The Magua Taekwon-Do clubs, which are spread across Johannesburg, hosted grand master Trevor Nicholls.
Nicholls, who is a 9th Dan and vice president of the International Taekwon-Do Federation, was also joined by his son Reece who is a two-time sparring world champion and multiple European champion.
Their six-hour seminar was held at the Wits Education Campus in Parktown. Norman Magua, an instructor at one of the clubs said, “We do our best to bring [Nicholls] in every few years. The knowledge gained from the day is very valuable to assist our South African standards to keep rising.”
The seminar covered many aspects such as sparring, traditional hand and kicking techniques including pad work, all with an emphasis on power generation. A black belts’ dinner was held to reflect on the seminar, and the following day, a grading for five candidates to fourth Dan was conducted by Nicholls. The 4th Dan grading is a very significant grading in taekwon-do as it takes the candidate to expert level.
“The candidates Avishkar Ajoodha, Selvan Pandaram, Hugh Thomson, Natasha Voorhout and Ruan Hageman had a tough challenge and also had to hand in a thesis on any aspects pertaining to taekwon-do,” said Magua.
“They all passed and breathed a sigh of relief, as well as even some happy tears after all of the dedication and training over the years leading up to this.”
