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2023
Atlantic-Pacific Tang Soo Do Federation
Northeast Regional TAC Tour
by Mr. Thomas
On Saturday, April 1,
the Northeast Region held its annual Technical
Advisory Committee (TAC) Tour at the Rochester
Recreation & Arena in Rochester, New Hampshire. Over
60 Students from seven Northeast Regional schools
participated in this event, with students of all
ages
from Peewees on up.
Master Rivera began his session for adults and
teenagers with exercises in breathing and energy
cultivation, a great prelude before moving on to
self-defense. In the meantime, Master Klacko, Master
Khodko, and Mr. Thomas ran an intro to self-defense
class with the Peewees and younger children - under
the watchful eyes of their parents. The kids were
able to work themselves out of simple one-handed and
two-handed grabs, and even out of headlocks.
Pinching their attackers came in handy.
Once Peewees were dismissed, Master Klacko, Mr.
Maibor, and Mr. Lasko showed our students the proper
techniques for back falls, side falls, and even
rolls over obstacles. It was quite a workout. At the
same time, Master Khodko ran students (literally)
through jogging drills that helped prepare them for
front and side kicks, before moving on to spinning
kicks.
The morning sessions finished with Mr. Maibor's
breaking drills, where Sir emphasized the importance
of stances and the need to approach breaking with
the right mindset. As he likes to say, "Breaking is
90% mental." Master Desorda then led students
through the nuances of Ho Sin Sul, techniques
against grabs. At the same time, Mr. Thomas
introduced parents and guests to Tai Chi, using slow
movements and postures to energize the body.
The afternoon sessions included more advanced
techniques for our Cho Dan Bos and black belts.
While Master Duva walked our regional leaders
through partner exercises using the wooden sword (mok
geom, 목검), Master Day taught our advanced belts the
details around tournament sparring.
Master Desorda again leant us his self-defense
experience, this time with advanced defense
techniques against an attack from a stick or a club.
Our day was topped off by Master Harmon's session on
combination jumping spinning kicks. The stretching
and core exercises Master
Harmon started us off with provided as much of a
workout as the kicking.
There was great energy and spirit (Shim Kong) in the
arena, and everyone walked away exhausted but
exhilarated by this successful event. It's not often
we can take advantage of the knowledge from eight
Masters, altogether in one place for a day. We would
like to thank Master Shawn Burns and Marianne Burns
for all their hard work in securing and setting up
the venue for the TAC Tour, and Master Gary
Starecheski and Mr. Dan Maibor for creating the
agenda for the TAC Tour. We would also like to thank
Master Antonio Rivera, Master Christian Klacko,
Master Jason Duva, Master Pete Desorda, Master Oleg
Khodko, Master Paul Harmon, Master Shawn Burns,
Master David Day, Mr. Thomas, and Mr. Maibor for
instructing our students during the breakout
sessions. And we would like to thank all the parents
who drove their children to the arena so that they
could take part. Your contributions are appreciated.
Tang
Soo!
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