Thank you from Asheville

Master Tony Morris says:

Asheville Sun Soo Tae Kwon Do is honored to have hosted a fantastic couple of days of Taekwon-do this past weekend in Asheville NC.  An inspiring collection of Master Instructors, from both inside and outside of the Taekwon-Do International union of schools including three 9th Dan grandmasters descended upon the North Carolina Mountains for back-to-back events, including Friday June 6th's Annual Taekwon-Do International Black Belt Seminar, followed by Saturday June 7th's first annual Taekwon-Do International Invitational Championships.

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The Annual Black Belt Seminar was held on Friday, attended by nearly 60 black belts, led by the excellent teaching of Taekwon-do International President and Founder, 9th Dan Grandmaster Suk Jun Kim, and complimented with special guest instruction by 9th Dan Grandmaster Myung Soo Son, President and Founder of the Royal Tae Kwon Do Federation of Canada.  The seminar covered fundamental technique as applied to patterns, sparring strategies and in-close self-defense Hapkido concepts.  The material was enriching to all who attended and the energy in the room was high!

Saturday's First Annual Taekwon-Do International Invitational Championships saw approximately 150 competitors of all ages, ranks, and nationalities, drawing from approximately 10 different schools and representing at least eight different states!  Competition included three aspects of practice: patterns, sparring and board breaks.  The event was extremely well run and represented TKDI and its member schools at the level of excellence to which we have been accustomed.  It was a huge success full of fun, action, black belt demonstrations and growth opportunities for all.  Perhaps the best part of all were the new friendships that were seeded by having different schools come together for respectful competition.

I want to give special thanks to Grandmasters Suk Jun Kim, Myung Soo Son and Thomas Welsh, and visiting Masters Barry Partridge (Winston-Salem, NC), John Meany (Montclair, NJ), James Marr (Shaker Heights, OH), Paul D’Ambrosio (Laguna Beach, CA), Anna Gong (New York, NY), Dawn Sardiñas (San Diego, CA), and Gil Choi (Newark, DE).