Important Nationals Information

Weigh In

The Weigh in will start from 4:00pm on Friday 6th October and will finish at 9:00pm on Friday. Weigh in on Saturday between 7:00am and 8:00am is by appointment only through team managers, or if a second weigh in is required where a competitor has just missed out on the Friday night. Please remember that if you are not sparring or are competing in the Hyper plus divisions then you do not need to weigh in.

Tournament Dinner

To accommodate a higher number of diners than originally expected, we have moved the event dinner to just off Courtney Place at:

The Grand Century Chinese Restaurant”
84 Tory Street in Wellington

The doors open at 7:00 pm.
The dinner will start at 7:30 pm.
It is planned that the awards and speeches will occur between 8:30pm and 9:30pm.
There are no more seats available at the dinner venue.

Event Timing

Due to the large number of entries it will be very important to stick to the programme and to make use of all available time.

Form up will be at 8:30am sharp and we will be aiming to get all patterns completed by lunchtime. This means that the team patterns need to get started at 11:00am and we will be running both men’s and women’s team patterns simultaneously.

We will try to allow an hour for lunch on Saturday from 12:00pm until 1:00pm and then sparring preliminaries will take place from 1:00pm until 5:00pm. This will include the gup preliminary bouts and some of the black belt preliminary bouts. Competitors in the first round after lunch must be ready to begin at 1:00pm or else they may be disqualified.

The Sunday start time is currently planned for 8:30am to ensure that we can fit in the entire days programme. With 1 hour for lunch between 12:00pm and 1:00pm it is thought that sparring will be completed by 2:30pm on Sunday including the medal ceremonies. Team Sparring will begin at 2:30pm and the final ceremony is planned to happen about 4:00pm.

Destruction and speciality will operate in parallel on both Saturday and Sunday to allow for the completion of this event in the time allowed. We will be operating 5 rings for both patterns and sparring as well as a separate area for destruction and specialty events. Only the officials, competitors and seconds will be allowed on the competition floor.

There will be a staging area for competitors to gather ready for the next events and everyone needs to keep an eye on the progress of the ring that they will be competing in as the timings of specific events may change depending on progress.

Spare Dobok

Due to the increasing concerns relating to infections from blood, all competitors are requested to bring at least one additional dobok for sparring. Competitors may not be allowed to start a new bout if there is blood on their dobok. If there is significant bleeding during a bout the umpire may require a break to allow the bleeding to stop and for the competitor to put on a new dobok if it has become contaminated with blood.

Sparring Gear

It is the responsibility of each competitor to have the correct sparring gear. There will be no spare sparring gear available to competitors at the Nationals. If you do not have the correct gear then you will have to arrange this through your team manager. This includes headgear. If you are not in the correct gear then you risk disqualification

Officials

This year the Nationals are going to be filmed for TV and it is very important that we get the officials in the correct uniform wherever possible. The official uniform is dark blue or Black Trousers and a white shirt. We want to try and avoid dobok’s or tracksuits being worn while officiating. There will be some ITFNZ ties available if you do not have one.

Mr Eccles will be organising the officials over the two days and we need everyone to be prepared to be available when required to ensure that the programme is not delayed. To be able to operate five rings for the majority of the tournament we need as many officials as we can get so please register on the ITFNZ website.

Medal Ceremonies

With the large number of competitors and events along with a very full programme it has been decided that the medal ceremonies at this years Nationals will be done in an Olympic style with each ring conducting the medal ceremony at the end of the event with the other four rings continuing. This means that competitors will not have to sit through long ceremonies after patterns and sparring as has been the case at previous tournaments. This means that the third and fourth placed competitors must remain near the ring until the final has been completed so that they can receive their medals.

T-Shirts and Polo Shirts

There have only been a handful of orders for these so we have decided that we will not be bringing in any additional T-shirts or polo shirts for the tournament. If anyone wants one we will order it for them and have it delivered. Payment will be in advance and may be slightly higher than the prices quoted due to lower volumes.

A very special guest of honour

GRANDMASTER CE SEREFF

IX dan, President of the United States Taekwon-Do Federation.

Grand Master Sereff will be guest speaker at the Nationals Awards dinner, and also at a special function being held in Auckland. Reserve your ticket to dine with Grand Master Sereff here.

Grand Master Sereff is coming to this year’s Nationals!

Very special guest at this year's National Tournament is Grand Master C.E. Sereff, 9th dan. Grand Master Sereff is one of the true legends of Taekwon-Do in the world today.

He was there in the beginning... attending the first ever International Instructors Course under General Choi Hong Hi, and the first ever non-Korean to be promoted to 7th degree Master. And he was second only to Grand Master Rhee Ki Ha to be promoted to 9th degree black belt in 1997.

Grand Master Sereff visited New Zealand in 1985 with his team to compete at the Sharp International Tournament held at the Wellington Old Town Hall.

Over the course of many years the ITFNZ has established a strong relationship with his organisation, the USTF, and have became Sister Organisations.

Grand Master Sereff has assisted ITFNZ in many ways over the years, and now he has graciously accepted our invitation to be guest of honour at the tournament and Awards evening.

Don't miss the opportunity to meet one of the legends of Taekwon-Do - Grand Master CE Sereff.
 

Entry Fees…

• $40 per person unlimited events
• $75 per family unlimited events

Officials… We Need You!

It’s true! There’s no event without the officials!

This year we’re calling for a minimum of 6 officials per region. Remember – the more volunteers we have the easier it is on everyone!
 

Venue Info…

We thought you might want to see more of the venue – check out this link!
 

Proposed Weekend Timetable...

Accommodation…

So – have you planned where you’re going to stay? Need a hand tracking down accommodation venues in our windy city? Try this site.

This site not only narrows down your search for accommodation, but it can also link you through to Events, Restaurants, Shopping, Maps – you name it!

Don’t leave your booking to the last minute – get hooked up with a place to sleep!
 

Dinner Venue…

For those of you planning on coming to our Nationals Dinner, see details in the third newsletter above.

The Logo...

The Logo for the 2006 Nationals is shown to the left and is the result of a competition run in the Wellington Region to design a logo for the Tournament.

There were a number of entries, all of exceptional quality and the decision was not easy.

In the end this Design from Sharlene Clark was chosen for the simple but effective look and feel, its elegance, and quality, as well as fitting in with the Taekwon-Do spirit. The design concept has also been extended to include other Taekwon-Do poses that will be shown in future newsletters and on the Tournament T-shirts.

All of the entrants into the competition have been awarded free entry to the Wellington Regional tournament for their efforts and Sharlene will be receiving a one-on-one session with a senior Wellington Instructor for winning the competition.

The Venue...

The Queens Wharf Wellington Convention Centre is a world class venue and we are very fortunate to have secured a booking for the 2006 ITFNZ Nationals.

The Events Centre is big enough to house five rings as well as having a large area for warm up and preparation.

There is a substantial amount of seating for competitors and spectators at the venue so we will be restricting access to the competition floor areas to competitors and officials only.

Based in Wellington’s CBD, on the stunning Wellington waterfront, this venue is within walking distance to all major hotels, banks, shopping and cafés.

Just minutes from the airport, train station, ferry terminal and bus interchange, this venue also has a 400 vehicle public car park located directly below the building.

The Dinner…

The 2006 Awards Dinner will be held on the Saturday Night of the tournament.

Location details are in the third newsletter above.

The Format…

The format for the event is still being planned as we are in discussions with sponsors and potential television coverage.

There is also a need to ensure that we have enough officials to meet the programme requirements and provide for spectators if we are going to use this event to showcase ITF Taekwon-Do.

We will of course let everyone know in plenty of time to prepare!