Australian Taekwondo has launched its new virtual Centre of Excellence, a unique global education offering that blends world-class sports expertise, innovative technology and highly engaging content.
The Centre of Excellence is designed to connect individuals in regional and remote areas with instant access to progressive education courses and showcase taekwondo as a vehicle that anyone can use to enhance body and mind training.
Designed, developed and built by leading virtual reality and accelerated experiential learning experts XVenture, the Australian Taekwondo Centre of Excellence was made possible through the Australian Sports Commission's Participation Grant Program.
The Centre of Excellence aims to provide access to those that have struggled, through logistical or cultural reasons, to access a sport and provide world-class educational content for anyone, anywhere.
Hosted on the popular learning management system platform etrainu, the Centre of Excellence contains several opportunities for self-paced online learning within its virtual environment.
A variety of courses and programs exist, delivered using immersive, interactive, and engaging embedded content and featuring icons of taekwondo such as Australian Olympic medallist Lauren Burns.
A new program within the Centre is TKD10, a 10-lesson introduction to taekwondo and practical sessions for anyone seeking to start their martial arts journey but don't have access to a club or prefer to learn in the comfort of their own home. In 2023, the TKD10 program will be offered in Vietnamese, Arabic and Korean in addition to English.
The Centre of Excellence also offers guidance on technique, fitness and remote training tips, motivational support to keep users on track and case studies of success with examples and cases from taekwondo and other sports.
Taekwondo Australia CEO Heather Garriock commented: "Australian Taekwondo is showcasing the future of education and global sports training with the creation of our virtual Centre of Excellence. Users can access our 360-degree fully immersive Centre to build their skills anywhere and anytime. The quality of the content is superb and we are immensely proud that we can offer this level of expertise to anyone interested in taekwondo and mind and body wellness who cannot access a traditional centre or class environment."
ASC CEO Kieren Perkins OAM said: "The Australian Taekwondo Virtual Centre of Excellence provides an opportunity for people interested in taekwondo to try the sport at a time and location that suits them. The ASC's Participation Grant Program allows sports to invest in innovative new programs to bring communities together and help more Australians enjoy the physical, mental and social benefits that sport provides. This program caters for people of all abilities and backgrounds and it's critical we continue to ensure sport has a place for everyone in Australia."
XVenture Chief Operating Officer Daniela Kraus added: "XVenture is passionate about providing highly immersive virtual reality experiences that combine cutting-edge technology with world-class learning and leadership expertise. Having the opportunity to work with Australian Taekwondo, who is committed to providing best-in-class virtual sports education that everyone can access, has been fantastic and this Centre of Excellence shows what the future of sports training will look like, both at an amateur and professional level."
AUSTKD Members
In the first instance - Explore the AUSTKD Centre of Excellence - it’s completely free to experience the campus and see what’s available. If you’re an AUSTKD member, login here and head to the Training Library - you’ll find it under VR Learning Experiences.
Non Members
If you’re not a member yet, sign up for a Free Virtual Membership and then head to the Training Library to find all VR Learning experiences. You can find a video tutorial how
It has been an action-packed start to 2024 for the Australian Taekwondo National Performance Pathways program and the tangible outcomes already appear promising.
Athletes kicked off the year in full force with a four-day training camp at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) Combat Centre – a multi-sport Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Canberra.
At the age of six, Amy Tierney – now the Owner and Head Instructor at Tierney’s Taekwondo Academy in NSW – discovered Taekwondo through a lucky break. Originally from Ingleburn in the south-west of Sydney, Tierney attempted to take up boxing at nearby Campbelltown PCYC, only to be told by an instructor that “girls don’t box”.
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