JEDDAH, 2 March — A thrilling demonstration of tae kwon do by 77 children and adults kept a large crowd of spectators spellbound at the Korean community hall here on Wednesday. Master Duck Won Kim, 7th dan international instructor, conducted the demonstration of the Korean martial art to the delight of a large number of spectators. The event also marked the graduation of all the participants to their next grades or belts. Tae kwon do is described as a 2,000 year-old self-defense system much like the Japanese karate.
After the formal opening ceremony in which a panel of judges and black belt students took part, the instructor gave details of tests for promotion and a series of demonstration of the martial art followed.
A large number of parents were present to cheer up their children taking part in the event and some of them with movie cameras were seen catching actions. There were thrilling moments during the more than three hour event as participants kicked, punched, broke tiles with fists, jumped and gave front and back kicks, and indulged in flying kicks from sides, sweep kicks and three step sparring.
The event started with the white belt children in the 4-10 age group kicking and punching. This was followed by the yellow belt children of four-and-a-half to 15 years, green belts of six to 12 years old, 5 to 12-year-old blue belts, 10 to 14-year-old red belts and black belts of participants above nine and a half years of age. There were also displays by blue belts of one and two stripes, red belts special and two stripes, and black belts special.
Red belt students gave an excellent demonstration of kicking and punching wood tiles. All junior black belts displayed various fist type wood tile breaking and hand knife type wood tile breaking. Red belt Soura Salam demonstrated a sweep and back kick combination. Abdullah Zahir jumped from the front and kicked and Hasan doing flying and side kicking. Saib Salam displayed four-direction sweep kicks and Rajih responding with jumping and back kicking 180 degrees. Saib and soura showed three step sparring.
The final feature of the show was an adult demonstration in which Muhammad Saeed Al-Zahrani (1st dan), Hani Al-Maktoum (2nd Dan), Muhammad Omar Ba-ata (3rd dan), Paul Mangini (3rd dan), Jihat Goker (3rd dan) and instructor Master Duck Won Kim (7th dan) took part.
Instructor Master Duck Won Kim said the popularity of Tae kwon do has been increasing here and elsewhere in the Kingdom over the years. “Today there is a large following for this martial art from not only Saudi children and adults but also from the expatriate international community.” The day’s participants came from three different schools of the city — Arabian Homes and Andalus compounds, and Korean Community Hall.
The student of the martial art graduates from white belt to yellow, green, blue, red and black belts. The black belt it self has 10 grades or dans, he said, adding that there are only two persons in the world featured in the 10th Dan. He is Un Yong Kim, president of Kukkiwon — the Korean name for the headquaraters of the World Taek Won Do Federation, and vice chairman of the Olympic International Committee (OIC). All black belts are registered with the Seoul-based World Tae Kwon Do Federation. Kim added that the martial art was included for the first time in the last Sydney Olympics as a medal event.
