Dear Members,

Welcome to 2023.

With the festive season and New Year now behind us, I look forward to an exciting year for Taekwondo in Australia.

We started 2023 with the announcement of new Board members joining Australian Taekwondo. I want to welcome and congratulate Hugh Eagling, Deanna Kyriazopoulos and Marwan Hussein, who were voted onto the Board at our 2022 Annual General Meeting in December and I wish them all the best.

I would like to thank and acknowledge Hassan Iskandar and Simon Lew for their dedicated service and contribution to the Association.

Our Kyorugi Senior World Championship National Team selection event is only weeks away, followed by the Kukkiwon International Master Course and Poom / Dan Examiners Course scheduled to start in Sydney on February 27. The new Kukkiwon promotion test regulations commence in July 2023, requiring instructors to hold valid qualifications in both courses to be eligible to recommend students for Kukkiwon certification beyond July 2023.

Both courses have proved extremely popular, with allocated places now sold out. The courses aim to enhance the Master's capability by accurately delivering a set standard Taekwondo curriculum worldwide, consolidate the techniques of Kukkiwon and contribute to expanding global Taekwondo by unifying Taekwondo skills and techniques.

I encourage you to enrol in any future courses run through Australian Taekwondo if you need to update your Kukkiwon certification. Australian Taekwondo is the only approved provider of Kukkiwon Courses in Australia and we deliver our courses to members and non-members based on directives from the Kukkiwon.

We are delighted to see international Taekwondo events return to our shores this year, with the Oceania Open Poomsae Championships (G2), Oceania President's Cup (G2) and Australian Open (G2) set for Queensland from July 7-9. Registrations will open shortly, and I encourage your club and members to get behind these fantastic international events.

Our clubs are the lifeblood of our sport and martial art. In 2023, I encourage all clubs to affiliate with the national body and work as one to grow Taekwondo. Over the last two years, the Australian Sports Commission and Sport Integrity Australia have encouraged the sports and recreation industry to actively embrace and align with their safe club and good governance structures to help foster a safe, fair, and sustainable national sporting sector - this includes the sport and martial art of Taekwondo. We adhere to these government requirements through a robust club affiliation registration process which supports our quest to become Australia's safest martial art.

I hope 2023 is a rewarding and prosperous year for you, your club, and your members. Please remember Australian Taekwondo is here to support its members. Reach out and connect with staff directly if you have questions, as the executive team is only too happy to assist. You can find contact information for Australian Taekwondo here.

I look forward to embarking on my first year as President and working to serve the Australian Taekwondo membership.

Kind regards,

Jean Kfoury
President - Australian Taekwondo