SDTKD Celebrates 5 Years
5th Birthday Cake Presentation
Our Olympic Style Taekwondo Club South Dublin Taekwondo opened its door for the 1st time in Tallaght Leisure Centre in August 2008 to a handful of 15 taekwondo first timers. Original posters which were circulated in both English & Polish were entitled ‘West City Taekwondo’ but by the time the doors opened for the 1st time, club coached preferred the strength of name of ‘South Dublin’ characterising a possible expandable body of taekwondo in the future. The club was founded by 5th Dan Black Belt Master Robert Taaffe & 4th Dan Blackbelt Master Niamh Buffini to assist the 2 Irish National team players achieve their goals in competing internationally. Since then the 15 white belts have grown into a major sporting powerhouse in our local community. SDTKD has now grown exponentially in recent times & now holds a large & diverse student body, that we are very proud of. Coach Taaffe notes, ‘Our current student body ranges from 2 years old in our Taekwondo Tots group to 58 years old in our senior class. We have representation from over 10 countries, and are proud of our massive Filipino contingent who train in our club alongside many other nationalities & the Tallaght locals who really seem to love kicking & punching one another! It is an immense pleasure to see many of our young students mature & grow up with taekwondo, many of whom now are pursuing 3rd level Education & professions associated with the experience gained at the Club’. The club milestone was acknowledged at the club buy a surprise presentation on Thursday 22nd August, where Irish Team Player Jack Woolley [14] & Louise Lawless surprised the club & presented a homemade delicious cake in the SDTKD club colours orange & black to the club coach in recognition of the clubs achievements. SDTKD’s short 5 years has seen an immense graduation of 20 Kukkiwon Black belts [the highest Taekwondo grading Authority in the world], and with another 8 due to grade in September, this club is delighted as it prides itself on being very top-heavy with advanced grades, including Ireland’s youngest 1st Dan , 4th Dan & 5th Dan Kukkiwon blackbelts, who deliver quality teaching & visual aid to its newcomers. SDTKD has had representation at World Championships, European Championships, Universiade, World University Taekwondo Championships, World Sports Festival & World Police & Firefighters Games over the years, with its diverse student body making recent ripples on a very difficult to crack big stage.2013 to date has been a great year for the club with many medals being won abroad including 4 A class medals & 3 major event medals as well as dozens of B class medals. Club coach Taaffe concluded, ‘The founders set up the club to assist our own competitive ambitions, and SDTKD has allowed us to travel throughout the world to compete & train with some of the best, and we are extremely delighted & humbled to have had the opportunity to bring back our experience to our students, many of whom are now at or close to very high level, and hope they far surpass any levels achieved by us in the future! The students, parents & coaches are unlike no other encountered in my TKD experience, and with the strength of our Team, i hope our 5 years extends far into the future for many more.’ Next up for the club is the Irish Open in the National Basketball Arena on September 8th and a major event seeing young Jack Woolley compete at the European Junior Championships in Porto later in the month. September typically sees a host of new arrivals in SDTKD club due to the return of schools, always noted as an important time to identify & realise potential in students of all ages & ability levels. Anybody who wishes to explore Olympic Style Taekwondo training with South Dublin should Text 083-003-0777, or fill in this CONTACT FORM for further details.
Some pictures of the past 5 years below…………..
[If you are not pictured here, there are 1,000’s on Facebook!!]
St. Partick’s Day Parade 2011 – Tallaght Stadium
South Dublin Taekwondo Championships 2011
Echo Sports Awards 2012
Trelleborg Open 2013
Ladies Self Defence
Ni International Poomsae 2013
Operation generation – Self Defense For Minorities
Pride of Jobstown Awards
SDCSP Ramble Aid
SCCC Sports Club of the Year 2012
Taekwondo Tot Micheala
Taekwondo Tots
Tallafest 2013
Polish Open 2012
Very Early Pic of Some of Our Advanced Students
BB Grading Presentation 2012
Janella, Kim, Jamiliah