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Korea Tour, Training, Show, Expo and Tournament
Arizona USA Martial Arts Students Travel To Korea to Train Only To
Discover It Was Not What They Expected
John Nottingham's USA Martial Arts took a group of students from of it's Scottsdale, Glendale and Mesa locations to the Republic of Korea (South Korea) June 21-29, 2007.
 World Taekwondo Culture Expo Opens The inaugural World Taekwondo Culture Expo has opened in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province.
Some three thousand people including residents of the provincial capital and Taekwondo players from all over the world attended the opening ceremony on Monday.
The day's events also included the adoption of a declaration for the successful construction of Taekwondo Park in the resort town of Muju. During the five-day event, Taekwondo competitions and seminars will take place in Jeonju and Muju along with various programs for visitors including trips to the theme park.
Some 15-hundred athletes and staff from 41 countries including the United States, Germany, Russia, Japan and Australia took part in this year’s competition.
Press Coverage for the event: http://world.kbs.co.kr/english/news/news_Sp_detail.htm?
Current posting:
A Students Experience in Korea
More to come.
SuperCHO's Excellent Adventure
By Austin Cho, 2nd Degree Black Belt
These were my goals prior to Korea.
- Have a good time.
- Make sure everyone else had a good time
- Get to know GM Na, Master Lechtenburg(s), and their students better.
- Get some good learning and experience at the TKD World Cultural Expo.
At our orientation meeting, I learned that the Washington and Utah schools would not be participating. Things fell through in the planning stage and final preparations were not completed.
Master Nottingham and Mrs. Roth really stepped up for this trip. They coordinated the entire trip two weeks prior to us leaving. Due to the short notice, the cost was more. Master Nottingham was honorable to not charge more. The next time any student says that SBN is in it for the money they will get an earful from me.
This was my sixth trip to Korea. Nothing in Seoul was new to me. I just wanted to see everyone else have a good time. During free time, I wanted to entertain everyone with some quick excursions downtown. One night we did get to go to the coex mall. We saw the movie Oceans 13 (Saturday). I was pretty tired from the travel and dozed off about a half dozen times during the movie. I heard some giggling from the rest of the group since I was dropping hard. I’ve seen the movie before so I didn’t care about missing it. The next night we went to Lotte World (Sunday). Some of us bowled and some of went ice skating. It was fun going to the other side of the world and doing activities we do in the states.
We did get a chance to ride the subway. This was a first subway experience for many in the group. (I was told later that some people had some anxiety about riding the subway. Maybe it was the overall experience or maybe it was the crazy guy leading the way.) Mr. Hedges did have to jump the turnstile to exit the station. We were teasing him about breaking the law.
The hotel experience was good in Seoul. Our hotel was in the north side of Seoul and very close to the subway station. It was also walking distance from the convenience store. Mr. Hedges and I got yoga and won sul practice near the elevator. Mrs. Roth and I also grappled there. So at this point we were able to say that we training internationally.
I once heard of a toilet invented in Japan that had a water sprayer if you pressed a button. Mrs. Gordon had the good fortunate to press the wrong button and get herself sprayed. I wasn’t in the adjacent room when it happened, but screaming was involved. Unlike China, the bathrooms were mostly western style. No squatting involved.
The food was good. I enjoyed eating Korean food at every meal. Ate lots of fish at every opportunity. Ate lots of vegetables too. I do believe that everyone did eat the kim chee. Mr. Hedges really ate the kim chee.
The second half of the trip involved an excursion to two cities southwest of Seoul. Our first two was spend in Jeon Ju and the last two in Mu Ju. In Jeon Ju we stayed a dormitory at Vision college. There were some Korean kids on our floor who were probably about 8 years old. They sang us a song and did a little dance. They wanted us to sing a song. We sang them row row row your boat. We took a group picture of them. They took pictures of us individually.
There were a lot of mosquitoes in Jeon Ju. I only got bit once. Apparently mosquitoes don’t like kim chee. The dorm rooms had strong air conditioning so I wore my leadership uniform to bed. I got a lot of laughs for my new pajamas.
We did participate in the opening ceremonies. We waited outside of the arena for two hours with the other participants. Mrs. Martin got to do an interview for the Korean press.
We got to meet people from other countries. I got some meet some Russian, Bangladesh, and Kazakhstan people. (No, I did not ask if they knew Borat.) I did meet some Americans from Kansas City and Virginia. The walk into the arena with the other Americans which was thrilling. The Koreans made some boring speeches so I proceeded to meet more people from around the world.
Saw the team extreme with Steve Terada. It was nice to see the Koreans allow crowd pleasing demonstrations that were contemporary. The team also roomed across the hall from Jessica and Alexa. They got many autographs.
Wednesday, we transferred to Mu Ju. Mu Ju is a ski resort during the winter. Getting settled into our rooms was an experience. Master Nottingham sent me out to check the rooms. Let’s just say that resulted in two keys lost, one giggling Master, and one Korean girl crying. Once again my translation skills got us through a crisis. I was laughing and everyone else was stressed. Good times.
Our room was Korean family style. That involves sleeping on the floor on mats. SBN, Mr. Hedges, and I told stories for about two hours. We were giggling like little girls.
The weather in Mu Ju was great. Every morning was cool and we could see the fog on top of the mountains. It was so serene. The perfect example on why Korea is called the land of the morning calm. The afternoons were hot and muggy and the evenings were nice. It did rain a little, but nothing major.
We also got a chance to participate in some seminars. The forms seminar was highly educational. Apparently, the Kuk ki won forms have changed. I got a chance to get some coaching from one a forms champion. This really helped me for my competition the next day. I took over three pages of notes. If our school changes the forms to match Kuk ki won’s, I’m ready to go.
There was also breaking seminar. Not really challenging. Any one of our black belts would have cruised right through. During the self-defense seminar, there was a Hap ki do grandmaster teaching wrist grabs and kick defense. It was OK, but I saw a lot of flaws in self-defense and safety theory. (I supposed I am well trained.)
The next day was competitions. There were a lot of kids there so we new our competition. The adults got started in the early afternoon. This was definitely a relief since we thought we would compete late.
It was nice to represent the school in the forms competition. Although technically I was representing my country, it didn’t feel that way since everyone in my division was also American. It was bittersweet victory. It was great to represent the school and bring home the gold. Not so fun to compete against Mr. Martin in the process. Anyways, I am now an international form champion. This is a distinction that I will have for the rest of my life.
The trip home was just plain nuts. We were supposed to get a bus to take us to the airport. The bus arrived two hours late. It did give me a chance to meet more people. I actually got an invitation to train with a Pakistan master the next time I was in Seoul.
Master Nottingham had Ms. Roth and I run to the ticket counter once we arrived at the airport. I explained to the ticket agent our situation. He basically explained that we had five minutes to start the check in process. I panicked. Thank goodness the rest of the group arrived two minutes later. Another crisis averted.
I am happy for the experience. I am also happy to be home again. (No cell phone and no internet. Yikes!!!)
Next Article
12 Arizona Students Go To Korea As Tourists and Come Back Champions
Getting Gold In Korea
*Photos courtesy of Mrs. Dawn Martin, Mr. John Martin, Mr. Don Hedges, Ms. Dawn Wharton
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