State Open Championships

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Last weekend Taekwondo Queensland held the 2012 State Open Championships.
We sent a combined total of 36 players from our club to attend as competitors; this is one of the largest teams we have sent. Other members of the club attended as judges, referees and volunteers over the weekend.
 
Saturday saw the Poomsae championships with many of our students competing, some for the very first time, along with a number of our black belts attending the day as technical Judges. Students participated in Individual Traditional Poomsae, Pairs and Teams Poomsae and Individual Creative Poomsae, and it was fantastic to see such a great effort from all participants and to have such a great outcome.
Everyone performed very well with many of the technical judges providing good feedback and excellent compliments to the Russell Macarthur Taekwondo crew.
We left Saturday’s competition with 29 medals; 8 Golds, 14 Silver and 7 Bronze.

Returning on Sunday for the Sparring Championships, we were all determined to give it our all.
Our players participated in some of the most exciting fights of the day and all fought in the true spirit of Taekwondo, with many of the officials commenting on our sportsmanship and etiquette.
On top of this, we provided major support for the event by providing up to seven referees (that’s enough to run an entire court on their own) both experienced and novice. Some of our players were sparring for the first time, and they did incredibly well.
Congratulations to everyone as we walked away with 10 Bronze, 4 Silver and an amazing 14 Gold!
 
Over the entire weekend we took home a total of 17 Bronze, 18 Silver and 22 Gold bringing our total up to 57 medals! Congratulations again to all competitors, referees, judges, coaches and volunteers. A fantastic effort by all! We hope to see you and many more competing at the next tournament, which is the Gold Coast Open in May 2012.

Results are below

NAME      Sparring Individual Poomsae Pairs Poomsae Team Poomsae Individual Creative
Abigail Rummenie Bronze Silver






Alexander Walsh
Gold
Bronze
Silver


Alyxandra Still Gold Bronze






Ameet Jamble
Bronze
Bronze
Silver


Andrew Crothers Bronze







Anne Cardillio




Silver


Ashlan Bailey Gold Gold






Braden Cox
Gold







Cameron Cardillo Gold x 2







Cecelia Jarvis
Competitor





Elizabeth Rummenie Bronze Silver






Hossein Jahanabadi
Gold






Isabelle Schaefer Gold







James Crothers Bronze







Jason Atkins
Silver






Jason Shaw

Bronze






Jessie Henning Silver Bronze






Jherome Gadian Bronze







Joshua Cobb Silver







Kimberley Bailey Gold Silver






Kirstyne Ford
Silver


Silver
Gold
Lachlan Cardillo Bronze Silver






Leanne Gillbard Silver







Leeola Schaefer
Silver


Silver


Megan Williams Bronze Gold






Mikki Atkins
Gold






Nathaniel Atkins
Bronze






Rachel Hone
Silver






Raechel Smit
Gold


Silver


Ryley Hampson Gold + Bronze







Shannon Young Gold







Stacey Rummenie Gold + Silver







Stefan Lakemond Gold x 2 Gold






Steve Hampson Bronze







Tessa Wilson Bronze Gold






Tomas Schaefer Gold


















36 Playes 57 Medals









22 Gold









18 Silver









17 Bronze








Medal Incentive Scheme

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The medal incentive scheme is now in place whereby you can have refunded a percentage of your entry fee based on the results you achieve.
This scheme applies to both Sparring and Poomse teams but only to those who:-

1.    Participate in the above tournament training,
2.    Are financial at the time of the medal being awarded,
3.    Compete in a club embroidered uniform and,
4.    Compete in the true spirit of the club.

Incentive Details:-

Gold   50% rebate for more than 5 in a division.
Silver 30% rebate for more than 5 in a division.
Bronze 20% rebate for more than 5 in a division.

There will be further incentives by way of entry sponsorship provided to competitors who display not only repeated success but displayed commitment to learn.

Tournament Training – Sparring Team

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We are inviting Master Instructor Wayne Reeves to train with us for sparring training. Master Reeves will be bringing his players to us in the near future for you all to gain additional valuable training.

Sparring will be covering two concepts;
1. Technique/sparring and ,
2. Fitness.

  • Technique /Sparring will be conducted at the Mt Gravatt Scout hall Fridays
    7 pm – 8.30 pm.


The same pre pay system used in the poomse classes will apply.
Pre pay 10 night blocks of $8 per session.@ $80.00

All payments are to be made to Mr Walsh.
A casual rate for sparring will be $15 per session.

You will be allocated 12 sessions in which to compete the 10 sessions.
If you attend all 12, the two extra sessions are free to you.

Russell Macarthur Taekwondo - Parent’s Night Off

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It’s the clubs turn to support the parents.

We propose:
Games, Dinner and a Movie for kids and the bonus of parents getting the night off.

What is it?  - This is a great event and a great way for your kids to meet Russell Macarthur students from other clubs. Kids aged from 4 to 80 are invited so if you would like to attend with your children please do.

All proceeds to child sponsorship.

Who – Spaces are limited to the first 60 children.  Supervision will be provided by Senior Russell Macarthur students and instructors who will be contactable throughout the night.

Where - Mt Gravatt Scout hall

Date – Saturday 31 March 2012

Time - 6.00pm to 9.30pm

Kids can start arriving from 5.00pm, a healthy dinner will be served at 6.45 and an appropriate movie will be shown at 7.30 (e.g. only:  Kung-fu Panda or Spy Kids). Please bring a pillow.

Cost - $15.00 for your first child and $10.00 for any subsequent child. Max Family rate $30

RSVP - Please let your instructor know if you are going to attend by 15 March 2012.

DOWNLOAD THE FORM HERE

Everest Expedition 2011

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Mr Macarthur & Mr Munn trek to Everest Base Camp

Dodging an earth quake, missing two plane crashes, a bout of altitude sickness plus trekking to Mt Everest Base Camp and summiting a 5645 m peak. We definitely needed a holiday after the RMC expedition to Nepal in Sept / Oct 2011.

Arriving in Kathmandu to find there had been an earthquake a few hours earlier pretty much set the scene for the next 3 weeks.

Of course the next day when visiting temples, which is pretty much the only thing to do in Kathmandu, and learning a scenic tourist flight along the Himalayas had crashed killing all on board there was only one thing to do. Book ourselves on the same flight when we got back. After all what are the chances of two crashes on the same flight in 3 weeks.

Trekking the Himalayas from the Nepalese side starts with a light aircraft flight from Kathmandu into Lukla airport 2804 m, rated the most dangerous in the world and built on the side of a mountain. From there it is a 2 day trek to Namche Bazaar which is the main trading village with Tibet. The route to Namche follows the river which provides a constant roar with the rumbling sound pounding through the walls of the lodges. Early on the first day a number of homes and a bridge had been taken out by a landslide, triggered by the earthquake from a few days before, which meant we had to detour and make our own path. But this was nothing compared to Namche hill, which was our second day in the mountains. 600 m doesn’t sound like much but when it is all up hill at over 3400 m altitude it equals 4 hours of pain. They say if you make Namche then you should be good for the rest of the way to Base Camp (they don’t mention Tengboche or Kalapathar which are still to come).

From Namche we then trek towards Tibet and Thamay to acclimatise before making our way back through Kumjung 3800 m and on to Dingbuche 4350 m with the climb over Tengboche in-between (Namche hill suddenly wasn’t so bad). Over 3000 m is where you start to feel the air thin and it gets harder to catch your breath, your quads burn after only a few steps and a dull headache. There are constant warnings about fluid intake and watching out for altitude sickness (severe headache, staggering, mood changes or vomiting) with the only remedy to “descend descend descend”.

From Dingbuche we push on to Gorak Shep 5170 m from where, having taken 13 days to get there, we will summit Kalapathar and then Everest Base Camp the next day.

We had planned to do Kalapathar after having a nights rest in Gorak Shep but with the weather closing in we ended up setting off to climb the 5645 m peak after having already trekked the 3 hours from Lobuje. 500 m straight up at over 5000 m altitude and tired before you start is where it seems much easier just to stop. Take 20 or so steps and stop, out of breath and legs burning. Take 20 steps and stop, take 20 steps and stop was the routine for the next few hours. But make the summit and you have the best view in the world of the 1st and 4th tallest mountains on earth, Everest and Lhotse respectively

After the summit it is back to Gorak Shep and the onset of Mathew’s altitude sickness. 1AM and he is on Diamox, Mersyndol and the Sherpa’s, under Mr Macarthur’s constant watch, administering oxygen. 2AM and if he gets any worse we will have to descend at least 300 m which will mean a stumbling 3 hour trek in the dark by the light of head torches.

Next day dawns and with Mathew recovered we set off for Everest base Camp 5364 m. The terrain since Lobuje is no longer green and lush but is now a moonscape of rubble, moraines and few paths. Our goal consists of a large boulder with the words “EVERSEST  BASE CAMP 5364m” etched into it and the obligatory photo shoot (the actual camp itself requires climbers permits) along with mobile phone calls to relatives and friends (yes there is mobile coverage at the top of the world, unlike in Kathmandu).

13 days to get to Everest Base Camp but only 4 long hard days to get back to Lukla and the thicker air. Definition of being tired – you are told there has been a plane crash, just a small one, but you finish lunch before going to check it out. Looking down the runway, which we had landed on 17 days before, there is a cargo plane which had blown a tyre and skidded off the runway and gone through a ditch and a fence. First off are the cartons of San Miguel beer, then the wait for the insurance assessors to helicopter in, followed by draining fuel into plastic buckets and finally a crowd of porters who climb like ants under the plane and carry it up the runway (Air Crash Investigations Nepal style).

We fly out first thing the next morning, take the scenic flight which had crashed 3 weeks earlier and stops in Kathmandu and Hong Kong then home.

Mr Tim Munn

Club Patron Autobiography – Mr Michael Groom

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Our Club Patron Mr. Michael Groom has previously published a book entitled the “Life and Climbs of Michael Groom”

This book reflects on his lifetime of climbing the world’s highest mountains including his courageous ascents of Mt Everest, both with and without the use of bottled oxygen. Making this story more amazing is his ascent of Mt Everest after losing all his toes on both feet to frostbite and being told he would never walk again. I can’t over state how inspirational both he and this book truly are. His inspiration and motivation are truly amazing, and we are extremely fortunate to have him as our club patron.

The books are available through your instructors for $30 and are personally autographed. This book would make a fantastic Xmas present.

Charity Event - provision of toilets at a disabled school in Nepal

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As advised in the last newsletter we are well on the way to funding these much needed toilets. What we need to do is finalise this fundraiser so we have decided to make this quite a simple exercise as we still need to raise approximately $1000.00

Rather than having a separate event we have decided to call November our gold coin month. If everyone in the club donates a minimum of a $2 gold coin then we will achieve our target.

During November, I encourage all students to give their instructors a $2 gold coin. Please its only $2 so support this very important charity event.

For those who are unaware, the school has no toilets and we are supporting the efforts of our club Patron, Mr Michael Groom to make this happen.