Category News

The Taekwon-Do Kids Development Program (TKD Program) is the official children’s programme for the ITF.  It is designed for children aged 3 to 7 years old.  It teaches basic Taekwon-Do Skills and Coordination Skills as well as Life Skills, Danger Awareness and Character Education.  It is great for pre-school children as it teaches them discipline.  The children are taught how to listen and to follow instructions.

The programme teaches foundational knowledge of Taekwon-Do and uses a unique blend of principles to provide the best opportunity for the student to develop in a way that will empower them for the rest of their life.  The ethos of the program is to provide the student with a mind-set which will help them develop attitudes that promote a harmonious society.

The TKD Program uses a wide range of activities including; games, physical exercises, tasks, role playing, story telling, discussions, problem solving exercises, quizzes and puzzles.  It uses a strategic reward system that gives positive encouragement to all students, including the less able, by rewarding them for their development.

Most of the games use a system which ensures that the games become a positive experience for the child which focuses on the developmental aspects of the game instead of the competitive aspect.

 

Further information can be found on the International Taekwon-Do Federations page here

 

 

COURSE INFORMATION & APPLICATION

Participation

The participation at the course is allowed from age 16 and above with a minimum belt requirement of 2nd kup.

Date & Venue

Saturday 31st August

GMAC Martial Arts, Craigshill Road, Livingston, EH54 5LU, Scotland.

• 09.00 -13.00 hrs Part 1
• 13:00 – 14:00 hrs Lunch Break
• 14.00 -18.00 hrs Part 2

Accommodation:

Those requiring accommodation we advise the following hotels as close to the venue, and local amenities. Please book direct with the hotels or alternatively we can help with booking any rooms.

• Mercure Livingston, Almondview,Livingston, West Lothian, EH54 6QB
  http://www.mercure.com/gb/hotel-8343-mercure-livingston-hotel/index.shtml
• The Hub, Almondvale Crescent, West Lothian, EH54 6QX
  http://www.travelodge.co.uk/hotels/276/Livingston-hotel

Airport:

The closest airport to Livingston:

• Edinburgh International Airport (20km)
• Glasgow International Airport (65km)
• Prestwick International Airport (103km)

If you require assistance to and from the airport, we are more than happy to help and book this for on your behalf, please contact us at gmactkd@sky.com for any assistance and information regarding costs.

Application Form

Application Deadline is: 17th August 2013

We look forward to welcoming you to Scotland in August!

We have now launched our GMAC online store.  The new online shop contains all stocked GMAC wears;  Tracksuits, T-Shirts, Hats, Kit Bags and more…

Having the store online means you can now order online for collection at your next class.  We have started off by stocking our Team wear however we will be adding full range of Doboks, Sparring gear etc over the next week or so.

If your looking for a specific item, piece of sparring equipment that we don’t have in stock please ask and we can order this for you.

Have a look at our new store by following the link on our website, or from this post by clicking the picture above.

Both GMAC’s Bellshill & Wishaw gyms will be closed on Monday 15th July for the beginning of the Glasgow Fayre Fortnight.
Classes in Livingston remain open for those who wish to keep up their training.

Our summer timetable will take effect once again this year through the school summer holidays.  The gym will not close, but will run according to the following schedule from Monday 8th July.

Monday’s

6.00pm – 7.00pm  Little Ninja & Kickin Kids

7.00pm – 8.00pm  Junior & Senior Taekwon-Do

Tuesday’s

5.15pm – 6.00pm  TKD Tigers

6.00pm – 7.00pm  Little Ninja & Kickin Kids

7.00pm – 8.00pm  Teens & Senior Taekwon-Do

 
Wednesday’s

6.00pm – 7.00pm  Little Ninja & Kickin Kids

7.00pm – 8.00pm  Junior & Senior Taekwon-Do

 
Thursday’s

6.00pm – 7.00pm  Little Ninja & Kickin Kids

7.00pm – 8.00pm  Teens & Senior Taekwon-Do

Friday’s 

Gym Closed

Saturday’s

10.30am – 11.15am  TKD Tigers

Sunday’s

Gym Closed

These changes will be in place from Monday 8th July to Friday 16th August 2013.

Those heading off on holiday over the summer period, please advise us where possible when you will be absent from training.  We look forward to seeing you at your next class.

Classes will be Off on Wednesday 19^th June due to Mrs. McIlvaney attending a University Graduation in Aberdeen.

Unfortunately on this occasion due to other commitments from our instructors and black belts we were unable to arrange suitable cover.

We are however holding a class on Friday 21^st in replacement, times will be as follows;

• 5pm to 6pm    Little Ninja’s & Kickin Kids
• 6pm to 7pm    Junior & Senior Taekwon-Do

We apologise for any inconvenience caused and look forward to seeing you on Friday instead.

Sunday 16th June GMAC held an Umpire training course to update on the new ITF Tournament Rules and aid in preparation for the tournament on the 23rd June.

The course kicked off at 10am with an introduction to the ITF Tournament and Umpire Rules from Mrs McIlvaney with some visual examples of Pattern, Sparring, Special Technique and Power whereby the participants could score and give a result on the video examples they were shown.

This part of the course also allowed for questions from the participants which were answered in full, and examples given where appropriate.

After the presentation on the updated rules, we advanced to the Dojang for some practical application of the rules ran by Mr McIlvaney.  All participants were taught the correct way to start each event, the correct terminology to use throughout each event, and the correct way to give warning’s & fouls during a sparring bout.  Each participant was then given the opportunity to be Jury Presidents, Pattern/Sparring Judges as well as Centre Referee’s for the afternoon and put these newly acquired skills into practice.

All those taking part had an enjoyable course, and went away with skills required to further their refereeing knowledge.  We all look forward to putting them into practice at the next tournament.

Saturday 8th June saw GMAC’s last graduation prior to the school summer holiday take place.

We are pleased to announce the following results;

Promoted to 9th Kup:  Ben Melrose & John Melrose

Promoted to 7th Kup:  Andre El Masrour, Callum Gilchrist, Natalie Pennycook, Susan Morrice & Jade Morrison.

Promoted to 6th Kup:  Patrick Gamble, Harry Gamble, Josh Miller & Dominic Dobias

Promoted to 1st Kup:  Ross Strathearn

The next grading will take place in August, details to follow

Saturday 8th June saw the latest graduations for our kids programmes before everyone the summer.
The day began with our youngest group TKD Tigers who tested for new belt stripes.  All those on the floor started with their Taekwon-Do terminology, some even second guessing the examiner, rhyming off all their words without hesitation.  Great to see at such a young age!  They all continued to impress on their technique and pad work.

We are happy to announce the following results;

Yellow Stripe:  Lewis Hunter, Gabriella Lawrie & Zoe Boulter

Green Stripe:  John Boulter & Casey Core

Blue Stripe:  Alyssa Davis, Tyler Shand & Jacob Rowan

Black Stripe and promoted into our Little Ninja’s; Sophie Hunter.

Next up it was the turn of our Little Ninja’s & Kickin Kids withGrand Master MacCallum joining Mr McIlvaney as guest examiner.  The students put on a good show on the floor to succeed in receiving their new belts as follows;

Nifty Ninja;  Sophie Freckleton & Miles Anderson

Speedy Ninja;  Gray Nisbet

Super Ninja;  Lee Dunn

Ace Ninja;  Lennon McAvoy, Poppy Lord & Ryan Hentges

Champion Ninja;  Conor Linkston

Quick Kicker; Kelbie Mabon & Danielle Zeilins

Speed Kicker;  Lachlan Clark

Cool Kicker;  Callum Bruce

Super Kicker;  Finlay Alexander & Neave Kirkland

Top Kicker;  Lewis Gilchrist, Lauren Rea & Jon Rafferty

Premier Kicker;  Declan McAvoy, Jack Durie, Ben Snodgrass & David Aitchison

Champion Kicker;  Glen McLean
All photographs have been posted on Facebook