During the dinner the Board of Israel Taekwon-Do Association met the participants of the seminar as well as many invited guest, among them one of our Taekwon-Do friends, Mr. Efraim Barak, a lawyer and a judge at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
By the traditional dishes Mr. Danny Roth, the president of the Israel Taekwon-Do organization welcomed all participants, thanked them for their support and their presence at the seminar, handed in special gifts – a “hamsa” – an amulet as a sign of protection against the evil, as well as presented shortly the history of Taekwon-Do in Israel. The dinner finished with the participants’ play on the traditional drums.
On Saturday, due to the Sabbath, the international guests were taken for a guided tour to the holy city of Jerusalem. A tour guide told the participants of the history of Israel and after arriving at Jerusalem of the turbulent times of the holy city. Lunch in a restaurant in the Armenian Quarter was an occasion to taste some traditional dishes of the Armenian cuisine.
On Sunday the second part of the seminar was held at the sport hall. It finished with the black belt grading.
All participants highly evaluated the technical and essential level of the seminar as well as the range of the information given. Everyone emphasized that the time in Tel-Aviv was really nice and worth traveling as well as congratulated the Israel Taekwon-Do Association a very good organization of the course.
