Time for another one of those World Tour type things, you know the drill by now, jump on a plane fly a lot, see some people, do some Hapkido, rinse and repeat. Ok there is a little more to it than that, but you get the general idea. So some up front statistics for this years global lap: 90 Days Long with 24 Flights on 9 different Airlines (Qantas/Finnair/Iberia/Iceland/Scandinavian/American/United/Delta/Aeromexico) through 8 Countries (Thailand/Spain/Netherlands/Finland/Norway/Iceland/USA/Mexico) using 6 Currencies (Baht/Euro/Peso/Dollar/Krona/Krone) and taking 3 Bags (Backpack + 2 large bags).
My first flight is with Qantas but on a Finnair plane that is being leased to them. Finnair has extra capacity and Qantas needs a few more jets, so it rents them, the pilots are Finnair, but the in-flight entertainment, food and other items are all Qantas, the frequent flyer points are earned at full Qantas rate as this flight is counted as a pure Qantas one regardless of the interesting situation. Just to make it even more international the crew on this flight are all Thai (Finnair Crew, cheaper hiring out of Thailand).
Flight #1 Finnair A330-300 Sydney – Bangkok
Flight Time 9 hours 30 minutes – Total Time 9 hours 30 minutes
The flight is relatively smooth with only a few bumps, the crew are excellent from the normal service, through to walking through to offering drinks and snacks during the flight. An enjoyable trip to Bangkok, no real lines at immigration and again I am through in almost record time, lets hope this sets a trend for the world tour. When you travel a lot to the same places it is good to experience new things and look around, but at the same time there are also those return to comfort places. Breakfast story on Sukhumvit Soi 11 is one of those, good coffee and good food.
Appropriate coffee art for the road warrior
This was some of the tastiest bacon I have ever had
I always try to put a couple of days downtime at the beginning of the world tour to make sure I have switched from being at the HQ Dojang to being in travel mode. During that time in Bangkok, I do work on Video Signatures for testing or completing Instructor levels, and respond to numerous regular queries, however I also try to have a nice meal, of course how can you go past the foot massages, and a regular visit to my dentist. Bangkok is hot averaging 37c (99f) but it is dry heat so bearable, a good stop getting ready for the cooler Euro weathers.
Still the best way to get around Bangkok’s Traffic
Where else would you buy your next Rolls from but in a shopping mall – Siam Paragon
One floor of my Dentist, I know we all enjoy getting a filling.
The Qatar check in desk was very quiet due to current air space closures
My flight like most European ones, skirting to the north of Iran
Also skipping below Ukraine and Russia
Welcome to the frozen north, Moi Finland
So why am I flying from Bangkok to Finland then connecting back down through Europe to Spain. Dollars is the easiest answer. Finnair offers some great prices on their tickets, adding into the mix as a One World Frequent Flyer I get bonuses, the extra travel time far outweighs the huge cost differences to go more direct. My flights are smooth, the Finnair and Iberia crews are good, and I arrive in Madrid some 23 hours after waking in Bangkok, time for a good night’s sleep. I have a day in Madrid to change into the Euro time zone, update the trip report and enjoy a nice meal before my next short flight in Seville and some mat time with Team Espana.
Flight #2 Finnair A350-900 Bangkok – Helsinki
Flight Time 12 hours 30 minutes – Total WT Time 22 Hours
Flight #3 Iberia A321 Helsinki – Madrid
Flight Time 4 hours – Total WT Time 26 Hours
Due to rising economics, the fine dining this trip will be aimed at either lower-level Michelin stars or those without stars but still on the guide. I have gotten creative with a couple of bookings where a higher end restaurant features a far more affordable lunch or bar seating menu. So, for those wanting some food pictures, never fear your intrepid road warrior diner is still on the job. The stop in Madrid allowed me to catch up on the local time zone and get ready for a Hapkido week in Seville.
Flight #4 Iberia A321neo Madrid – Seville
Flight Time 1 hour – Total WT Time 27 Hours
The flight is a quick hour, and everything is going smoothly until its luggage time. Normally Seville is on the slower side of luggage delivery but today it was a special moment when a very minor bag jam stopped everything for almost 20 minutes. So some 45 minutes of waiting for bags later I got mine and head out.
Airport Chaos – Yeah/Nah
I get picked up by some of the Black Belt team at the airport and head into Seville to my Airbnb. I am staying at a mix of places this tour, a few more Airbnb’s due to Hotels growing in cost, on my Airbnb list is Seville, Iceland, Lapland and Guadalajara. This one is not far from the ITS Hotel area and in a good location to get to food and amenities.
Airbnb Studio style, the bed folds out of the wall.
The nice entryway to the Airbnb apartment
After dropping my bags at the apartment, it was time to head to the Dojang for the first session of the Hell Week and as normal the seminar classes would be held between the 2 major Dojangs, KJN Jose’s and BSBN Eloy’s. On the first night there was both a seminar class followed by senior testing with 4 candidates for 2nd degree and BSBN Eloy testing for 4th Degree.
First night group
Tasty Steak
KJN Jose had a bunch of posters from the previous world tours, and these were to be autographed and given to the students who worked the hardest over the hell week. The week continued with a focus on junior requirements for the coloured belts and Black Belt weaponry as the seniors focus.
Poster competition
Keep on fighting
Churros, not the best I have had but a popular venue
Hell Week survivors
The weeks mat time culminated with the Spirit test, 4 candidates on the mats working for their IHA first degree. Congratulations to team Spain on the addition of 4 new black belts.
Congratulations to the new 1st Degree’s
After the test it was time to head to dinner to both celebrate the new Black Belts and then announce the results of the senior testing held earlier in the week. Another good moment for Team Espana with the addition of 4 new 2nd Degree Black Belts and one new SBN, Sir Eloy 4th Degree.
Congratulations seniors
A standard local Breakfast (Bread + Tomato, or + Pate, or +Olive Oil)
The local team had a surprise for the next day and we ended up at a local Go Kart facility for some hot laps, it was a fun time even if the power to weight didn’t favour some seniors…..
Go Karting Hapkido style
Thought I better add a tourist type picture of Seville.
Monday was a free day, so I headed off to do some laundry, finding the ITS one the best located to my apartment, completing a bunch more video signatures and finally updating the trip report. Tonight, I will chat with the new Black Belts before getting back on the road tomorrow on my way to The Netherlands. It was looking like I might hit some colder weather when I travel back into the North of Europe, most definitely in Iceland and Lapland so off to a local store to get at least a Beanie to help, well I might also look for a scarf, this road warrior tries to travel light.
Team Spain helping me get pimped out for the Cold
Time to wrap up Spain and get on the road for The Netherlands, so back to my old friend the airport, where even with my many flights something new must happen. Today I am flying with Iberia into Madrid and then connecting to Amsterdam. It was the first time they had started boarding before the people on the arriving plane had departed, we all ended up queued along one wall of the jet bridge, while the other passengers got off.
2-way boarding traffic
Colourful Jet Bridges are a thing in Seville
Surprisingly good Beef Cheeks in the Iberia Lounge
It wasn’t enough to be boarding group 1 now there is a 0.
Time to get the smaller jet for the next hop
Flight #5 Iberia A321neo Seville – Madrid
Flight Time 1 hour – Total WT Time 28 Hours
Flight #6 Air Nostrum CRJ1000 Madrid – Amsterdam
Flight Time 2 hours – Total WT Time 30 Hours
An easy flight into Amsterdam where I am picked up by SBN Marcel for the smooth drive back into Eindhoven. Plans would see me getting into the hotel around 9pm and I had a Podcast interview on the schedule for 10pm, so there were no problems there. My phone pinged to let me know that the podcast was starting, apparently there was a time issue or change at some point, so it was a hurry to run into the hotel, get access to the Wi-Fi and dial in. The podcast was an interview with myself and GM Dorsey about DJN’s passing and it went very well, scheduled for an hour it went 90 minutes. The podcast team were impressed enough to invite me back for a solo interview which will happen in April when I am in North Carolina. The hotel also decided to upgrade my room to a studio, the room was huge but the beds were still singles, a normal thing in most of Europe. My room was a little strange through as it had a smaller attached room with nothing in it. Still I would rather the space to spread out than not.
Studio Room in Eindhoven
The place to be for coffee in Eindhoven
IHA Best Kids Group
In between seminars there are always some signature videos to be done
A local scenic shot taken in Best, The Netherlands
The week was going to be a busy one with Hell week sessions in the morning and afternoon each day. With testing planning in the evenings which include a senior belt test, a coloured belt grading and a Spirit test before the weekend’s seminars. First one to test was CGN Ron aiming at 2nd Degree, who would then find out his results during the weekend seminar. During the week SBN Marcel added a colour belt grading and on Friday night a Spirit test for Ma’am Evelijn.
Congratulations CGN and welcome to the Black Belt family!
Each day SBN had a preplanned lunch and dinner location planned and the restaurants all turned out to be quite good. The weekend was here and time for the seminars, we had some parents join the first days, so I kept the focus on easy-to-use techniques covering Angry White Belt, Finger locks, Clinch Defence and some Hook Punch counters. Master Henrie also joined the fun with a couple of his students; it was good to catch up with him on his latest plans. At the end of the day, it was time to award CGN Luka (who tested at the ITS) his Official IHA Certificate and Belt.
Seminar Group
Sometimes translations can hit hard
As the final seminar day was just IHA family I changed things up to focus more on the local student’s progression and worked on the clip boards hard for signatures. SBN Marcel has a coloured clip board system (White – Coloured Belts, Black – Black Belts and Blue – Instructors Course). Each of them was in use so it was good to see the number of different signatures being worked on. Both Master Henrie and SBN Marcel got a chance over the weekend to work on some senior material with 3D locks and then on Sunday more work on the Military material. I wrapped up the visit with the successful promotion of Sir Ron to 2nd Degree as well as Senior Instructor.
KSN Ron, 2nd Degree and Senior Instructor
A nice dinner at a local Italian restaurant with some of the seniors to complete this excellent visit with the Dutch Team. SBN picked me up early in the morning for the drive to the airport for my Oslo flight and some traffic issues meant I had to get creative and change my flights so instead of the direct option I was now flying later in the day via Copenhagen, it means I am still able to join the Vikings today and the weeks schedule will stay on track. The extra time at the airport gave me the chance to update the trip report.
Flight #7 SAS A320 Amsterdam – Copenhagen
Flight Time 1 hour 3 minutes – Total WT Time 31.5 Hours
Flight #8 SAS A320 Copenhagen – Oslo
Flight Time 1 hour – Total WT Time 32.5 Hours
It is always good to see your bags loading
The flight into Copenhagen was slightly late and the transfer was just over 30 minutes now, the walk was going to be 13 minutes to the new gate, so I was moving and basically walked over and straight onto the plane as boarding had already begun. It is always at this moment that I wonder if your bags are at the same speed, I checked my tracker app and they seemed to have moved, but moments later I could see both bags being loaded from my window, that is always a good moment. SBN Erik picked me up when I arrived and we headed into town to my hotel. It was noticeably cooler in Norway compared to the Netherlands, that beanie from Spain will come into good use.
The room here is slightly smaller than my last one
The hotel is a nice one, located very centrally near the main train station, comfortable bed/pillow if the room is just on the smaller side. First up this visit was a class with the local students where I got to help fix small errors, and to wrap up the night I was able to present CGN Nicolai with his official IHA Certificate and Belt, KJN Carlos had the honour to tie it on. A good start to my visit.
Congratulations CGN Nicolai and Team Viking
The next day I was on the mats for some senior training, and it was good to see the local leaders getting signatures and moving forward. SBN Erik wrapped up his signatures to earn his Senior Instructor promotion, but we haven’t finished as he is only 2 signatures away from Chief, so I know those techniques will get a workout this week. I was feeling like a good meal, so I tried a last-minute booking at one of the nicer restaurants in town, I was lucky enough to sneak in for a very good dinner.
One of the four Amuses
Some Tasty Reindeer
Over the week I helped during the normal nightly Hapkido classes and then working with the senior team during the day. SBN Erik completed his instructor signatures, and I was very pleased to recognise his promotion to Chief Instructor. Next up is SBN Terje who is also working steadily thought his signatures, hopefully looking to wrap things up later in the year at the ETS.
Chief Instructor SBN Erik
Seminar Group
The weekend seminars went well, and I covered a bunch of different topics including: Penkido, Belt, Dan Bong, Lock Flows, Locking variations and more. It was a smaller group, but everyone worked hard and the weekend was a fun one. There is a good buzz on the mats as they work towards hosting the ETS in September. A must visit for IHA Europe. Monday morning, I get a lift to the airport from CGN Nicolai who is one of the Airport Security supervisors and after a good chat over lunch grab my next flight with both a new airline (Iceland Air) and to a new country (Iceland). It just started to snow as we arrived at the airport, so I am expecting some cold weather ahead in Iceland, duh you say it’s in the name. Iceland will be country number 67 that I have visited. I am here for a few days over the Easter break to be a tourist before returning to Europe and Finland towards the frozen north of Lapland.
Side Note: A couple of extra travel thoughts why do almost every airport has flooring that isn’t bag friendly, I will include a picture of some ripple strips from Oslo that are simply enemies to any rolling bag and they are everywhere. However, it isn’t just Oslo, it seems most airports have flooring that is not bag friendly, it is like hotels with carpet that are not roller bag friendly. Oh, a cool addition I noticed only in the SAS airlines app, it shows what percentage of the plane is loaded as your board, good to knowing when to move and grab that empty seat….
Bag grabbing ripple strips at Oslo airport
Flight #9 Icelandair A321neo Oslo – Reykjavik
Flight Time 3 hours – Total WT Time 35.5 Hours
It is well known that Norway is possibly the most expensive place to visit in Europe, but after my research I would say that only applies to mainland Europe, and Iceland takes the crown for prices. The one-way airport taxi trip to the city is $120Usd plus, onto the bus I go. A smooth flight and the Icelandic team did a great job on the flight, I even noticed one of the flight attendants wiping down areas around the entrance door to keep the plane clean, that was a first. The airport bus was about a 45minute ride to the main temple where they had smaller buses to take people to their final closer destinations, my dropoff was about a block from the airbnb.
Iceland lives up to its name (Country #67)
Airbnb Iceland
The apparently famous rainbow street in Reykjavik
Of course, it’s cold here in Iceland, the actual temperature hasn’t been too bad hovering in the low single digits, but the added water and wind in the air have made it bitter at times. I make sure to put my recently acquired beanie and scarf to the test along with my Hapkido jacket. Overall, it’s bearable if you aren’t holding your phone out in the wind waiting for a Geyser to randomly erupt. The plans for the visit are mainly to see the Northern lights, but along with those I had a couple of tours and a few restaurants booked. The first day is free so I wander around the city a bit, wandering can be limited with the snow falling at random times, and yes, it looks so nice, but hey folks its still cold and wet. Enough of that and you get to be cold and miserable, so some walking in between snowfalls. The city seems nice, people seem friendly, and there are a lot of tourists from all over. Everything is cashless and the general advice is you don’t need any, by day 3 I hadn’t needed any and don’t expect to before I leave.
Lamb – Almost $100Aud a kilo
Now take a moment to appreciate how expensive this place is. They are a major producer of Lamb with jokes that the Sheep out number the people, and its almost $100 a kilo, rather average coffee’s are all $9-10, meals in a café will cost $70+ and dinners at a semi nice place are $150+ the Michelin places (there are some 1 stars here) are all $500-$800 for dinner, so I gave all those a miss. Over the first couple of days, I did the Gold Circle Tour, enjoyed a visit to one of the hot lagoons and sampled some Icelandic fare. I did have a Northern light tour booked for night #1, cancelled due to weather, moved to night #2, cancelled, and now I type this waiting for night #3 where it is now apparently going ahead even though it has not stopped snowing all day. Thumbs crossed, still enjoy a range of pictures so far and hopefully by the time I leave Iceland I can add some more “light” to the report.
Postcards on the way (Had to have the Chuck one)
Hallgrimskirkja Church
My Airbnb is right near the water, and this is the harbour view
Smoked Puffin
Horse Tartare
Thingvellir National Park (where the tectonic plates meet)
Strokkur Geyser
Random wrestling stature near the Geysir Geothermal area
Gullfoss Falls (Wind Chill off the charts here)
Sky Lagoon (No inside pictures, phone went into a locker)
VIP (The return coach from the Lagoon all to myself, the driver even did a door to door for me)
Well, the final night delivered and I got to see some lights, a couple of pictures below. I enjoyed Iceland and would recommend it if you are in the neighbourhood but save up as its pricy and I was here in the cheaper season (apparently). Of course, having the Northern lights tour moved to the last night compounded an already early departure. I got back to the Airbnb at 2:30am and had to meet my airport ride at 4am, argh. The combination just doesn’t work, still a sleepless night was worth the view.
Northern Lights #1
Northern Lights #2
Time to leave Iceland and head to somewhere even colder if that’s possible, today I am flying into Helsinki and connecting to Rovaniemi or Lapland as most call the area. I am there a few days to possibly catch some more light, and to also teach a class for our Dojang under the leadership of CGN Petri. I will get to enjoy a few of the local experiences as well before heading south in Finland for the Helsinki Hell Week.
Flight #10 Jettime (for Finnair) 737-800 Reykjavik – Helsinki
Flight Time 3 hours 30 mins – Total WT Time 39 Hours
Flight #11 Finnair A321 Helsinki – Rovaniemi
Flight Time 1 hour – Total WT Time 40 Hours
Side Note: Iran chaos. I mentioned at the beginning of the report how the flights were skirting the airspace on the way to Europe, but what has happened since. The general effects on the ground here are mainly fuel related, the same as everyone everywhere it seems. Pricing in Norway was nudging 3eu a litre or $5Aud a litre or $12Usd a gallon. The effect of fuel issues was also affecting flights with over 1000 being canceled in Europe over April, many airlines are reducing flights (mainly regional) to keep fuel stocks for longer more lucrative flights. So far, all my flights are locked in, but we will see if anything happens to the regional ones.
The bus ride was 4am and I was at the airport just after 5am to find out the Finnair flight bag check didn’t open until 6am, argh, that hour could have been some sleep. Bags checked in and back on track for the flights, boarding goes smoothly, but something is holding us up. It seems that one of the ground staff didn’t know the correct paperwork to give the captain (about flight loads or something) and until the captain had the paperwork we weren’t flying. That took an hour and basically made my 1 hr. connection in Helsinki Null and Void. The rest of the flight was smooth and as we were landing, an announcement was made that certain connecting flights were being held for us. Finnair decided to hold 6 flights for connecting passengers and mine was one of those, I hoofed it over and boarded straight away. Of course, doubts now creep in on my bags, and the trackers showed they didn’t get to the plane. I landed in Rovaniemi and got an email from Finnair that basically says we have your luggage and it didn’t make the flight. Some wrangling later it looks like they might be delivered tomorrow. CGN Petri picked me up and we took the almost 2hr drive to my Airbnb before dinner. I am staying in a cabin/cottage in the woods during my stay.
Airbnb Kemijarvi
CGN Petri tries Reindeer Pizza
I have the classic Reindeer and mashed potato
Sir Petri lets me know that there might be some Northen lights tonight so I should head outside after 11pm (when its dark) and take a look. He also makes sure I have some cold weather gear on hand if needed (boots/jacket/gloves/pants). Even though sleep calls, I stay awake to check if my bags make the 11:30pm flight and then to possibly see some lights. I enjoyed the Icelandic lights, but the Finnish ones are next level, incredible lights just on my doorstep. Enjoy just a few of the pictures I took.
Finnish Northern Lights #1
Finnish Northern Lights #2
Finnish Northern Lights #3
Finnish Northern Lights #4
Finnish Northern Lights #6
Finnish Northern Lights #7
That truly made sure it was ticked off my bucket list. Later I was able to get much-needed sleep and in the morning, I was met by Sir Petri and Jutta (one of his students). They presented me with a gift of some handmade local winter items, very nice, they included my name in Hangul woven into the design.
Pelkosenniemi Hapkido gifts
Now properly winter proof it was time to take a drive to a local walking track and climb one of the small hills to visit a Hut specific to Northern light viewing, it was an interesting walk, enjoying the snow and somewhat slippery challenge of staying upright. After the trek it was time for lunch and the good news was that my bags had been dropped off at the Airbnb.
A view from the top
Bags back in hand
That night I got to have a very nice dinner with Sir Petri at one of the nicer restaurants in the area, featuring a lot of the local produce as highlights on the tasting menu. A standout dish for me was the Beetroot and Berry soup, very tasty, it could almost be either a savoury or desert type dish. One thing that was different with the restaurant is that everyone had to take off their shoes and wear a set of felt slippers, probably due to the snow and water that gets tracked in.
Snacks to kick off the dinner
The next day it was time to enjoy some of the local pastimes as well as a Hapkido class. First up was a visit to a Reindeer farm to feed some of the free-range herd, some were friendlier than others. A couple had escaped the butcher’s blade as the owner kept them as they were friendly, almost like a herd of Reindeer pets. After feeding some reindeer we moved onto the frozen river to drill some holes and attempt some ice fishing, one of the local experts pulled up 7 fish, GMG 2 and CGN Petri 1, so everyone caught something at least. A fire was set up on the ice for some Camp Coffee and snacks to enjoy some down time.
Team Rudolph
Ice Fishing
Camp Coffee
As much as this visit was primarily a break over Easter there was some Hapkido to be had, and I got to visit the sport hall where CGN Petri runs his classes, a mini seminar of Bag Fu for the local students who all seemed to enjoy the session. Afterwards it was off to one of sir’s students’ house for a home cooked meal. On the menu was Morel Soup, Moose Stew, and Blueberry pie with most of the ingredients being hunted or gathered from around the area. A very tasty meal and some good company for the evening.
Bag Fu with the local IHA family
Time for some Moose
In the morning another home cooked breakfast and some local experiences, first up time to chainsaw a tree near the house, then a ride in a trailer attached to a snow mobile, some cranberry picking, and I got a chance to almost kill us all driving the snow mobile, 1000cc and a beast of a machine, but not much snow and thin trails. Trip survived it was off to a ski lift to check out the view and wrap up my visit with the local group in this part of Lapland. CGN Petri and his students have been excellent hosts and made sure I had a great time and enjoyed a whole host of local experiences. Tomorrow I am back on the road for the short flight into Helsinki and the next hell week.
Riding the Snow Beast
Ski lift time, queue James Bond music
The view from the ski hill, hello Russia
On the drive to the airport we did stop in briefly at Santa Claus’s village which is a large tourist attraction, not so much to enjoy all its offerings but to check out the Marttiini shop (A very high-end Finnish knife maker).
Knives R Us
Crossed the Arctic Circle apparently
Rovaniemi airport is very small with only 4 gates, so I was surprised by a couple of things, firstly an ATM machine that offered Thai Baht, and then it has a Passport/Immigration control section. I wonder how often it gets used if ever, the board today showed 3 departing flights when I checked in.
Thai Baht anyone?
Immigration to Lapland
Flight #12 Finnair A321 Rovaniemi – Helsinki
Flight Time 1 hour – Total WT Time 41 Hours
An easy one hour flight into Helsinki, I grabbed my bags and met up with Emil (one of the Spirit Test candidates) for the drive into town. The last couple of visits to Helsinki I have been using Airbnb’s as they have been cheaper, but this time around I found an amazing price for one of the nicer hotels which was actually cheaper than the Airbnb options, it pays to check out a few different search engines while looking for travel related bookings.
The next morning it was straight onto the mats for day #1 of Hell Week and there was a good group, with quite a few grading for Black Belt levels. This trip we had 2 for the Spirit test, 4 for 2nd Degree, 3 for 3rd Degree and SBN Pertsa aiming for 5th Degree and KJN. Definitely a good way to have some positive hell week mat energy. I did ask for a local restaurant recommendation and a few settled on Muru so I made a reservation to enjoy a nice meal there.
Hell Week group
Muru Restaurant #1
Muru Restaurant #2
Helsinki at Night
Floating Knife Defence
The first 3 days of the training were at Sisu gym in Jarvenpaa and the final 2 at Master Tapio’s dojang HMAC near to Helsinki. We had some guests join us during the week with CGN David from Minnesota doing the week, and on the weekend the Vikings arrived with SBN Erik, SBN Terje and CGN Nicolai. It was a very positive and hard-working group.
Sisu Hell Week Group
25 years already?
As the photo shows this visit marks the 25th year of Finland being a IHA member, an incredible achievement. With the weekend events at HMAC there was also testing happening and first up was the senior test, followed by the Spirit test in the afternoon. I am very pleased to welcome 2 new Black Belts into the family, CGN Emil and CGN Lotta.
Senior Testing Group
Spirit Test
Seniors on deck
KSN Ville and his IHA pimped out ride.
That night we had a nice family meal at the local Burger/Steak place to celebrate our 2 new Black Belts and catch up with the visiting Internationals, lots of talk about the ETS in Norway and quite a few more Finns looking to make the short trip across to join the fun. The next morning was the final training day, and the seniors would also find out their results. I spent the morning working on some Kwan Nyom Science and the afternoon double strikes as well as some handshake defence. It was then time to award the senior promotions, congratulations KJN Pertti Varjola (5th Degree), BSBN’s Arsi, Marko & Satu (3rd Degree) and new KSN’s Sami, Lars, Petri S and Petri K (2nd Degree). With the promotion there followed some instructor promotions: BSBN’s Arsi, Marko & Satu – Chief Instructor and KSN Petri K – Senior Instructor.
Hell Week Group – HMAC
Senior promotions
After the promotions I had a chance to talk about one of our recently passed Black Belts, Ma’am Eija who was one of the few original Black Belts from 2001 still active, sadly she lost her battle with Cancer last year and was unable to be with us at this milestone. Many did not know that she had worked hard throughout her health challenges to still complete the requirements for 2nd to 3rd Degree, she was unable to test at the ITS due to Dr’s orders. I made the choice to honour her efforts, hard work and dedication with a posthumous promotion to 3rd Degree which also completed her qualification as a Chief Instructor within the IHA. It was an incredibly emotional moment for both me and many of the local Finnish team.
Master Tapio and SBN Hans with BSBN Eija’s certificates
A nice dinner that evening with Master Adrian and BSBN Mira at the newly opened Gaucho restaurant (Brazilian churrasco style) to wrap up this visit with Team IHA Finland before my flight out the next day to the USA. This wraps up the European leg of the 2026 World Tour.
Flight #12 Finnair A330-300 Helsinki – New York
Flight Time 9 hours – Total WT Time 50 Hours
SSSS does not mean special.
The recently promoted CGN Emil dropped me off at the airport and I checked in for my flight to New York, I noticed that I had been “randomly” tagged for extra security, the SSSS on your boarding pass is the giveaway. I found it strange as I had only recently undergone a 12-month process to get a KTN (Known Traveler Number) for the USA which should allow me to enter effectively as an American. It was a trace residue check on my bag, laptop and shoes, all clear and onto the flight. A smooth trip into New York and I was now looking forward to testing out my new entry process, it started well and with Finnair and on arrival the global entry scanner had no queue, straight through to the officer, but wait, you need to get your documents checked, sigh, that line was short and I was still through faster than the normal large line. Hopefully this was either an aberration or just a first time I was using it check. More updates as I hopefully get through my USA travels with my shiny new TSA precheck in place.