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Students.....Articles
The
History of Westmeath Taekwon-Do
Written by Stephen E. King
In
the September of 2001, Mrs. Gwen Maguire, then a I Degree Black Belt, opened
Westmeath’s first school of Taekwon-Do in St. Brigid’s, Mullingar. On the
very first night it was clear that there was a demand for the Korean martial
art in the town, as the training hall was overflowing with spectators and
prospective Taekwon-Doists. A few months later people had come and gone,
but there was always a steady attendance of almost forty people (juniors and
seniors). Always on hand assisting Mrs. Maguire were her daughter, Nicola,
son, Aaron and later, her husband, Tony.
As a
testament to her teaching abilities, about half a dozen students double
graded at their very first test, in front of Mr. Derek Colman, IV Degree
Black Belt, who is the grading instructor for all of the Westmeath Schools
of Taekwon-Do.
The
following year the All Ireland Taekwon-Do Association (A.I.T.A) decided to
hold the 2002 National Championships in Westmeath. This was a great honour
for the Mullingar school. However, along with that honour came a lot of
hard work, such as fundraising among other things. Over 1000€ was raised by
the dedicated instructor and her students. It was decided to hold the
tournament in the Downs, as St. Brigid’s was too small to hold such an
event. The tournament ran smoothly from start to finish. However, that
wasn’t the only thing Mrs. Maguire had to be proud of, as her students had
won over twenty five trophies between them at their very first competitive
outing.
It was soon
after the National Championships that it was decided to open another school
in Westmeath. Castlepollard was finally chosen to become home to
Westmeath’s second Taekwon-Do school. The school was opened with a seminar
by the aforementioned Mr. Derek Colman. Automatically the school drew a
mass of new students and it wasn’t long before it was up on its feet and its
students were taking part in gradings and seminars.
The
monopolisation of the county of Westmeath was all but complete when in the
March of 2003, Mrs. Maguire opened a third school, this time in Moyvore.
The following month saw the first big A.I.T.A tournament of the year held in
Co. Wexford, the 2003 South Eastern Championships. While the recently
acquired students might have been unable to compete, there were quite a lot
of students from the other two schools that were delighted to get a taste of
the action and that’s just what they did – and then some! They brought home
approximately twenty four trophies from Gorey and what’s more, gained
valuable experience.
On the 11th
of May 2003, Mr. Tony Maguire and Mr. Aaron Maguire graded under the panel
of Mr. Kenneth
Wheatley, VI Degree, Mr. Patrick O’ Rourke, V Degree, Mr. Henry O Neill, V
Degree, and Mr. Jimmy Dowling, IV Degree,
to become
the first Black Belts from the Westmeath schools. Mrs. Maguire was promoted
also, to II Degree Black Belt. Mr. Tony Maguire then took over as
instructor at the Moyvore School of Taekwon-Do. It has since grown, and
many of its students have recently been promoted to IX Kup (Yellow Tag).
The
Westmeath Schools of Taekwon-Do are currently training just under a hundred
students, from one end of the age scale to the other. Since 2001 a lot has
happened in Westmeath Taekwon-Do, and with only two years experience under
their belts, you can be sure that there is a lot more to come from these
students, which will probably be visible from their performances at the 2003
National Championships, which Westmeath is hosting once again. No matter
how they get on, it will be more valuable experience from which they can
draw in the future. And with regards to the future, who knows?... perhaps
there will be yet another Westmeath School of Taekwon-Do established!
Qui
vivra verra!
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