During the weekend of the 29th and 30th of November 2014, 75 participants from 6 different countries came to Paris take part in a fantastic seminar given by Mr Jaroslaw Suska, 6 times world champion and 20 times European champion in patterns.

The event was organised by Mr Lylian Doulay, National Technical Director and President of ITF France on behalf of ITF Paris in cooperation with Mightyfist (www.doboks.com) and Black Belt Project (www.tkd-blackbelt.com). The venue for the seminar was the French National Institute for Sport and Physical Education (www.insep.fr).

The seminar started off with an intensive warm up session leaving no chance for any cold or unprepared muscles for the kicking drills that were to follow.

Numerous kicking drills and exercises were demonstrated by Mr Suska then performed by the students until the first break for lunch.

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The Saturday afternoon session began with a quick warm up then on to an in depth coverage of fundamental movements and the first five patterns. Mr Suska provided many different exercises and training ideas for instructors to be able to use in their classes.

The seminar started off with an intensive warm up session leaving no chance for any cold or unprepared muscles for the kicking drills that were to follow. Mr Suska provided demonstrations before each exercise, amazing everyone with his speed, strength, control and accuracy in every technique. Numerous kicking drills and exercises were demonstrated by Mr Suska then performed by the students until the first break for lunch.

At the end of the first day, Mr Doulay invited each of the participants that travelled from outside France to the front of the class to be presented with a small gift as a token of appreciation for travelling to Paris to take part. Participants came from Belgium, Luxembourg, Brazil, Romania, Poland and France.

On Saturday evening, Mr Suska and several other guests were invited by Mr Doulay to a dinner boat cruise on the river Seine taking in the sights of Paris including the Eiffel Tower, Statue of Liberty and many other important Parisian landmarks. The dinner and cruise was thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated by all the guests.

The last training session on Sunday morning started with various different warm up exercises then on to more leg strengthening exercises before continuing on with the patterns. Each pattern was treated individually with the specific problem areas covered in detail with opportunities for everyone to ask questions.

Although the seminar was conducted proficiently in English by Mr Suska himself, Mr Lukasz Grygiel and Miss Monika Kepa were on hand for assistance with translation from Polish into English and French when required.

At the conclusion of the seminar, Mr Doulay took the opportunity to award certificates for the latest black belt promotions, who were all congratulated individually by Mr Suska. Mr Grygiel then gave a presentation on the Black Belt Project and the participants also had the opportunity to browse and purchase Mightyfist doboks and sparring gear at the Mightyfist stand.

The first Mr Suska seminar in Paris was a great success and was enjoyed by everyone that took part. ITF France would like to thank Mr Suska for coming to Paris to train, inspire and share his love of Taekwon-Do. Thank you also to Mr Doulay and ITF Paris for working tirelessly to provide a well organised seminar and for bringing Mr Suska to Paris for everyone to profit from his experience.

Report written by Jonathan Morris, Vice-President ITF France