On the Road World Tour 2009 - USA

[Grandmaster G]

The On The Road World Tour Information, Pictures & More.

Regards

Master G

1. Travel - USA (Tour Start) *Complete
2. Hutchinson, MN, USA *Complete
2. Lancaster, PA, USA *Complete
3. Toronto, Canada *Complete
4. Best, Netherlands*Complete
5. Brussels, Belgium*Complete
6. Helsinki, Finland*Complete
7. Colombo, Sri Lanka Underway!
8. Singapore
9. Trip Wrap Up & Statistics

[Grandmaster G]

2009 World Tour & International Training Seminar

Dateline April 2009: The Mission – 2009 World Tour/ITS USA.

Wednesday 8th and its a quick wakeup, Dojang stop and drive to the airport. Yes it’s that time of the year for the World Tour and our this year our 3rd ITS being held in the USA. I am going to Log not only my Flying Time (FT) but my Total Travel Time (TT). This will give you an idea of how much time I enjoy the comforts of flying/driving/buses/trains and the commute or time spent waiting.

TT – Sydney Airport (2 Hours)

Bags checked in, boarding passes done and it is time to clear customs on the way to Flight #1 NZ704 (Airbus A320-100) is in the air and the 3 hour flight across to New Zealand is as normal smooth. Landing in NZ goes well and I head up to the lounge to do a quick e-mail check and grab a coffee. The Air NZ lounge in Auckland is a decent one. I would rate it in the top 5-10 of the ones I have visited, mainly due to the net access, snacks, drinks and space.

FT – 3 Hours
TT – 8 Hours (e.g. Sydney 2, Flying 3, Auckland 3)

Flight #2 NZ8 (Boeing 777-200) heads from Auckland for the long trip across the pacific. I manage to get a little sleep and with a couple of meals and in-flight movies pass the time. Arrival into San Francisco is smooth and onto customs for the inevitable wait. I get through customs grab my bags and head out looking for the Hotel shuttle; it is a night in San Francisco as I was unable to get a good connecting flight through.


Sydney – Auckland – San Francisco

FT – 15 Hours
TT – 24 Hours

The next morning its back on the road for a couple more flights towards Minneapolis. Flight #3 UA 136 (Boeing 757-200) takes me across the US from San Francisco to Chicago.

FT – 19 Hours
TT – 30 Hours (It adds up pretty quickly!)

*Side Note* I have mentioned in previous years how the American Airlines seem to be treated more like a bus in the way people board and travel, however this time it is pretty clear that the planes are showing their age and general age. I keep everything crossed that the money not spent on the cosmetics is being spent on the mechanicals.

An hour spent in Chicago puts me onto another plane. Flight #4 UA789 (Boeing 737-300) heads towards Minneapolis and my first Seminar stop for the Tour.


San Francisco - Chicago - Minneapolis

FT – 22 Hours
TT – 33 Hours

Corey & Chris (Mrs Corey) meet me at the airport where we wait for my luggage to arrive. Both suitcases make the trip, even if one is partially open and looking slightly smashed. From the airport we head towards the Mall of America to meet up with Peter (Provisional Black Belt) for Dinner and a catch up. After a steak and chat its back on the road for the drive from Minneapolis to Hutchinson, just over an hour at this time with little traffic on the road. We take a quick swing through Hutchinson and a look at the Dojang before I check in and look for the bed.

TT – 34 Hours


Hutchinson Dojang #1


Hutchinson Dojang #2


Hutchinson Dojang #3

The night goes way too quickly and I am on the mats for the first of 4 seminars today with Corey’s students in Hutchinson. The focus is on covering the junior belt level techniques with an occasional mini special seminar. The 2 adult seminars go well, and as a special topic I cover Knockouts, Mark, Corey and Tony all decide to have a nap. Mark especially enjoyed it as he started to snore, dream and talk in his sleep before we brought him around, he was then a little sad as he was enjoying the dream! After the revision I hold a grading for Corey, congratulations to those students who passed to their next belt.


Hutchinson Dojang Adults

The third seminar for the day was with the kids and they work hard, of course I wrap it up by punting them all, oops I mean by throwing them onto the crash mat...


Checking the Trajectory for Launch!

The final seminar of day is an open self defence seminar where the parents get the chance to see how easy it is to use self defence. Everyone has fun as they show the big bad muggers (Corey’s students) how to get away. The dawn of day 2 in Hutch brings another 3 Adults seminars and 1 with the kids. We continue working with the syllabus as well as covering Ki power as a special topic. During the day we get stuck into the shields and some of the local colour belts volunteer to hold the targets as Corey, Tony and myself practice 360 turning back kicks, let’s just say that one of the students decides to take a quick sit down after one of them, he almost made it to the door too!


Hutchinson Dojang Children


Hutchinson Dojang Children - The Crush!

The Hutch seminars are a great success and I look forward to seeing the growth of the Dojang under Corey’s expert guidance. Another early morn and its back on the road from Hutch to Minneapolis to grab 2 more flights towards the ITS! Today I am travelling with Corey as we head across the country towards Amish country, Lancaster Pennsylvania. Flight #5 UA 7640 (Embraer 170) – 1hr

FT – 23 Hours

A relatively quick changeover in Chicago of 2.5 Hours with a quick chance to grab lunch and then back onto the flying bus, oops plane Flight #6 UA 7340 (Canadair Regional Jet) – 1.5hrs

FT – 24.5 Hours
TT – 38 Hours


Minneapolis – Chicago – Harrisburg

Arrival into Harrisburg goes well except for a luggage ‘incident’ well I say that as my larger bag looks like it was used as the ball in the Super Bowl. It seems this trip is time to shop for some new bags. Corey is renting a car so we head over to see what awesome 4 wheeled machinery will available..... Well it is an Altima, its nice enough if very plastic and less than sporty. The Trip down to Lancaster is an easy 30mins and we head for the Hotel to get ready to meet the Vans filled with eager students, Team Australia and most of Team Finland met up at JFK and heading up together. The buses arrive and the horde checks in, just seeing all the different team jackets and people here for the ITS is a great buzz.


Tanjun Breathing and the ITS 2009 is underway.

ITS Day 1. I start by covering the basic coloured belt requirements and during the day we get through White to Blue Belt, everyone is working hard. As a bonus for the ITS I am going to be doing a bonus topic seminar or 2 each day. The special topics for the day are Knock Out techniques & Defence using the Belt. A few students volunteer for chokes/strangles and force knockouts, of course being choked out can have some interesting affects, Paul P makes sure everyone gets a decent show with a shimmy and shake as he goes to sleep, the wake up was almost as funny. It turns out later that Paul’s thoughts were “I can’t believe I fell asleep during the seminar!” The Belt techniques go well and everyone gets wrapped up in learning them, pardon the pun. Of course what happens at the ITS stays at the ITS but ask one of the team to show you the Christmas Wrap technique.


Hmm Fins and Belt techniques = too much fun!

After techniques are done for the day a group of us head over to BJ’s, a wholesale warehouse that basically sells everything, well cars, televisions, trips, food, clothing, books, furniture, etc, etc. The Levi’s at around $30 Aus were a big hit and KSN Yash made sure to stock up on the Lindor Dark Chocolate Truffles. Of course when we went to leave there was a slight car accident with SBN Jimmy and a Accura (Honda) in the car park. Check out the ITS blog for the picture and details! That night everyone headed to Trio’s a nearby restaurant for the official ITS welcome dinner. (Trio’s is owned by 2 of SBN Mike’s students) They laid on a awesome buffet with 8-10 choices for only $10, it was a great meal and an unbelievable price.

ITS Day 2. Today we continue the coloured belt material covering Brown through to Provisional Black Belts. The energy is high as everyone is still getting to know each other and after the great welcome dinner the week is shaping up excellently. The special topics are Multiple Point Strikes and shopping.... Well Multiple Point Strikes in the morning and Team Australia undertake Operation Shopping in the afternoon, doing their own version of an economic stimulus package for the Lancaster area. The MPS techniques are well received and everyone gets several gifts on their arms, bruises all round. The afternoon is free time and many of the group hit the nearby outlets to shop their hearts out, some major bargains were to be hard and Team Australia were on a mission to have them! Let’s just say that many a credit card took a battering and much shoe leather was burnt as they ran from shop to shop. We had to reassure the local Lancastrians that the horde was only shopping and not dangerous. Dinner for a smaller group was at Wasabi for Japanese/Chinese and most types of Asian cuisine. KSN Corey and I challenged SBN Jimmy and KSN Yash to a Sushi sea battle, no prizes for picking the winning team.


The Sushi Titanic’s do battle!

ITS Day 3 – Dojunim Ji. Today was the day so many were looking forward to, a chance to be on the same mat as our founder. That alone is a great event, however to have him demonstrate and share his knowledge so freely and so openly was one of those special moments. Dojunim brought with him 2 of his local senior students Grandmaster Mackenzie and Master Godwin to assist, so everyone got the chance to see DJN and 2 other very senior masters.


Dojunim Ji and the enthralled crowd.

DJN started with some history as well as talking about his philosophy, during the discussion he also asked different students questions. He was excited about the group and started the seminar with the 8 step techniques; these are 8 different throwing techniques that are all based closely on the right footwork and positioning. During this part of the seminar he paused for a moment and covered the Black Belt ranking system used in Sin Moo Hapkido, 1st Degree is Black Belt, 2nd Degree is Assistant, 3rd Degree is Assistant Instructor, 4th Degree is Instructor, 6th Degree is Master and 8th Degree is Grandmaster. It was at this point he promoted me to 8th Degree and Grandmaster in Sin Moo Hapkido. You can read more information on the promotion on the ITS Blog or the IHA forum. During the lunch break DJN spoke about his future plans and how he shortly will be announcing the official lineage for Sin Moo Hapkido, he invited me to the presentations planned in August in San Francisco. I also invited him to Australia for seminars in 2010 and he accepted!


KSN Corey can you see this fist?

Now you do, Now you don’t!

During the seminars Master Godwin was helping demonstrate each technique and using his son as his partner, however DJN decided that some of our students should get involved so KSN Corey, KSN Aaron, KSN Yash, KSN Emmanuel and KSN Markus to name a few got a chance to be both crash dummies and demonstrators of different techniques, being chosen is a great honour. After the major part of the afternoon session was wrapped up it was time for DJN to write out some certificates for our Black Belts. For those who haven’t seen DJN write certificates it is a special time as he makes sure every aspect is done precisely, from the stamps to the seals, attaching the photo, the ribbon and making sure that all the text is right. To give you an idea of the focus, it took just over 2 hours for DJN to create 10 certificates.


Team Australia’s gift to Dojunim.

When the certificates were ready, Team Australia and Team Finland presented DJN, GM Mackenzie and Master Godwin with gifts to thank them for the day. I think DJN liked all the gifts and that the portrait we presented. DJN then officially presented certificates to each one or the Black Belts that were being certified at the ITS, it was also at this time that he presented me with my certificate for 8th Degree.


Dojunim Ji presents me with my 8th Degree.

8th Degree.

After the presentations it was time to get group shots, team shots, etc. Talk about the snaparazzi! The day was a great one and I think everyone there was motivated by being on the mat with DJN, learning from him, seeing him move, and hearing his philosophy. Never mind his excellent sense of humour!


GM Mackenzie and Master Godwin enjoying their presents.

Dojunim Ji and the ITS Groups.

[Grandmaster G]

ITS Day 4. Everyone was still buzzing from yesterday with DJN and today was another milestone day for the IHA with the official unveiling of our new Black Belt requirements. The Coloured Belt requirements have been refined a number of times over the years; however the Black Belt ones have stayed fairly similar, so today was the chance to take a whole new direction. The coloured belt students got a chance to see the techniques and try out the new kicking requirements for fun. Along with the Black Belt material SBN Jimmy also demonstrated some leg locking and we got stuck into Multiple Grabs. Raj the ever friendly Hotel Manager even dropped in to watch what the training was all about. He was impressed and will be bringing his son by to try out regular classes.

*Side Note* American Police are always so much cooler looking in the movies and after seeing some of the local police on the road you can see why. It seems the car of choice around here is the Dodge Charger and it looks the goods; add that to the all black uniform, numerous weapons and you have a total package that equals coolness.


Tough Cop cars in Lancaster!

I.T.S Day 5. Friday was upon us and the time to complete the curriculum requirements with 3rd Degree. Again the coloured belt got the chance to try the more advanced Black Belt kicks, including the flying and off the wall kicks. Let’s just say, there was much amusement from some of the watching Black Belts. It was sad to wrap up the formal part of the I.T.S week, however everyone was upbeat and looking forward to the open weekend seminars, some decided to seek more solace shopping again! After the Coloured Belts headed out it was time for the first International Black Belt Challenge and Technical Review. Along with the technical changes to Black Belt I have also made some changes to the testing procedures, apart from the class requirement, there are Black Belt Hours needed, signatures, an essay, attendance at Black Belt Challenge, attendance at a Black Belt Technical Review and Sun Bae (Senior Belt Training). The new steps were an eye opener for both the visiting Finns and hosting Americans. Everyone worked hard in both the Challenge and Review; making sure to put in 110% and earning a well deserved sleep in on Saturday.

*Side Note* Group Garage Sales? Well is seems after all the years of travelling to America, I have yet again managed to unearth something new. Apparently it is common for a section of a town/suburb/cluster of streets, to have a group ‘Lawn’ (Garage) sale. The sale is advertised in the local papers and everyone puts what they are selling out front for 1 or 2 days. Saturday morning in SBN Mike’s neighbourhood was day 2 of one of these. Let’s just say the amount of stuff for sale on the lawns was impressive and only outdone by the amount of people walking the streets looking for a bargain!


OMG a group Lawn Sale! Someone call Team Shopping Australia, Stat!

I.T.S Day 6 – Open Seminar. Saturday morning started off with a seminar for the local Kids. The seminar went well and everyone had a good time, well I did as I coerced some of the Black Belts into assisting. I did miss out on punting... Umm I mean throwing the kids, as there was nary a crash mat to be found and I couldn’t talk them into using the normal mats. Still they all listened and worked well, overall a good bunch; just don’t tell anyone I said that.


Kids R Us!

There was a brief break for lunch and then it was onto the afternoon seminar with the Adults. Amongst the fun that we worked on were weird strikes, yes the now infamous Butt Butt did appear, then onto Grazing Strikes and SBN Jimmy took the group through distraction techniques for kicking and striking, SBN Mike rounded up the afternoon with some basic Gun Defence. Some eyes were opened by the ways to take the Gun away from your everyday gun toting bad guy. Of course one of the recommendations was to run away as fast as possible at an angle, and no, that was not called the Road Runner escape! The day wrapped up in time for everyone to head out and get ready for the nights festivities and presentations. Everyone scrubbed up well and headed to the Symposium for Dinner (Well some people scrubbed up well, some, well just scrubbed!). We had our own space up on the balcony which gave us a little privacy for the presentations, first up was the announcement of the Black Belts who were successful in earning their new ranks. This I.T.S featured our biggest group of Black Belts testing and congratulations to the following successful promotions:

Promoted to 2nd Degree:
Pauli Harju - Finland
Corey Ninneman - USA
Janne Toivanen - Finland
Peter Dilonardo - Australia
Daniel Anis - Finland
Tony Schoenecker - USA
Markus Santi - Finland
Emmanuel Ordillo - Australia

Promoted to 3rd Degree:
April Booth - USA

Promoted to 4th Degree & Sahbunim:
Mike Weisensee – USA

After the presentations of the certificates it was time to announce the Host city for the 2011 I.T.S. Sydney was announced to the unanimous support of the group. Also announced that even the Australians in the group should be ready for travel during I.T.S 2011... More news as it comes to light.... After the official presentations the I.T.S group thanked Mike and April for being excellent hosts with some gifts, and I was presented with a framed photo to commemorate my promotion to 8th Degree. It was good to see everyone mingling and the energy in the air as plans to reunite in 2011 were hatched, promises made, and new friendships firmed. My words to those reading the trip report, now is the time to make the commitment to attend the 2011 I.T.S! A small group of Black Belts headed back to SBN Mike’s to watch the UFC on pay per view whilst the partying members of the group enjoyed the live Band at the Symposium.

I.T.S Day 7 – One Door closes, Another Opens.
Sunday morning was a little early for some, whether they were up late watching the UFC (Amazingly a Forward Back kick was used!) or those who enjoyed the Dancing until the wee hours. Still the I.T.S spirit kicked in and shortly everyone was back into the swing of it. SBN Mike continued where he left off with more Gun Defence, SBN Jimmy added Offensive Throwing, BSBN April added Choking up & down, BSBN Adrian worked on movement ideas, and I through in some reversals. Rumours of some Korean Special Forces Techniques will be just that, what happens at the I.T.S stays at the I.T.S. It was sad to end the day; however everyone agreed that Mike and April hosted an awesome I.T.S and that 2011 could not get here fast enough. Of course some people headed out to pack, and others went shopping...


ITS 2009 – A Huge Success.


Black Belt Promotions – Congratulations.

I.T.S the Day after – Planes, Trains and Automobiles. Monday was a day off for me, however for the rest of the group it was a day of travelling, Fins in Cars/Planes, Aussies in Taxis/Trains/Planes as the group headed home, a lucky group headed onwards to do some sightseeing. Amongst the destinations: New York, Florida, Washington D.C, Los Angeles and Hawaii to name a few.

[Grandmaster G]

Tuesday rolled around and it was time again for me to enjoy some more flying as I headed to Toronto, Canada. The drive from Lancaster to Harrisburg International airport is a short one and after checking in I snuck into the Susquehanna Lounge, hmm not sure what the lounge was for but the 3 of us in there enjoyed the TV and refreshments, mind you it would have been lucky to hold 10 people. Time to board and welcome to the Beechcraft 1900D, the smallest plane I have ever flown on during a World Tour, with only 1 seat on each side everyone got an aisle and window! Flight #7 AC7389 (Beechcraft 1900D) – 1.5hrs


Just checking if there is enough fuel, now where is that gauge?


Touchdown Toronto, see it is a Mini plane.

FT – 26 Hours
TT – 42 Hours


Harrisburg - Toronto

I head to customs and find out that I get the one angry Canadian who decides I am obviously a Immigration risk due to the fact I am only here for 2 nights and meeting someone I have only corresponded with through the internet. After being sent to the Immigration section I convince them it is simply another step on the World tour, I think the 5 page listing of flights was sufficient. Luggage recovered (the new bags survived) and I head out to get the bus into Toronto. One of the first things I notice is that the roads are not the best and even the highway is not the smoothest as we drive into downtown, the trip goes smoothly and I check into my Hotel.


The tallest building in Toronto, the CN Tower.

TT – 43.5 Hours

I have enough time to check my e-mails and get settled before I look into getting out to Grandmaster Hwang’s Dojang for the presentation of the Ki Award. GM Hwang moved to Toronto in 1976 and has been in the same Dojang since; also strangely even though Toronto has a Korea Town, he is located in what they call Greek Town. I head out to GM Hwang’s Dojang and it is reasonably close, 5km’s or so. There is a small sign outside that shows the entrance to the Dojang located in the basement on a fairly major road.


Grandmaster Hwang’s Dojang entrance.

I bow into the Dojang and Grandmaster Hwang is teaching a class, he notices me and directs me to the waiting area, where I get to watch some of the training which is mainly warm ups at this stage. Grandmaster Hwang then comes over and over the next 3 hours intersperses class with chats about everything from techniques to the state of martial arts today. During the 3 hours the students cover some kicking techniques (front, turning and back kick) some strikes (punching) and a throw with variations (shoulder throw). Grandmaster Hwang’s class is much more informal than most with students able to bow in and out for class when they want; also Doboks were in the minority with most training in Dobok pants and T-Shirts with a belt. At the end of the evening I get the chance to present Grandmaster Hwang with the Ki Award and he lets me grab a quick photo. Grandmaster Hwang has different movement to some other Grandmasters with his strikes and locking, so I pack away the ideas to work on with our techniques.


Grandmaster Hwang.

The next day is free so I hit the streets of Toronto to have a look around; first impressions are that it is similar to the US in overall look. Wandering the streets gives me the chance to find the World’s Biggest Book shop, well I am not sure if it is but it was huge on the inside as well.

World’s Biggest?

I also head to the CN tower for lunch and to see the view, of course you need to clear security and its high tech with a cubicle that blows air at you from a number of vents to detect explosive and gun powder traces.


Beam me up Scotty!

The ride up the tower is interesting as part of the way you can see out of the elevator and through into the tower. I grab lunch at the revolving restaurant and enjoy Toronto turn around me. After lunch I head down to the major viewing area to grab some photos and I also get a chance to stand on the glass floor which is an interesting experience. Of course I am never satisfied with just average so I grab the additional ticket to go to the Pod. The Pod is another 33 floors above the major observatory, on this level you can also exit the tower onto an area that is enclosed with mesh but over wise open to the elements, of course I have failed to mention that the average temperature on street level was 5-9 degree’s so at this height, let me just say it was Cold and very Windy!


Now where is that Pod, Exactly?


Toronto #1


Toronto #2


Toronto #3


Watch your Step!


Only 15,562 km’s to Moorebank Dojang!

After enjoying the CN Tower I head back to the hotel to grab my Dobok, as tonight I am heading out to train with one of Grandmaster Hwang’s Black Belts Matt. One of Matt’s students drops by the Hotel to pick me up and we get to enjoy the Toronto Peak hour traffic as we head out of town, it is about a 45minute drive to get to the community centre where Matt teaches. The class goes well and I get to jump in to do the kicks and strikes with Matt’s students, as well as show them some of our techniques, and they show lots of interest in my modified Dan Bong. After class we grab dinner at a nearby Korean BBQ restaurant, apparently all the affordable Korean restaurants in Toronto are run by Chinese, go figure. It is an all you can eat and some of Matt’s group can sure pack it away! It’s time to head back into town for my last night in Canada, if anyone finds themselves up this way I can recommend dropping in on Matt’s class for a good workout, and meal afterwards.


Matt and I after Class.

With a couple of hours to spare in the morning I go in search of a Mountie’s Baton, apparently they can sometimes be bought in Army disposal stores here in town. The best I come up with is an Original English Bobby Billy Club; still it is a good find and will go into my collection. I also try out a local Japanese restaurant that Matt’s students recommended, and can advise if in Toronto and you like Sushi try Nami (Shortened from Tsunami) on Adelaide (!) Street. After lunch I grab my luggage check out and jump on the airport bus, now this isn’t a normal bus it features free Wi-Fi as well as in seat power for everyone! So of course I plug in connect and get on the forum.


Staying Connected.
Toronto went well, even though it was a whirlwind visit, and I am back on the road with 2 flights towards Amsterdam and the World Tour European leg. Flight #8 AC872 (Boeing 777-300ER) – 7hrs goes well and I hit Frankfurt with an hour to clear immigration and find my connecting flight. Frankfurt airport is one of those sprawling ones with a mini train and a couple of levels so it can be a hike to connect. All goes well and I am onto Flight #9 LH4672 (Airbus A319) – 1hr.

The trip report continues in the European section.

[Grandmaster G]

Time to switch to the European Update.

Regards

GM G