Grand Master Sng honours the Fort Nelson Taekwondo/Hapkido club with trip to study overseas

: Curtis Hawley performs a double wrist-lock arm bar combination.

: James Childs being thrown by his daughter Leila.

: Dustin Bowes, our youngest member, shows off his bo skills.

: Ron performs an inside armbar on Brett Frenette.

: Kristjain Trenter does an inside hip throw on Riley Boomer during practice at the Fort Nelson Tae Kwon Do/Hapkido training. The club received an open invitation to attend the Hapkido games this summer in Singapore andTaiwan.

: Riley Boomer demonstrates a figure-4 arm lock with his jobe.

Ron Glaves, head instructor of Fort Nelson Tae Kwon Do/Hapkido, received an open invitation to teach Hapkido this summer in Singapore and Taiwan. Grand Master Daniel Sng of Singapore’s National Hapkido team asked that Ron visit and take part in an exchange of martial arts ideas and styles. GM Sng also asked if Ron could bring four local students with him.
This will be a huge opportunity for Fort Nelson’s students to experience and learn martial arts with three different Grand Masters.
First stop on the tour will be with Grand Master Daniel Sng of the Singapore Island Tae Kwon Do Club. G.M. Sng is a seventh degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do and a fourth degree black belt in Hapkido. G.M. Daniel Sng has a long list of accomplishments including being President of ITF Singapore and founder of Island Tae Kwon Do Centre, Master Instructor Tae Kwon Do, ITF World umpire and NCAP title. He also runs Singapore’s National Team of Hapkido. G.M. Sng has been training in TKD/Hapki Do for 42 years in multiple countries.
We will spend six days training with GM Sng in Tae Kwon Do and additional days learning Hapkido. At the same time Ron Glaves will teach three days of Hapkido to Daniel’s students as well as teach their National Hapkido Team. This exchange of information is very important in developing truly universal techniques. Although both GM Sng and M Glaves both teach Hapkido, the style from Asia to North America differs greatly.
Four days of training will follow with Master Dr Dennis Chua of the Han Mu Do Association of Singapore. G.M. Chua is the founder of Han Mu Do of Singapore. He holds a sixth degree black belt in Han Mu Do, a fifth degree in Hapkido and a first degree in Tae Kwon Do. G.M. Chua is the regional director of the World Kido Federation as well as the South-East Asia Region for Korean specialised weapons, and an instructor of WTF Tae Kwon Do.
Our time with G.M. Chua will be spent perfecting the Bo staff, Jobe short staff, fighting cane, and the Korean Sword. We are looking forward to this new training with weapons. The boys have a limited experience with weapons but studying with such an accomplished master will definitely expand our knowledge with sword and cane. We will then spend a few days and taking in the sights and culture.
We then fly out to Taipei, Taiwan, for eight days. While there the group will get to visit and teach at the school of Master John Roy (an old resident of Fort Nelson). John flew back to Fort Nelson last summer to test for his fourth degree black belt. John lived and worked in Fort Nelson for many years but has been residing in Taipei for the last five years. While there Kristjian Trenter will be taking his test for his first degree black belt under John.
The travellers will also be studying Wushu, a form of Kung Fu under Master Foo Shang Wee. Master Wee has been teaching Wushu for over 35 years. We expect to trade information abut the differences in the two arts. Wushu is one of the more difficult arts and it takes many years to perfect and master. As such, it should be quite the eye opener for us and a very anticipated exchange.
The Fort Nelson contingent will be lead by head instructor Master Ron Glaves. Ron has been studying Martial Arts in Fort Nelson since 1990. First under the late Master Raymond House of Dawson Creek and then under Master Rob M Williams of Calgary. Ron also trained and fought in the ring (Thai boxing) under Gordy Gong and Jeff Spens in Windsor, Ontario. This will be his second trip to teach Hapkido in Asia and has owned and run The Fort Nelson Tae Kwon Do school (a non profit school) since its inception in 1992.
Also attending will be James Childs, Fort Nelson firefighter and DC who has been training in martial arts for four years and has achieved the rank of red advanced in Tae Kwon Do and green in Hapkido. James will also be testing for his first degree black belt this summer in Calgary under Master Rob D Williams. James is also one of Fort Nelson’s junior instructors. James also has three daughters, Leila, Rozalie, and Jamie training with him at the school.
Curtis Hawley, a local computer tech from Total Electronics, holds the rank of brown belt in Tae Kwon Do and green belt in Hapkido and has been studying martial arts for four years. Curtis is also proud to be attending the tour.
Kristjan Trenter is a student at Fort Nelson Secondary School in grade 11. He holds the rank of red advanced in Tae Kwon Do and green in Hapkido. He has represented Fort Nelson at the Western Canadian Nationals for four years and has medalled many times. He is a very accomplished grappler and is looking forward to testing for his black belt on our Asian trip. In his spare time he is also a very good goalie and plays in the Fort Nelson Minor Hockey league as well as with the emergency services hockey league.
Riley Boomer is another student at Fort Nelson Secondary School. Riley is a blue belt in Tae Kwon Do and a yellow in Hapkido. Riley has been studying Martial Arts for four years and has also represented Fort Nelson twice at the Western Canadian Nationals. He is an honour role student and is working at getting his lifeguarding certificate.
Last is our alternate Dustin Bowes. Dustin holds the rank of brown belt. He is a junior instructor in weapons and has just started his Hapkido training. He has competed in many tournaments and has more medals than you can count. He should easily advance to his black belt when he turns 14 in the next few years. Unfortunately he is unable to achieve that rank until he is 14 but he already has the skill to be a black belt.
Over the next couple of weeks the Tae Kwon Do kids will be raising money for the tournament fund by putting on a Kicks for Cash fundraiser. As a new twist, three of our instructors, James Childs, Curtis Howley and Ron Glaves have volunteered to get their chests and backs waxed if enough funds are raised for the kids (ouch – thanks Curtis). This has been a great success in past years and I hope it will be again.
As well, we will be also going door to door handing out local advertisements for our local community sponsor. Without this kind of support we and our students couldn’t achieve what we have in the past or go on trips like this. We appreciate all the help our towns folk have done for us over the years and thank all of those for their further support.
Ron Glaves