Saturday 27th and Sunday 28th September 2014 is a day that will be remembered for ever by many English ITF students and instructors. On this day we had the extreme privilege of hosting 4x exclusive UK seminars, by the world renowned, Jaroslaw Suska. Saturday saw 1x Colour Belt seminar for 3 hours, and 1x Black Belt seminar for 3 hours at Palcic TKD, Wembley, London UK, with Sunday having the same seminars held at PROACTION Martial Arts, Northampton UK.

Mr Suska is possibly the most respected and famous ITF TAEKWON-DO patterns champion in the history of our Martial Art, and so it was an unequalled honour for us to have him come personally to the UK to teach what turned out to be an incredible timetable of seminars.

For three hours, Mr Suska inspired students with an awesome, intense and jaw dropping patterns and kicking seminar. The many time Polish National champion, 20 time European champion and 6 time World champion is as already mentioned extremely famous in the Taekwon Do world, and therefore spaces were sold out within weeks of what was to be a highly anticipated seminar; It certainly lived up to, and indeed exceeded all expectations!

As per usual, the order of the day started with a series of gruelling warm up exercises. However, what was to come next was truly mesmerising, with Mr Suska breaking down, into technical details a series, of known traditional kicks including side kick, reverse turning kick and back kick (each with a phenomenal demonstration on one lucky student!). Students were made to work in partners on these kicks using the feedback and demonstrations of Mr Suska; He is the prime example of the fact that looks can be deceiving; whilst not the tallest person in the world, his control, flexibility and power are unmatched; his records speak for themselves of course.

The end of the seminar focused purely on all colour belt patterns, with the chance for all students to perform, followed by a rundown of technical points and feedback from each pattern. Just when the days couldn’t get any better, they culminated in a stunning performance of Moon Moo by Mr Suska, a truly beautiful 4th degree pattern and his personal favourite.

The seminar was amazing, as well as hugely enjoyable and highly beneficial. It was a wonderful chance for students to brush up on their kicking techniques under one of the most talented martial artists in the world, as well as making improvements to the technical aspects of patterns, something which will no doubt change the way students perform them in future. Those who attended the seminars were truly privileged to have been taught by Mr Suska, and those who did not surely will be regretting it deeply. From green tag to 6th Dan, everyone learnt something new by the end, and walked away with unforgettable memories of what was a hugely successful event.

What perhaps was the most inspiring point of the seminar was to see both how passionate and down to earth Mr Suska is. He made it his personal responsibility to go around and help every single student, and spoke and taught with such passion that everyone was left truly inspired. He really did present himself as not only one of the top technicians in the world, but also the perfect ambassador for our art.

News of another Suska seminar at some point next year will undoubtedly be massively welcomed by all, and, judging by the success of this seminar, spaces will be filled for the next one even quicker than before. At a time where both Palcic TKD and Proaction Martial Arts are growing and developing, it is clear that exciting times lie ahead, and it is strongly recommended that all students do not hesitate to seize the opportunity to train with Jaroslaw Suska, someone who is, and always will be a legend in the Taekwon Do world.

A report written by a student of Mr. Paul Palcic from Palcic Taekwon-Do