Last weekend, the Black Eagle Taekwon-Do (BETKD) in Tampere, Finland was honored to have the visit of Mr Mark Trotter 4th degree and Carl van Roon 2nd degree from New Zealand. We were some of the few lucky ones to be able to host them during their European visit in preparation to the upcoming Word Championships.

The group was restricted to 20 people exclusively from our school in order to gain the maximum information and have an almost one on one session with 2 of ITF greatest champions in the field of Traditional sparring and of course in the case of Mr. van Roon, special techniques.

Saturday, Mr Trotter and van Roon covered aspects of power kicking for patterns as well as body movement in sparring close distance.

Sunday was focused on Traditional Sparring, and we were extremely lucky to see some of their past routine as well as hints of their upcoming World Championship routine. Mr Trotter explained the correlation between his experience as movie stuntman and camera angles as well as team work, imagination as well as the importance of rhythm in catching the referees attention.

The second part of the seminar was conducted by 5 times special techniques World Champion Mr. Carl van Roon. What can be said except that we were stunned by this amazing athlete's jumping capabilities and his use of bio mechanics and physics in order to bring the best in everyone's techniques. within 2 hours, we could definitely see GREAT improvements in everyone's jumping capabilities.

In the evening we took them to our traditional Sauna and ice swimming...Mr van Roon even had a weak moment with a very feminine vocal expression when entering the 0.2 degree water. All in all I personally was extremely happy to get to meet 2 top athletes which are also incredible pedagogues. It was clear that they really mastered their topics and were absolutely for the seminar. We also exchanged some technical ideas that were extremely beneficial for both parties, and trust me when I say that I will definitely bring them over again.

If you wish to host a seminar in your country (only Europe) with Mr Trotter and Mr van Roon, please contact me at: betkdseminars@gmail.com.

Thierry Meyour
6th Degree