tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18393303718755108662011-06-08T18:31:28.310+12:0015th Senior & 9th Junior World Champs, Quebec May 31st - June 3rd 2007Doug Hannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02814377137040147552noreply@blogger.comBlogger751100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1839330371875510866.post-19201429969205929332007-07-14T17:42:00.000+12:002007-07-14T17:46:38.516+12:00

During the world champs build up and tour I took many photos of team members. Here's a selection of some of the better portraits...

Dougnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1839330371875510866.post-82257413934720782422007-06-26T21:17:00.000+12:002007-06-26T21:36:44.146+12:00

All of the 1,600 images published on this website during the world champs are now available on a DVD for only $10 + $5 p&p. Included is a DVD/TV slide show of 60 images plus high resolution copies of the 1,600 images that you can copy to your PC and/or select from for printing at a photo lab.Order your own copy here...

Dougnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1839330371875510866.post-41121538641579864662007-06-10T09:06:00.000+12:002007-06-10T09:31:56.144+12:00

Better late than never... there was so much happening during this tournament that we've only been able to put together a full report of the first half of day 3 now that we are home again in NZ.Day 3 was a loooong day, they started the action bang on 8.30am and finished shortly after 10.30pm – we arrived back at the hostel past 11pm.Sparring:Mark Hanna vs Canada – junior male hyper-weight sparring

Dougnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1839330371875510866.post-80039941893850988692007-06-07T10:00:00.000+12:002007-06-07T11:12:37.327+12:00

Convenient access to images of the NZ Team receiving their medals...

Doug Hannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02814377137040147552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1839330371875510866.post-34265714473408416782007-06-06T16:31:00.000+12:002007-06-06T16:32:40.081+12:00

At last we've had time to compile our notes and complete a detailed commentary on Day 4.Read more about Day 4...

Doug Hannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02814377137040147552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1839330371875510866.post-73111742074485500552007-06-05T18:55:00.000+12:002007-06-06T10:47:49.456+12:00

The world champs served as both a learning experience and reassurance for our 5 umpires.I had the opportunity to be trained in the new German electronic point scoring system in both patterns and sparring. This was set up in the centre ring where I spent the entire 4 days. It was easy to use and its speed meant we usually gained an hour & a half on other rings each day. Our ring council also

nbnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1839330371875510866.post-87900096858472720782007-06-05T04:08:00.000+12:002007-06-06T16:28:04.855+12:00

Junior male team sparring: New Zealand vs BrazilNZ loses the coin toss and must put in the first competitor - we send in Johs to test the water. Brazil puts in their best sparrer to match. This guy was amazing to watch and lightning quick! Johs went in with an appropriate game plan; try not to get hit and win on warnings. Unfortunately the Brazilian was too quick, he landed a beautiful reverse

Dougnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1839330371875510866.post-955102652489085562007-06-05T02:44:00.000+12:002007-06-05T06:12:14.370+12:00

Some of the team have departed already, we leave in half an hour and many others leave tomorrow. However, we take with us cherished memories of a fantastic event, a team that have bonded and performed brilliantly, the 2011 World Champs in Auckland and a solid future for New Zealand Taekwon-do on the international stage.You may have your own but here are my favourite pictures from the tournament...

Dougnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1839330371875510866.post-35839102337755227282007-06-04T16:20:00.000+12:002007-06-05T06:11:23.626+12:00

As far as we can see by analysing the medal counts on the official site, NZ came 3rd Overall in BOTH Seniors and Juniors.The first pass for calculating Overall placings counts only Golds.Seniors: POL 7, ARG 5, NZ 4 golds Juniors: POL 8, ARG 6, NZ 3 golds (There might be a hiccup if the Seniors "Traditional Sparring" gold is not counted for overall placing - as it is a mixed male/female division,

nbnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1839330371875510866.post-45632251031993803712007-06-04T13:16:00.000+12:002007-06-10T09:06:13.168+12:00

I have now split day 4's image gallery into three, sorted out the order of photos (we were shooting several matches at the same time and they were all mixed up) and added quite a lot of comments so you can tell more easily what was going on.Junior male team power win goldJeremy HannaJohs Van PierceBradley WickmanDavid BurrShane BlackIt was a perfect run, no playoff as they were the only team to

Dougnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1839330371875510866.post-14809940608602822872007-06-03T18:13:00.000+12:002007-06-04T09:49:20.420+12:00

At the Hall of Fame dinner, the winners of places in the ITF hall of fame were chosen from nominations made prior to this year's Champs:Alicia Yates, from Palmerston North Taekwon-Do Academy, won best junior girl.(very proud dad Mike Yates is our 2007 team manager)Doug Hanna (our 2007 Journalist) & Rose Cherrington, Instructor Taekwon-Do Cubs won prizes in the photography competition.

nbnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1839330371875510866.post-20063057343139080752007-06-03T18:04:00.000+12:002007-06-05T19:40:25.004+12:00

Over 60 countries were present at the congress with 2 delegates from each.The members of the current Board of Directors were re-elected.The world champs bid was near the end.Mark Banicevich moved the directors out of the way and had Masters Daher, Davidson and myself stand at the front.He then did an amazing presentation.This was followed by the video Carl Matthews had prepared.On a giant screen

nbnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1839330371875510866.post-4698597088278639372007-06-03T16:07:00.000+12:002007-06-10T09:04:08.321+12:00

v2 06 June updated image galleries, correcting order and adding captions.What a day!! With sparring to get some good images you have to take hundreds... especially with guys like Mark Trotter and Carl Van roon who are so fast that your reaction time to press the shutter is too slow... after all their feet are often blurred even at 1/200th of a second. So I have to predict what they're going to do

Dougnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1839330371875510866.post-65052025494986949982007-06-03T13:08:00.001+12:002007-06-10T09:03:38.824+12:00

Luke Thompson and Mark Trotter win gold in senior prearranged sparring.Stuart Maden and David Burr win bronze in junior prearranged.Team NZ have gone wild with the excitement... an amazing evening.

Dougnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1839330371875510866.post-16946463786970879892007-06-03T10:04:00.001+12:002007-06-10T09:03:15.186+12:00

Senior male individual power. Wins to euphoric team reaction afterplayoff with England and Romaia.

Dougnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1839330371875510866.post-83732794712983081732007-06-03T10:01:00.001+12:002007-06-10T09:01:48.354+12:00

Carl Van Roon, senior male sparring has made it through to thesemi-finals but suffered concussion in his last fight with Netherlandsand the doctor won't let him continue; bronze medal. Luke Thompson, male individual power got all his breaks and we arewaiting for the first round to finish to see who will play off forgold. Currently it is NZ, England and Romania. Other sparring results: Mark Hanna

Dougnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1839330371875510866.post-89893473906074416842007-06-03T08:42:00.000+12:002007-06-03T08:46:02.422+12:00

Hi all...what an emotional rollercoaster this morning!!!!!Some fantastic sparring and comments from other country coaches on how good NZ now is.CJ sparred off her face! Just incredible.Power off to a bad start - everyone getting last minute clarifications before junior individual starts, then suddenly umpires say 'can't tell you anything else - you should know rules'. OK but then conflicting

nbnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1839330371875510866.post-7630096389725860842007-06-03T04:33:00.001+12:002007-06-10T09:01:07.256+12:00

David Burr wins silver in junior male individual power. David got all his breaks in the first round but was knocked back tosilver in the play-offs. Shane Black and Johs Van Pierce placed 4th.Junior girls team power played off for gold with England but were alsoknocked back to silver when we missed the knife-hand break.This morning's sparring hasn't resulted in medals but both the Topiagirls just

Dougnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1839330371875510866.post-8936215432276499552007-06-02T22:12:00.000+12:002007-06-13T20:45:23.139+12:00

I've pulled out images of each person/team's medal ceremony...Also have updated Doug's pick's of the pix...

Dougnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1839330371875510866.post-30823314688218114472007-06-02T12:31:00.000+12:002007-06-02T15:06:22.972+12:00

Summary of the day's successes:All of our special technique teams won medals.Senior male team special technique - gold medalJunior female team special technique - gold medalJunior male team special technique - silver medalSenior female team special technique - bronze medalShane Black, junior male heavyweight sparring, bronze medalDetailed commentary:It was a day that started kiwis in action

Dougnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1839330371875510866.post-1033243016141757392007-06-02T10:28:00.000+12:002007-06-02T16:55:00.204+12:00

A brief text from Mr Mark Banicevich: We got it!More details will follow.(The "Congress" is where representatives from each country get together at each Senior World Champs and decide things of great import in the ITF world)

nbnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1839330371875510866.post-7125725046984725812007-06-01T15:57:00.000+12:002007-06-16T16:41:25.905+12:00

v2 updated with detailed commentaries.v3 updated at breakfast for Ethan, Johs, Carolina and Richard commentaries.v4, correction. We all thought Paige had a bronze for patterns but we learned at the medal ceremony that she was 4th.What a day! 13 hours from start to end but the team came away with one gold plus a play off for gold delayed until tomorrow morning, 4 silver medals and 5 bronze

Dougnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1839330371875510866.post-45056081208888444482007-06-01T15:46:00.000+12:002007-06-02T00:02:05.559+12:00

Photos from the morning...Photos from the afternoon... Photos from the morning updated with images of Shane Black competing in Special Technique... thanks to Rose who was there with her camera!

Dougnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1839330371875510866.post-91698240643688452732007-05-31T23:12:00.000+12:002007-05-31T23:28:20.197+12:00

Yesterday was pretty much a free day for us Umpires. We took in the old town again and pretty much took it easy. At 5pm I had a photo shoot with some of the other Masters and Master Marano, as they are planning on publishing an update to the condensed encyclopaedia. Master Nunez was involved with that too - reminiscent of the photo shoot we had in Canada in 1996 for the last edition of

nbnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1839330371875510866.post-73095836512167274502007-05-31T22:19:00.000+12:002007-05-31T22:26:26.696+12:00

Last evening the whole team got together to hand out the competition ID cards and to hear advice from world champ veterans Carl Van Roon, Luke Thompson and Mark Trotter.Breakfast is at 7am then we head over to the PEPS sports centre at 8am where the competition starts at 8.30am. The adrenalin is definately on the rise! Looking forward to reading all your new messages of support at breakfast in

Dougnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1839330371875510866.post-89672885135655148892007-05-31T11:40:00.002+12:002007-05-31T11:53:15.841+12:00

This afternoon most competitors spent time confined to barracks and chilling out. Huge anticipation for tomorrow. At the moment coaches and management are at a tournament briefing meeting and we expect to get a de-briefing ourselves when they return soon. We've just returned from dinner so spare a thought for Cori-Jean, Paige, DJ and Lizzie who are working hard to loose weight for the weigh in

Dougnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1839330371875510866.post-67169911896250535442007-05-31T08:46:00.000+12:002007-05-31T09:14:42.329+12:00

The team management get the draws and the programme details at their briefing tonight. In the mean time Master McPhail and Mr Banicevich came in and met with coaches this afternoon while they had a break in their seminars and debriefed them on rule interpretation decisions and the programme. We haven't seen much of the 4 NZ officials as they're staying in a hotel away from us and have spent most

Dougnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1839330371875510866.post-29555836554898335332007-05-31T07:44:00.000+12:002007-05-31T08:40:36.883+12:00

Over jet lag – checkOver travel sickness – checkEnergy levels high – checkIt’s fair to say we are ready! Bring it on!This morning’s training session was about pulling it all together. For the first time since we arrived the supporters were “invited” to come to the training. Unfortunately it’s been raining and we thought we’d all get pretty wet getting over to PEPS.However, someone found the

Dougnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1839330371875510866.post-8676256445488442782007-05-31T01:16:00.000+12:002007-05-31T01:22:31.663+12:00

Here’s the team having breakfast and reading the 14 pages of messages that we received from you overnight (they're projected up onto the wall and also downloaded onto various laptops which are passed around).They didn’t have much time to write as well as read and eat breakfast but here’s a few messages back to you (below).Please keep them coming… they make a big difference!From BradleyHi everyone

Dougnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1839330371875510866.post-24823265231008523552007-05-30T22:51:00.000+12:002007-05-30T22:54:50.562+12:00

A few pics of great seminar run by Master Lan and Andrew Niven

nbnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1839330371875510866.post-67771495268016348962007-05-30T14:55:00.000+12:002007-05-30T15:05:10.509+12:00

Please keep the messages of support coming through the website. The team loves getting them. Each morning we download the latest messages that you have written in the previous 24 hours and put them onto various laptops plus the big screen at breakfast. There's then a swarm around each laptop to get to read them. We'd love to respond to each and every one but unfortunately, it's really hard to

Dougnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1839330371875510866.post-91386806112182123212007-05-30T14:21:00.000+12:002007-05-30T14:34:02.737+12:00

The team did their first full Haka tonight since camp. At first it was established that they would do a couple of quiet ones to save their voices for the competition. However, it felt right to go "full out" for the last one. It's a great way to psych up for the competition and cleared any flem right out. No photos.This was followed by a long team talk headed by the captains discussing various

Dougnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1839330371875510866.post-67164503309758608342007-05-30T13:15:00.000+12:002007-05-30T14:53:58.431+12:00

Why are there so few photos of the supporters?The training sessions have been "Closed" which means the parents are politely "not invited". so whle I'm there taking lots of photos of the coaches, management and team members, there ain't any supporters around.A further small problem is that they generally hate me pointing my camera anywhere near in their direction I have to pretty much resort to "

Dougnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1839330371875510866.post-73947775522450713162007-05-30T12:50:00.000+12:002007-05-30T12:53:55.843+12:00

Today a group of the supporters took a trip to an Indian Reservation that Suzy had found out about. I didn’t go, but here’s the story as it’s being told to me.We were told to catch bus 87 until the end of the line. When the bus finally stopped we were in the middle of nowhere with no sign of any reservation.We asked the bus driver where the reservation was and he said we were supposed to catch

Dougnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1839330371875510866.post-29869488342691993992007-05-30T06:02:00.000+12:002007-06-13T20:48:25.292+12:00

Both the seniors and juniors had training this morning over at the PEPS arena where the competition will be. It's good for them to get used to the venue.I felt like I had falled into a rut with what I'd been photographing. Actually I was getting a bit bored with it. So played around a bit more trying to capture a different viewpoint and playing with the strong light.Then it was back for lunch and

Dougnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1839330371875510866.post-2741949382932581532007-05-29T16:39:00.000+12:002007-06-13T20:46:17.372+12:00

Just wanted to keep with tradition (established in Honduras last year) and publish my picks of the pix taken on tour. I'll update them each day and you can check them out by clicking on the Doug's picks of the pix on the LINKS menu to the right.Ok, I'm going to bed now. It's 00.40am in Quebec.

Dougnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1839330371875510866.post-46340966002072496032007-05-29T16:13:00.000+12:002007-05-29T16:16:10.864+12:00

We love your messages in the Message Book! At breakfast and again at dinner we now download the guest book onto laptops and huddle around reading your messages while we eat. That is hugely appreciated so please keep them coming.You have asked a few questions in the message book so here goes on a few observations, answers…The university is empty because it’s the summer vacation – that’s why there

Dougnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1839330371875510866.post-8274791269524676502007-05-29T15:35:00.000+12:002007-05-29T15:48:29.604+12:00

The scouts went out yesterday and figured out which bus to take to get to the old part of Quebec City so at about 10.30am about 25 (I guess) of the juniors and parents jumped on an 801 bus into the old town.Upon arrival the girls disappeared into some of the boutique women’s clothing stores. Actually “stores” seems too cheap a word for this part of town. Everything oozes personality, history,

Dougnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1839330371875510866.post-60530657792906261682007-05-29T10:21:00.000+12:002007-05-29T13:42:13.213+12:00

The seniors trained twice today, from 10am this morning and again late this afternoon. They’re looking good too. I love the photo above of the woman’s team patterns. (I just figured out the reason why the photos I’ve been publishing have only come out ¾ size… from now on you’ll get the wider versions again.) The senior team have been taking the opportunity to train in the gym where the tournament

Dougnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1839330371875510866.post-30742691553781830022007-05-29T06:37:00.000+12:002007-05-29T08:05:47.103+12:00

The interweb has been turned on in my room at last. Ahhhh, it’s like getting my caffeine fix. It’s fast too so I can upload tons of photos without it taking too long.This morning was an early start for the juniors.Captains Candice and Johs were responsible for waking their team mates at 5.30am. Only problem was Candice woke at 2.00am and, thinking she’d slept in, proceeded to wake her mates. They

Dougnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1839330371875510866.post-73510558235355806302007-05-29T06:15:00.000+12:002007-05-29T06:33:36.501+12:00

After my laptop battery was finally wrung dry I packed up and then spent 20 minutes walking around in the mall just soaking it in.The mall was pretty up-market. I could see the French influence with elegant but simple window and shop design. Interestingly none of the shops had dual language signs with their names proudly displayed in French only.I was particularly impressed with the shoe shop

Dougnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1839330371875510866.post-42976673627081829042007-05-29T03:02:00.000+12:002007-05-29T03:13:46.054+12:00

As well as look around the old city, Master D, Mark B & I also called down to the Plaza Hotel where they have the "welcome centre".Master Tran, his two daughters, Mr Kurt Otterson and others welcomed us and we received a packet of bits - tournament program (featuring Carl van Roon), tickets to the various functions etc.Umpires have food & accommodation paid for 8 days which is more than we were

nbnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1839330371875510866.post-70942367141848459922007-05-28T06:55:00.000+12:002007-05-29T06:33:15.077+12:00

My battery is running low... I'm sitting in the mall still typing away so need to be quick and get this to you before my laptop dies. I get about 2 1/2 hours without recharging and can't get my internet access at the university sorted out until tomorrow (Monday).We woke this morning at various times to a fine day with clear skies. It is quite warm and comfortable. I slept in (yay) and nearly

Dougnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1839330371875510866.post-43469754822185663542007-05-28T06:09:00.000+12:002007-05-28T07:24:24.949+12:00

Yesterday was huge.The flights were pretty smooth. From LA to Toronto we got to see the landscape below for half an hour or so out of LA... pretty much contonuous desert. Then there was cloud below for the rest of the trip which was a pity and we only sighted land again on our descent into Tronoto. Got a great view of the CBD and Toronto tower on the way in, see the photos.Lots of the team had a

Dougnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1839330371875510866.post-67356102792858508152007-05-28T05:59:00.000+12:002007-05-28T06:09:49.061+12:00

Carl Van Roon and Luke Thompson (the legs) entertaining the troops on the 2 1/2 hour + bus trip to Quebec City.Ok you action picture starved kiwis back home... I've found a random WiFi internet connection in the local shopping mall so I'm getting my fix with a strong coffee and pictures uploading now. I'll write more details about our very interesting trip up here yesterday over the next half an

Dougnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1839330371875510866.post-85784914614548110272007-05-27T18:31:00.000+12:002007-05-28T06:30:02.108+12:00

This little brainteaser is intended to let you pick a time of day in NZ and see the equivalent in Canada. As it hits midnight here in NZ, the sun is coming up over our crew breakfasting in Quebec.The greater part of the day there is nighttime for us, but the plus is that over breakfast in NZ we should be able to read some reports of their activities up til their mid-afternoon.As Doug Hanna has

nbnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1839330371875510866.post-66187654122132379312007-05-27T16:56:00.001+12:002007-05-27T17:12:00.546+12:00

After getting up at 3am this morning, we have arrived at our rooms at the university 21 hours later at 00.30am!Fair to say we are shattered.I'm a bit grumpy after organising, paying for and double checking that my room would have internet access setup and it doesn't work. Grrr.So no photos able to be uploaded from today and just this short message from my mobile phone.It is hot tonight.Now for

Dougnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1839330371875510866.post-23652896412114682262007-05-27T12:25:00.000+12:002007-05-27T12:36:39.335+12:00

Hey NZ. We have finally arrived (Masters Davidson, McPhail, and Mr & Mrs Rimmer travelled more directly than the team).Took up over 30 hours with all the stop overs!Trick is now to stay awake another 3 or 4 hours till we hit the sack.Spending the time taking in the old city - nice. Not seen the team yet.

nbnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1839330371875510866.post-45745726511220649332007-05-27T12:24:00.000+12:002007-05-27T12:57:30.804+12:00

Just taking this little break to send out a quick email! Not much time!It's 3.30am here and our team and support unit are all just waking up to catch our flight out to Canada from LA - the team is gradually shuffling into the foyer... a few tired looking faces - moans of desire for coffee and more time to sleep are heard every now and then...I imagine it must've been something of a challenge for

nbnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1839330371875510866.post-14640948209779390682007-05-27T11:41:00.000+12:002007-05-27T12:05:25.848+12:00

Flag of CanadaFlag of Quebec CityCanada has a population of around 33 million, in 10 million square kilometers(compared to NZ's 4 million people in 1/4 million square kilometers).Quebec City is one of the oldest cities in North America, with a population of about 1/2 a million(a little more than Wellington)Wellington saw its first Europeans round 170 years ago, (about 800 years after the

nbnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1839330371875510866.post-56992350605447981992007-05-27T10:10:00.001+12:002007-05-27T12:03:19.256+12:00

Just arrived at Montreal. It is 5.30pm here (9.30am back home). Only a2.5 hour bus trip to go. Half the team are on this bus and we'reunderway. Fair to say we are all pretty sick of travelling. Got toldoff again by border control on the way in when I tried to photograph awelcome to Canada sign. Sigh.Finally we have found some clear skys. It seems quite warm.

Dougnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1839330371875510866.post-55706649094693919852007-05-27T01:09:00.000+12:002007-05-27T09:53:59.354+12:00

Our wake up call was at 3am this morning (yawn). Up, showered and downstairs to wait for the buses to turn up at 4am. We had breakfast packs compliments of Air NZ catering organised by Afi which were great.When we got to LA airport at 4.30am (for our 7.00am flight, the Air Canada counters hadn't opened. They open at 5am. We had a TKD queue of 80 going all the way out onto the street (see photo

Dougnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1839330371875510866.post-79967449015413217112007-05-26T11:44:00.001+12:002007-05-27T01:20:18.155+12:00

Pretty good flight that left Auckland late and arrived to high overcast, smoggy Los Angeles. I got my head bitten off by the immigration officer for reaching over to pick up our passports when hehad finished with them. Maybe he was having a bad day. We coached to our hotel, very basic (cheap). There is no internet in our rooms so I am typing this into my phone while hanging out at Starbucks

Dougnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1839330371875510866.post-88124789725560066282007-05-26T11:24:00.001+12:002007-05-26T11:35:50.512+12:00

The team will have arrived in Los Angeles at about 8 this morning NZ time.They will be off again at about 11pm NZ tonight (4 AM in LA).This flight will take them from LA in the State of California to their first stop in Canada - Toronto, in the Province of Ontario. (being a commonwealth country, Canada shares many similarities with NZ, with a strong British heritage.Of course, there is also a

nbnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1839330371875510866.post-84931501967098274022007-05-25T19:08:00.001+12:002007-05-25T19:13:11.558+12:00

The time has come and at last we are on our way. Lots of friends and family turned up to wish the team well and say good bye. Thank you for your support! More photos...

Dougnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1839330371875510866.post-20227548911424646502007-05-24T19:24:00.000+12:002007-05-24T21:02:12.476+12:00

The New Zealand team and most supporters have a reporting time of 4.45pm at Auckland International Airport. If you'd like to see them off, this would be a good time to be there.We're flying out on Air New Zealand NZ006 to Los Angeles, sheduled to depart at 7.45pmHere's our itinerary:Day 01: Friday 25 May (NZ) 7.45pm depart Auckland for 12 hour flight to Los Angeles.Day 02: Friday 25 May (US)

Dougnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1839330371875510866.post-79494405424650176472007-05-22T19:44:00.000+12:002007-05-22T20:04:52.105+12:00

Doboks ironed and folded, boots and gloves named, passport re-checked (again), is the bag big enough? Lots to check. What about my hair?DJ models the senior mens team hair styleMark Hanna, no longer blond!

Dougnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1839330371875510866.post-83061157569903435852007-05-22T19:40:00.000+12:002007-05-22T20:15:11.094+12:00

Tonight is Mr Pellow's 84th junior squad training session and Courtney hasn't missed a single workout. I'm also reminded that her Mum has been to every one also.Good luck Courtney!Send her and others in the team a message of support here...

Dougnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1839330371875510866.post-54482871274453435412007-05-22T19:37:00.000+12:002007-05-22T19:43:56.196+12:00

Monday night was the last pre-tournament training held at the Dragon's Spirit club. At the end of the session the team were lined up and the whole club shaked each team member's hand to wish them well.Leave your personal message to the team here...

Dougnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1839330371875510866.post-48921342765327831882007-05-21T20:03:00.000+12:002007-05-21T20:12:16.877+12:00

DJ and Luke put on a demonstration tonight which was filmed for the Tu Te Puehu TV programme which will show in about a month's time.Last Saturday we took some video of the Juniors training which is hopefully going ot be shown on What Now.

Dougnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1839330371875510866.post-2043983059263325322007-05-21T19:12:00.001+12:002007-05-21T20:13:24.336+12:00

Just when we thought we were set for fair weather in sunny Quebec City at this time of the year they're having an overnight low of 4 degrees. Brrr.Current weather...14 Day Entended forecast (looking better: 20-25 degrees during the tournament)...

Dougnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1839330371875510866.post-21967234765272430502007-05-19T22:36:00.000+12:002007-05-19T22:47:19.471+12:00

Today Mr Pellow's class had their last Saturday training from 9am-12pm. The Kerikeri team members had a really early start - about 5am - to get to the training.It wasn't full-on, as Mr Pellow is working hard to ensure no one sustains an injury this close to the world champs.See the photos...

Doug Hannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02814377137040147552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1839330371875510866.post-30667723888244045662007-05-12T11:15:00.000+12:002007-05-13T17:08:24.580+12:00

The NZ squad has assembled in Taupo for the last camp before they fly out to Canada in just under two weeks time. It's been a relatively relaxed day's training compared with previous camps... intentionally so that team members can focus on tweaking their techniques and to avoid injuries. Mr Banicevich came down and assisted with this morning's training giving a valuable lesson on sparring point

Doug Hannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02814377137040147552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1839330371875510866.post-21679642009935169422007-05-07T22:18:00.000+12:002007-05-07T22:32:56.060+12:00

Mr Pellow's key message tonight was "train hard but be careful". He repeats it every training session. "There's no time left to get a new injury and recover from it so be careful."Juniors training tonight consisted of a good half an hour of patterns which, at then end, had everyone very warm followed by sparring drills then team patterns.I hate using a flash gun because images with flash can be

Doug Hannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02814377137040147552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1839330371875510866.post-80576033787868613752007-05-06T21:11:00.000+12:002007-05-12T11:24:45.749+12:00

Sunday afternoon at Impact and a few members of the senior team assemble for more extreme sparring fitness work under Mr Banicevich's "command". Tons of energy is being exerted with timed intense sparring and short one minute breaks.A Little later Luke and Mark demonstrate their prowess with their pre-arranged sparring sequence. To avoid giving away any secrets to the offshore competition I'm

Doug Hannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02814377137040147552noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1839330371875510866.post-26497762016114732332007-04-29T17:50:00.000+12:002007-04-29T18:07:42.645+12:00

I came along to the senior's training again today to watch and photograph them in action. Mr Banicevich was leading the training again and put the team through a long and intensive sparring program. Meanwhile Luke worked on power which was simply awesome to watch. Towards the end of the session focus changed to womans team patterns, Luke and Mark practiced male team patterns while Mr Banicevich

Doug Hannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02814377137040147552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1839330371875510866.post-12432060213828652542007-04-28T17:35:00.000+12:002007-04-28T17:49:28.833+12:00

Mr Pellow's Junior Team training today was well attended with all the Aucklanders; Cullum, Johs and Sam from Kerikeri; Michael from Gisborne; Shane & Ross from Tauranga and Matt from Rotorua all making the treck to training. DJ and Estee joined in from the seniors team and Chris Broughton came along again also."Let's start with some patterns for a warm up" was the call from Mr Pellow. There were

Doug Hannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02814377137040147552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1839330371875510866.post-44715344766415451902007-04-25T21:55:00.000+12:002007-04-25T22:13:45.354+12:00

Had some time to spare today so I spent it working on this now heavily "photoshopped" image of Mark and Luke facing off in the final for individual patterns at the mini-tournament during the last Taupo camp. They ended up in the finals against each other twice! Knocking the background back to black and white makes quite a difference from the original image. There won't be time for this sort of "

Doug Hannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02814377137040147552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1839330371875510866.post-10535840640215114882007-04-22T18:21:00.000+12:002007-04-25T13:54:22.432+12:00

After berating myself for the lack of coverage and images of the senior team in training I went along to Impact this afternoon with Jeremy. There weren't a lot of team members there but I had a lot of fun trying to capture some useful images in the harsh low autumn light that was streaming in the windows. Mr Banicevich was taking the training and we watched him warming them up, running through

Doug Hannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02814377137040147552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1839330371875510866.post-24852987745194038522007-04-22T11:02:00.000+12:002007-04-25T19:25:55.797+12:00

On Friay night Mr Trotter's Impact club put on a combined northern seniors and juniors training session with guest instructor Mr Mark Banicevich.Mr Banicevich put them through an intensive fitness workout. When I turned up towards the end they were talking and demonstrating kicks and punches that were sure to win points versus technique which was hard to score or unlikely to be scored. Mr Trotter

Doug Hannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02814377137040147552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1839330371875510866.post-56621688417607136452007-04-21T14:15:00.000+12:002007-04-25T21:41:22.362+12:00

After the Taupo camp the northern juniors (from Rotorua to Kaio) are staying in Auckland and training together each day under Mr Steve Pellow. It's been quite impressive seeing so many training together and we've even had a few joining in from the senior team.The Auckland juniors normal training week consists of:Monday night 6.30-8.30pm - training at Dragon's Spirit, PapatoetoeTuesday night 6.30-

Doug Hannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02814377137040147552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1839330371875510866.post-86864687975718854452007-04-15T21:19:00.000+12:002007-04-25T11:11:01.309+12:00

This Taupo camp was a chance for the juniors and hanger's on like me to get to know the senior team members a lot more.Meet the seniors...

Doug Hannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02814377137040147552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1839330371875510866.post-8200346594718644302007-04-15T14:05:00.000+12:002007-04-25T11:10:14.099+12:00

Today was a bit more of a relaxed start with the team heading to the gym after cleaning up the camp at about 9am. On the agenda is training on specialty, power and team patterns with those not involved in these events doing sparring exercises.Mark Trotter took the warm up... he's a slave driver with some of the techniques challenging the team.Today saw juniors and seniors joining together in

Doug Hannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02814377137040147552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1839330371875510866.post-39754578585439590692007-04-14T14:40:00.000+12:002007-04-25T11:09:11.934+12:00

This is the first camp for juniors and seniors combined since prior to the junior trials last year. Everyone arrived on Friday night with the Kerikeri lot arriving at about midnight after their 7 hour drive. They were pretty quiet arriving because I didn't even wake or hear them and they were sleeping around my spot in the morning.The camp was pretty packed with I guess 40 competitors, 7 coaches

Doug Hannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02814377137040147552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1839330371875510866.post-31009252249335995112007-04-12T14:46:00.000+12:002007-04-25T11:03:34.009+12:00

Doug Hanna's build up coverage...

Doug Hannahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02814377137040147552noreply@blogger.com0