On the 25th September Grandmaster Hee Il Cho entered the National Basket Ball Arena to an electrifying welcome by over 600 Instructors, students and parents who had come to see one of the original Taekwondo pioneers in action! 

All who had gathered where not disappointed as the 71 yr old martial artist exploded on the stage, pushing all limits and with a speed and agility that most of us can only dream of!  The seminar kicked off earlier in the day with live entertainment from  A.I.M.A.A Ireland Instructor Mr Gerry Long, who is Senior student to Master Darcy.

All who had gathered in the National Basket Ball arena where in a fantastic mood, and the atmosphere was tangible as you could feel everyone's enthusiasm, expectation and awe of finally being there in the same place as one of the world leading martial artists!  At times the atmosphere was in party mode, as everyone joked and took photos of groups participating in this wonderful event.

Finally the time had come and everyone was asked to line up for the entry of the A.I.M.A.A Masters and of course Grandmaster Hee Il Cho.  All the low grade juniors where lined up to the front of the stage so they could have direct access to Grandmaster Cho, whilst the senior juniors where lined up to the far right of the stage.  All the adults lined up to the left of the stage in rank and waited patiently for the seminar to start!

One by one the Masters where introduced, firstly Master Michael Fitzgerald, who is the A.I.M.A.A Ireland Technical Director. Next was our very own Master John Kirkwood, A.I.M.A.A Scotland Director. Everyone cheered loudly as both Masters entered the hall. Next to enter was "The demolition man" Master Peter Byrne, who is the A.I.M.A.A Ireland Regional Director. Last but not least was one who needed no introduction, that of course was Master John Darcy who is the European Director for A.I.M.A.A.  Everyone was raptures in their applause to all the Masters now standing in front of them, and everyone was now getting more frenzied as they knew that the main event was about to enter the hall.

A.I.M.A.A Ireland National Secretary, Miss Quintella Walsh Courtney, had out done herself in introducing everyone and was now whipping the crowd into a frenzy for Grandmaster Cho! At long last he entered the arena to a thunderous applause, which I am sure they heard in downtown Dublin City!  A.I.M.A.A Masters bowed to their Instructor as he made his way onto the stage, before taking up their place within the formed lines.  Grandmaster welcomed everyone to the seminar and thanked everyone for all their support. Everyone bowed in and the seminar started!  Grandmaster Cho kicked off the seminar with stretching, neck rolls and getting the body read for this 2 hour sensational event!

Before long the whole arena was jumping to the booming voice of its Grandmaster! Masters, Instructors and Students completed leg raises, squats, punching combinations, kicking combinations, one-step and much more as Grandmaster Cho stepped up the pace of the seminar. He exploded into axe kicks, turning kicks, back kicks and much more on the stage, to everyone's delight, and the speed and accuracy of these techniques was like watching heaven on earth!

For a man nearing 71yrs his boundless energy, speed and above all accuracy and technique was simply stunning to watch and everyone had their breath taken away by this living legend.  Grandmaster took time to talk and interact with all the Juniors at the event, he challenged them to complete certain techniques, much to their joy and that of their parents.  He also did this with adults and had Master Darcy come up onto the stage to demonstrate kicking techniques to everyone.

Within the blink of an eye our 2 hour seminar was over too quickly. Grandmaster took time to thank all the A.I.M.A.A family for attending the seminar, he also took time to individually thank all those from the different associations who had also supported the event and attended his last seminar.  As the day grew to a close Grandmaster Cho and the AIMAA Masters had group photos taken with each group, as well as the official seminar photograph. After this Grandmaster Cho and Master Darcy, and the other Masters, spent a considerable amount of time signing the many bits of merchandise that students had brought.

Although Grandmaster Cho has announced that in all certainty that this will be his last official European Seminars, he will be visiting the UK once more in 2012 at the AIMAA Summer Camp. This will be your last time to train with him on UK soil and we ask all those interested in attending this event next July to contact your Instructors now!

CLICK HERE FOR THE OFFICIAL SEMINAR GALLERY

CLICK HERE TO READ THE A.I.M.A.A SCOTLAND REPORT