ATI Instructors do us proud!

Two of ATI Martial Arts Instructors have returned from the 8^th Open World Championships with 2^nd place Trophies in the Olympic Taekwondo style Tournament. Chris Schoeman Left and Clayton Simpson Right were both beaten in close matches by the Korean representatives. Michael Kaplan from ATI also one a silver medal at the event. Coach Tony Curtis said it was a great experience for our young sport taekowndo players who gained much from attending the event. We try to take good players to various events through out Australia and overseas to help them get the most out of the sport. Our sport program at Malaga has over 30 kids and 15 Adults who train mainly for tournaments these days as it keeps them focused and involved longer in Martial arts. One of our senior players AMY ASH has just been selected and will move to the AIS in Canberra this week to train in a squad to represent Australia in the 2008 Olympics, we wish Amy success and hopes she makes the final selection.!! This weekend ATI also has a team of some 20 fighters competing in the international Clubs taekwondo championships in Belmont, fighting Olympic rules and involving players from some 10 countries including Korea, Jordan, Singapore, Malaysia,New Zealand to name a few. Good luck to all those athletes involved. For information on ATI's Sport Taekwondo program and how to get involved in Tournaments or learning traditional Taekwondo for self defence please call ATI 92487811.

Coach's report by Tony Curtis

We had a great preparation for this event and i thank all those that help raise money for the event and thanks to the members of the team and Andre for their efforts. I also thanks Dave Oliver and the TAGB in UK for their support of our team to help us take part in the event and cut our costs down . A big thanks to all ATI people who sold chocolates to help fund the trip -and the Adelaide nationals trip in a few months. The result , 3 Silver medals-actually ,trophies which weigh about 6 kg each!!! We took a pretty inexperienced team over this time and i was surprised that we got the 3 second place es in the WTF event. well done to you boys!! i know the team learn t a lot about the Semi contact style of competition and how tough it is at the world level, unfortunately we did not so well in this competition bbut, some good performances from Paul Laidley the oldest member of the team and Clayton Simpson who both seemed to handle the pressure and rules the best. Not to take away from the other team members who gave all they had and didnt give up, but perhaps lacked experience and /or were a little overwhelmed by the size of the event, which is usually the case when you first fight internationally(i know it was for me back in 1987 at World Champs in Spain,my 1st international!) so i encourage you players to get on with your training and be eligible in 2009 for selection and there is even a hint of a fully paid trip for the ASHES in the UK next year!!! let's hope and the hint of Mr Lockyer and a few other ATI experienced players maybe in the mix for selection for the next events. It wont get easier athletes so work on improving your skills, enter every comp that comes your way and most of all enjoy competing!! dont take yourself so seriously that it becomes a chore and the pressure of winning makes it no fun any more my best regards and encouragement for your training in future.

Tony Curtis