Kiwis in Slovenia 2007
26.2.07
The day of the tournament has finally arrived. We are
all up early for breakfast and walk over to the stadium
at 9.00am, an hour before the tournament is due to start.
The stadium is impressive with a huge screen and high
quality audio system all up and running. It is apparent
that a lot of organisation has gone into the planning.
Also, there are 35 referees, so there are not any issues
with running any of the rings.
The first surprise for us was hearing Sam and Renee’s
names being called for the patterns competition. We had
not entered them, but somehow they are on the list. We
decided to pull Sam out due to his foot, but Renee jumped
in at the last minute. This turned out for the better
as she ended up with a trophy for second place. A good
start!!!
Straight after lunch, Renee was up for sparring, her
opponent being the current European Champion, Katya Solovey
from Ukraine. Renee made a solid start scoring the first
points and competed well for the entire match. The result
went to Solovey, but Renee can take a lot out of the
match and showed that she is competitive against the
very best.
Sa was up around an hour later as he had a bye in the
first round and was up against Belguim in the second
round. He clearly dominated his opponent, scoring a lot
of three pointers and seemed to be on course for the
quarter finals. However, in the second round, he fell
outside of the ring and crashed the back of his head
against the bare gym floor ( shades of Robbie Buddle
at the 2004 Junior Worlds ). The medic checked him and
allowed him to continue and it was evident that he would
win this bout. Then right at the end, his opponent through
uncontrolled haymaker that again hit the back of his
head which earned him a deduction. Sam again continued
for the last few seconds and was awarded the match. However,
the medic checked him again and would not allow him to
continue in the tournament due to the possibility of
concussion. Sam was hugely disappointed.
We had no problem with the medics decision as safety
must be first and foremost, but to have to withdraw due
to the actions of an idiot was hard to take. Why some
fighters do this is beyond me.
In the finals Slovenia was dominant and Tomaz can rightfully
feel confident about the forthcoming European and World
Championships. The -71kg male final was particulary good
with Grega Rudolph securing a narrow win over Ciaran
Ryan.
OK, we are now off to the airport for 31 hours of travel
to get back to NZ.
Hope you have enjoyed the updates and we will all catch
up soon.
22.2.07 - Update from Mr Skinner
It is 11.30pm Friday night as I write this report. The
stadium is currently being set up with five rings plus
an area for power and the television crews had just arrived
as I departed.
Sam and Renee had a final session with Tomaz yesterday
morning which concentrated on core strength exercises
to begin with, then more sparring related training. Things
turned for the worse for Sam in the afternoon as we discovered
that he had an infection in one of his blisters on his
foot which has given us a problem that we would rather
do without. This caused him to sit out the final training
session with the kickbox class that evening, but Renee
participated fully and is looking good for tomorrow. We
now hope that care and antibiotics will do it for Sam.
Renee will compete in -52kg division where she will have
both the current world champion and the vice world champion,
Marzanna Pawlik from Poland and Katya Solovey from Ukraine
, in her division. Sam will compete in the -71kg division
and will also have the current world champion in his division,
Ciaran Ryan from Ireland.
Other current world champions competing are Nusa Rajher,
Joanna Paprocka and Redzo Ljutic. Competing countries
are Slovenia, New Zealand, Austria, Hungary, Poland, Ukraine,
Croatia, England, Ireland, Scotland, Bosnia, Slovakia
and Belguim.
It promises to be a great tournament. I will give you
the details in the next report, but now I am going to
crash.
Wish us luck.
22.2.07 - Update from Mr Skinner
Monday morning arrived very early ( 4.00am ) as Sam,
Renee and I had to catch a plane that departed for Munich
at 6.00am. It must have been even earlier for Andrew
as he had to depart at the same time albeit on a different
route to Munich, but he had been up until 2.00am deep
in discussions with Master Lan – net result 2 hours
sleep of dubious quality.
I left Sam and Renee in Munich once we checked in to
the hotel and headed off for Top Tens head office for
the day. They had a great day exploring central Munich
and met up with Andrew around mid day. As you will have
seen by the photos, we finished up with dinner at the
Hofbrahhaus that included some decent sized beers. It
is also carnival time in Germany at the moment as they
celebrate the end of winter, and there was plenty happening
that night as we made our way back.
Come Tuesday and we trooped off to the train station
with all off our luggage to catch an early afternoon
flight to Ljubljana, only to discover that it was delayed
by 2 hours. We were due at Tomaz Baradas gym to train
with his Kickbox group at 7.30 that evening, so the time
was looking tight as we had to then be driven to Maribor – around
150km away. We were met at the airport by Robbie, a friend
of Tomaz who had bought Tomaz’s Audi S6 to drive
us to Maribor. Only problem was he was only expecting
three of us , so it was a tight squeeze to get us all
in. Problem solved by placing my suitcase on my lap for
the drive back. However it was not too bad as Robbie
put the Audi through its paces and we arrived in Maribor
in a little over an hour. This also gave us time to check
into the hotel before going to the gym to train. Tomaz
and Bianca met us there where we had 15 or so minutes
to catch up before Sam and Renee joined in the training.
After training finished, Tomaz took us to an Irish pub
for dinner and told us a little more about the tournament.
He has confirmation from around 13 countries and there
will be many current or former world champions competing.
I will provide more details in the next day or so. The
tournament is a pretty big deal over here and around
1500 – 2000 spectators are expected. It is also
being filmed and will have two hours of the highlights
televised the following day on national television.
Today ( Wednesday ) had Sam and Renee having a private
training session with Tomaz. It was a free flowing, technique
focussed session that reinforced some of the concepts
that Tomaz bases much of his training around. Tomaz basically
spent most of the time alternately sparring Sam and Renee,
coaching them us he went. It was a great session and
it is something that would be great to replicate back
in NZ.
Tonight we have a free night and will be back with Tomaz
tomorrow for another session.
Ciao for now.
20.2.07
Photos from Mr Niven:
That Mr Niven up to no good again!
19.2.07
Report from Mr Skinner:
Hello all ITFNZ members,
I am writing this very late report on Sunday evening
in Dortmund and almost a week since we arrived in Amsterdam
on Monday to begin our trip.
The itinerary includes training with Master van de Mortel
in the Netherlands for four days, then travelling to Dortmund
where we meet up with Andrew Niven and spend the next
three days with Master Lan before travelling down to Slovenia
where we will spend five days that will include training
with Tomaz Barada and competing in the Slovenia Open.
Our agenda commenced with Master van de Mortel which
included several private training sessions during the
day and sparring with his classes in the evening. Master
van de Mortel spent most of the time on footwork and combination
drills that were tested in the evening where Sam and Renee
were put to work sparring against many of his students.
This can be anything from a 4th Dan to 10th Gup, they
all spar and most of them extremely well.
On the very last session, Sam developed some large blood
blisters on his feet. Undeterred he carried on only to
have one burst, consequently turning the dojang into something
more resembling a butcher shop. A disappointing finish
to the first section of our tour, but it is our only injury
so far and Sam and Renee have completed a lot of physical
training.
Friday came and we reluctantly said our goodbyes to the
van de Mortel family and jumped on the train for Dortmund
where Andrew and Master Lan met us at the station and
took us to our hotel.
Training commenced that evening with Master Lans club.
This is a very strong club that includes amongst its members
Demi Vlachonis (World -71kg Male Vice-World Champion)
Hosnya Karim (World -63kg Female Vice-World Champion)
Krycia Lopez (1st Dan Patterns World Champion , World
-58kg Female Vice-World Champion and European Champion)
and Karima Houssa ( 2nd Dan Patterns European Champion).
We were in fine company indeed!!!!
That evening we were invited to dinner with Master Lan
and several of his members to the (reportedly) best Chinese
restaurant in Dortmund. I can certainly confirm that it
was a great dinner and we enjoyed the company.
Saturday came and we were off to join the German female
team training for the day. Upon arrival I duly proceeded
to set up the video camera which nearly sent Andrew into
cardiac arrest, so unfortunately I do not have any actual
footage. However I can confirm that team patterns in particular
looked very good and I have no doubt that the German female
team will overall be very competitive come May this year.
Andrew has certainly been hard at work in the area of
Power and Specialty. The Female Junior team is looking
strong in both Individual and Team Power with one girl
regularly completing all off the required breaks in fine
style. In the Senior team, Karima Houssa has commenced
training for Specialty and looks to have made great progress
in a short time. In my opinion she has all that is required
to succeed and could have great success at the World Champs.
That evening, Hosnya, Zarina and Karima picked up Sam
and Renee from the hotel and took them to a party for
one of the team members leaving Andrew and I to entertain
ourselves with German TV and beer from the supermarket
next door. OK, we know that we are now of an age where
the younger folk don’t always want us around, we
are tough, we can hack it – almost.
It is now Sunday evening as I write this report. Master
Lan picked us up late this morning from the hotel and
drove us to a club in Höxter, around 160km from Dortmund
and just over an hours drive on the autobahn. We spent
around three hours training, beginning with patterns,
sparring drills and finishing with around an hours sparring.
Sam (with his feet fully bandaged up) and Renee had several
good bouts that made good watching. Training at Satori-Höxter
was Robert Schell who has been selected to represent Germany
in the Senior -63kg and this gave Sam a great match.
After training we were presented with club t-shirts and
invited to dinner at a local restaurant where we enjoyed
their hospitality. After that it was back in the car for
the drive back to Dortmund where we discovered that the
dash lights in Master Lans car had failed. In true 8th
dan fashion, Master Lan was undeterred and simply used
a cigarette lighter to periodically check how fast we
were going – average 200 kph.
And that’s it so far. Tomorrow we are up at 4.00
in the morning to catch the plane for Munich where we
will stay overnight before heading for Slovenia.
Will keep you posted.
18.2.07
For the second year running we have three of our members
in Slovenia to compete in the Taekwon-Do Slovenia Open.
They are once again training with Master Willy Van de
Mortel before the tournament - and we will be bring you
updates.
Our small but enthusiastic team are:
Mr Greg Skinner............Manager
Renee Richardson..........Female Lightweight Sparring
Samuel Skinner............. Male Middleweight Sparring
Kiwis in Slovenia 2006
LATEST UPDATE FROM THE FOUR KIWIS IN SLOVENIA:
4.3.06
Finally, I have found time to write
the last installment. Apologies to all, I am no Neil
Breen.
Friday started at 4.30 in the morning
as we had to travel back to Amdam to catch the plane
for Ljubljana. We arrived at mid-day and were met by
Andrew Niven and Royston Lim. Quick re-union and then
we were of to Maribor in the mini-bus which was a two
hour drive away. We went straight to Tomaz Baradas gym
for the weigh in, which both Sam and Renee passed with
no problem. There we also met up with Carolina Dillen
who had arrived via 18 hours travel in a bus with the
Polish team. Great to see her again. Tomaz gym is worth
a mention, it not only has a well equipped gym but also
has a sauna and bar attached. Very impressive.
The tournament was held on Saturday
and we could see that it would be very competitive in
sparring. Poland had sent 35 competitors with good numbers
also from Ukraine, Croatia and other European countries.
It became apparent that there would be no such thing
as an easy fight. Even at Senior World Champs you are
only going to have one member from the likes of Poland
and Slovenia in your division, but not here. I was also
very impressed with the depth of talent in each division
that some of these countries have. With out doubt, there
is serious internal competition to gain the top places.
The tournament for both Sam and Renee
ended more quickly than we would have liked. Renee was
first up in –58kg division against a competitor
from Poland who was exceptionally tall for this division.
A good effort, but decision to Poland. Likewise with
Sam in –70kg division. He was up against Slovenia
and looked to be ahead after the first round. However,
he took a solid blow to his rib cage early in the second
round which cracked a rib. He carried on to finish, but
in a limited capacity. No complaints, decision to Slovenia.
Royston Lim found himself in the final of 3rd Dan
patterns where he was narrowly beaten by the local boy.
Still, something for us to cheer.
The tournament was well organized
and professional in its presentation. The level of contact
was firm ( as Sam can attest ) but any poor technique,
excessive contact or brawling was strictly dealt with
by way of immediate deductions, which was something that
I have observed at the more recent World Championships.
Consequently there were no serious injuries or concussions.
In my view we need to follow this example back in NZ.
After the tournament we were able
to train with Tomaz Baradas club which was again a real
eye opener. Sparring drills at a huge intensity with
emphasis on speed and technique. As Andrew Niven commented,
the biggest rest you get is when Tomaz tells you to put
on your safety gear. ( Note : Ask Andrew sometime how
his one on one sparring with Tomaz Barada went ). Although
it was tough, I was impressed and heartened by the way
that the club members supported and assisted us. A great
bunch of people.
To conclude, I felt that the time
and investment was well worthwhile and it is my intention
to go again next year and hopefully take more students.
Many thanks to Willy & Hennita
van de Mortel and Tomaz & Bianca Barada for their
time, support and hospitality shown to us during our
visit. Thanks also to the Nibun clubs for their assistance
and support.
Greg Skinner
26.2.06
Some photos of the tournament
25.2.06
A report from Mr Skinner will be published here soon.
From all reports - it was an amazing tournament with 12
Countries competing - with a VERY high standard of sparring.
Here are some photos of our winner Mr Lim, plus Sam and
Renee training with Mr Van de Mortel before the tournament.
19.2.06
TXT from Mr Skinner:
Royston came 2nd in 3r dan Patterns. Rene lost to Poland,
Sam lost to Slovenia.
17.2.06
It is Thursday afternoon as I write this and we
have had three training sessions since arriving in the
Netherlands on Tuesday evening.
The next session is due in just over
an hour. The first session for Sam and Renee was yesterday
morning where they had over two full on hours with Mr van
de Mortel. The next session was with Mr van de Mortels
club in the evening. As you would expect, the level of
sparring ability was very high and both Sam and Renee were
pushed hard over the two hours. The emphasis was on speed
and technique, the level of contact being firm but not
excessive. We found the members of this club to be very
helpful and willing to pass on their knowledge and to generally
assist in any way.
This morning was another private session
working on various technique and drills with emphasis on
footwork. Training here will finish tonight with two club
sessions, one after another.
Then tomorrow we depart at
5.00am to drive to the airport. We will arrive in Ljubljana
( capital of Slovenia ) at midday where we will be picked
up and taken to Maribor, under two hours drive away. For
us the excitement is building in anticipation of what promises
to be a great tournament.
I forgot to mention our time
in San Francico. In the two days there we visited Pier
39, Ghirardelli Square, Alcatraz, took a cable car in to
the city centre, explored Fishermans Wharf and ate clam
chowder with sourdough bread, a local favourite. Even though
it is winter the temperature during the day was around
22 degrees, not hard to take.
Ok, that is it for now. I
will send the next e-mail after the tournament.
13.2.06
Hello all ITFNZ members
We thought that you may be interested
to know that three members from the Nibun TKD club are
traveling to Slovenia to compete in the 9th Taekwon-Do
Slovenia Open that is being held in Maribor on February
18th. The members who are competing are as follows:
Renee
Richardson..........Female Lightweight Sparring
Samuel
Skinner.............
Male Middleweight Sparring
Royston
Lim..................3rd Dan Patterns
The Slovenia Open
is one of the biggest tournaments in Europe, attracting
top competitors from around the world including for the
first time...New Zealand.
The tournament organizer is the
legendary Tomaz Barada - 3 x World Champion, 6 x European
Champion and also holder of a WAKO Kickbox record of 84
fights without loss. He is a protégé of Willy
van de Mortel and is now coach of the Slovenian team.
It
will also be a bit of a re-union for us as we will meet
up with Andrew Niven and also Carolina Dillen while we
are there. Mr. Niven as most of you are probably aware
now resides in Germany while Carolina has recently been
in Poland. She is actually traveling to Slovenia with the
Poland team, hopefully she will have some useful information
for us
Sam, Renee and myself leave on Sunday evening for
San Francisco where we will spend a night before continuing
on to Amsterdam where we will be staying with Mr van de
Mortel for three days. We arrive late Tuesday evening and
will no doubt be ready to crash by then. The next day it
is straight into training for Sam and Renee for two days
with Mr van de Mortel ( I will give moral support from
behind the video camera ). Then on Friday we all go to
Slovenia with Mr van de Mortel to prepare for the tournament.
Royston
departed two weeks ago visiting Malaysia, France and Germany
on route to Slovenia. After the tournament, we will remain
in Maribor for another four days. During this time, Sam
and Renee will be privileged to have some private tuition
from Mr. Barada during the day as well as train with the
Slovenian team in the evenings. It promises to be a great
experience.
We will try and keep you updated as we go.
Wish us luck!!
Best regards,
Greg Skinner
General Manager
EPSON NZ Ltd
