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6^th Annual Friendship Games

On Saturday the 30th of September 2014, 11 of our students competed at the 6th Annual Friendship Games held in Primrose, Johannesburg. It was a long stressful day for all of us but we managed to win a total of 25 medals over all- 15 Gold, 8 silver and 2 bronze.

We started early Saturday morning with patterns winning, 6 gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze medals. It was the first time we competed in couple’s patterns but we still managed gold and two silver medals in this event. In the sparring we managed to win another 6 medals while special techniques and power braking made up the last 3 medals of our total.

It was a well-organized and fun competition and we’re looking forward to the next Annual Friendship Games to be held next year! Hopefully more of our Club’s members will be able to participate in this event!

Juane Boonzaaier (14)

Gauteng North Tournament 2014

On the 19^th of July 2014 the Gauteng North and Northern Provinces Tournament took place in the Denis Adami Hall, Pretoria. The tournament began on time, ended ahead of schedule and was once again a huge success!

We thank all the instructors, black belts and senior belts that assisted with umpiring and admin through-out the day.

We congratulate all the participants who won medals and in doing so qualified for Gauteng North colours, approved by the Tshwane Sport Council!

Results

ATC Elardus Park	Patterns	Sparring	Power Breaking	Special Techniques
Thereasa Tolmay	2nd	2nd	1st
Isabel Potgieter	1st		1st
Susan von Weilligh	1st	1st	2nd	1st
Benito Pagotto	1st	3rd	3rd	1st
Theorentia Veldsman	2nd	1st
Danniell Botes	2nd	3rd
Juane Boonzaaier	3rd	2nd		1st
Ulrika Liebenberg	1st	2nd
Dudu Buthelezi	2nd
Jolandi Pagotto	1st
Christoff du Plessis	1st	1st
Bennie Hannekom	3rd	1st
Matthew Kent-Brown	1st	2nd
Janco Hanekom	2nd	1st
Paul Theron	3rd	3rd
Zonique Boonzaaier	2nd	1st
Anel Wethmar	2nd
JD Tolmay	2nd	3rd
Norbi Rozenfeld	2nd	2nd
Marnu Swanepoel		2nd
Ju-né Venter		2nd

ATC Cullinan	Patterns	Sparring	Power Breaking	Special Techniques
Dirk Mostert Sr.	1st	1st	1st
Jaco Botha			2nd
Svetlana Zalevskaya	1st		2nd
Coralie Nel	1st	2nd
Shawn Alexander	2nd
Justin Collett	3rd	2nd
Wilma de Waal	3rd	2nd
Armand Bester	3rd	2nd
Corné Nel	3rd
Enoch Rumo	1st	2nd
Simphiwe Rumo	2nd	3rd
Liebennette de Bruyn	1st
Leandré de Bruyn	1st	1st
Jo-Marie de Waal	2nd
Dian Nel	3rd	2nd
Alexander Grobler	1st	2nd
Zion Alexander	2nd	3rd	3rd
Yvonne van der Merwe		2nd
Lourens Janse van Rensburg		3rd
Zané Mostert		1st
Soné Klokow		2nd
Dirk Mostert Jr.		1st

Ulrika Liebenberg

1^st Byongae Tournament 2014

On the 21^st of June 2014 the Byongae Taekwon-Do Club hosted their first Invitational tournament in Boskruin, Johannesburg. A handful of ATC students from the Cullinan and Elardus Park dojangs braved this very cold Highveld winters morning to participate in this newly launched annual tournament. With only 13 students participating, ATC managed to end 3^rd overall on the scoreboard.

The individual results were as follow:

Competitor	Patterns	Sparring	Special Techniques	Power Braking
Svetlana Zalevskaya	Gold		Gold
Justin Collett	Silver	Silver	Gold
Susan Von Weilligh	Gold	Gold
Danniel Botes	Silver	Silver
Ulrika Liebenberg	Silver	Silver
Christoff Du Plessis	Silver	Gold
Zané Mostert		Gold
Zion Alexander	Gold
Dirk Mostert Jnr		Bronze
Alexander Grobler	Gold	Silver
Dirk Mostert Snr	Gold	Gold
Shawn Alexander	Silver
Levi Alexander

The overall club results were:

Club	Points
Pilsung	151
Byongae	133
ATC	83
Elements	33
Tong Il	30
Kodang	27
Williams Tkd	16
TASA	21
Gi-Baek	5

Floating trophy winners from ATC were:

Best Senior Female: Susan von Wielligh (ATC Elardus Park)

Best Veteran Male: Justin Collett (ATC Cullinan)

Best Veteran Female: Svetlana Zalevskaya (ATC Cullinan)

Congratulations and well done to all the ATC students on yet another great tournament result!

Susan von Wielligh

13^th Annual ATC Invitational Tournament Results

Early morning on a very cold 31 May 2014, competitors, umpires and supporters gathered at the North Gauteng Wrestle Hall in Pretoria for the 13th ATC Invitational Tournament.

Competition was friendly but fierce, with ATC emerging as the clear winners at the end of the day. The Taekwon-do Centre came in second with Magua Taekwon-do a close third.

Individual trophy winners were:

TROPHY	WINNER	CLUB
Veteran Female	Sonya Rebelo	(BYO) Byongae
Veteran Male	Dirk Mostert Sr.	(ATC) ATC
Senior Female	Julandi Pagotto	(ATC) ATC
Senior Male	Tafadzwa Matemera	(MAG) Magua
Junior Female	Christeline Williams	(SIM) Sim-Wha Ennerdale
Junior Male	Bennie Hanekom	(ATC) ATC
Tiger Female	Tea Piper	(TAE) Taekwon-Do centre
Tiger Male	Tristan Hayman	(BYO) Byongae

The Tournament was a big success and everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

As always thanks to Sbm Karel and Annari Wethmar for organising a fantastic tournament.

Trophy winners - 13th ATC Invitational Tournament 2014
Club points - 13th ATC Invitational Tournament 2014

Isabel Naudé

ATC at the Warrior Race - February 2014

Warriors! Be brave!

The battle cry echoes over rough fields lacerated with oozing streams, slippery obstacles and sludge. The eye is inexorably drawn to a vast, tortorous avenue of mud molasses.

The very aptly named Mud Monster.
And it was ANGRY!
An energy sapping 100m of oozing, sucking mud, it really feels as if the monster is trying to devour you.

And then you get to the first 3m high hill of slippery mud.

Blood, sweat, tears, mud, foot in face, knee in ribs, struggling, flailing, VICTORY! The team is over the hill!

Our elation is short lived. The courage nose-dives and joins the plummeting energy reserves. In front of us, another sea of mud, another slippery clay hill.

Warriors! Be brave!

Our team of 7 inseparable (and indistiguishably muddy) ATC warriors climbed over walls, crawled under barbed wire, through mud, over gravel, through ice water, eventually conquering all 15 obstacles.
Bring on the next one, 1-2 March!

ATC Reporter

ATC Holiday Photo Competition 2013

In December 2013 ATC hosted its 2^nd annual holiday photo competition. ATC students could enter by submitting photos of themselves training Taekwon-Do wherever they might find themselves over the December holidays.

The 2013 winner was Theorentia Veldsman with photos of her performing kicks at the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France.

Theorentia won the price of one month’s free training at ATC with her stunning photos in the cold of Northern hemisphere!

ATC Reporter

2013 ATC Year-end function

People chatting, warm fire and a sizzling steak on the grill made for a perfect evening. The year-end function once again arrived! The theme for this year’s year-end function was “Silly hats”. Prizes were up for grabs to those with the silliest hats worn on the evening.

We all gathered at the Meadow Rigde clubhouse for a fun and festive evening on Friday 22^nd of November. The year-end function is always a great way to get to know your fellow students and participants in our beloved art of Taekwon-Do. But the fun stops when the trophies starts to find their owners! Tension and hope fills the conversations. Judges decide which hat is the silliest and sorry to those who were not wearing hats!

The floating trophies found their way to deserving ATC students that gave their all during the year. Please click here to see a full list of all the Annual Floating Trophy winners.

The year-end function was once again a huge success and served as a kick start to 2014! It promises to be a successful and competitive year!

Mitchell Bester

Last grading for 2013

A colour belt and black belt grading was held at the Elardus Park dojang on Saturday 30 November 2013. All colour belt students that graded passed their testing while one student, Danniëll Botes, graded to 1^st degree black belt under Sabums Karel & Annari Wethmar. During the second session, visiting examiner Sabum Justin Glanville presided over the third and fourth degree black belt grading. Manie Naude graded to 4^th degree black belt, while Isabel Potgieter and Stefan van der Linde both graded to 3^rd degree black belt.

Despite the gruelling physical and mental tests endured by all, the results were favourable. We look forward to a action-packed 2014!

Danniëll Botes

Taekwon-Do demo for MENSA

Eleven students from ATC participated in a Taekwon-Do demonstration for MENSA on Wednesday 7 November 2013 at the Pretoria High School Old Boys Club (PHSOB), which is the world’s oldest and most prestigious high-IQ society. Bsb. Gustav Gous kicked off proceedings by giving a brief speech about Taekwon-Do, which highlighted its scientifically derived nature and the elements that make it unique as a martial art. Once that had been concluded, the fun began. The demo team performed two team patterns; one by the black belts and one by the colour belts. This was followed by a demonstration sparring match, delivered by Bsb. Gustav Gous and Bsb. Arnu Nepgen. Even though the contact was kept light, they delivered a blindingly fast display that kept the crowd on the edge of their seats. This was followed by a power breaking display. A number of students showed off their skills, both with ground-based power breaking and aerial techniques. Finally, Bsb. Manie Naude conducted a short self-defence seminar that allowed for some voluntary participation from the audience. Overall, both the demonstration participants and the audience had a great time. It was a most successful evening.

Michael Loubser

2013 ATC Open Tournament

Early morning 19th of October, and the annual 2013 ATC Open tournament was about to start in the Denis Adami Hall, Queesnwood, Pretoria. Competitors were very exited and nervous, but confident at the same time. The morning went well with final arrangements, registrations and umpire briefing. Two of the participents Adrian van der Merwe and Roland Resseguier both from The Taekwondo Centre in Johannesburg, celebrated their birthdays on the day. This says a lot of their dedication to the art and sport to spend their birthday doing what they love and enjoy.

This was a day full of exitement with the patterns, special techniques and power breaking running smoothly and the sparring as usual, being the highlight of any tournament. With the novice Tigers to advanced Veterans competing from early morning, there was more than enough variation at all times to keep all the spectators glued next to the brand new ATC tournament mats. The Male and Female Open sparring divisions, being the highlight of the tournament, where competitors 18 years and older participated against any other opponent, regardless of age, weight or belt colour, was tightly contested. The winners for these 2 prestigous divisions were:

Male Open winner – Archie Buthelezi (Sim Wha Ennerdale)
Female Open winner – Bianca Crafford (Kodang Taekwon-Do Institute)

Congratulations to ATC that won the trophy for the club with the most points.

Once again, the 2nd in a series of Pretoria landmark themed medals, the Union Buildings, were impressive and something to be proud of. The day was a great success thanks to participation of all the various clubs. The day could not have been such a great success without the orginised planning and execution, hard work and dedication of sabum Karel and sabum Annari Wethmar.

A BIG thank you must go to all the instructors and black belts that assisted during the day with umpiring and also to the family and friends that supported us on the day. A special word of thanks to Friedrich Miessner for the use of his bakkie to transport all the tournament mats to and from the venue.

At the tuckshop food and drinks sold like hot cakes from early morning, all thanks to Juanita Boonzaaier, Marius and Louise Hanekom, Chris and Liza du Plessis and Nanda Brits. The boerewors rolls were a great success thanks to the two Jaco’s on the braai taking care of the boerewors. These were the people that gave their time and energy to work in the tuckshop and to keep the customers happy.

Thanks to all for making this day such a great success and we look forward to the next tournament!

Club	Points
ATC	199
Taekwondo Centre	127
Sim-Wha	92
Pro Taekwondo	68
Byongae	54
Kodang	51
Williams Tkd	16
TASA	14
Tong-Il	10
Potchefstroom	8

Click here for club results and trophy winners

Click here for all results

Christoff du Plesssis (14)

4^th CHR Championships September 2013

Spring has sprung and so the 4th Chang Hon Ryu (CHR) Championships took place in Johannesburg from the 20th to 22nd September 2013.

Apart from this event being the recognized national selections tournament for the purposes of applications for National Colours by SASCOC/MASA, it will also crown the overall South African Champions in all categories of the traditional Chang Hon Ryu style of Taekwon-Do for 2013.

This was the ultimate championship event for this sport and art in South Africa. The Floating trophies for the category Tigers and the categories Juniors, Adults and Veterans were awarded to the National Federations that scored the most points during the tournament.

A great day was had by all who participated. We look forward to the next CHR tournament scheduled for October next year!

Results of the ATC students that participated are as follows:

Name	Rank	Patterns	Sparring	Power breaking	Special techniques
Veteran Male
Justin Collett	Blue stripe	Gold	Gold	no result	no result
Adult Male
Gustav Gous	2nd Dan	no result	no result	no result	no result
Adult Female
Ulrika Liebenberg	Blue stripe	Bronze	DNP - Injured	DNP - Injured	dnp
Junior Male
Christoff du Plessis	Red belt	no result	DNP - Injured	-	DNP - Injured
Tiger Male
Matthew Kent-Brown	Blue stripe	Gold	Gold	-	dnp
William Steyn	7th Gup	Gold	Bronze	-	dnp
Tiger Female
Juané Boonzaaier	Black stripe	Bronze	dnp	-	Gold
Zonique Boonzaaier	Blue stripe	Bronze	Bronze	-	-
dnp - Did not participate

Matthew Kent-Brown (13)

Umpire Seminar

The umpire seminar held on 24 August 2013, run by Sabums Karel and Annari Wethmar, was unique in the history of the SA-ITF. Black belts and senior colour belts gathered from all over Gauteng in the Elardus Park Do-Jang in order to learn all that is necessary to run a Taekwondo tournament. Even though the seminar was scheduled last for eight hours or so, this was barely enough time to absorb all the information that was given to us. The first session in the morning covered everything involved in the basic running of a tournament, from establishing a budget to hiring medics. This was followed by an in depth tutorial on how to draw up bracketing sheets fairly (a much more complicated procedure than one would first think). Finally, in the afternoon, we learned how to perform all of the roles typically filled by senior black belts at tournaments, from the centre referee to the jury president. This included a theory briefing as well as a practical session, where we were able to test our new found knowledge first hand. At the end of the day, we were awarded certificates that show that the seminar participants are now competent to function in the majority of support roles that may be found at any normal Taekwondo tournament. It was hard work, but extremely enlightening and every person there walked away, not only with new knowledge, but a new-found respect for the intricacies of tournament design and function. It was, all in all, a most impressive experience.

Mike Loubser

ATC win gold medals at the 3^rd Friendship Games

Friday the 9^th of August 2013, on Women’s Day, Matthew Kent-Brown and Ulrika Liebenberg arrived just as the gates were to be opened to the venue for the 3^rd Friendship Games at Primrose Wrestling Hall in Primrose, Johannesburg. We were the only two competitors from ATC on the day. Luckily there’s always a black belt and Bsb Arno Nepgen assisted us on the day with coaching. Both of us brought home two gold medals, winning each of our patterns and sparring categories. We enjoyed the day thoroughly and are looking forward to our next tournament.

Ulrika Liebenberg

UITF World Champs Results

The South African team performed very well at the 2013 UITF World Championships, held 1-4 August 2013 at the Hertfordshire Sports Village in Hatfield, England.

The team of 10 under coach Sbm Gerd Hummel brought back 8 medals: Gold for male 1st degree patterns (Tando Tsotsobe (Phoenix)), silver for male 2nd degree patterns (Marc Chong-Seng (Phoenix)), bronze for male 3rd degree patterns (Manie Naude (ATC)), bronze for female 2nd degree patterns (Isabel Potgieter (ATC)), bronze for male power breaking (Jason McCall (Stingers)), bronze for male special tecqhiques (Gustav Gous (ATC)), silver for male team breaking (Jason McCall (Stingers), Mike Loubser (ATC), Philip de Vos (Soo Shim Kwan), Gustav Gous (ATC), Carl Joubert (ATC)) and bronze for male team special techniques (Gustav Gous (ATC), Mike Loubser (ATC), Manie Naude (ATC), Philip de Vos (Soo Shim Kwan), Dewald Maritz (Kodang)).

Isabel Potgieter

5 of ATC selected for SA National Team

After months of dedicated training under coaches Sb Karel and Annari Wethmar, 5 of the ATC black belts, Manie Naude, Isabel Potgieter, Gustav Gous, Mike Loubser and Carl Joubert will be leaving for London, England to represent South Africa at the first Unified ITF Taekwon-Do World Championships. Even though unfortunately neither of them can accompany the team due to work and family commitments, Sb Karel and Annari nevertheless spent countless hours preparing the team physically and psycologically for the big tournament ahead.

Manie, Gustav, Mike and Carl are all part of the South African male team along with fellow Dan-Gun Federation black belts Philip de Vos and Dewald Maritz. Apart from the team events, Manie will also be participating in individual 3^rd degree patterns and sparring, Gustav in individual sparring and special techniques, Mike in individual 2^nd degree patterns, sparring and power breaking and Carl in individual sparring. Isabel will be the official coach of the male team in the absence of Sb Karel and will also be participating in individual 2^nd degree patterns and power breaking.

We wish them well and best of luck with their participation in this prestigious event!

ATC Reporter

12^th Annual ATC Invitational Tournament Results

On 25 May 2013 the 12th ATC Invitational Tournament kicked off at the North Gauteng Wrestle Hall in Pretoria.
The Tournament was a big success and everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

As always thanks to Sbm Karel and Annari Wethmar for organising a fantastic tournament.

Click here for the full results

Click here for the Trophy results

Veteran Female - Svetlana Zalevskya

Veteran Male - Wayne Deste

Senior Female - Susan von Wielligh

Senior Male - Timothy Snyders

Tiger Female - Juané Boonzaaier

Club with most points - Taekwon-Do Centre

Isabel Potgieter

2013 Chang Hon Ryu Championship

We arrived at the venue early on Saturday morning (23 March), nervous but excited. Students from ATC joined with other Taekwondoins from their Dan-Gun federation and from around the country in order to compete in one of the most important tournaments of the year: The Chang Hon Ryu Championship.

Competitors ranged in age from a mere seven years old to over fifty; from white belt to fourth Dan black belt. Everyone was keen to show off their skills in Patterns, Special Techniques, Power Breaking and of course, Sparring. In particular, this tournament held special significance for the black belts, as it was our opportunity to make a bid for a place on the national team, which will be sent to the world championships later in the year.

After two days of patterns, breaking, jumping and fighting, the students of ATC had shown themselves to be the equal of anybody in the country. In addition to superb performances by the colour belts, eight ATC black belts qualified for Protea colours and will be representing South Africa internationally. Overall, the tournament was a huge success and very much enjoyed by all. Congratulations to all of the competitors from ATC. The Dan-Gun federation ended 2nd overall. You all performed exceptionally well and are to be commended. We look forward to doing it all again next year.

Click here for the full results

Mike Loubser

12^th Annual ATC Invitational Tournament

Are you struggling to lose weight?

Are you tired of punching that old bag?

Enter now!
The 12^th Annual ATC Invitational Tournament held on Saturday 25th of May in Pretoria is the perfect opportunity for you to loose all those pesky pounds. The normal entry fee is R200 per person, but if you enter before 10 May 2013 you only pay R180!

If you enter now, you can spar for up to *ten rounds, maybe more! (One round guaranteed).
But that's not all. If you enter now you can also participate in patterns, at no additional cost!

Does that sound like a good deal yet?

But wait, there's more!
if you enter now, you also get to see some of the best martial artists in the country compete.

Remember, if you enter for this great deal we will give you the oppertunity to run around a ring, punch someone in the face, do patterns, see awesome sparring, buy delicious sandwiches!

See Invitation for complete details.

* Terms and Conditions apply

ATC Reporter

ATC Holiday Photo Competition 2012

In December 2012 ATC hosted its first holiday photo competition. ATC students could enter by submitting photos of themselves training in Taekwon-do wherever they might find themselves over the December holidays.

The 2012 winner was Christoff du Plessis with photos of him performing kicks at the Katse Dam in Lesotho and Hole in the wall in the Eastern Cape.

This victory earned Christoff one month’s free training at ATC!

Carl Joubert

ATC students perform at SA Champs

13 Students from the ATC Taekwon-Do club Elardus Park participated in the recently held SA Championships in Johannesburg over the weekend of 21-23 September 2012. The students formed part of the Gauteng North Taekwon-Do team and did the club very proud by winning a total number of 26 medals of which 11 was gold, 9 silver and 6 bronze.

On the photo (from left to right) is Dudu Buthelezi, Nathan Shatkovsky, Gustav Gous, Christoff du Plessis, Karel Wethmar (Instructor), Bobby Rizzo, Danniëll Botes, Juané Boonzaaier.

Click here for the full results of ATC Elardus Park students.

Click here for a full list of ATC students that received their Gauteng North colours for 2012.

ATC Reporter

Bobby and Arnu’s World Champs results!

Bobby Rizzo (left) and Arnu Nepgen (right) both from the ATC Taekwon-Do club Elardus Park, represented the South African Taekwon-Do team at the recent Veteran & Junior World Championships that took place in Tallinn, Estonia. Bobby participated in the Veteran divisions and won a silver medal for 2^nd Dan patterns. He also managed to end 4^th in the power breaking division. Arnu participated in the Junior divisions and managed to end in 5^th position in sparring for Junior males under 63kg. We would like to take this opportunity to congratulate both of them on keeping our country and club’s name high at this prestigious event.

ATC Reporter

ATC students to go to 2012 World Championships

The ATC members selected as part of the 2012 SA National Taekwon-Do team that will be participating at the 10th Junior and the 5th Veteran ITF Taekwon-Do World Championships that will be held in Tallin, Estonia from 20-26 August 2012 are Bobby Rizzo, Arnu Nepgen and Karel Wethmar (Assistant coach).

Bobby Rizzo will participate in the Veteran male division in 2nd degree patterns, power breaking and sparring under 73kg. Arnu Nepgen will participate in the Junior male division in sparring under 62kg, special techniques, team sparring and team special techniques. Karel Wethmar (Chief instructor) was selected as an assistant coach. All three of the representatives have received their official Protea national colours.

We wish to congratulate the ATC members selected for the National team and wish them all the best of luck when participating at the World Championships.

ATC Reporter

Isabel and Susan receive their black belt certificates!

On Tuesday evening 14 August 2012, Isabel Potgieter (SA-2-113) and Susan von Wielligh (SA-1-304) received their respective 2^nd and 1^st Dan black belt certificates from their instructors Karel and Annari Wethmar. The black belt certificates are produced and issued by the ITF HQ office in Vienna, Austria and signed by the ITF president, Prof. Chang Ung.

From your instructors and all the ATC students, a warm congratulations to Isabel and Susan for receiving their black belt certificates!

ATC Reporter

ATC instructors hosts seminar and grading in Lydenburg

On Saturday 21 July 2012, Sabum Karel Wethmar and Sabum Annari Wethmar, chief instructors of ATC hosted a seminar and grading for the students of the Choegang Taekwon-Do Club in Lydenburg, Mpumalanga province.

The seminar was well attended with 26 students taking part in the seminar and 14 students taking part in the grading.

The seminar focused on correct application of set-sparring, hand and kicking techniques, basic principles of self defence, patterns and focusing on the grading syllabus in preparation for the grading that took place later that afternoon.

A great thank you goes to Bosabum Willem Kok, instructor of the Choegang Taekwon-Do club in Lydenburg and his wife Maricke Kok for organising the seminar and venue.

The instructors were very happy with the standard of training and the outcome of the grading after all 14 students passed their grading.

ATC Reporter

Lydenburg

Gustav, Mike, Carl grade to 2^nd Dan

I woke up on the morning of the grading, 26 May 2012, with the same knots in my stomach that I've always had before a grading. That feeling of: "Why oh why am I putting myself through this again?"

Upon arriving at the dojang, I encountered my grading partners, Gustav Gous and Carl Joubert. One look at their faces told me that I wasn't alone in how I was feeling. We talked quietly amongst ourselves as we waited to be told what to do. It wasn't long before we found out.

First, we were given an exhaustive two hour written theory test, designed to ensure that we had the knowledge required of a good instructor. Once we had finished that and the colour belts had been dismissed, we were called onto the floor to begin. At that point we realized that we had been right to be nervous about the grading. We were tested to the limits of endurance in every aspect of Taekwon-Do, from patterns and foot techniques through to some brutal self-defense and multiple opponent fighting and culminating in special techniques and power breaking. At the end of all of this, we endured a gruelling fitness exam, made all the more difficult because of the variety of injuries that we had sustained over the last two and a half hours.

Finally however, at 4 'o clock in the afternoon, we heard the grading examiner say those wonderful words: "Promoted to 2nd Dan" and suddenly, it was all worth it.

Gustav

Carl

Mike

Mike Loubser

11^th Annual ATC Invitational Tournament

Saturday the 16th of June 2012 saw the North Gauteng Wrestling Hall in Menlo Park Pretoria again play host to annual ATC Invitational Tournament. It was the eleventh time that ATC hosted this event which has become a highlight on SAITF calendar, and this year’s instalment was the biggest yet.

250 students competed on the 4 rings crammed into the hall and the organizers also found space for them to do power breaking and special techniques!

The competition was tough and the schedule was tight but thanks to the skilful planning of SabumAnnariWethmar it all ran smoothly.

Finally at around six o clock in the evening the tired competitors and officials, who had stuck around until the end, sat down for the prize giving ceremony.

Throughout the entire day it had been a close race between ATC and the students from Pil Sung, but in the end it was the hosts who were victorious for the second year in a row. The final score saw ATC with 245 points, narrowly beating to PilSung’s 236. GTF Taekwond-do was third with 177 points.

This year’s floating trophies, awarded to the best performing competitor in each category, went to:

VETERAN MALE	JACO VAN DEN BERG	PIL SUNG
VETERAN FEMALE	SVETLANA ZALEVSKAYA-GROBLER	ATC
SENIOR MALE	FRANZ BADENHORST	PIL SUNG
SENIOR FEMALE	JULANDI PAGOTTO	ATC
JUNIOR MALE	NATHAN SHATKOVSKY	ATC
JUNIOR FEMALE	CATHERINE SAN MARTIN	KODANG
TIGER MALE	JANCO ROODT	CHOEGANG
TIGER FEMALE	NADINE DE BEER	PIL SUNG

Final Scores:

11^th ATC Invitational Tournament
	Club	City	Points

1	ATC	Pretoria, Cullinan & Thabazimbi	245
2	Pil Sung	Kempton Park	236
3	GTF	Johannesburg	177
4	Choegang	Lydenburg	64
5	Zimbabwe	Harare	51
6	Kodang	Vanderbijlpark	42
7	Sim-Wha	Johannesburg	36
8	Magua	Johannesburg	35
9	Jungshin	Johannesburg	20
10	Bul Pae	Alberton	10
11	Potch	Potchefstroom	6

			922

Junior Male (On behalf of Janco)

Junior Female (On behalf of Nadine)

Junior Male (Nathan)

Junior Female (Catherine)

Senior Female (Julandi)

Senior Male (Franz)

Veteran Female (Svetlana)

Veteran Male (Jaco)

On behalf of the competitors and parents I’d like to thank Sabum Karel and Sabum Annari for all the hard work they put in and congratulate them on hosting another fine tournament.

All Results

Carl Joubert

11^th Annual ATC Invitational Tournament

It's with great pleasure that we invite you to the 11^th Annual ATC Invitational Tournament to be held on Saturday 16 June 2012 in Pretoria.

Tournament details:

Date:	Saturday 16th June 2012
Venue:	Northern Gauteng Wrestle Hall, 26th Street, Menlo Park, Pretoria
Entrance fee:	R180 per participant (On or before 1 June 2012) R200 per participant (After 1 June 2012) Final day for entries – Friday 8 June 2012 NO ENTRIES ON THE DAY
Registration:	7h30 – 8h30
Opening ceremony:	8h45
Prize giving:	18h00

Invitation

ATC Reporter

2011 ATC Yearend Function

It was that time of the year again for all to be recognised for their hard and dedicated commitment during the year. With many dressed to rock the evening it started off with a rainy night. But no rain could dampen the spirit of rock legends and class wining students receiving their trophies and certificates. The function then moved over to a braai for the hungrier student and once again no rain could stand in the way of a hungry student. Best dressed rock legend was chosen and awarded for the effort made by all students to make the theme a memorable evening. The party rocked on and was enjoyed by all till late. A year to remember!

Jaco Truter

Carl and Michael receive their black belt certificates!

On Tuesday evening 22 November 2011, Carl Joubert (SA-1-300) and Michael Loubser (SA-1-301) received their 1st Dan black belt certificates from their instructors Karel and Annari Wethmar. The black belt certificates are produced and issued by the ITF HQ office in Vienna, Austria and signed by the ITF president, Prof. Chang Ung. They both graded to 1st Dan on 27 November 2010.

From your instructors and all the ATC students, a warm congratulations to Carl and Michael for receiving their 1st Dan black belt certificates!

ATC Reporter

Kids Taekwon-Do for 2011!

On Tuesday morning 22 November 2011 the ATC Kids Taekwon-Do class in Garsfontein, Pretoria had its last class for 2011 as well as customary year-end party. After the kids aged 3-5 performed their tests they received certificates from their instructors Annari & Karel Wethmar. The kids enjoyed the class thoroughly and are looking forward to the classes starting again in January 2012! On behalf of the club we would like to congratulate Hendré, Keagan, Sumari, Nerine, Reon, Marno, Juné and Anel for passing their test with flying colours.

ATC Reporter

1^st Veritas Tournament

On the morning of 1st of October 2011 a number of Taekwon-Do schools representing their different federations lined up in front of the Portuguese hall, in Turffontein, eagerly anticipating the start of the 1st Veritas Taekwon-Do championship.

At the start of the pre-chosen song that each federation had selected all the students from that federation professionally marched into the hall, lining up in front of the stage where all the senior officials were waiting. At the command from the most senior member of the federation all the students snapped to attention and bowed. As they were commanded back into a parallel stance the next federation’s song started playing and so on, until finally all the students where neatly lined up, ready for the tournament to begin.

With a couple of aspiring and encouraging words from the tournament director, the first categories where announced to start and the tournament took off.

With every ones spirits high we started with patterns in the three well organized rings, tigers in the one and juniors in the other two. Because of the vast amount of tiger students they kept the judges busy at the first ring for the rest of that day and the morning of the next day. The juniors went by quite fast, making space for the senior and veteran colour belts to do their part for their federations by collecting as many gold, silver and bronze medals as possible.

After the lunch break it was time for the black belts to show their techniques and do there jaw dropping patterns. Thanks to the judges, willing to do their part, the black belts finished their patterns to roaring applause from the audience.

Finally it was time for the sparring to start. The juniors colour belts opened the sparring rings. Everywhere students were busy warming up with their coaches, going through their well-practiced combinations to score as many points against their opponents as possible. With every category finishing there was always a great applause from the spectators and handshakes all around when the medals were awarded for the winner of those well fought matches.

The Saturday ended with a couple of hard fought matches by the senior colour belts putting their bodies on the line to score those very important end-of-day points for their federations

At 19h00 on Sunday morning the championship took off at full swing. The tigers going on with their patterns and the black belts starting with their sparring matches. The excitement of the black belt sparring is always something to look forward to. With their advanced techniques and blistering speed, they always keep the spectators transfixed.

When the black belts had finished with their sparring the rest of us could start with special techniques and power breaking. The junior’s started with the special techniques and by showing their skills they finished before the lunch break, raking in medals and those very valuable points for their federations.

After the lunch break the very popular power breaking event started. People gathered around the power breaking horse and the competitors as they showed everyone their strength and skill as they broke the tough breaker boards with the pre-set hand and foot techniques.

After a very exhausting weekend the tournament finally came to an end on Sunday night. Each federation lined up and the federation with the most points was announced as the 1st Veritas Championship winner.

Thanks to the hard work and dedication of the people who organized the tournament it went very well and was enjoyed by everyone.

Overall Results:

Place	Federations	Points
1	JUNG DO KWAN	315
2	MYONGYE DO KWAN	256
3	GTF	146
4	DAN GUN KWAN	144
5	KANGHAN JASHIN KWAN	83
6	IN NAE KWAN	44
7	SAN KWAN	44
8	MOZAMBIQUE	30
9	JUCHE	3

Complete Results

Jacques Botha

ATC instructors hosts seminar in Vanderbijlpark

On Saturday 13 August 2011, Sabum Karel Wethmar, chief instructor and Bosabum Manie Naude, assistant instructor of ATC hosted a seminar for the students of the Kodang Taekwon-Do club and Potchefstroom Taekwon-Do club in Vanderbijlpark, Southern Gauteng province.

The seminar primarily focused on preparation for the upcoming federation grading in Pretoria and therefore most of the time was spent focussing on the grading syllabus.

A great thank you goes to Bosabum Stefan van der Linde, instructor of the Kodang Taekwon-Do club in Vanderbijlpark for organising the seminar and venue.

The instructors were very happy with the standard of training and said they were looking forward to the upcoming federation grading to see everyone in action. Good luck to all the grading candidates!

ATC Reporter

SA-ITF Closed Championships 2011

The 2011 SA-ITF Inter Provincial Tournament or better known as the Closed SA Championships took place on Saturday 18 June 2011, at the Primrose Wrestling Hall, Johannesburg. With only the top competitors from each province representing their respective province, the national tournament promised to be a show down of the best of the best. Northern Gauteng, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Southern Guateng, Central Gauteng and Kwazulu Natal sent teams to participate. A total of 27 ATC students were represented on 2 provincial teams at this year’s national championships. 18 students from the ATC Elardus Park dojang in Pretoria represented the Northern Gauteng province and 9 students from the ATC Thabazimbi dojang represented the Limpopo provincial team. The ATC members on both these provincial teams received their official Northern Gauteng and Limpopo provincial colours through affiliated provincial structures.

The 27 ATC students won a total of 44 medals with 19 Gold, 15 Silver and 10 Bronze medals making up the spread. The instructors of the 2 dojangs, Sbm Annari Wethmar, Sbm Karel Wethmar and Bsb Thereasa Tolmay said that they were very happy with their students’ performance at the 2011 national tournament and that their students did them proud.

Please click on the below link to see a detailed break down of all ATC students’ results achieved at the 2011 SA-ITF Closed Championships.

ATC Results

ATC Reporter

ATC Limpopo Team

ATC Gauteng North and Limpopo Team

Happy Birthday Sbm Karel (July 20)

Thank you for all your hard work and sacrifice. Thank you for your leadership you have provided to our club over thelast year and for pushing us to strive for excellence every day.
Thank you for setting an example we strive to follow.

We hope that the year ahead brings joy and blessings to you and your family.

Happy birthday!

From all of us

ATC Students

10^th Annual ATC Invitational Tournament

It was a gloomy morning of grey skies and cool weather that met the students from all over Southern Africa for the 10^th Annual ATC Invitational Tournament on the 7^th of May 2011 that took place at the Gauteng North Wrestling hall in Menlo Park, Pretoria. All though the hint of cold and clear anticipation of what was to be an eventful day had students nervous, we were fortunately met with warm welcomes from both the organisers and the general comrade among students who have participated together for years. And so with warmth in everyone’s hearts and great excitement Sabum Karel Wethmar started proceedings with a warm welcoming to everyone.

Before proceedings got underway Sabum Annari Wethmar had the tournament schedule and programme on the wall, and in the fashion of her great organisational skills it was followed closely to the end of the day. A special thanks to all the black belts, instructors and students who assisted the organisers with judging and refereeing. For those whom did not notice, each floor requires seven officials for the competition to commence and for the majority of the day the three floors and power breaking/special technique area were manned. At the same time many of these officials still had to participate and rotation was done effectively!

We were also honoured with the presence of Bosabum Chris Van der Merwe founder of ATC and the Annual ATC invitational Tournament, a special thanks to you for the wonderful pictures you took, and for starting something that have endured for a decade and many more to come!

We also would like to extend a special thanks to Millennium Minolta for sponsoring the beautiful 10^th anniversary medals. Also thanks for your sponsorship of the medals over the past number of years.

Further more the day progressed with relative ease and efficient speed. From tigers to veterans patterns and sparring were conducted gracefully. With a clear view of great talents on the rise from all over, we are assured of better and more and more competitive tournaments to come!

It is however on this day, the 7^th of May 2011 that ATC took back the tournament trophy as the over all winner for the first time in three years! We should all be proud of this achievement! Under guidance of our exceptional instructors and with hard work we can now strive to keep it where it belongs!

A special thanks to everyone who participated! Everyone who judged, refereed and assisted. To the ladies and gentlemen that assisted in the tuck shop. And most special thanks to Sabum Karel and Annari for organising and running this tournament. And the awesome guidance they give to us all!

	Club	City	Points
1	ATC	Pretoria & Thabazimbi	175
2	Pil Sung	Kempton Park	130
3	Sim-Wha	Johannesburg & Ennerdale	51
4	Jungshin	Johannesburg	50
5	Bul Pae	Alberton	39
6	Vaalrivier	Vanderbijlpark	30
7	Hwa Rang	Lydenburg	26
8	Tong-Il	Pretoria	23
9	Zimbabwe	Harare	14
10	Horangi	Warmbaths	9
11	Juche	Pretoria	5
12	Potch	Potchefstroom	1
13	Stingers	Pinetown	0

Results Patterns Results Sparring Results Special Techniques Results Power Breaking


Best Junior Female - Catherine San Martin	Best Junior Male - Arnu Nepgen	Best Senior Female - Isabel Potgieter	Best Senior Male - Benito Pagotto

Best Tiger Female - Juane Boonzaaier	Best Veteran Female - Mereille Nastri	Best Veteran Male - Jan Bezuidenhout	Floating trophy winners

Photos

Pieter van Heerden

ATC Cullinan re-opens

As most of you are aware, Bsbnim Chris van der Merwe (founder of ATC) opened two dojang (one for Juniors and one for Seniors) in Cullinan, east of Pretoria, when he moved there from Randburg at the end of 2005, but had to close the school again in September 2008 when he got a job-offer in the USA. The economic down-swing hit the USA just about then and Bsbnim Chris was back in South Africa on 31 January 2009.

Since his return from the USA he has had numerous requests from his “old” students and their parents to re-open the Cullinan schools. Bsbnim Chris was very reluctant at first because until March 2010 had been working for a US company and spent prolonged periods abroad, making sustained teaching impossible. Since joining Standard Bank Africa head office in April 2010, the situation has normalised slightly, making it more feasible to re-open ATC in Cullinan.

On Tuesday, 10 May 2011, Bsbnim Chris received a phone call from Captain Coralie Nel of the Cullinan SAPS imploring him to please reconsider. It was the final straw and the decision was made. A venue had to be sourced and contracted, the word had to be spread, the latest syllabus and supporting documents had to be sourced, SA-ITF executives had to be informed, lesson plans had to be drawn up (at least for the first month), dobok and gear suppliers had to be found, etc. etc.

The first three classes kicked off in the Centenary Sport Centre, Main Street, Cullinan, on Tuesday evening, 17 May. For the time being Bsbnim Chris teaches both the Tigers (6yr to 13yr) and Seniors (14yr and older) dojang while Kyosa Lannea Botha teaches the Cubs (pre-White belts, 3yr to 5yr old).

On the first night the Cubs had 1 student, Cullinan Tigers had 13 students and Cullinan Seniors had 6 students. By the third class the Cubs stood at 3, Tigers at 19 and Seniors at 9.

“It certainly appears as if ATC Cullinan is back in full force,” said Bsbnim Chris with notable strain in his voice. “I just wish I had a Black belt or two who could help carry the work-load.”

We wish ATC Cullinan all the best for the future. Go ATC!

ATC Reporter

Seminar in Thabazimbi

On Saturday 16 April 2011, the 3 of us, Isabel Potgieter, Danniell Botes and I, Mike Loubser arrived in Thabazimbi at the ATC Platinum Dojang (Setaria) after a drive through pouring rain and a picnic on the side of the road to find a highly enthusiastic young bunch of Taekwon-Doins waiting for us. I know they were enthusiastic because they had all arrived an hour and a half before us and were raring to go! We started off with hand and foot techniques and moved on to sparring and special techniques. This was interspersed with numerous rounds of padwork, which was no doubt thoroughly enjoyed by the parents who had stuck around to watch and support. We trained from 10:30 until around 16:30 (with a break for lunch) and the students worked really hard throughout that time.

After training with ATC Platinum for that Saturday, I can honestly say that the cold, miserable weather was more than compensated for by the warm, kind people who looked after us during our time there.

We all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and look forward to seeing them again soon.


Mike teaching	Johan and Dylan sparring	Biance and Dylan sparring

Michael John Loubser

10^th ATC Tournament

It is the 10 year anniversary of the annual ATC Tournament and warriors all over the world are preparing to join in the celebrations by competing in this joyous event.
The brave warriors will be challenged in not only sparring and patterns but power breaking and special techniques as well!

Are you brave enough to rise to this challenge?

Then enter now and join the warriors as they assemble for the great celebration on Saturday the 7th of May, 2011 at the Northern Gauteng Wrestle Hall, 26th Street, Menlo Park, Pretoria

Invitation

ATC Reporter

ATC perform at the 2011 SA-ITF Autumn Tournament

On Saturday 2 April 2011, 7 ATC students participated at the SA-ITF Autumn Tournament held at the Primrose Wrestling Hall, Johannesburg. The ATC team was accompanied by one of their instructors Karel Wethmar and parents and friends that supported the students on the day. Gustav Gous (1st Degree black belt), apart from participating also assisted as an umpire at the tournament through out the day.

The results for the ATC students were as follows:
Gustav Gous (30yr) (1st Degree black belt) – Sparring: Gold, Patterns: Gold,
Jacques Botha (18yr) (Red belt) – Sparring: Silver, Patterns: DNP,
Tawie Wolvaardt (20yr) (Green stripe) - Sparring: Gold, Patterns: Gold,
Juané Boonzaaier (11yr) (Red stripe) - Sparring: Silver, Patterns: Gold,
Janco Hanekom (11yr) (Blue stripe) - Sparring: -, Patterns: Silver,
Sarel Swanepoel (8yr) (Yellow belt) - Sparring: -, Patterns: -,
Zonique Boonzaaier (5yr) (Yellow stripe) - Sparring: DNP, Patterns: Bronze,

We wish to congratulate the students with their great results and achievements. In addition we would also like to thank all the parents and friends that supported the ATC students on the day.

ATC Reporter

2^nd Gauteng North ITF Taekwon-Do Championships

On Saturday the 26th of March the 2nd Gauteng North ITF Taekwon-Do Championships took place at the Menlo Park Wrestling hall. Thanks to the brilliant organisation of Sabum Annari Wethmar the competition ran smoothly and ended in good time.

ATC Elardus Park who was represented by the majority of its students once again proved to be the dominant club in the Gauteng North region. Taking 64 of the 102 medals on offer for the day. We were followed by ATC Platinum (Thabazimbi) with 16 medals, Hwa Rang (Lydenburg) with 11, Tong-Il (Pretoria) with 9 and Juche (Pretoria) with 2.

Amongst the many medals proudly won by ATC, 24 members received their Gauteng North Taekwon-Do Provincial Colours and will represent ATC and the Gauteng North Province at the National Champs in Johannesburg from 16-18 June 2011. Please view the names of the ATC members who received their colours here.

Congratulations to everyone! It was a truly successful tournament for ATC. And thank you for everyone who came early and stayed behind to assist in the preparations and clean up!

And a special thanks to Sabum Karel and Sabum Annari for their excellent organisation and training helping all of us to achieve!


Gauteng North Taekwon-Do	Medals	Opening Ceremony

ATC Reporter

1^st ITF Seminar in Northam

On Saturday, 12 February 2011, the ATC Platinum Taekwon-Do club were fortunate to have Sabum’s Karel and Annari Wethmar to present our first seminar.

We were busy for 3 hours concentrating on all Taekwon-Do aspects: foot and hand techniques, patterns, set-sparring, free sparring and self defense.

The students enjoyed the seminar to bits and learned so much.

We at the ATC Platinum Taekwon-Do club would like to give our thanks to the 2 Sabum’s for such great and useful information.

ATC Platinum club greetings!


Lined up	Excercises	Taekwon-Do kicking	Taekwon-Do punching	Stretching

Thereasa Tolmay (ATC Platinum Instructor)

1st Tong-il innovation Tournament

On Saturday the 12^th of February the first Tong il innovation tournament took place at the Tong il dojang in Groenkloof, Pretoria.

It was a beautiful sunny morning, a delightful change to the recent gloomy days in Pretoria. With a lot of enthusiasm and certainly some tension the young tigers and juniors started to arrive at the honourable Senior Master Kim Jong Su’s dojang. Young students from all over Gauteng and ATC’s very own young Sarel Swanepoel and Tristan Blokker completed their registrations and the tournament swiftly got under way.

Our two young ATC representatives accompanied by their parents and Bsb Manie Naude, Bsb Isabel Potgieter, Bsb Carl Joubert as well as Pieter van Heerden and Willie Smith showed an excellent comfort and focus. Sarel won his first match with ease and grace, a rather soothing sight from such a young and still very inexperienced student, with his second not being as successful against a far more experienced student. Tristan proved to be every bit as competent as we expected from such a talented young man. Although he lost his first match and drew his second, he certainly proved that he will be a future medal winner.

I am happy to report that the future looks rather bright for our youngsters from ATC, and we can be certain that ATC will continue its exceptional performances on both the national and international levels. We can all be proud and exceedingly happy to be students of Sbm Karel and Sbm Annari Wethmar whose continuous guidance and warm support has proven to be remarkable from tiger to veteran level.

I believe this year will be a great one for ATC and look forward to seeing everyone in class!!


Sarel Swanepoel	Sarel sparring	Tristan sparring	Tristan Blokker

Pieter Van Heerden

Taekwon-Do Kids!

ATC has expanded it’s borders and under the leadership of Sabum Annari Wethmar started Taekwon-Do Kids. This is a training initiative for 3 to 5 year olds and focuses on training beginner Taekwon-Do techniques with the young ones. She started the initiative at one of the local nursery schools, Snippersnip, in Garsfontein, Pretoria East. A number of demonstration classes were given to test the children’s response to training Taekwon-Do and although starting very small the group training actively has grown to 8 students over the past month.

Congratulations Sabum Annari with the success of your new initiative!

ATC Reporter

Taekwon-Do Kids

Sanko Lewis hosts class

On Thursday 3 February 2011 Mr. Sanko Lewis (4^th Degree black belt) from Seoul, South Korea visited the ATC Elardus Park dojang for some interesting training. He is also the Federation head of the Soo Shim Kwan (Potchefstroom region) and a black belt holder in both Taekwon-Do (4^th Degree) and Hapkido (1^st Degree). He also trains in Ju-Jitsu and Taek-Kyon while he resides in Seoul.

Mr. Lewis’ work contract with the Sahmyook University in Seoul has been extended for another 12 months. He works in the department of English studies at the University and teaches English Literature. Currently he is on holiday in South Africa to visit friends and family before departing for Korea on 26 February.

The class was used to share interesting ways of doing fitness and strength exercises. Then came the fun part where the class was introduced to Taek-Kyon training. The students learned the basic movements, kicks and hand techniques as Mr. Lewis shared his wealth of knowledge of the ancient Korean Art. He also shared his views and knowledge on where certain ITF techniques originated between the cross pollination of Karate (of which Genl. Choi was a black belt holder) and Taek-Kyon.

The students enjoyed the class immensely and are looking forward to Mr. Lewis’ next visit to the ATC Dojang.


Warming up class	Sanko stretching	Taekwon-Do kicking	Sanko with Boonzaaier sisters

ATC Reporter

Taek-Kyon Kick

Self Defence

Robertson Seminar January 2011

We at the Robertson Dojang in the Western Cape province of South Africa, were fortunate to have Sabum Karel Wethmar give our first ITF seminar for 2011 in our small and humble town! Bright and early on the 22nd of January after many hours of travel we started our seminar at the Robertson dojang.

To kick-start the seminar Sabum Karel went through all the hand techniques for all the belt groups that were represented at the seminar. Afterwards we worked on kicks followed by my favourite... Patterns. Changing and adjusting as we went along to correct body posture and hand positions time seemed to have no speed limit as it flew by and before we knew it lunch was upon us!

After a much appreciated snack we continued working through the syllabus covering special techniques, breaking, set-sparring, free sparring and self defence. We were getting so excited we almost didn’t realise that we were already past the time.

Ahhhh then came the grading...... As we all know this is the part where we think: “Do I really know everything? Am I going to be able to break? Will I pass this grading....?” I am going to say this not just as the instructor of the ATC Robertson dojang, but also as a friend..... THE STUDENTS WERE AWESOME!!! They knew their theory, surprised me with breaks on the special techniques, hand and foot techniques came naturally..... I couldn’t be more proud!

As darkness set in around us the grading came to a close. The results were read and the relief was instant, gratitude flowed through the hall like a light breeze at the end of a hot summer’s day.... everyone passed!

The next morning after a good night’s rest we all came together for a photo session and to fare Sabum Karel well as he was on his way again. Now we are excited to begin learning the new syllabus for the next grading and getting to work for our next seminar, hoping it will come soon as we all learned and enjoyed it a lot!


Riëtte Burger, Karel Wethmar, Elize Burger, Stephan Maritz, Deidre van Eck	Elize and Deidre training	Robertson Dojang and students

Stephan Maritz (3^rd Degree – ATC Robertson Instructor)

ROBERTSON

ATC in Antarctica

As experienced by Mike Loubser

It’s my second trip down to Antarctica, where I have been working as a field scientist doing research on climate change and landform evolution. We left Cape Town harbour on 8 December 2010 and sailed south for the Great White Desert. We will be away from home for almost three months, returning back to Cape Town on 18 February, 2011. After a three week voyage on the SA Agulhas, we arrived at South Africa’s Antarctic base, SANAE IV. SANAE IV is one of the most advanced bases in Antarctica, making use of a revolutionary design that is now being adopted by other countries that operate here. It is truly something magnificent and something of which all South Africans can be well proud.

As a geomorphologist, I and my two team-mates will be travelling into the frozen wastes by snowmobile and helicopter, far away from the comfort and security provided by SANAE. There we will check and replace equipment that has been planted at various locations and transmit the data that has been gathered back home. In addition, we will explore the beautiful snowy mountains that stick up above the ice here, trying to understand why they formed in the way that they did.

Antarctica is without a doubt the most beautiful place in the world. It is desolate and hostile, but wild and beautiful. It has been the great privilege of my life to come here and see the things that I have seen and to live in a place that is almost completely untouched and untamed by man. It is nature wild and chaotic. It is a place for your soul to be free.

As you can see on my photos, I found some time in between work and recovering from the icy cold to train Taekwon-Do.

Michael John Loubser

ATC Year-end function and prize giving for 2010

The 2010 ATC year-end function and prize giving took place on Friday 26 November 2010 in Waterkloof, Pretoria. This event, which took on the theme of dressing up like your “Favourite superhero or villain” coincided with a social braai (barbeque) for dinner. From Peter-Pan to Cat Woman, from Zoro to Captain Hook, from Two Face to Samurai Jack, from Clark Kent (alias Superman) to Power Puff Girls and from a Jail bird to Batman to mention just but a few, were all in attendance.

Before formalities started the best dressed members were voted for by the ever involved audience. After a blink back over the 2010 Taekwon-Do year by chief instructors Annari and Karel Wethmar, capturing all the highlights of the events participated in by the club over the past year, the prize giving started.

The “ATC Black belt of the year” award went to Gustav Gous. The “Most promising student” award went to Nathan Shatkovsky and the “Most improved student” award went to Tawie Wolvaardt.

The “Tenet” trophies which the students vote for during class were awarded as follows:

“Courtesy trophy”	-	Noah White
“Integrity trophy”	-	Isabel Potgieter
“Perseverance trophy”	-	Mike Loubser
“Self control trophy”	-	Gustav Gous
“Indomitable spirit trophy”	-	Matthew Shatkovsky

“Tiger of the year” award went to Juane Boonzaaier, “Junior of the year” award went to Matthew Shatkovsky, “Senior of the year” award went to Susan von Wielligh and the “Veteran of the year” award went to Bobby Rizzo.

The main award of the evening was the “ATC achiever of the year” award and for the 2010 year it went to Matthew Shatkovsky.

For a complete list of all the winners of the 2010 awards and floating trophies please visit the “Roll of honour”.


Courtesy - Noah White	Integrity - Isabel Potgieter	Perseverance - Mike Loubser	Self control - Gustav Gous

Indomitbale spirit - Matthew Shatkovsky	Black belt of year - Gustav Gous	Most improved - Tawie Wolvaardt	Most promising - Nathan Shatkovsky

ATC Reporter

Matthew Shatkovsky - Achiever of the year

SA-ITF Annual awards 2010

It’ with great honour that we announce that 2 of ATC’s students received the annual Presidential Student of the year Award, in their respective categories.

Susan von Wielligh received the Presidential award for Senior Female of the SA-ITF for the year 2010.

Bobby Rizzo received the Presidential award for Veteran Male of the SA-ITF for the year 2010.

As the chief instructors of ATC we would like to congratulate both Bobby and Susan on this great achievement.

Karel Wethmar

Bobby Rizzo, Karel Wethmar, Susan von Wielligh

Black belt and colour belt grading

The 2^nd black belt and 4^th colour belt grading of the Dan-Gun Federation for 2010, took place on Saturday 27 November 2010 at the Elardus Park Dojang, Pretoria. The day got under way at 7h00 with the colour belt grading conducted by Federation co-heads Karel & Annari Wethmar. Students from the Dan-Gun Federation (Pretoria and Vanderbijlpark dojangs) participated in this grading. The grading examiners expressed their satisfaction with the standard of the grading and 25 students passed their test.

Congratulations to all the students with their great achievement!

The black belt grading followed directly after the colour belt grading and was conducted by Karel Wethmar (Newly IIC qualified instructor) and assisted by Annari Wethmar (4^th Degree black belt, Member of Technical Committee SA-ITF – Northern Gauteng Region) and Manie Naude (3rd Degree black belt). 2 Students from the Dan-Gun Federation participated in the grading and we are very proud to announce that both of them were successful with their attempt. Carl Joubert and Michael Loubser graded to 1st Degree black belt.

Congratulations to Carl and Michael, your hard work paid off!

ATC Reporter

Manie Naude, Mike Loubser, Karel Wethmar, Carl Joubert, Annari Wethmar

SA Championships 2010

The South Africa (SA) National Championships took place over the weekend from 24 to 25 September 2010 in Turfontein, Johannesburg, Gauteng. Just over 300 competitors from clubs and provinces all over South Africa entered and participated in this prestigious annual tournament. This was the best attended National Championships to date.

ATC entered 25 participants into the tournament and won a total of 25 medals that consisted of 9 Gold, 10 Silver and 6 Bronze medals. Overall ATC managed to end in 4^th position.

The final points standing were as follows:

SA CHAMPS SCOREBOARD
	Kwan (Clubs in federaion)	Points
1	Kanghan Jashin (Jungshin)	269
2	Bul Sa jo (Phoenix)	254
3	Jung Do (Dias)	187
4	Dan-Gun (ATC, Hwa Rang)	104
5	Myong Ye Do (Pil Sung)	92
6	Choi Hong Hi (Yong-Hi, Elements, Gi-Baek)	84
7	San (Stingers, Zululand )	68
8	In Nae (Sim Wha)	47
9	Shim Duk (Vaalrivier)	32
10	Juche (Juche)	16
11	Soo Shim (Potchefstroom)	1


Manie Naude (left) - Patterns	Matthew Shatkovsky sparring	Susan von Wielligh (left) sparring

ATC Reporter

Bobby wins 2 medals at the 2010 Junior and Veteran World Championships

Bobby Rizzo (1^st Degree), Matthew Shatkovsky (1^st Degree), Riccardo Rizzo (1^st Degree) and Karel Wethmar kept ATC’s name high at the past 9^th Junior and 4^th Veteran World Championship, held in Minsk, Belarus from 21 – 28 August 2010. Bobby won 2 bronze medals at this prestigious event, each for sparring for males under 73kg and for 1^st degree black belt patterns. Matthew kept the club’s name high when he won his team sparring match against his opponent from Turkmenistan. The self-defence routine for veteran males where Bobby was the defender and Karel, Riccardo and Matthew the attackers ended in 5^th position.

The members enjoyed their trip to Minsk, Belarus immensely and also included photos of some of the sights they visited under the Galleries while at the World Championships.

We congratulate all of you with your great results and achievements!


Bobby - 3^rd Patterns	Karel, Bobby with medal for patterns	Bobby - 3^rd sparring

Bobby vs Japan	Matthew vs Turkmenistan	SA Power breaking - Bobby, Karel, Ben Grove

ATC Reporter

ATC students to go to 2010 World Championships

The ATC members selected as part of the 2010 SA National Taekwon-Do team that will be participating at the 9th Junior and the 4th Veteran ITF Taekwon-Do World Championships that will be held in Minsk, Belarus from 21-28 August 2010 are Bobby Rizzo, Matthew Shatkovsky, Riccardo Rizzo and Karel Wethmar (Assistant coach).

Bobby Rizzo will participate in the Veteran male division in 1st degree patterns, power breaking, sparring under 73kg and self defence routine. Matthew Shatkovsky will participate in the Junior male division in 1st degree patterns, sparring under 69kg, team events and as an attacker in the veteran male self defence routine. Riccardo Rizzo will participate as an attacker in the veteran male self defence routine. Karel Wethmar (Chief instructor) was selected as an assistant coach and also an attacker in the veteran male self defence routine.

We wish to congratulate the ATC members selected for the National team and wish them all the best of luck when participating at the World Championships.

ATC Reporter

Matthew, Bobby, Ricardo

Spur evening held on 17 June 2010

The 3rd ATC Spur evening took place on Thursday 17 June 2010 at the Spur Atterbury Value Mart. The evening proofed to be a huge success due to the great turnout of club members, friends and family. A number of ATC students and black belts assisted as runners under the leadership of Bobby Rizzo. The prize that was raffled of during the evening was a 4-in-1 laser printer, scanner, copier and fax worth more than R2 500. We would like to thank Millennium Minolta for sponsoring this great prize. The 4-in-1 was won by Christo Fourie and his wife Monette accepted his winnings on his behalf on Thursday 24 June 2010 during class time.

We would also like to thank Atterbury Value Mart Spur and all the ATC students, friends and family that supported this great evening.

We look forward to the next ATC Spur evening scheduled for Thursday 15 July 2010 at the Atterbury Value Mart Spur.

ATC Reporter

Fltr Monette Fourie and A Wethmar

Black belt and colour belt grading

The 1^st black belt and 2^nd colour belt grading of the Dan-Gun Federation for 2010, took place on Saturday 5 June 2010 at the Elardus Park Dojang, Pretoria. The day got under way at 8h00 with the colour belt grading conducted by Federation co-heads Karel & Annari Wethmar. Students from the Dan-Gun Federation (Pretoria) and Shim Duk Federation (Vanderbijlpark) participated in this grading. The grading examiners expressed their satisfaction with the standard of the grading and 15 students passed their examinations.

Congratulations to all the students with their great achievement and continue to train hard.

The black belt grading followed directly after the colour belt grading and was conducted by Shaheed Karachi (5^th Degree black belt and Technical director of the SA-ITF) and assisted by Karel & Annari Wethmar (4^th Degree black belts, Member of Technical Committee SA-ITF – Northern Gauteng Region). 3 Students from the Dan-Gun Federation participated in the grading and we are very proud to announce that all 3 of them were successful with their attempt. Bobby Rizzo graded to 2^nd Degree black belt and both Riccardo Rizzo and Matthew Shatkovsky graded to 1^st Degree black belt.

Congratulations Bobby, Riccardo and Matthew, your hard work paid off!

ATC Reporter

Colour belt grading participants

Black belt grading (Front fltr) K Wethmar, S Karachi, A Wethmar (Back fltr) M Shatkovsky, B Rizzo, R Rizzo

Black belt certificate for Gustav!

On Tuesday evening of 18 May 2010, Gustav Gous received his 1st degree black belt certificate from his instructors, Annari and Karel Wethmar. His black belt certificate number is SA-1-263. The black belt certificates are produced and issued by the ITF HQ office in Vienna, Austria and signed by our president, Prof. Chang Ung.

Gustav, congratulations from your instructors and all the ATC students!

ATC Reporter

Fltr K Wethmar, Gustav Gous, A Wethmar

ATC Spur evening 13 May 2010

The 2nd ATC Spur evening was hosted on Thursday evening 13 May 2010 at the Spur in the Atterbury Value Mart in Faerie Glen, Pretoria. The evening was a huge success due to the great turnout of all the club members, friends and family. The ATC students that assisted the waiters of the Spur as runners did a splendid job under the leadership of Bobby Rizzo. The hamper containing goods worth more then R3 500 was won by Theresa van der Merwe. There were also 2 smaller prizes that could be won. Celeste Richardson won the 2nd prize and Arina Vrey collected the 3rd prize. We would like to thank our sponsors of the hamper and prizes: Nutrition Lab, Africa Photographic, I Style Studio, De Haven Oost, Fred Botha, Magda Schmelzenbach, Nimue SA and Spur Atterbury Value Mart.

The ATC chief instructors would like to thank Anette Botha and Juanita Boonzaaier for organizing and arranging the contents of the hamper as well as the 2nd and 3rd prizes that were raffled off during the evening.

We would also like to thank Atterbury Value Mart Spur and all the ATC students, friends and family that supported this evening.

We look forward to the next ATC Spur evening scheduled for Thursday evening 17 June 2010 at the Atterbury Value Mart Spur.

fltr K Wethmar, Celeste Richardson, A Botha, A Wethmar

fltr K Wethmar, Juanita Boonzaaier, Anette Botha, A Wethmar

fltr K Wethmar, Theresa van der Merwe, A Botha, A Wethmar

ATC Reporter

ATC senior black belts get married

On Saturday 13 March 2010, Stephan Maritz, 3rd Degree black belt and instructor of the ATC Robertson Dojang in the Western Cape got married to Nicolene. The wedding took place on the Van Loveren Wine Farm close to Robertson.

Stephan & Nicolene

On Saturday 17 April 2010, Manie Naude, 2nd Degree black belt and assistant instructor of the Elardus Park Dojang got married to Janet Loubser. Both are from Pretoria and the Elardus Park Dojang. The wedding took place at the Riverside Castle just outside Pretoria.

Manie & Janet

To both couples, from Karel and Annari Wethmar and all the ATC black belts and students, congratulations with your weddings!

ATC Reporter

9^th ATC Tournament

The 9^th ATC Invitational Tournament took place on Saturday 1 May 2010 at the Gauteng North Wrestling Hall in Menlo Park, Pretoria. With well over 150 competitors from as far as Port Elizabeth, Pinetown, Richards Bay and Zimbabwe, this tournament has grown into the second largest ITF Taekwon-Do tournament in South Africa behind the annual national championships.

The triumphant club for 2010 was Phoenix Taekwon-Do from Port Elizabeth with ATC in close second place. The organizers would like to congratulate Gerd Hummel and his team form PE with their great performance at this year’s tournament.

This year, as with the previous years saw the awarding of the floating trophies to the best male and female in the Veterans (+35 years), Seniors (18 to 34 years), Juniors (14 to 17 years) and Tigers (-13 years) divisions. The participants accumulated points for winning and those with the most points accumulated in each division were awarded the floating trophies. The winners were:

Veteran Male:	Michael Sonnekus (Dias)
Veteran Female:	Sonya Rebelo (Jungshin)
Senior Male:	Gcobani Banda (Phoenix)
Senior Female:	Jenine Swanepoel
Junior Male:	Matthew Shatkovsky (ATC)
Junior Female:	Cassidy Jacobs (Dias)
Tiger Male:	Sean McMullin (Jungshin)
Tiger Female:	Monique Atterbury (Pil Sung)

Club with most points	Veteran Male	Veteran Female	Senior Male	Senior Female	Junior Male	Tiger Male

Phoenix	Michael Sonnekus (Dias)	Sonya Rebelo (Jungshin)	Gcobani Banda (Phoenix)	Jenine Swanepoel	Matthew Shatkovsky (ATC)	Sean McMullin (Jungshin)

This year’s tournament also saw the introduction of the new “Open category” division for sparring for both males and females. Participants entering into this division should be 17 years and older, between 9th Gup and 4th Degree black belt and there are no weight limits. There were no entries into the female division. The winners of the inaugural “Open category” division for males were:

1^st	George Moeti (Sim Wha)
2^nd	Gcobani Banda (Phoenix)
3^rd	Connor Scheckle (Phoenix)

The Tournament Organizers would like to thank the main sponsors of the ATC Invitational Tournament, Bobby Rizzo and Judy van der Westhuizen from Millennium Minolta for sponsoring the medals and the floating trophies. They would also like to thank Mr. Fuz Loubser and Kreon for their kind contribution to the tournament. Also a special word of thanks to all the students, black belts and families whom helped on the day with refereeing, umpiring, corner judging, working in the tuck shop and assisting at the tables. Without all of your help the day and the tournament would not have been such a huge success as it was!

We look forward to seeing everyone at next year’s 10th ATC Invitational Tournament, scheduled for May 2011.

Final points standing of the clubs:

	Club	City	Points
1	Phoenix	Port Elizabeth	92
2	ATC	Pretoria	88
3	Pil Sung	Kempton Park	58
4	Jungshin	Johannesburg	52
5	Dias	Johannesburg	46
6	Sim-Wha	Johannesburg	30
7	Magua	Johannesburg	18
8	Vaalrivier	Vanderbijlpark	14
9	Zululand	Richards Bay	12
10	Hwa Rang	Lydenburg	8
11	Juche	Pretoria	8
12	Stingers	Pinetown	1
13	Zimbabwe	Harare	0

Detailed results

ATC Reporter

ATC attends SA-ITF National Camp

A total of 11 members from ATC attended the SA-ITF National Camp over the weekend of 24 to 27 April 2010, at Nylstroom Lodge near Modimolle (Nylstroom) in the Limpopo Province.

Cold wet weather, seldom experienced during this time of year in this area, restricted the majority of training sessions to take place inside. The ATC students enjoyed the camp very much and learned a number of new techniques especially with the ground work and grappling training session, presented by Mr. Sean Cremer (instructor from Pinetown).

The first certification of SA-ITF instructors, academy heads and federation heads also took place at the national camp, and we are pleased to announce that the 3 federation heads of the Dan-Gun Kwan, Mr. Chris van der Merwe, Mr. Karel Wethmar and Mrs. Annari Wethmar were certified as official SA-ITF federation heads and instructors and also received their certificates and badges at this event.

ATC Reporter

ATC Spur evening a huge success

The first ATC Spur evening was hosted on Tuesday evening 13 April 2010 at the brand new Spur in the Woodlands Mall. We can report that this evening was a huge success due to the great turnout of all the club members, their friends and family. The ATC waiters did a splendid job under the leadership of Bobby Rizzo. The hamper containing goods worth more then R2000 was won by Lynda Rieder. Lynda took ownership of her prize at the Thursday evening class on 15 April 2010.

The ATC chief instructors would like to thank Anette Botha for organizing this event with Spur and also building and arranging all the goods and items that went into the hamper which was raffled off during the evening. In addition they would also like to thank Woodlands Spur and all the students, friends and family that supported this evening.

We look forward to the next ATC Spur evening scheduled for Thursday evening 13 May 2010 at the Atterbury Value Mart Spur.

ATC Reporter

Fltr K Wethmar, Lynda Rieder, Anette Botha

ATC Spur evening

It’s with great excitement that we invite all our students as well as their family and friends, to the ATC Spur evening scheduled for Tuesday 13 April 2010, from 17h00 to 21h00 at the brand new Spur in the Woodlands Mall. A hamper containing various products amongst other items, health products, a R200 Spur voucher etc. to the value of R2000 will be raffled of during the evening. Raffle tickets are R10 each. Come see the ATC Taekwon-Do waiters in action!

Bring all your family and friends along for a fun-filled evening at South Africa’s most popular family restaurant!

Karel Wethmar

Students perform well at the TSA tournament

On Sunday 14 March 2010, 10 students from ATC participated in the annual TSA (Taekwon-Do South Africa) tournament, held in the Mandeville Sport centre, Kensington, Johannesburg. There were participant from clubs registered under GTF Taekwon-Do, ITF Taekwon-Do (under Choi Jung Hwa) and ITF Taekwon-Do (under Chang Ung). This year the tournament only catered for participation in patterns and sparring. A total of 4 Gold, 4 Silver and 1 Bronze medals were won at this well organised tournament. The chief instructors were very happy with the performance of the ATC competitors and said that they were looking forward to seeing them in action at the ATC Invitational Tournament on the 1st of May 2010 in Menlo Park, Pretoria.

Results


Gustav Gous	Juane Boonzaaier	Lian van der Ven	Matthew Shatkovsky	Mike Loubser	Mitchell Bester	Noah White

ATC Reporter

ATC participated in All styles tournament

On Saturday 6^th of March 2010, 3 ATC students participated in the “Yearly Kicking Tournament” hosted by Traditional Tang Soo Do SA, in Klerksdorp, North West province. Since this was an All Styles Tournament, there were participants from various martial art systems in attendance. Styles that participated in the tournament included ITF Taekwon-Do, GTF Taekwon-Do, Traditional Tang Soo Do and Shotokan Karate.

The 3 ATC students participated in both patterns (forms) and sparring and their results were as follows:

Gustav Gous (1^st degree black belt)	Matthew Shatkovsky (Black stripe)	Juan (JJ) Jacobs (Green belt)
- Senior black belt division sparring	- Senior red belt division sparring - Senior black belt division sparring	- Senior green belt division sparring - Senior green belt division patterns
- Silver (2^nd)	- Silver (2^nd) - Bronze(3^rd)	- Silver (2^nd) - Gold (1^st)

From everyone at ATC we would like to congratulate these 3 ambassadors of ATC with their great achievements and performance at the All Styles Tournament in Klerksdorp.

ATC Reporter

Black belt certificate for Isabel!

On Tuesday evening of 2 March 2010, Isabel Naude received her 1^st degree black belt certificate from her instructors, Annari and Karel Wethmar. Her black belt certificate number is SA-1-251. The black belt certificates are manufactured and issued by the ITF HQ office in Vienna, Austria and signed by our president, Prof. Chang Ung.

Congratulations from your instructors and all the ATC students!

ATC Reporter

Annari promoted to Co-Federation head of the Dan-Gun Kwan

It is with great pleasure that we announce that Mrs. Annari Wethmar, 4^th degree black belt chief instructor of ATC has been promoted to Co-Federation head of the Dan-Gun Federation (Kwan) together with the 2 founding members of the Federation Mr. Karel Wethmar and Mr. Chris van der Merwe. She therefore now serves on the SA-ITF National Council.

On behalf of Mr. Wethmar, Mr. van der Merwe and all the ATC students we wish to congratulate you on this great achievement and for always setting such a good example to all of our students.

ATC Reporter

1^st Colour belt grading for 2010

The first colour belt grading of the Dan-Gun Federation (Kwan) for the year 2010, took place on Saturday 27 February 2010 at the Hoërskool (High School) Silverton. Students from the Dan-Gun Federation (Pretoria), Shim Duk Federation (Vanderbijlpark) and Soo Shim Federation (Potchefstroom) participated in this grading conducted by Dan-Gun Federation co-heads and ATC chief instructors Karel and Annari Wethmar. The grading examiners expressed their content with the standard of the grading. 9 Students participated in the grading and all 9 passed their examinations.

Congratulations to all the students with their great achievement and continue to train hard.

3 Students whom graded to black stripe at this grading had to submit an essay on any Taekwon-Do topic. Click on below icons to view their essays.

Mike Loubser (28)

Roland Arnold (25)

Matthew Shatkovsky (17)

ATC Reporter

ATC perform at the 13th SA-ITF Gauteng Open Tournament

On Saturday 20 February 2010, 3 of ATC’s students participated in the 13th Gauteng Open Tournament held at the Wrestling hall in Primrose, Johannesburg. Jaco Botha (2^nd degree black belt) assisted as a centre referee with sparring. Gustav Gous (1^st degree black belt) participated in sparring over 80kg black belt division and won a silver medal. In special techniques he also won a silver medal. In an open black belt patterns division he ended in 4^th place. Gustav also assisted at the tournament as a corner judge and patterns judge. Juan (JJ) Jacobs (Green belt) participated in sparring over 80kg novice belt division and ended in 4^th place. He also participated in patterns where he won a bronze medal.

We wish to congratulate these students with their winnings but also thank them for participating and assisting with judging through-out the tournament.

ATC Reporter

Congratulations to Jaco!

On the 23^rd of February 2010, the chief instructors of ATC were very proud to hand over Jaco Botha’s 2^nd degree black belt certificate, received from ITF HQ, Vienna. Jaco graded successfully to his 2^nd degree under Senior Master Kim Jong Su on 18 April 2009 in Primrose, Johannesburg. His black belt certificate number is SA-2-90.

Congratulations from your instructors and all the ATC students!

ATC Reporter

9^th ATC Invitational Tournament

It’s that time of year again that ATC invites you to participate in the Annual ATC Invitational Tournament. The tournament is in it’s 9^th year and with participants coming from near and far it promises to be a day of intense competition filled with fun for the whole family.

The tournament will take place on Saturday 1 May 2010 in the Northern Gauteng Wrestling Hall in Pretoria, and participants will be able to compete in both patterns and sparring. There will be a prize giving ceremony at the end of the day to honour the winners in all divisions.

Do you have the courage to test yourself against the best possible competition at your belt level and in your age category? If you have what it takes register today, and take advantage of ATC’s early registration fee special.

Detailed information on the tournament’s location, rules and registration procedures can be found in the complete invitation.

Invitation

ATC Reporter

Sanko Lewis visits ATC dojang for training

On Thursday 14 January 2010, a great friend of the ATC chief instructors, Mr. Sanko Lewis (4^th Degree black belt and Federation head of the Soo Shim Kwan (Potchefstroom)) and his brother Mr. Tiny Lewis (3^rd Degree black belt and Federation head of the Shim Duk Kwan (Vanderbijlpark)) visited the ATC Elardus Park dojang for some interesting training as well as a few surprises.

Mr. Sanko Lewis is currently on a 12 month work contract in Seoul, South Korea. He works in the department of English studies at the Sahmyook University in Seoul and teaches English and Biblical studies. Currently he is on holiday in South Africa to visit friends and family before departing for Korea on 19 February. He graded to 4^th degree black belt in Seoul, South Korea during 2009 and also holds a 1^st degree black belt in Hapkido. In addition he also trains Brazilian Jujitsu to advance his knowledge in ground fighting.

The hook block from the pattern Yul-Gok was explained in the highest detail to all present and Mr. Sanko Lewis gave very interesting application tips with this hand technique for self defence purposes. A lot was learned by all present, and everyone is looking forward to his next visit.

At the end of the class Mr. Sanko Lewis surprised both the ATC chief instructors when he handed both of them brand new instructors doboks from South Korea with the Korea federation badge on the right chest. Mr. and Mrs. Wethmar were overwhelmed with the great presents they received and a photo session soon followed.


Jaco and Sanko	Karel and Jaco	Karel, Annari and class	Sanko explaining to Isabel and Carl

ATC Reporter

Annari and sanko

Karel and Sanko

ATC Prize giving for 2009

The 2009 ATC year-end function and prize giving took place on Thursday 3 December 2009 at the Elardus Park dojang in Pretoria. This event, which was an informal event this year, coincided with a dinner at the local Romans Pizza restaurant. After a blink back over the 2009 Taekwon-Do year by chief instructors Annari and Karel Wethmar, capturing all the highlights of the events participated in by the club over the past year, the prize giving started.

The “ATC Black belt of the year” award went to Manie Naude. The “Most promising student” award went to Susan von Wielligh and the “Most improved student” award went to Carl Joubert.

The “Tenet” trophies which the students vote for during class were awarded as follows:

“Courtesy trophy”	- Isabel Naude
“Integrity trophy”	- Susan von Wielligh
“Perseverance trophy”	- Gustav Gous
"Self control trophy”	- Mike Loubser
“Indomitable spirit trophy”	- Matthew Shatkovsky

“Tiger of the year” award went to Juane Boonzaaier, “Junior of the year” award went to Matthew Shatkovsky, “Senior of the year” award went to Jaco Botha and the “Veteran of the year” award went to Jan Bezuidenhout.

The main award of the evening was the “ATC achiever of the year” award and for the 2009 year it went to Isabel Naude.

For a complete list of all the winners of the 2009 awards and floating trophies please visit the Roll of Honour


Most promising student - Susan (left) and Most improved student - Carl (right)	Students of the year (fltr) Jan, Juane, Jaco and Matthew	Anel - the willing assistant	Tenet trophy winners Matthew, Susan, Gustav, Isabel and Mike

ATC Reporter

Achiever of the year - Isabel Naude

Black belt of the year - Manie Naude

Dan-Gun Kwan colour belt grading

The last colour belt grading of the Dan-Gun Federation (Kwan) for the year 2009, was held on Saturday 28 November 2009 at the Hoërskool (High School) Silverton or better known as the Silverton dojang. 2 Students from the Shim Duk Federation (Vanderbijlpark) also attended the grading conducted by chief instructors Karel and Annari Wethmar. The standard of the grading was very high and after a day of performing patterns, techniques and theory amongst other grading-events, 16 students passed.

Congratulations to the students that passed their grading and keep on training hard.


1. Patterns - Juane Boonzaaier	2. Foot techniques - Juan Jacobs	3. 3step sparring - Bennie Hanekom vs Juane Boonzaaier	4. 1step sparring - Susan von Wielligh vs Mike Loubser

5. Free sparring - Roland Arnold vs Mike Loubser	6. Self defence - Roland Arnold vs Mike Loubser	7. Special techniques - Susan von Wielligh	8. Power breaking - Mike Loubser	9. Theory - Lian van de Ven

ATC Reporter

Annari graded to 4^th degree black belt!

It is with great excitement that we announce that one of ATC’s chief instructors, Annari Wethmar, graded to 4^th degree on Tuesday 3 November 2009 and became only the second female in the SA-ITF history to achieve this qualification level. She was graded to 4^th degree by Senior Master Kim Jong Su.

On behalf of Sabum Karel Wethmar and all the ATC black belts, students and parents we congratulate you on this great achievement!

ATC Reporter

Jaco 5^th in power breaking at World Champs!

Jaco Botha, 2^nd degree balck belt from ATC was selected as part of the SA-ITF National Taekwon-Do Team to participate at the 16^th World Taekwon-Do (ITF) Championships, in St. Petersburg, Russia. Jaco was selected to participate in the individual male power breaking division and had to test his strength and technique against 43 other countries’ best in this discipline. He kept ATC’s name high and did superbly by ending 5^th overall. He was accompanied by 2 ATC members, Karel Wethmar (Assistant coach) and Jan Bezuidenhout (Team doctor).

ATC congratulate Jaco on this great result and achievement!


Jaco Botha (Participant), Karel Wethmar (Coach), Jan Bezuidenhout (Medic) from ATC	Day tour in St. Petersburg	Day tour in St. Petersburg	Jaco Botha with Ethiopian team

ATC Reporter

Well done Gustav!

ATC is proud to announce and congratulate Gustav Gous on his successful grading to 1^st Degree black belt. He graded to 1^st Degree on Saturday 3 October 2009 under Senior Master Kim Jong Su at the Technical Seminar held in Primrose, Johannesburg.

Congratulations from your instructors and all the ATC students!

Karel Wethmar

SA Championships, 24 to 27 September 2009

The National SA Championships took place over the long weekend from 24 to 27 September 2009 and was hosted by the Bulsajo Kwan (Phoenix Taekwon-Do club) in Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape. Just over 160 competitors from clubs and provinces all over South Africa entered and participated in this prestigious annual tournament.

This year saw the first time in 6 years that ATC did not win the SA National Championships. This may be contributed to the fact that only 13 students from ATC participated at this year’s Champs.

ATC won a total of 18 medals of which 6 was gold and ended up 3^rd overall on points from the 9 clubs that entered. ATC managed to end 1^st of all the Gauteng based clubs that entered. Well done!

The final points standing were as follows:

SA CHAMPS SCOREBOARD
	Kwan (Clubs in federaion)	Points
1	Bul Sa Jo (Phoenix)	326
2	Choi Hong Hi (Yong-Hi, Elements and Gi-Beak)	159
3	Dan-Gun (ATC)	52
4	Kanghan Jashin (Jungshin)	43
	Myong Ye Do (Pil Seung)	43
6	Jung Do (Dias, Pil Seung)	37
7	San (Stingers, Zululand)	36
8	In Nae (Sim Wha)	35
9	Shim Duk (Vaal rivier, Hwa Rang)	17

ATC Reporter

Jaco Botha to attend World Championships

It’s with great excitement that we announce that Jaco Botha (2^nd Degree) has been selected as part of the South Africa National Taekwon-Do team to participate in the Senior World Championships in Russia.

The tournament will be hosted in Saint-Petersburg, Russia on October 12-17, 2009.

Jaco has been selected to participate in Power Breaking. He will be accompanied by Assistant Coach Karel Wethmar, and Team Doctor Jan Bezuidenhout.

We wish them all the best with the final preparation and best of luck to them and the rest

ATC Reporter

Fundraising and dinner plans

Fundraiser For Jaco, SBM Karel (Coach), Oom Jan (Medic) to attend the Taekwon-Do world Champs in ST. PETERSBURG, Russia.

Mongolian Grill is GREAT fun. Please come and join us and have a memorable evening with friends. There might just be a lucky draw.

Date: Wednesday, 26 August 2009
Time: 18:30 - 21:30
Location: Boardwalk, Mongolian Grill. (Faerie Glen)

For R80 you can set your own menu and eat as much as you can – includes starters, main meal and pudding.

All drinks are extra.

There will also be a Thank You dinner after the World Champs where BIG PRIZES will be auctioned!

Date: Wednesday, 28 October 2009
Time: 18:30 - 21:30
Location: Boardwalk, Mongolian Grill. (Faerie Glen)

Invite as many people as you can. The more there are the more we make.

Don't miss out!!

ATC Reporter

Colour belt grading held

On Saturday 6 June 2009 the 2^nd colour belt grading of the Dan-Gun Federation for the year 2009 took place in Silverton, Pretoria. Students from the Vaal River Taekwon-Do clubs in Vanderbijl Park together with ATC students from the Elardus Park, Silverton and Cullinan dojangs took part in the colour belt grading conducted by Karel Wethmar (4^th degree) and Annari Wethmar (3^rd degree). They were assisted by their assistant instructor Manie Naude (2^nd degree). The standard of the grading was of a very high level and with nerves running a ray with most of the students, the grading was overall very successful.

Congratulations to the students that passed their grading, and to those who did not pass, persevere and train even harder for your next attempt!

ATC Reporter

Congratulations Isabel!

ATC is proud to announce and congratulate Isabel Naude on her successful grading to 1^st Degree black belt. She graded to 1^st Degree on Saturday 30 May 2009 under Senior Master Kim Jong Su at the Technical Seminar held in Primrose, Johannesburg.

Congratulations from your instructors and all the ATC students!

Karel Wethmar

8^th ATC Invitational Tournament, Pretoria

The 8^th ATC Invitational tournament was held on Saturday 23 May 2009, at the Gauteng-North Wrestling hall, Menlo Park, Pretoria. Just over 150 competitors from as far away as Robertson, Western Cape, Richards Bay and Pinetown, Kwazulu Natal and Zimbabwe came to participate in what has, in recent years, become one of the pinnacle Taekwon–Do events on the SA-ITF calendar.

The tournament was extremely successful, with all ages and belt groups participating in their respective categories. With strong competition from the Dias Taekwon-Do Club (from the South of Johannesburg), Pil Sung (from Kempton Park) and ATC (from Pretoria) all the categories were greatly contested and the tournament was engaged in a good spirit by all competitors and supporters.

Dias Taekwon-do club (under leadership of Michelle Rahl (3^rd Degree)) was the triumphant club for 2009 since it accumulated the most points during the tournament with ATC close in 2^nd place. This year, as with the previous years saw the awarding of the floating trophies to the best male and female in the Veterans (+35 years), Seniors (18 to 34 years), Juniors (14 to 17 years) and Tigers (-13 years) divisions. The participants accumulated points for winning and those with the most points accumulated in each division were awarded the floating trophies. The winners were:

Veteran Male	Veteran Female	Senior Male	Senior Female	Junior Male	Junior Female	Tiger Male	Tiger Female

Jan Bezuidenhout (ATC)	Cornel Fourie (Pil Sung)	Dario Tinga (Dias)	Jenine Swanepoel (Dias)	Eben van der Merwe (Stingers)	Cassidy Jacobs (Dias)	Jesse Jacobs (Dias)	Tasha Madura (Zululand)

The Tournament organizers would like to thank the main sponsors, Millenium Minolta, for sponsoring the tournament medals. They would also like to thank Mr. Deon Vrey, Mr. Fred Botha, Mrs. Annette Botha and Inspecta Cars Centurion for their contributions. A special word of thanks to the 2 most senior people present on the day, Senior Master Kim Jong Su (7^th Degree) for assisting as jury president and Shaheed Karachi (4^th degree) for judging and centre refereeing the entire day. Also a special word of thanks to all the students, black belts and families whom helped on the day with refereeing, umpiring, corner judging, working in the tuck shop and assisting at the tables. Without all of your help the day would not have been as successful as it was!

Hope to see you all at next year’s 9^th ATC Invitational Tournament, scheduled for May 2010.

	Club	City	Points

1	Dias Taekwon-Do Club	Johannesburg	97
2	ATC	Pretoria & Robertson	91
3	Pil Sung	Kempton Park	77
4	Zululand	Richards Bay	33
5	Magua Taekwon-Do Club	Johannesburg	32
6	Stingers	Pinetown	26
7	Vaal River Taekwon-Do	Vanderbyl Park	25
8	Jungshin	Johannesburg	16
9	Zimbabwe	Harare	6
10	Juche	Pretoria	1
			404

Patterns & Sparring results Photos

ATC Reporter

The 7^th ATC Invitational Tournament

It’s that time of year again that ATC invites you to participate in the Annual ATC Invitational Tournament. The tournament is in it’s eighth year and with participants coming from near and far it promises to be a day of intense competition filled with fun for the whole family.

The tournament will take place on Saturday 23 May 2009 in the Northern Gauteng Wrestling Hall in Pretoria, and participants will be able to compete in both patterns and sparring. There will be a prize giving ceremony at the end of the day to honour the winners in all divisions.

Do you have the courage to test yourself against the best possible competition at your belt level and in your age category? If you have what it takes register today, and take advantage of ATC’s early registration fee special.

Detailed information on the tournament’s location, rules and registration procedures can be found in the complete invitation.

Invitation

ATC Reporter

ATC students shine at the Elite JHB Tournament

On the weekend of 25 & 26 April 2009, 3 ATC students participated in the 2009 Elite Johannesburg Championships hosted by Magua Taekwon-Do at the Mandeville Sports & Social Centre in Kensington, Johannesburg. This a multi Taekwon-Do federation tournament where the SA-ITF team consisting of our 3 ATC students and 4 other SA-ITF members, competed against the TSA (Taekwon-Do South Africa) and GTF (Global Taekwon-Do Federation) teams in patterns, sparring, power breaking and special techniques.

Our students held the ATC name high (as always) returning with 5 gold, 2 silver and 3 bronze medals. Matthew made us especially proud and showed the big guys how it’s done by winning, as a junior, the senior intermediate power breaking category.

Results:

ATC Student name and rank	Patterns	Sparring	Power breaking	Special techniques
Gustav Gous (Black stripe)	3^rd	1^st	4^th	1^st
Isabel Naude (Black stripe)	1^st	4^th	2^nd	3^rd
Matthew Shatkovsky (Blue stripe)	1^st	3^rd	1^st	2^nd

Isabel Naude

Newly graded ATC black belts!

On behalf of the ATC Taekwon-Do Clubs we congratulate the 3 newly graded black belts in ATC:

Jaco Botha, graded to 2^nd Dan on Saturday 18 April 2009,
Jolan Botha, graded to 1^st Dan on Saturday 22 November 2008,
Milandi Coetzer, graded to 1^st Dan on Saturday 22 November 2008.

Congratulations to the following ATC black belts whom received their black belt certificates from ITF Head Quarters in Vienna on 25 March 2009.
From left Jolan Botha (1^st Dan), Karel Wethmar (4^th Dan Instructor), Milandi Coetzer (1^st Dan), Manie Naude (2^nd Dan)

ATC Reporter

ATC students perform at the 1^st Taekwon-Do Africa Open Tournament

On the weekend of 20-22 March 2009, saw the inaugural ITF Taekwon-Do Africa Open Tournament, held in the Walter Sisulu Sports Hall, Randburg, South Africa. With participants from South Africa, Lesotho, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Nigeria, Morocco, India and the UK, this was a tournament with no parallel ever hosted in South Africa. 10 Students from the ATC Taekwon-Do Clubs were included in the SA team. A total number of 18 medals were won by our clubs’ students, with 5 gold, 7 silver and 6 bronze making up the spread. The club congratulates our students with their exceptional performance at this first international tournament held in South Africa!

ATC Reporter

2008 Year-end function

The 2008 ATC year-end function was held on Friday 28 November 2008 with “Masquerade” as the theme for this gala evening. Everyone was dressed in formal evening attire with all the various masques one can acquire in Venice, Italy. As in the past this event also presents the club’s annual prize giving and the students were looking forward to the announcing of the winners of the floating trophies for 2008. It was an evening fun filled with exceptional food, prize giving, and the screening of video clips, presented to the audience on the overhead projector, capturing the major highlights of the events the club members participated in during the year of 2008. For a complete list of all the winners of the 2008 floating trophies please visit the “Roll of honour”.
Photos

ATC Reporter

ATC win 3 medals at the 2008 Junior and Veteran World Championships

Karlien Els (2^nd Degree) and Bobby Rizzo (1^st Degree) kept ATC’s name high at the past 8^th Junior and 3^rd Veteran World Championship, held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan from 17 – 21 September 2008. Between the 2 of them they won 2 silver and 1 bronze medals, out of the total of 6 medals won by the South African National Taekwon-Do team at this prestigious event.

Karlien won a silver medal for 2^nd degree patterns junior females. Bobby won a silver medal for power breaking veteran males and a bronze medal for sparring veteran males under 73kg.

We congratulate both of you with your great results and achievements!

ATC Reporter

Bobby Rizzo and Karlies Els

ATC Demo in Robertson, Western Cape

Over the weekend of 19 to 21 September 2008, the ATC Demo team departed from Pretoria and headed to Robertson, Western Cape Province, to entertain the town to some spectacular ITF Taekwon-Do demonstrations. The demonstrations were held to promote the new ATC Robertson dojang started by Stephan Maritz (3^rd Degree).

The team under leadership of Manie Naude (2^nd Degree), consisted of Jaco Botha (1^st Degree), Isabel Naude, Gustav Gous, Marco Bezuidenhout, Mike Laubser, Roland Arnold and Matthew Shatkovsky.

The team performed their Taekwon-Do demonstration over 2 days starting with the first on Friday 19 September at the offices of the South African Police Services in Robertson. The second demonstration took place on Saturday 20 September at the Callie de Wet Sport Stadium before the start of the local club rugby match.

With 540 degree kicks performing breaks, back flips, to impressive power breaking all the way to some self defence routines were some of the techniques used to entertain the crowds while Stephan Maritz explained to all present what was happening and the use there of. All in all the demonstrations were met with a lot of interest and enthusiasm and an awe inspired crowd that will start with Taekwon-Do soon.

Photos

ATC Reporter

5 years in a row of SA Champs victory for ATC!

On 2^nd and 3^rd August 2008, the Walter Sisulu Sports Hall in Randburg, Johannesburg played host to the largest SA-ITF Taekwon-Do Tournament of the year: The SA National Championships. Competitors came from as far away as Port Elizabeth, Cape Town and Zimbabwe to compete against the very best Taekwon-Do practitioners that Gauteng has to offer in Patterns, Sparring, Special Techniques, Power Breaking, Team events and Self-Defense. With over 280 participants arriving from all parts of the country to compete in what is notorious for being the toughest competition of the year, the ATC do-jangs prepared themselves for the onslaught. From the small, but superbly trained Stingers from Durban to the titanic clubs of Phoenix and Magua, we knew that we would have our work cut out for us over the next two days.

It can definitely be said that we did not disappoint. Over the two days that followed, ATC dominated events. From the epic, well-crafted self-defense routines to raw displays of strength and speed in sparring and power-breaking, blue Gauteng North tracksuits occupied the winner’s podium with startling regularity. When the final points had been tallied, ATC had won by over 60 points and also won the most medals a total of 57 (22 Gold, 28 Silver and 7 Bronze), making it the first club in the history of the SA-ITF to win the SA National Champs 5 years in a row. See below the SA Champs final results for 2008.

PLACE	CLUBS	OVERALL POINTS	MEDALS
			GOLD	SILVER	BRONSE
1	ATC	201	22	28	7
2	PHOENIX	144	19	11	16
3	JUNGSHIN & TONG IL	134	20	9	7
4	DIAS	122	16	10	12
5	GI BAEK	60	8	6	2
6	MAGUA	57	8	4	5
7	SIM WHA	44	3	9	2
8	YONGHI	27	3	3	3
9	VAAL	26	3	2	5
10	JUCHE	25	3	3	1
11	ZIMBABWE	22	2	3	3
12	ELEMENTS	21	2	2	5
13	PILSUNG	19	2	3	0
14	ZULU LAND	17	0	5	2
15	STINGERS	11	1	2	0
16	POTCHEFSTROOM	8	0	2	2

Patterns & Sparring results Photos

Mike Loubser

Gauteng North Provincial Tournament

On Saturday 14 June 2008 the 1^st Gauteng North ITF Taekwon-Do Tournament took place in Silverton, Pretoria. This important tournament marked the beginning of a new era in South African Taekwon-Do, bringing as it did a formal environment under which Gauteng North colours may be awarded. It may also go down in history as the quickest tournament ever conducted in the SA-ITF. The competition started at eight ‘o clock in the morning and by one ‘o clock, every single event had been conducted, from white belt patterns and sparring through to black belt power-breaking and special techniques. My understanding is that this was a demonstration of how an efficiently run tournament can be conducted painlessly and quickly and had nothing whatsoever to do with the fact that South Africa were playing against Australia in the Tri-Nations at two o’ clock.

The competition, though quick, was furiously contested as participants fought for the limited number of slots open on the Gauteng North Team (colours only being awarded to the top two competitors in each division). A total number of 44 ATC students received their Gauteng North Provincial Colours on the day. We congratulate all of them on this great achievement.

Mike Loubser

Karlien and Bobby selected for the 8^th Junior and 3^rd Veteran World Champs!

It’s with great excitement that we announce that 2 of our Black belts, Karlien Els (2^nd Degree) and Bobby Rizzo (1^st Degree), has been selected as part of the South Africa National Taekwon-Do team to participate in the 8^th Junior and 3^rd Veteran World Championships in Uzbekistan.

The tournament will be hosted in the capital city of Tashkent from 17 to 21 September 2008.

Karlien has been selected to participate in 2^nd Degree patterns, sparring under 52kg and special techniques for junior females. Bobby has been selected to participate in 1^st Degree patterns, sparring under 73kg and power breaking for veteran males (40-49 years). They will be accompanied by their coach and instructor Karel Wethmar.

We wish them all the best with the final months of preparation and best of luck to them and the rest of the Protea team at the tournament. Keep our country and club’s name high!

ATC Reporter

ATC black belts grade successfully!

Three black belts from the Acestes Taekwon-Do Clubs graded to their next level on Saturday 24 May 2008, under Master Kim Jong Su at the Northern Gauteng black belt grading, hosted at the ATC Silverton Dojang in Pretoria.

We are very proud to announce that they graded successfully:

Karel Wethmar (Chief Instructor) graded to 4^th Degree,
Manie Naudé graded to 2^nd Degree and
Karlien Els graded to 2^nd Degree.

Congratulations from all the ATC and Dan-Gun Federation students

Annari Wethmar

ATC Invitational Tournament

The 7^th Annual ATC Invitational tournament took place on Saturday 10 May 2008, at the Northern Gauteng Wrestling hall, Menlo Park, Pretoria. Over one hundred competitors from as far away as Zimbabwe came to participate in what has, in recent years, become one of the pinnacle Taekwon – Do events in South and Southern Africa.

Seven ‘o clock in the morning saw the hall swarming with activity as ATC students and instructors raced around putting up banners, setting up sparring rings and trying to figure out how the gas braai worked (which is still largely a mystery).

After the opening ceremony at 9 ‘o clock, the tournament began in earnest. The morning allowed spectators to witness the grace and powerful beauty of Taekwon – Do patterns, elegantly demonstrated by Taekwon – Doins ranging in rank from yellow stripe to advanced level black belt. In contrast, the afternoon bore witness to some furiously competitive sparring, as the best clubs in the country matched their skills against one another.

In spite of the incredible aggressive spirit portrayed by all members of the participating clubs, an extremely high level of fair play was displayed as well, with winners and losers alike smiling broadly as they walked from the field of battle, most pausing to congratulate their opponents on their performance and applauding the presentation of medals to participants from rival clubs.

All in all, the tournament was extremely successful, with the tenets of Taekwon – Do (courtesy, integrity, perseverance, self-control and indomitable spirit) being shown in abundance by all who were present, ensuring that the ATC Invitational will continue to be a much-loved and integral part of the SA-ITF calendar for many years to come.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank our main sponsors, Millenium Minolta, for sponsoring the medals and water bottles for each participant on the day. Also a special word of thanks to all the students, black belts and families that helped on the day with refereeing, umpiring, corner judging, working in the tuck shop and assisting at the tables. Without all of your help the day would not have been as successful as it was!

Hope to see you all at next year’s 7^th ATC Invitational Tournament, scheduled for May 2009.

Michael Loubser

SCOREBOARD
Club name	Points
Acestes (ATC)	142
Jungshin (JUN)	70
Dias (DTC)	65
Magua (MTC)	32
Sim Wha (SWT)	17
Pil Sung (PST)	13
Zimbabwe (ZIM)	13
Juche (JTC)	11
Vaal River (VRT)	6
Yong-Hi (YTC)	3
Total	372

FLOATING TROPHY WINNERS
Division	Gender	Name and club
Veterans	Male	Ben Grove (Pil Sung)
	Female	Lauralyn Purchase (ATC)

Senior	Male	Mike Loubser (ATC)
	Female	Chantelle van der Merwe (Jungshin)

Junior	Male	Matthew Shatkovsky (ATC)
	Female	Karlien Els (ATC)

Tigers	Male	Tony Campos (Dias)
	Female	Katje Rodrigues (Dias)

Patterns & Sparring results Photos

TSA Tournament 2008

The TSA Tournament for 2008 took place on 12 and 13 April, at the Vodacom Mandeville Indoor Sport Centre in Johannesburg. With four clubs from four different Taekwon-Do styles, ATC - ITF(Chang Ung), Magua - ITF(Choi Jung Hwa), Franks - GTF and WTTU entering the tournament, it was set to be an exciting one. After a warm welcome from Norman Magua the tournament host, the tournament began, running efficiently and effectively. The tournament consisted of four events: patterns and sparring on Saturday and power breaking and special techniques on Sunday.

Many things varied in this tournament in comparison to others. Despite the differences in the events themselves, students walked around in an interesting variety of doboks and belts. The patterns were one of the most fascinating and entertaining events to watch and participate in as the styles varied greatly between the clubs. The numbers depleted significantly on Sunday as only the brave survived for power breaking and special techniques – in addition to the fact that some of the clubs don’t offer these events. A definite highlight was Milandi Coetzer from ATC, as the smallest and youngest girl in her division, taking gold for power breaking – along with her achievements in patterns, sparring and special techniques. The vibe and atmosphere of the whole weekend was lively and high-spirited and it was fantastic for everyone to experience a different challenge.

Claudia Hauter

Photos

ATC Camp 2008

The ATC camp for 2008 was held in the Waterberge (mountains), near Nylstroom at the Bayete Adventure School. From Friday 28 March to Sunday 30 March a hectic programme of training, playing games, fitness, a skid play and the odd obstacle course had to be worked through.

On Friday afternoon the group of 33 students was divided into five groups that would participate against one another over the course of the weekend in various activities. The touch rugby match of 2 hours started and everyone enjoyed thoroughly. After dinner a lecture was given by Karel Wethmar (Chief Instructor) about General Choi Hong Hi’s life and his accomplishments, followed by a lecture from Chris van der Merwe (Instructor) on Moral culture. The evening was topped of with a video session filled with music videos and photos of ATC activities since 2003.

Saturday started with some intense Taekwon-Do training, sparring training and 3 legged sparring with a partner. This training was followed with egg throwing, some “Boere”-sports, swimming, a cricket match or 2, the challenging obstacle course (in the mud, through the mud and with the mud) and further training for the skid play to take place on the Sunday.

On Sunday training started at 6h00 with hand and foot techniques with Josua Oosthuizen (Assistant Instructor), and patterns training with Karel. After breakfast the groups were locked in a battle on the “literia”-course and this was followed with some “Foefie”-sliding over the dam. Some students enjoyed the 12m high jump into the dam, whilst the rest enjoyed the reactions of the jumpers. At 14h00 the skid play took place and the camp was ended of on a high note, with a prize giving ceremony handing out the camp attendance certificates.

We would like to thank Annari Wethmar (Chief Instructor) for organizing this great event!

ATC Reporter

Photos

7^th ATC Invitational Tournament

Do you have what it takes?

Once again Ascestes Taekwon-do Clubs (ATC) has the pleasure of inviting you to participate in the Annual ATC Invitational Tournament. The tournament is in its seventh year and with participants coming from near and far it promises to be a day of intense competition filled with fun for the whole family.

The competition will take place on Saturday 10 May 2008 in the Northern Gauteng Wrestling Hall in Pretoria, and participants will be able to compete in both patterns and sparring. There will be a prize giving ceremony at the end of the day to honour the winners in all divisions.

Do you have the courage to test yourself against the best possible competition at your belt level and in your age category? If you have what it takes register today, and take advantage of ATC’s early registration fee.

Detailed information on the tournament’s location, rules and registration procedures can be found in the complete invitation.
Download Invitation

ATC Events Committee

2008 Valentines class

We all enjoy having an excuse to celebrate and throw a party and Valentine’s Day is one of those days in the year that gives us an excuse to do just that. ATC is no exception and uses the celebratory day as an excuse for a class with a little bit of a difference. The first significant change is to our doboks, exchanging our belts and tops for red shirts and adorning our hair and bodies with red ribbons, make-up and the like.
Of course, recognition and acknowledgment has to be given to those who put in that little bit of added effort and Janet Loubser, sashaying in to class with her red cape and Valentine’s accessories took top honours for “Best Dressed”.
The class was then divided into five teams, who each had their own special team names and war cries. The teams were: Krokkewanjastruisvoëls, Super Moose, The Reds, Love Bugs and Reflex.
The games and activities deviated from our normal training somewhat as it involved relays, knocking over coke bottles and shooting targets with Boosabum Karel and Annari Wethmar’s state-of-the-art weaponry. Reflex were the overall winners, but there were plenty of prizes for everyone. Chocolates and sweets literally rained downed on the class, as Boosabum Karel repeatedly managed to trip over the flat floor and always happened to be holding teeth-rotting, sugared delights in his hands. Overall, it was a great class filled with lots of laughter and sugar highs.

Photos

ATC Events Committee

Self Defence training with Strategem instructor

On the 2^nd and 3^rd of February 2008, Karel Wethmar and his wife Annari Wethmar (Chief Instructors from the Acestes Taekwon-Do Clubs (ATC)), organized an intensive and well structured extracurricular seminar on the basics of the statistically most effective self-defence techniques taught by Sean Cremer (3^rd Degree Taekwon-Do Instructor and Qualified Strategem Instructor) and Grant Lilly (2^nd Degree Taekwon-Do Instructor and Strategem Instructor), with the purpose of expanding the self defence repertoire of the attendees and coming close to grasping the importance of knowing both the theory and the practical side of close combat.

During the full 10 hours of intense training over 1 ½ days, the students that attended knowingly went through the series of drills, locks, and falls that were on hand, attentively listened to the theory of this specialty of fighting, and happily suffered the multiple bruises and sore muscles that would result from the training. The topics covered went from hand to hand close combat to using different weapons, both traditional and modern. Some of the weapons used in the exercises were: gun, knife, short stick, and others. Some of the techniques employed in the fighting exercises belong to different martial arts such as Jiu-jitsu, Judo and other grappling styles.

In conclusion, many thanks go to Karel, Annari, Sean and Grant to all the effort put forth in the organizing and bringing to pass the seminar. Truly it was an eye opener to the various forms of fighting available and awareness of how important it is to have a well rounded training program that covers all the different scenarios that could arise during a confrontation. Having the privilege of learning these extra techniques is truly something not to be missed on purpose, and makes the ATC dojang, Karel and Annari teaches in, a worthy place where we are assured we will not only get some of the best training in the country as far as ITF Taekwon-Do, but a myriad of other techniques that are very useful, precise, practical and even fun. Thanks Karel and Annari!

Photos

Sam Caumons-Smith

End-of-Year Function

Superman, She-Ra and Shrek – amongst many others – all made an appearance at the ATC End-of-Year Function on 1 December 2007. The aim of the evening’s theme was to dress up as anything beginning with the letter ‘s’ (Afrikaans or English). Everyone tapped into their creative juices to come up with some innovative ideas, which resulted in a colourful collection of characters.

The evening was filled with good food and lots of music and, of course, the awards ceremony. Jolan Botha, Michael Loubser, Jan Bezuidenhout, Gustav Gous and Arnu Nepgen were the recipients of the tenet trophies. They received acknowledgement for courtesy, integrity, perseverance, self-control and indomitable spirit, respectively. Danniell Botes walked away with the trophy for “Best Improvement” and Karine Roux was awarded the title of “Most Promising Student”. As well as being the “Junior of the Year”, Milandi Coetzer was named the “Achiever of the Year” and “Black Belt of the Year” went to Manie Naude.

For a complete list of all the winners, please consult the roll of honour. Altogether it was a fun and busy evening that celebrated an exciting and successful year for ATC and ushered in the start of what promises to be an even greater year.

Photos

Claudia Hauter

ATC demonstration team in Lydenburg

On Saturday, 27 October 2007, Acestes Taekwon-Do Clubs (ATC), took part in the Taekwon-Do demonstration in Lydenburg, Mpumalanga.

The demo formed part of the activities that took place at the Kwena Fest in Lydenburg over the weekend of 26-28 October 2007, and was arranged by Boosabum nim Willem Kok, Chief instructor of the Hwa Rang Taekwon-Do Clubs. He will be opening his new Lydenburg dojang early January 2008 at Hoërskool Lydenburg.

After a 3 hour drive from Pretoria to Lydenburg, the roof tiles and pine wood was setup as planned and the 15 male/female ATC demo team warmed up in preparation for the demo, on a cold and gloomy day. With no time to relax the demo started, wood and roof tile pieces started flying. People were flying through the air in different ways, as the students from ATC demonstrated self defense, patterns, power breaking, sparring and special techniques.

As usual this was great fun and the demo team is looking forward to their next event!

Photos

ATC Reporter

1^st Dan-Gun Invitational Tournament, 2007

On Saturday, 6 October 2007, the instructors from ATC hosted the 1^st Dan-Gun Invitational Tournament at the North Gauteng Wrestling Hall in Menlo Park, Pretoria. Even though there was a power failure (power shedding) in Menlo Park, Pretoria, half way through the tournament, the tournament finished as planned.

With students from the Vaal River Tigers, Hwa Rang dojang (Vaal), Potchefstroom, Juche in Pretoria, Dias Taekwon-Do and ATC from Cullinan and Pretoria, participating in the tournament, the tournament was very well attended and enjoyed by all. The 1^st Dan-Gun Tournament made provision for competition in Sparring, Patterns, Power Breaking and Special Techniques.

The 1^st Dan-Gun Invitational Tournament was a huge success and the instructors would like to take the opportunity to thank all the instructors and students that assisted with judging and refereeing through-out the day. Without all of you this day would not have been such a great day of Taekwon-Do fun!

Photos

ATC Reporter

SA Championships, 21 to 23 September 2007

Acestes Taekwon-Do Clubs (ATC) was the overall winner of the 2007 SA Champs, held in Randburg, Gauteng, with a total of 217 points. Jungshin Taekwon-Do Clubs from Johannesburg was closely second with 210 points.

This was the 4^th year in a row that the Acestes Taekwon-Do Clubs have won this prestigious award, by accumulating the most points at the National Championships.

All in all, the club managed to accumulate a total of 67 medals at the tournament, spread between 25 gold, 25 silver and 17 bronze medals.

The chief instructors of the club, Karel & Annari Wethmar said that they were very proud of their students’ great effort, and apart from everyone’s great achievements, the spirit was exceptional.

The final points standing were as follows:

SA CHAMPS SCOREBOARD
	Kwan (Clubs in federaion)	Points
1	Dan-Gun (ATC)	217
2	Kanghan Jashin (Jungshin)	210
3	Bul Sa Jo (Phoenix)	167
4	Choi Hong Hi (Yong-Hi, Elements and Gi-Beak)	165
5	Jung Do (Dias, Pil Seung)	156
6	Shim Duk (Vaal rivier, Hwa Rang)	74
7	In Nae (Sim Wha)	60
8	San (Stingers, Zululand )	54
9	Juche (Juche)	53
10	Zimbabwe	5
11	Soo Shim (Potchefstroom)	2
	TOTAL	1163

Click here for detailed results

Photos

ATC Reporter

1^st DAN-GUN Invitational Tournament

It is with great excitement that the Acestes Taekwon-Do Clubs invites you to the 1^st DAN-GUN Invitational Tournament on Saturday 6^th October 2007 at the Northern Gauteng Wrestle Hall.

The tournament will start with registration at 07h30, and will aim to start the prize giving at 16h00.

Enter before Wednesday 3 October 2007 and pay only R 40.00.
All registrations from Thursday 4 October will be R 50.00.

Events:

Sparring
Patterns
Power Breaking
Special Techniques

Please see the attached Invitation for details

ATC

ATC Black Belts Graded!

On Saturday 30 June 2007, 3 colour belt students from ATC graded to 1^st Degree black belt and 1 student to 3^rd Degree Black belt. They were graded by 7^th Degree Black belt, Master Kim Jong Su. It’s with great pleasure that we congratulate them in achieving this milestone!

Stephan Maritz graded to 3^rd Degree black belt, Jan Botha graded to 1^st Degree black belt, Jaco Botha graded to 1^st Degree black belt and Bernard Els graded to 1^st Degree black belt.

Congratulations, we’re all very proud of you!

ATC

6^th ATC Invitational Tournament, 2007

Once again it was that time of the year, for all Taekwon-Do students, and in some cases instructors, to engage in a competition of note!

The 6^th ATC Invitational Tournament took place on Saturday 12 May 2007 at the North Gauteng Wrestling Hall in Menlo Park, Pretoria. Students and instructors from as far Zimbabwe traveled to Pretoria to participate. The tournament was a great success and we would like to take this opportunity to thank Millennium Minolta for sponsoring the medals, trophies and water bottles that were handed out on the day at the tournament!

The result of the tournament was:

	Club	Points
1	Acestes Taekwon-Do Clubs	131
2	Dias Taekwon-Do Club	56
3	Hwa-Rang Taekwon-Do Club	44
4	Sim-Wha Ennerdale Taekwon-Do Club	18
5	Zimbabwe Taekwon-Do	14
6	Brinklow Taekwon-Do Clubs	9
7	Juche Taekwon-Do Club	5
8	Jungshin Taekwon-Do Club	5

Photos

15^th ITF Taekwon-Do Senior World Championships

The 15^th ITF Senior World Championships took place from 24 to 29 April 2007 in the beautiful town of Bled in the North Western part of Slovenia. With this town celebrating it’s 1000^th year birthday in 2004, the scenery was truly breath taking, with castles and buildings dating back as early as the 1^st century. Bled is well known for it’s fresh water lake with a church on an island in the lake, and the town is also surrounded by the Julian Alps!

With 72 countries present at the World Championships, the tournament was set to be very tough with a high standard of competition. Patterns, sparring, power breaking, special techniques and self defense routines were the divisions in which were participated.

Although the South African team did not win any medals, the experience brought back from this great event, is both beneficial to the future South African team members and current Taekwon-Do students.

From our club Jacques van Deventer participated in individual male sparring for weight division +85kg. He won the first round against USA and lost the second round to Bulgaria. Jacques also participated in the male team power breaking and did the team’s qualifier break with turning kick, which he broke successfully. Stephan Maritz and Jacques van Deventer were the 2 attackers for the South African Female Self Defense routine. Karel Wethmar participated in the individual male power breaking and qualified with turning kick, breaking the boards successfully. He ended 9^th overall.

With the next World Championships scheduled for St. Petersburg, Russia in 2009, the club’s black belts are already looking forward to the selections!

Photos

Something BIG is coming...

You can feel it in the air.

In big cities and small villages all over the world sparring gear is getting dusted down.
It's the 6^th Annual ATC Invitational Tournament and it's going to be a BIG one.

Join us on 12th May 2007 in Pretoria at the North Gauteng Wrestling Hall, Menlo Park. All ages and belt levels from yellow stripe up to and including 4^th Degree black belts are welcome to enter. Divisions in sparring and patterns will be contested on the day, with floating trophies to be awarded to the best male and female in the under 13 years, 14 to 17 years, 18 to 34 years and the 35 years and above categories. Gold, silver and bronze medals will be awarded to the winners of each category.

For more information contact the tournament organizers Karel and Annari Wethmar at +27 83 236 3545 or +27 83 231 2228 respectively, or via e-mail at info@atctaekwondo.co.za.

Entries close on 11 May.

BE PREPARED!

Click here for the Official Invitation

ANNUAL ATC INVITATIONAL TOURNAMENT

2007 World Championships, Bled, Slovenia

The 15^th ITF Taekwon-Do World Championships will be hosted in the city of Bled, Slovenia from 24 to 29 April 2007. It’s with great pleasure that we announce that 5 of our black belt members have been selected as part of the South African National Team to attend this prestigious event. The 5 members are:

Karel Wethmar (3^rd Degree – also team manager),
Annari Wethmar (3^rd Degree – female team captain),
Stephan Maritz (2^nd Degree),
Jacques van Deventer (1^st Degree).

We are very proud of you all and hope that you and the rest of the Protea team will do Taekwon-Do in South Africa and our country proud.

Valentines Day Class 2007

William Shakespeare said that “the course of true love never did run smooth”, which was certainly the case at the ATC’s Valentine’s Class on 13 February. Everyone got into the spirit of things by dressing according to the theme of the special day. People were decked out in red shirts and boxers, while others enthusiastically painted hearts on their faces. A competition was held for the best dressed and the deserving winner was Stefan Maritz, whose “crowning” glory was definitely the heart shaved into his hair.

After everyone had shown off their creations, four teams were formed: die Mieliestronke, the Mwah (evil laugh) team, die Bye en Blomme and Pertivis. Boosabums Karel and Annari Wethmar led everyone through an exciting class of games and war cries. There was much excitement and commotion as the games proceeded, particularly as teams amiably argued about who had won a specific round. The games included kicking balloons, skipping ropes and bouncing balls and allowed everyone to remain active, with fun and laughter remaining the ultimate goal.

The spirit remained high throughout the evening as the teams repeatedly sang their war cries, regardless of whether or not they had won. The upbeat mood was assisted by the constant supply of chocolates and sweets. It was altogether a successful and enjoyable evening, getting everyone into the right mood for the following day.

Claudia Hauter

ATC end of the year function

On Friday 24 November 2006, the ATC end of the year function took place at Rocky Ridge Estate, Pretoria North. The function took on the form of a theme, where everyone had to dress based on any theme as long as the theme started with the letter “A”. From Apache, Austin Powers and Asterix to Aragon and Arabella, from athlete, alien, Afrikaner, artist, Aspoestertjie (Afrikaans for Cinderella) to Audrey Hepburn, from Acestes to Alexandra, Queen of Russia, everyone went that extra mile to ensure that they were transformed into their selected theme on this evening. Prizes were handed out to 4 best dressed students.

After a short welcome and look back at the past year’s events in which ATC took part and the students excelled in, the function got under way. The year-end prize giving also formed part of this gala event. The club’s annual floating trophies were awarded to the victors (see details under “roll of honour”, and “annual awards”), and many a person was thanked for their great effort and contributions during the year. Without all of you this year would not have been so successful!

After the prize giving everyone enjoyed themselves with the braai that followed and the rest of the evening were enjoyed with a dance till late.

Photos
Karel Wethmar

Training Taekwon-Do and working in London, UK

The mention of the name London conjures up a myriad of different images: An old colonial power where people enjoy high tea at four a clock in the afternoon, a modern city where black is so last season and where black is the new black, a stuffy underground, black taxi’s, Big Ben standing sentinel over the Houses of Parliament, red busses…However, having spend almost three months in London, I realised that none of these stereotypes nearly match the reality and the privilege to work, live and train Taekwon-Do in the largest city in Europe.

The first thing one notice in London is the diversity of people and cultures that inhabit this magnificent city on the Thames. It seems to be the melting pot of cultures, communities and different ideas. Each day one is confronted with a new point of view, whether it is on politics or religion or morality and one quickly realised that respect for one another in such a diverse society is of the utmost importance.

I arrived in London carrying a huge suitcase of black clothing, eagerly anticipating a new experience. Using the internet I contacted a couple of ITF schools but only one of the instructors replied, Sabum Thomas Denis, 6^th degree and the ITF-England National Team Coach and ITF Instructor. He invited me to train at his two clubs in Docklands and in Pimlico, free of charge.

Read more...

Ronel Rust

New ATC black belts on the block!

3 Students from ATC were invited to attend the black belt grading under 7^th Degree, Master Kim Jong Su, on Saturday 11 November 2006. It’s with great joy that we announce that they have passed their grading!

Amoret Vermaak graded to 2^nd Degree black belt,
Manie Naude graded to 1^st Degree black belt and
Karlien Els graded to 1^st Degree black belt.

Congratulations, we’re all very proud of you!
ATC

4^th SA-ITF Gauteng Tournament

The 4^th SA-ITF Gauteng tournament was held on Saturday 4^th of November in Primrose, Johannesburg. Altough it is exam time the tournament was well supported by clubs and students from all over Pretoria, Johannesburg and the Vaal River. Well done to the ATC students that participated at the tournament.

Results:

	Clubs	Points
1	ATC	390
2	Elements	190
3	Dias Tkd	180
4	Jungshin	150
5	Vaal River	120
6	Yonghi	90
7	Pil Seung	40
	TOTAL	1160

Photos

ATC participate in 1^st United Taekwon-Do Tournament

The first ever United Taekwon-Do Tournament was held on 15 October 2006, in the Nelson Mandela Square, Sandton, Johannesburg.
3 Federations, namely the SA-ITF, TSA and GTF, participated against each other in a well organized and spirited tournament in Sandton. The ITF sparring rules and patterns as designed by General Choi Hong Hi governed the events on the day.

12 ATC students from all 3 dojangs, formed part of the SA-ITF team that took part in the event. A total of 14 medals were coupled in by the ATC students with 5 Gold, 4 Silver and 5 Bronze.

For more detailed results of participating ATC students,

Photos
Karel Wethmar

Chief instructor receives award at 2006 SA Champs!

We congratulate our chief instructor, Bsb Karel Wethmar, on receiving the Courtesy and Integrity award at the 2006 SA Champs.

The following was taken from the Sidekick for October 2006, as published by the SA-ITF:

“TENNETS AWARDS

For Courtesy and Integrity: Karel Wethmar whose patience and tolerance levels shot through the roof as many, many times called for exceptional understanding. For the odd joke and retelling of the rules – over and over. Boosabumnim Karel you have set a precedent for all to follow.” --The SideKick (www.taekwondo.co.za)

Thank you Bsb Karel, it is truly an honour to train under you. Acestes Taekwon-Do Clubs really appreciate your courtesy and integrity.

ATC

Thank you BlackApple!

ATC would like to take the opportunity to thank BlackApple IT Solutions for the financial sponsorship received, which was distributed equally to all participating ATC students at the 2006 SA Championships in Port Elizabeth.

Further we would like to thank BlackApple for the sponsorship of the caps.
All the ATC students stood out with their caps on!

Karel Wethmar

SA Championships, 22 to 25 September 2006

Acestes Taekwon-Do Clubs (ATC) was the overall winner of the 2006 SA Champs, held in Port Elizabeth, with a total of 201 points. Phoenix Taekwon-Do Clubs from Port Elizabeth got the closest with 197 points. Well done everyone, you all rock! We couldn’t have done it without our incredibly adorable and cute mascot Anel.

This was the 3^rd year in a row that the Acestes Taekwon-Do Clubs have won this prestigious award, by accumulating the most points at the National Championships.

All in all, the club managed to accumulate a total of 59 medals at the tournament, spread between 23 gold, 25 silver and 11 bronze medals.

Friday 22 September 2006
After an early morning of waking up, no wait a very early morning, and after a long drive, we all at last arrived safely in the gorgeous Port Elizabeth (PE). Of course some of our students had the luxury of flying a day earlier. I must admit, the road trip was great fun!

Read more... Photos

3^rd SA-ITF Gauteng Tournament

The 3^rd SA-ITF Gauteng tournament was held on Saturday 26^th of August in Primrose, Johannesburg. This tournament not only catered for individual patterns and sparring, but also for team events. The tournament was a great success!

Results:

	Clubs	Points
1	ATC	520
2	Jungshin	240
3	Dias Tkd	230
4	Sim Wha	130
5	Hwa Rang	90
6	Vaal River	60
7	Yonghi	50
	TOTAL	1320

2^nd SA-ITF Gauteng Tournament

The 2^nd SA-ITF Gauteng tournament was held on Saturday 5^th of August in Primrose, Johannesburg. ATC attended the tournament represented by all 3 dojangs, Cullinan, Elardus Park and Silverton. The monthly Gauteng Tournaments were the initiative of 7^th Degree Black belt, Master Kim Jong Su from DPR of Korea.

Results:

	Clubs	Points
1	ATC	480
2	Dias Tkd	230
3	Sim Wha	80
4	Yonghi	60
5	Jungshin	60
6	Pilseung	50
7	Juche	30
	TOTAL	990

ATC Interdojang Competition

Once again ATC decided to test strength against strength. On Saturday 22^nd July 2006, we held our second Interdo-jang Tournament. All ATC do-jangs (Silverton, Elardus Park and Cullinan) were present and ready to strut their stuff. Fun prevailed on the day as every competitor was given the chance to compete against one another, regardless age and gender or anything else. This provided for great entertainment and was a huge learning curve for all.

The competition included patterns, sparring and power breaking. Control in sparring played the most important role and off course patterns required and asked for the usual : concentration and the memory of an elephant. Fitness was also put to test – after doing your patterns for the 20^th time you also acquire a very different breath control, as there’s no more breath left, to control. The importance of conditioning was also quickly realized in power breaking as well and correct technique.

Afterwards we had a little social gathering and braai, and all could discuss the past day’s participation against one another.

All and all the competition was amazingly fun and everyone learned quite a lot on the day – my lesson : don’t wear a dobok that’s too big, when you accidentally step on your pants, it give new meaning to “side split”.

Can’t wait for the next Tournament!

Amoret Vermaak.

ATC attending the 2006 SA-ITF National Camp

The Annual SA-ITF National camp was held over the weekend of 28 to 30 April 2006, at the Sikelele Adventure village, close to Rustenburg in the North West province.

4 ATC students, Jan Botha, Ruard Joubert, Sean Young and Alta Roets attended the camp at the Sikele Adventure camp and the 2 chief instructors, Bsb Karel & Bsb Annari Wethmar as well as Bsb Chris van der Merwe, also attended the SA-ITF Annual General Meeting on the Sunday.

From good food to comfortable accommodation and awesome training with our Korean instructors, this was most definitely one of the best camps to date! The opportunity to train under Master Kim and Sabum Kim was great, with so much learning opportunities, and still so much to be learnt from them.

The camp primarily focused on techniques, patterns and sparring. Playing soccer and line sparring was, to name but a few, daily activities that made it a great camp. On the last day, while Jan was part of the senior grading under 7^th Degree Master Kim Jong Su, the rest of us were kept busy with some fitness training. This was also a great opportunity to get to know students better from the other clubs in the SA-ITF. Looking forward to the next one!

Alta Roets

The day to dread or love changed into something new!

The 14^th of February is just one of those days……you either love it or you hate it. However thanks to the intuitive thinking of two rather extraordinary individuals everyone in the Acestes Taekwondo Clubs looked forward to a great Valentine’s Day. As the second Valentine’s Class held by Acestes we proved that Martial Arts isn’t all about fighting and we had quite a large turnout from all three dojangs (Elarduspark, Silverton, Cullinan).

The two individuals spoken of earlier are the instructors (Bsb nim Karel and Annari Wethmar). Rather than spending a quiet evening spoiling each other rotten they gave a Taekwondo class and spoiled us rotten! Now that is quite a combination even the ladies have to agree is good thinking: you get to eat sweets while burning it all off at the same time! Now that is what I call thinking outside the box!

To start off we had a fashion show to decide who had the best attitude as well as being best dressed. The winner was picked by the panel of federation heads. Once the fashion show was finished we could get started with the class…..

We were divided into 5 groups where we had to pick a group name and a warrior cry befitting our name! This proved to be the corner stone of all the energy and team spirit felt by each and every one of us! The rules were given and we immediately started to look for shortcuts and easy ways of defeating the other teams. With each game we played the spirit grew and it built relationships between the new the old close by and faraway students.

We went home not winners or losers but richer for the experience and loved by all whom participated as well as those who judged. May this tradition continue and make Valentine’s day that much more exciting EVERY YEAR!!!!!

Stephan Maritz

2005 World Championships, Caloundra, Queensland, Australia

The 14^th ITF Taekwon-Do World Championships were held in Caloundra, Queensland, Australia from 9 to 14 July 2005. The South African team attended this prestigious event together with the SA-ITF National coach, 7^th Degree Master Kim Jong Su from DPRK.

From the Acestes Taekwon-Do Clubs (ATC) we had 6 students on the 16 member Protea team. They were the following:

Karel Wethmar (3^rd Degree),
Annari Wethmar (3^rd Degree – Female team captain),
Josua Oosthuizen (2^nd Degree),
Amoret Vermaak (1^st Degree),
Elsa Botha (1^st Degree),
Jacques van Deventer (1^st Degree).

Annari Wethmar was selected as the female team captain. Karel Wethmar was selected as the SA-ITF National Team Manager. Chris van der Merwe, also from ATC, represented the SA-ITF at the International Congress, held during the World Championships.

Although no medals were won by the team, a few 4^th places were achieved at this World Champs. Unbelievable experience was brought back to South Africa and especially to our club and students.

Without a doubt the clubs’ black belt members are looking forward to next selection tournaments to possibly be able to make it back onto the National Protea team for the next World Champs, scheduled for April 2007 in Slovenia.

Karel Wethmar

DOES BEETHOVEN REALLY ROCK?

That was the question on everybody’s lips the Thursday evening on the 24^th of February at the Barnyard Theatre in Menlyn Shopping Centre. Two weeks before the big night, all of the Acestes Taekwon-Do students sweat blood to sell the tickets in order to raise funds for our students who would be chosen to represent South Africa in Australia, at the 14^th Taekwon-Do World Championships in July.

The big night finally arrived and the hall was packed, people just kept streaming in. Of course as we all know, people who participate in sport eat quite a bit, but people who participate in Taekwon-Do eat ALOT. The smell of pizza, pasta, hamburgers etc, filled the air as you entered the great hall. Naturally, here and there you could see a beer, cider or a glass of wine being lifted as a toast – OK, more than here and there.

Every student’s family was there to share in the experience. Thanks mom and dad, we deeply appreciate it, after all, you did pay for the tickets.

Overall the whole evening was a blast and a huge success. We made some profit, which will be divided equally between our ATC students who were chosen to go to Australia…thank goodness – down under is quite expensive. The seller of the most tickets was Vanessa Botha, we all of course know how she did it… flirting is after all an art.

Thank you to all the ATC students who took time and effort to sell the Barnyard tickets as well as a special thanks to Vanessa Botha for organizing the whole evening and to Annette Botha for helping with the arrangements.

All and all, at the end of the evening a consensus was reached that Beethoven did actually rock and that too much wine is never good.

Amoret Vermaak

CUPIDS IN TRAINING

On the 14^th February 2005, Acestes Taekwon-Do Clubs decided to train in an unusual way, with unusual characters. Cupids, ballerinas in bright red tutus, Casanova’s, Big spongy hearts and too much more to mention, all attended the special guidance, towards …becoming a true Valentine. This was not to be missed; of course we had some incentives… sweets!

We organized ourselves into groups of about seven. This in itself was one big challenge. After every group had chosen a name, we commenced our Valentines boot camp training. I of course realized why I do Taekwon-Do and will never play soccer, and many others also came to the revelation that cheating is not ALL that bad, after all – sweets are worth cheating for.

We all had such great fun, playing games and training at the same time. We still don’t really know who won that evening, but who really cares… we all got chocolates and fun out of it.

Thanks to our funky instructors for making it happen. Team spirit was so high that evening, that we all really almost did have wings.

Amoret Vermaak

ViVisitors since 2006:

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6th Annual Friendship Games

Gauteng North Tournament 2014

1st Byongae Tournament 2014

13th Annual ATC Invitational Tournament Results

ATC at the Warrior Race - February 2014

ATC Holiday Photo Competition 2013

2013 ATC Year-end function

Last grading for 2013

Taekwon-Do demo for MENSA

2013 ATC Open Tournament

4th CHR Championships September 2013

Umpire Seminar

ATC win gold medals at the 3rd Friendship Games

UITF World Champs Results

5 of ATC selected for SA National Team

12th Annual ATC Invitational Tournament Results

2013 Chang Hon Ryu Championship

12th Annual ATC Invitational Tournament

ATC Holiday Photo Competition 2012

ATC students perform at SA Champs

Bobby and Arnu’s World Champs results!

ATC students to go to 2012 World Championships

Isabel and Susan receive their black belt certificates!

ATC instructors hosts seminar and grading in Lydenburg

Gustav, Mike, Carl grade to 2nd Dan

11th Annual ATC Invitational Tournament

11th Annual ATC Invitational Tournament

2011 ATC Yearend Function

Carl and Michael receive their black belt certificates!

Kids Taekwon-Do for 2011!

1st Veritas Tournament

ATC instructors hosts seminar in Vanderbijlpark

SA-ITF Closed Championships 2011

Happy Birthday Sbm Karel (July 20)

10th Annual ATC Invitational Tournament

ATC Cullinan re-opens

Seminar in Thabazimbi

10th ATC Tournament

ATC perform at the 2011 SA-ITF Autumn Tournament

2nd Gauteng North ITF Taekwon-Do Championships

1st ITF Seminar in Northam

1st Tong-il innovation Tournament

Taekwon-Do Kids!

Sanko Lewis hosts class

Robertson Seminar January 2011

ROBERTSON

ATC in Antarctica

ATC Year-end function and prize giving for 2010

SA-ITF Annual awards 2010

Black belt and colour belt grading

SA Championships 2010

Bobby wins 2 medals at the 2010 Junior and Veteran World Championships

ATC students to go to 2010 World Championships

Spur evening held on 17 June 2010

Black belt and colour belt grading

Black belt certificate for Gustav!

ATC Spur evening 13 May 2010

ATC senior black belts get married

9th ATC Tournament

ATC attends SA-ITF National Camp

ATC Spur evening a huge success

ATC Spur evening

Students perform well at the TSA tournament

ATC participated in All styles tournament

Black belt certificate for Isabel!

Annari promoted to Co-Federation head of the Dan-Gun Kwan

1st Colour belt grading for 2010

ATC perform at the 13th SA-ITF Gauteng Open Tournament

Congratulations to Jaco!

9th ATC Invitational Tournament

Sanko Lewis visits ATC dojang for training

ATC Prize giving for 2009

Dan-Gun Kwan colour belt grading

Annari graded to 4th degree black belt!

Jaco 5th in power breaking at World Champs!

Well done Gustav!

SA Championships, 24 to 27 September 2009

Jaco Botha to attend World Championships

6^th Annual Friendship Games

1^st Byongae Tournament 2014

13^th Annual ATC Invitational Tournament Results

4^th CHR Championships September 2013

ATC win gold medals at the 3^rd Friendship Games

12^th Annual ATC Invitational Tournament Results

12^th Annual ATC Invitational Tournament

Gustav, Mike, Carl grade to 2^nd Dan

11^th Annual ATC Invitational Tournament

11^th Annual ATC Invitational Tournament

1^st Veritas Tournament

10^th Annual ATC Invitational Tournament

10^th ATC Tournament

2^nd Gauteng North ITF Taekwon-Do Championships

1^st ITF Seminar in Northam

9^th ATC Tournament

1^st Colour belt grading for 2010

9^th ATC Invitational Tournament

Annari graded to 4^th degree black belt!

Jaco 5^th in power breaking at World Champs!

8^th ATC Invitational Tournament, Pretoria

The 7^th ATC Invitational Tournament

ATC students perform at the 1^st Taekwon-Do Africa Open Tournament

Karlien and Bobby selected for the 8^th Junior and 3^rd Veteran World Champs!

7^th ATC Invitational Tournament

1^st Dan-Gun Invitational Tournament, 2007

1^st DAN-GUN Invitational Tournament

6^th ATC Invitational Tournament, 2007

15^th ITF Taekwon-Do Senior World Championships

4^th SA-ITF Gauteng Tournament

ATC participate in 1^st United Taekwon-Do Tournament

3^rd SA-ITF Gauteng Tournament

2^nd SA-ITF Gauteng Tournament