Jakarta to resume Kukkiwon outing
Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The change in the presidency of Kukkiwon -- the world tae kwon do headquarters -- is seen as a promising prospect for the sport's development in Indonesia.
"We see this is a good development at the headquarters and we expect much of the election of Woon Kyu-uhm as the Kukkiwon president," Sutjipto Lohardjo, one of Indonesia's more prominent tae kwon do figures, said here on Monday.
Woon replaced Kim Un-yong, who had held his post since 1972, back in March and Sutjipto's optimism stemmed from his close personal relationship with the new president.
In his letter to Sutjipto, who is also the chairman of the Indonesian Tae Kwon Do Association's Jakarta chapter, 75-year-old Woon pledged his commitment to a better future for tae kwon do.
"I'm going to do my best to harmonize and unite the global tae kwon do family with Kukkiwon as the central figure," Woon said in the letter, the copies of which were made available to media.
Sutjipto said he looked forward to inviting Woon to Indonesia this year to be presented in front of thousands of local tae kwon do athletes.
Kukkiwon has members in 176 countries with tae kwon do athletes numbering 60 million.
Located in the District of Kangnam in Seoul, the Kukkiwon conducts Dan promotion contests and is the only organization in the world which issues official Black Belt certificates to tae kwon do athletes around the world.
Competitors who want to participate in an international tae kwon do competition sponsored or approved by the World Tae Kwon Do Federation (WTF) need to hold a Kukkiwon Dan certificate.
The Kukkiwon provides tae kwon do coaches, athletes and officials with modern facilities for training and competition.
And Sutjipto revealed his plan to resume sending athletes to the headquarters every year for a month-long training camp. The program was first initiated in 1988 before it was scrapped in 1996 in a signal of Sutjipto's protest against what he saw as rife partiality in the refereeing in many local tournaments.
He said his athletes had very often been treated unfairly during tournaments.
One of the notable athletes taking advantage of the Korean outing was Juana Wangsa Putri, currently Indonesia's tae kwon do medal hopeful in Athens along with Satriyo Rahardani.
As a junior athlete, Juana was among the trainees sent in 1995. She has since molded herself into a strong international contender. One of the highlights of her career was winning a gold medal at the World Championships in Paris last year, which assured her a ticket to Athens.
"It's a rare opportunity for athletes to train at the Kukkiwon. They will be trained by world-caliber counterparts like seven-time world champion Jeong Kook-hyun," Sutjipto said.
"The requirements for them to go to Kukkiwon is that they must be champions in local tournaments and that they are hard workers," He added.
Tae kwon do is one of the only two martial arts sports at the Olympics. The other is judo.