Worldwide Tang Soo Do Family
2nd Biennial All Tang Soo Do "World" Championships
by Grandmaster Charles Ferraro
Founder - Tang Soo Do Mi Guk Kwan Association
Co-Founder - Worldwide Tang Soo Do Family

How can you beat Orlando's Disney World when it comes to holding a Tang Soo Do World Championship? Actually, you can't...at least that is what many of the 450 international competitors who hailed from 11 different countries believed when they traveled from as far away as South Africa to compete in the 2nd Biennial All Tang Soo Do "World" Championships.

The event was held at the Disney's beautiful Contemporary Resort on August 11-13, 2011 and featured martial artists from eleven countries - England, Scotland, Ireland, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, South Africa, Canada, Chile, Greece and the USA. "When I saw all those people in the black sweat suits that said South Africa coming down the escalator I knew that this was the real thing." - Mike McGinnis, Shelton, CT.

In addition to the 450 competitors, there were 160 Master Instructors (Kodanja), as well as six Tang Soo Do Grandmasters who were in attendance. Kwan Jhang Nim Darryl Khalid, Phoenix, Arizona stated, "I have never seen so many Kodanja members at a championship in all my years of going to these events." The attending Grandmasters included:

Kwan Jhang Nim Andy Ah Po - Sacramento, CA - USA
Kwan Jhang Nim Theo Salm - Rotterdam, Netherlands
Kwan Jhang Nim Charles Ferraro - West Haven, CT - USA
Kwan Jhang Nim Darryl Khalid - Phoenix, AZ - USA
Kwan Jhang Nim Domenic Giacobbe - Pine Hill, NJ - USA
Kwan Jhang Nim Eddie Jacobsen - Gauteng, South Africa

The Championship began on Thursday, August 11 with a complimentary breakfast for Masters and studio owners. It was
a great way to break the ice and for people to reacquaint themselves with old friends and to introduce themselves to
new ones. A meeting of the Worldwide Tang Soo Do Family (WWTSDF) followed. The WWTSDF is an non-political umbrella organization which provides a format for Tang Soo Do organizations from all over the world to come together for championships and clinics for the purpose of improving the understanding of the Tang Soo Do art form and for improving international human relations.

In addition to discussing the purpose and history of the organization, possible locations for the 2013 event were also mentioned. The potential locations include: London, Paris, Rotterdam, Madrid and Rome. Co-founders Kwan Jhang Nim Theo Salm and Kwan Jhang Nim Charles Ferraro took turns welcoming guests and discussing the meeting's agenda. Kwan Jhang Nim Ferraro remarked, "With the unbelievable growth we have experienced since the creation of the Worldwide Tang Soo Do Family just two years ago in March of 2009, it wouldn't surprise me to see 20 countries and over a 1,000 competitors at the next event in Europe. Kwan Jhang Nim Salm and I set out two years ago to create a legacy that will live on long after we are gone and judging from what I see here this year, we have succeeded well beyond our expectations."

Following the meeting, over 200 participants attended special clinics taught by Grandmaster Andy Ah Po, Grandmaster Darryl Khalid and Grandmaster Charles Ferraro. Members were divided into three groups which rotated through each Grandmaster. Each session was one hour and fifteen minutes in duration. The clinics were followed by a judges' clinic which was extremely important in making sure that even though the officials came from various parts of the world, that the understanding and implementation of the rules would be standardized.

Friday morning, August 12th began with a parade of nations that was both unique and emotional. Each nation's Kodanja marched into the ballroom to music that was hand selected for its importance to each country and carrying their national flag. Once in the ballroom they took their place in front of the contingency that represented their country. "Watching each country march in and the spirit displayed by the audience was one of the most inspiring things I have ever witnessed...it really set the tone for the event" - Sa Bom Nim John McGuiness, Stamford, CT. Everyone in attendance was then treated to the singing of the USA's national anthem by Kwan Jhang Nim Ah Po and Sa Bom Nim Omar Yacoub.

After the Kwan Jhangs were seated at the head table, Sa Bom Nim Joseph DeVita, Greenwich, CT and Sa Bom Nim John McGuiness, Stamford, CT demonstrated a combination of Chil Sung Hyung and 88 movement two man Tai Chi that was absolutely flawless. Mr. Gabriele Binette from Canada remarked, "I couldn't take my eyes of them, it was beautiful." 

Friday's competition centered around weapons and forms. The events were individual weapons, individual forms and team forms. The individual competitors were placed into divisions based on their rank, age and gender. The International Team Form event was comprised of teams of 3 or 4 members, 1st Dan through 3rd Dan. Team Netherlands took the gold medal while the USA Team from Shelton, CT took the silver medal and the South African teams took 3rd and 4th place. The following is a list of those competitors who won gold, silver or bronze medals:

In the Kodanja and Dan divisions, overall Grand Championships were awarded by run-off competitions between all the division winners in weapons and forms. The following is a list of those individuals who won Grand Championship awards in these categories:

Friday's events concluded with all remaining competitors competing in individual forms and weapons. Competitors were again separated into divisions according to their age, rank and gender with each division awarding gold, silver and bronze medals.

See list at bottom of page for the medal winners in the individual competition
             
Saturday morning began the same as the previous morning...the parade of nations, a few speeches and then a superb demonstration of self-defense by Sa Bom Nim George Klinedinst and Sa Bom Nim Steve Kearns from Pennsylvania. Immediately following, the audience was treated to one of the most enjoyable events of the championship, the Dojang Demonstration Team event. This was the first time this event was included in the Championship and it was pure entertainment as evidenced by how much the crowd was really into it. Here are the winning Dojang Teams:

The balance of Saturday's competition was focused strictly on sparring as all divisions from white belt through Master competed in individual sparring events. In addition, the championship featured both National and International Team Sparring for both men and women. These events are a perennial crowd pleaser and this year did not disappoint as the level of competition was some of the finest ever seen.

National Team Competition featured teams comprised of 4 men and 1 woman. Each competitor had to hold at least a 1st Dan but couldn't be higher than 3rd Dan. The winning teams were as follows:

The International Team Sparring events were also broken down by gender. Each International Men's Team was comprised of 5 men, each of whom had to be at least a 1st Dan but this time Masters were allowed to participate. Each International Women's Team was comprised of 3 women, with the same rank guidelines as the men's team. Needless to say, these events were off the charts exciting as the room filled with chants such as: USA...USA...USA... or, RSA...RSA...RSA or, UK....UK....UK. It was flat out fan crazy. The exceptionally high quality of the competitors just added to the excitement.

The Women's International Team Sparring winners were:

The Men's International Team Sparring finals pitted the two teams from the USA, Team Blue and Team Red. The results were:

Sparring Grand Championships were awarded by run-off competitions between the Dan division winners. The Grand Championships went to:

Saturday's competition finished off with all remaining competitors competing in individual sparring events, separated into divisions according to their age, rank and gender.

See list at bottom of page for the medal winners in the individual competition

The Championship concluded with an awards banquet on Saturday evening that was attended by over 400 participants. There was fine dining, music provided by DJ Master Dave Cox, concluding speeches and a series of awards presentations. Highlighting the awards given were the Tang Soo Do Mi Guk Kwan Hall of Fame awards. Each year the TSDMGK inducts three or four individuals into its Tang Soo Do Hall of Fame. This year the following individuals were inducted: Kwan Jhang Nim Theo Salm, Rotterdam, Netherlands; Sa Bom Nim Peter Oien, Greensboro, North Carolina; Sa Bom Nim Paul Carty, West Haven, CT; Sa Bom Nim Anthony Manchisi, West Haven, CT.

And if all that excitement was not enough, this 2nd Biennial All Tang Soo Do World Championships became a truly "World" event through the pioneering of some new technology. The entire tournament was broadcast live, as seen from two of the ten available rings. The webcast page garnered over 8,000 hits from worldwide viewers and had live scrolling conversations in five languages running alongside. So it is safe to say that this Championship had more "live spectators" than any other event in Tang Soo Do's 65 year history!
 

Home | Schools | Organizations | Reference | Events Calendar | Who's Who | Meet The Masters
Articles | Gallery | News Archive | Anniversaries | Products | Testimonials | About Us | Contact Us | Submit Info

© 2007 Copyright Tang Soo Do World.  All Rights Reserved