NEWS

Note: If there is bad weather or there is a forecast for bad weather please call 753-4248 one hour prior to the start of class. We will leave a message on the answering machine regarding whether or not the class will go ahead as scheduled or if it is cancelled. 

April 15 2008

Good luck to Downey's Taekwon-Do Competition Team who will be competing at the Nova Scotia ITF TaeKwon-Do Open Championship this weekend in Sackville, Nova Scotia. We have 21 competitors attending the event. A sincere thank you to all our students, parents, friends and relatives who helped with fundraising activities. 

March 31 2008

Class changes for April:

St. James United Church: The Saturday April 5th class will instead be held on Sunday April 6th.
Little Dragons: 2:00-3:00
Green Belt to Red Belt class 3:00-4:00
Green Belt only class (Mrs.. Downey's class) 3:00-4:00 (combined with the above class)
White belt and Yellow Belt class 4:00-5:00

St. James united Church: The 3rd Wednesday of the month class (April 16th) will instead be held on Tuesday, April 15th.
White and Yellow Belts: 6:30-7:30pm
Green to Red Belt class: 7:30-8:30pm

St. James United Church: The Thursday, April 24th classes are cancelled due to a church function. 

December 16 2007

Black Belt Test Results: Congratulations to those who successfully passed their Black Belt test on December 16th. 
Promoted to 1st Degree Black Belt: James Cox, Calvin Gregory, Ashlin Hartery, and Melissa Gulliver
Promoted to 2nd Degree Black Belt: Dylan Harris, and Kelly Spurrell.

See list of the Black Belt candidates for the June 2008 black belt test by going to the Black Belts link on our home page. We presently have a total of 21 that will be eligible for testing. 

November 11 2007

Master Downey recently received his official ITF 7th Degree Black Belt Master certificate from ITF Headquarters in Vienna, Austria. His certificate number is C-7-14. C is for Canada, 7 is for 7th Dan, and 14 is the number of people in Canada who have been promoted to 7th Degree Black Belt since the ITF was founded in 1966. 

November 5 2007

Master Downey in Halifax for Pattern Seminar and Testing: Master Downey spent the weekend in Halifax, Nova Scotia conducting a Pattern Seminar for 70 students from Hiltz TaeKwon-Do. In addition to the seminar Master Downey also tested and promoted Mr. Shane Lynch and Ms. Jessica Gardiner, of Hiltz Taekwon-Do, to III Degree Black Belt. Master Downey was impressed by their technique and their indomitable spirit. Over 50 people were present to watch the testing which consisted of patterns, designated pattern step-by-step, step-sparring, model sparring, pad work, self-defense, theory, sparring, and breaking. 

September 2 2007

Start Dates and class times for various programs and locations

Mount Pearl (Reid Center): 
New Beginners and returning students: Tuesdays and Thursdays 6-7pm. Start Date: Tuesday, September 11th

St. John's (St. James United Church): 
New Beginners: Wednesday 6:30-7:30 and Saturdays 3:30-4:30pm. Start Date: Wednesday, September 12th
Green Belt to Red Belt class: Wednesday 7:30-8:30pm and Saturdays 1:30-2:30pm. Start Date: Wednesday, September 12th
Yellow Belt Class: Thursday 6:30-7:30 and Saturdays 2:30-3:30pm. Start date Thursday September 13th
Black Belt Class: Tuesday and Thursday 7:30-8:30pm. Start date Tuesday, September 11th
Little Dragons class: Saturdays 12:30-1:30pm. Start Date Saturday September 8th

August 6 2007

Downey's Taekwon-Do running team (mixed corporate division) won 1st place at the Tele 10 (10 mile) race. Master Downey ran the 10 mile race (16 km) in 69minutes. He placed 134th out of a field of 2, 020 runners. Master Downey would definitely do well with the "run if you must" part of the philosophy of self-defense. 

June 4 2007

From Left to right: Master Trajtenberg (8th Dan from Argentina and member of the ITF Technical committee), Master Downey (7th Dan), Master Van Bingh (9th Dan from USA and chairman of the ITF Masters Promotion Committee), Master Marano (8th Dan from Argentina and member of the ITF technical committee).

Mr. Downey is now "Master" Downey: Mr. Downey successfully passed his test for 7th Degree Black Belt on May 30th 2007 during the ITF TaeKwon-Do World Championship in Quebec City earning the title of "Master" (Sa Yun). The promotion committee consisted of Grandmaster Van Bingh, 9th Dan from the USA (chairman of the Masters promotion committee) and Masters Trajtenberg (8th Dan), Marano (8th Dan), and Bos (8th Dan) members of the ITF technical committee. There were also many other Masters and Instructors from around the world watching the testing. Eleven people tested and only 3 successfully passed their test, including Mr. Downey. One person from Germany passed their test for 7th Dan and one from the Netherlands passed their test for 5th Dan. Mr. Downey's promotion to "Master" earns him the distinction of becoming the first person from Newfoundland and Labrador and the Atlantic provinces to be promoted to 7th Degree Black Belt (Master Instructor) by the ITF. There are presently only five "Masters" in the CTFI. Master Norman (Saskatchewan), Master Laquerre (Quebec), Master Laguenesse (Quebec), Master Tran (Quebec) and Master Downey (Newfoundland and Labrador). It was a very busy week for both Master Downey and Mrs. Downey who were both Umpires at the World championship in Quebec City. Master Downey also attended a 2 day seminar on "Tournament Coaching and Elite Training" given by Master Lan, 8th Dan and coach for the German National Team. Master Downey learned many training strategies for both patterns and sparring which should help to increase the competitive level of our athletes. 

Carisa Collins, a student of Downey's Taekwon-Do, was a member of the Canadian National team at the World championships. She was the only competitor from Newfoundland and Labrador at the event. She competed in female junior patterns (2nd Dan). Unfortunately she lost to a competitor from Argentina who went on to win the Gold medal in the division. It was a great learning experience for Carisa who is determined to make the selection for the next world championship in Argentina in 2009. The World Championship had  nearly 800 Black Belt competitors from 65 countries.