Newsletter Newsletter 1/2017 30 Years of Taekwon-Do in Finland

A.E.T.F. REPORT
Newsletter 1/2017
30 Years of Taekwon-Do in Finland

The 30th anniversary of ITF Taekwon-Do Finland started with a bang when the yearly National Championships brought together almost 300 competitors.

The level of competition was higher than ever

This year, ITF Taekwon-Do Finland celebrates its 30th anniversary. The National Championships were held in Pirkkala, right next to the traditional Taekwon-Do city of Tampere, on February 4-5, 2017. The event set the new record for the amount of competitors.

- This year's Finnish Championships and the HelmiCup competition were the biggest in history, with approximately 300 competitors, says the president of ITF Finland, Master Thierry Meyour.

Brought together in the yearly event are the official National Championships for black belts and the unofficial championships for colour belts, called the HelmiCup competition.

The year 2017 is important in the history of Finnish Taekwon-Do because the art came to Finland in 1987. Since then the number of Taekwon-Do practitioners in Finland has grown substantially, and in line with the 30th anniversary, 2017 has set the new record on that front as well. ITF Finland now has over 1,500 licensed members. The growth in numbers was also visible on championship weekend.

- The level of competition is extremely high, especially because of the extremely good results from last year's European Championships. The preparations for the championships have been a very big advantage to raise the bar, as is proven by these National Championships. I am also very impressed by the amount of competitors, especially the black belt competitors. In certain categories we had almost 15 people, which is something that you can only find in our ITF, Master Meyour continues.

During the weekend, championship titles were competed for in all competitive aspects of Taekwon-Do: sparring, patterns, special techniques, power breaking and pre-arranged sparring.

The best competitors of the National Championships:

Junior male competitor: Leevi Ulvinen, Taekwon-Do Tornio
Junior female competitor: Mira Sjövall, Black Eagle Tampere
Senior male competitor: Tino Shikongo, Black Eagle Tampere
Senior female competitor: Jutta Aartola, Arctic Taekwon-Do

ITF Finland nominations of the year 2016

Competitor of the year: Mira Sjövall Black Eagle Tampere
Umpire of the year: Maria Rikkonen Black Eagle Pirkkala
Junior of the year: Muhammad Altaai Black Eagle Pirkkala
Influencer of the year: Heli Karjalainen Tampere Taekwon-Do Club
Coach of the year: Master Thierry Meyour Black Eagle Tampere
Event of the year: European championships in Tampere

Text and photos: Inka Khanji
Translation: Henri Savilampi


go back