The UC Berkeley Martial Arts Program will be hosting the 7th World
University Taekwondo Championships this year from June 12th through June
15th. In 1986, UC Berkeley hosted the 1st World University Taekwondo Championships
with competitors from 21 countries. This year, we expect competitors from
40 countries.
The WUTC Press TKD Demo was held following the Taekwondo Promotional
Ceremonies, which I missed because Dr. Lieu sent me home to get some dressy
clothes for the press banquet following the demo, as jeans were not allowed.
The demo started with basic kicks, followed by forms, self-defense
demo, sparring, and a number of spectacular demo kicks, ending with paddle
drills. The demo kicks included stepping round-houses, split front kicks,
jumping and flying side kicks. Master Yoon also did a 360-degree round-house
on an apple stuck to the edge of a sword. He tested the sword before the
demo by stabbing a board.
After the demo, all black belts were invited to a press dinner at
an event room at the Haas Pavilion. The buffet included every type of oriental
food you can imagine plus a plate of ham sandwiches just for kicks. The
speeches featured various heads of athletics as well as Esther Kim, who
was famous for her selfless act of giving up her Olympic spot to her best
friend Kay Poe. I thought her presence was probably the most exciting moment
of the dinner. She was simply inspirational just being herself!
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