Guest Blog from Nick Brinklow on his Taekwondo Trip to Korea

Korea Trip 2011

My name is Nick Brinklow and I am the very fortunate winner of the Korea Tourism Organisation/ Sport Taekwondo UK Competition! The prize was a 5 day/ 4 night trip to Seoul, the capital of South Korea. The trip was for 2 people and included a tour of some of the most popular sights in Seoul as well as a Taekwondo seminar with a Korean master!

I am the Chief Instructor of a Manchester based Taekwondo academy, Jeon-sa Taekwondo and I decided to take my friend and fellow black belt, Andy Birds.

We flew from Manchester to Seoul (via Helsinki) on Thursday 29^th April, arriving in Seoul the following morning. As it happens, my brother is an English teacher working at a high school in Seoul. He and his girlfriend, Suri, met myself and Andy at the airport and took us to our hotel, in Itaewon (the Hamilton Hotel). Itaewon is probably the most mutli-cultural area of Seoul, with quite a high number of Westerners living in the area. We had something to eat in Itaewon and then headed over to the more traditional area of Insadong. Insadong is famous for the many stalls and shops specialising in traditional Korean ornaments and gifts.

In the evening we headed to a district called Yeonsinnae, to meet some of my brother’s friends for dinner. We ate at a local Korean BBQ or 'Galbi restaurant', where each table has its own BBQ grill/ plate in the centre and the meat is brought out, along with various side dishes, and cooked in front of you! These kinds of restaurants are very popular in Korea and the food is delicious!! We also indulged in a few soju's, the national Korean drink, which is similar in taste to vodka and often accompanies this kind of meal!!

The next morning (feeling slightly worse for wear, due to the soju!) we were picked up from our hotel by a tour guide and taken on a Seoul City Tour. We saw various monuments and sights, including the Presidential offices of residence, before stopping at the spectacular Gyeongbokgung Palace. Gyeongbokgung is a Royal Palace, first constructed in 1394 and then reconstructed in 1867, it is the largest of the Five Grand Palaces built by the Joseon Dynasty. The palace was nearly destroyed by the Japanese in the early 20^th century but over recent years, has slowly been restored to its original form.

We then went on to visit the nearby National Korean Folk Museum, which has various artefacts and exhibitions depicting traditional Korean life through the ages. After the museum, we headed over to a temple not far away, Jogyesa Temple – again a very spectacular building with some stunning architecture and featuring 3 large golden Buddha statues inside. We arrived a few days before the Lantern fesitival was due to take place and the temple and surrounding areas were lined with thousands of brightly coloured lanterns, in order to mark Buddha's birthday!

On the Monday we visited the Kukkiwon, the World Taekwondo Headquarters – often referred to as the Taekwondo Mecca! The Kukkiwon is home to the World Taekwondo Academy, and is responsible for issuing black belt certification as well as instructor education and the world wide promotion of Taekwondo. We were lucky enough to visit whilst the Seoul City High School Taekwondo Championships took place and were able to watch some fantastic Taekwondo matches!

Tuesday was to be our first Taekwondo training session. We were picked up by our tour guide at 9am and taken to Master Byeong's Hoki Taekwondo gym in Seoul. Master Byeong works closely with the Kukkiwon and also provides various courses for foreigners. Master Byeong put us through our paces during a private 3 hour training session, covering various techniques, includes basic strikes, blocks and kicks as well pad work and self defence techniques. Master Byeong spoke excellent English and was a very approachable and knowledgeable instructor.

Prior to finalising the details of our trip, we decided to extend our visit and get a later return flight home, so when our stay at the Hamilton Hotel was up, we headed over to a guest house we had booked, in an area called Hongdae. Hongdae is very popular area, especially amongst students and party goers, with many bars, restaurants and clubs. The guest house was excellent and the owner, Min, was a great host, very friendly and helpful and always keen to go for a few beers or soju's with his guests!!

We also visited another popular attraction, Seoul N-Tower, a huge observation tower with spectacular 360 views of the entire city. The tower is situated on Namsan mountain in central Seoul, and can be reached via cable car and small hike. Well worth a visit!

Korea is the home of Taekwondo and, it goes without saying, has some of the very best Taekwondo athletes in the world. Many of the high schools and universities specialise in elite level Taekwondo training and have produced numerous World and Olympic Champions. Due to some of my Korean Taekwondo connections, we were able to arrange several training sessions at some of the top high schools and sports universities in South Korea. The training was very hard and of an incredibly high standard, a fantastic experience!!

Also during our stay, we were able to see the famous Kukkiwon Taekwondo Demonstration team in action. The team do weekly demonstrations at Hanok tradional Korean village and produced an amazing display of techniques, including some incredible jumping and flying kicks and spectacular board breaks!

The WTF World Taekwondo Championships were also taking place whilst we were in Korea and we were able to travel down to Gyeongju for the final 2 days of the competition. Again this was a great experience and we got to see a number of World class athletes in action.

Seoul is a very exciting and fascinating city, with bright lights and people everywhere!! It is a mix of old and new. On the one hand there's the Buddhist temples and ancient palaces and on the other the cutting edge technology, skyscrapers and neon-lights!! The fantastic subway system, which must be one of the best in the world, makes it easy to travel around the city and there are many attractions and sights to see. The Korean people are very warm and welcoming and have such an interesting culture.

I think that it is a goal of every serious Taekwondo practitioner to at some point visit Korea. Taekwondo is Korea's national sport, there are Taekwondo Dojang's (gyms) in virtually every neighbourhood and it is a big part of the culture.

At the same time, even if you have no interest in Taekwondo or martial arts, it is a fantastic place and I would recommend anyone to visit South Korea! Thanks again to the Korea Tourism Organisation for this fantastic prize!!

Nick Brinklow