Photos of the course and action shots
on the beach
Below are the email updates sent back as the course happened.
Monday 12th:
Mr's Paul McPhail (VI dan), Gray Patterson (IV) and Mark Banicevich (IV
- bright shining new :) ) fly out for the sunny climes of Jamaica.
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Wednesday 14th: Hi from Jamaica - from Mr Paul McPhail
(VI)
Irie Mon!
Mark, Gray and I have arrived in Jamaica - after a short stop over at
Universal Studios - which unfortunately was mainly closed - and it rained...lots.
Anyway - back on the plane and have now arrived at our Hotel which is
great. Our room rate includes all food and drinks (not that we would drink)
so it should be fun.
We were welcomed at the airport by a very friendly chap who offered
to sell us some ganja...even before we cleared customs, mon.
We are booked in for a full Swedish massage at 2 pm so must fly mon.
Paul, Gray and Mark from Jamaica.
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Thursday 15th: Getting over the jetlag - from Mr Mark
Banicevich (IV)
Irie mon
Bin chekin out de mod slides by de pool, mon. Irie!
Things are going well here. We stayed up all day yesterday - falling
asleep by the time we went to bed around 8pm, and slept until 10:30am!
Feeling great now.
Had a late breakfast, checked out the seminar venue and bumped into one
of the guys from Switzerland. Daniel; recognised him because he was one
of the Swiss coaches.
Good times.
All begins 8pm tonight. I think there is a senior grading - apparently
Ryan Rampair is going for fourth.
Must go. De mod slides be callin, mon.
Av a great time at ome.
Paul, Gray and the other one.
PS. Almost got Moon Moo. One more day.
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Friday 16th: Exalted personages - from Mr Gray Patterson
(IV)
Waddup.
After sending yesterday's chapter, we soon after met the General and
Grandmaster Park in the lobby - they were just checking in. We went and
introduced ourselves, but no introduction to the General was required
for our very own "McPhail". The General proceeded to introduce
him to Grandmaster Park: "McPhail, New Zealand, Taekwon- Do technician".
How about that!!
Following a few mudslides yesterday afternoon we attempted a photo shoot
on the beach - check out the attachments to follow. (Ed: this evening.....)
Grading last night was taken by General Choi and Grandmaster Park Joong
Soo - the General demonstrating how he would like to see gradings performed.
There were eleven applicants - 6 going for fourth dan, 4 going for fifth
dan and 1 going for sixth dan. All passed the one-and-a-half hour grading.
First day of the course today. It's lunchtime now, and we are up to
Saju-Makgi.
Hot goss - Mr McP was standing in line this morning when the General
requested a special meeting with him. They have just met.....
(Ed: we await some hint from our emmissaries on the mysterious meeting
:)
See ya real soon...
Gray & the Lads.
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Sunday 18th - The Missing Update - from Mr Mark Banicevich
(IV)
Hello New Zealand (and others visiting our site)
Why no update yesterday? Well, I wrote a great, detailed email, hit send,
and then had a visit from the BG fairy: 'Illegal operation'. And unfortunately
we did not have time to retype it all.
Today I will copy the email to the clipboard before I send.
Where did we leave you? Lunchtime the day before yesterday.
That afternoon we made it up to Yul Gok. After the General saw Panther
Patterson's patterns, the General had Gray up to demonstrate every pattern
from Dan Gun.
Of course, Mr McPhail was not left on the side. "Mr McPhail. Demonstrate
pattern Yul Gok." (In yesterday's email I add libbed a bit at the
end of that quote, but the Boss won't let me repeat that.)
I was the lucky punter the General picked apart for Do San, so I picked
up (or relearned) a couple of pointers.
After the seminar finished the first day, it was off to the pool with
Sen~or Riccardo Talero, his wife Marta Lucia and daughter Ondrea from
Columbia. After half a dozen quiets in the pool we met them again for
dinner at la playa (the beach). We were entertained by a local cultural
group, including a contortionist and some extreme limbo. (Seriously, many
people here would not have fit under the bar, let alone limbo under it.
It rested upon 500ml soda bottles! And the bar was afire.)
After dinner and dancing (Panther pulled up with the Columbians for the
Conga), we finally hit the sack at 12cm. (That's for you, Matt.)
Yesterday morning we rose at a hearty 7:15am (so early for Mr McPhail)
and into the seminar. Day two we got as far as Hwa Rang. The General now
remembers Graham's name. "Graham, demonstrate Joong Gun tul."
"Graham, demonstrate Toi Gye tul." (He did get a rest for Choong
Moo and Ge Baek today.)
We will consolidate our notes on the plane on the way home to share the
insights from the seminar.
Last night we again met up with Familia Talero at the pool, and then
for dinner - this time at the Italian restaurant. After they piked (remember
"piked" Riccardo!) we hit the discoteque on site. (Did you know
that this is Mr McPhail's birthday present. Can you guess which birthday?)
We called it a night around 1am. I think we are getting our money's worth
out of the all inclusive price (pool facilities, dinner, and the like,
of course).
This morning we have made it as far as Ge Baek. We have some questions
to ask after lunch. Tonight is the official dinner, and this will probably
be our last email. We have to leave here at 6am tomorrow, and we would
get up to send you an email, but the business centre does not open until
9am.
We have had some excitement this morning. General Choi, at 83 years old,
demonstrates press ups to condition fists and strengthen wrists. He performs
five or six. I wish the kids at our club had push ups that good. Oh, and
many of the adults. It was incredible; inspirational!
We are also hoping for a good photo of his high twisting kick. Not as
good as I saw him do a few years ago to Mr Lowe's face, but still better
than mine. (Mine needs work. I hope he doesn't pull me up for Moon Moo!)
Mr McPhail was pulled up to perform Ge Baek. Of course. (I say of course
because some of us have heard the General comment on Mr McPhail's Ge Baek
before.)
We had the autograph signing session at the end of the morning.
And now I am being booted off the PC so Mr McPhail can email some high
resolution photographs.
See you all in a while.
Always
Mark.
pp The Team.
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Tuesday 20th - final update - from Mr Paul McPhail (VI)
Gray, Mark and I arrived back in New Zealand today - after over 20 hours
in the air plus stop-overs at various airports.
The number of times we have had our id and baggage checked over the last
week...just amazing. Especially Mark for some reason - he must look a
bit shady perhaps...but no-one escapes it. When we arrived at Atlanta
airport to connect to LA we probably had to produce our passports 5 or
6 times, carry-on baggage checked once or twice plus metal detection scanning
etc.
The final afternoon of the course covered 2nd, 3rd and 4th dan patterns
- mainly concentrating on Juche. Unfortunately we ran out of time so we
didn't get to ask all the questions we went armed with.
The formal dinner was held at the Chinese restaurant in the Hotel complex
- and I was lucky enough to be seated beside Grand-Master Park, which
I took full advantage of, asking him lots of questions. Park Joong Soo
was one of my childhood heroes - as he appeared all through General Choi's
first book (1968) and I had the early footage of his demonstration in
Germany in the 70's. To spend some time chatting was really great. He
wasn't spared the hard questions either - like why did he leave the ITF,
what made him want to come back etc etc. He has recently conducted sparring
seminars where he teaches foot/stepping drills, sparring tactics, developing
your instincts and also concentrating on flying techniques.
I also spent some time talking to General Choi about the current political
situation in the ITF, the WTF and so on. His proposed meeting with the
WTF President at the WTF World Champs was cancelled - and incidentally,
I see that Dr Kim Un Yong has recently resigned as the WTF President.
Oh - and the mystery meeting we had a few days earlier was about a proposed
seminar in New Zealand. General Choi is keen to visit New Zealand again,
after his trip to Singapore in July 2002. He would bring GM Park with
him and perhaps one other Master. I said I would put it to the Executive
Committee meeting in December.
After the dinner, we continued the celebrations well into the small hours
- in fact Mr B didn't quite make it to bed at all. The on site Disco kept
him busy all night long! We spent much of the night talking with Mr Harrison
Chin - President of ITF Jamaica, and Silvia from Switzerland. We had a
really great night!
Over all the trip was fantastic. It was great to meet new people from
different countries and make new friendships. The Jamaican people are
SO friendly - it was a wonderful place for a seminar. And resort was out
of this world...great place for a seminar. We learnt lots and look forward
to passing on the knowledge.
Paul McPhail
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