On March 8th and 9th, Alana & Diego Cabanas of ARCAN Taekwon-Do invited Master Clint Norman, 8th degree to Ottawa to host a technical seminar focusing on patterns and sparring. Master Norman teaches out of Regina, Saskatchewan. He is currently a Vice President of the ITF and the President of Canada’s NGB the Canadian Taekwon-Do Federation International.
I looked so forward to the seminar since I know I’ll always learn new drills for training and also drills that I can pass on to the students in our dojang. It was great to see many familiar faces, and to meet a few more people. The room was filled with Masters, Instructors and students from Ottawa, Nova Scotia, Quebec, Saskeatchewan, and New York.
The patterns portion was great because Master Norman really picked apart each movement. Master Suarez from Queens NY TKD and Master Phil from Ottawa’s Black Belt Excellence also attended the seminar, so it was amazing to have so much knowledge in one room. It was like a mini IIC.
The afternoon portion was an incredible workout! We did cardio drills, technical but tiring drills, and timing drills all for sparring. I could see the faces of everyone getting more and more red as the afternoon went on. I really enjoyed it! Master Norman has such great energy and enthusiasm it makes you want to work harder. He also incorporated some games to help break things up. You concentrate so hard during the seminar since you are not only working physically but you are also working hard mentally. I LOVE how recharged you feel after these seminars!
Seminars like these are great for a few different reasons.
- You get a new perspective and opinion on certain drills or concepts
- You can ALWAYS learn something
- It’s great to see everyone because we are a TKD family. It’s also a great way to meet new people and create new connections with different instructors and athletes.
- It’s great for the mental aspect of gearing up for tournaments. The environment is electric and completely different from training in class every night.
- It keeps you up to date with what is happening in the TKD world when it comes to technical, rules and ways of teaching.
I am going to my second IIC (international Instructors Course) next weekend in New York City and I am so excited! It’s going to be great. 🙂
Since I usually train late at night and compete out of town my Grandpa doesn’t get to see me train so I was really happy that he was able to come and watch. He loves it so much and really gets into the drills and understands what’s going on.
Thank you Arcan TKD for organizing such an amazing seminar and a special thank you to Master Norman for coming to Ottawa to share your wisdom and your positive energy.
To view all 200 action packed photos of the seminar, click on the photo below. Thanks mom for taking all the pictures. These photos will be great memories for years to come 🙂