Lui Cantali
Today was our first close up look at the martial arts sport known as Taekwondo.
Taekwondo is a martial art traced back to Korea and is the national sport of South Korea. In Korean, tae (means "to strike or break with foot"; kwon ) means "to strike or break with fist"; and do means "way", "method", or "art". Taekwondo may be translated as "the art of the foot and fist" or "the art of kicking and punching." Today there was generally more kicking than punching (and no punching to the face, as per the rules).
Today saw the venues youngest players to date compete: Samuel Cantali (4) and Lui Cantali (6). They have both been practising for about 3 months, but today was the first time they have ever competed in such a high level event.
We journeyed out to the Morris Iemma Indoor Sports Centre YMCA at Riverwood, in Sydney's South West.
It was great to see the former NSW Premier Morris Iemma had also taken the time out of his Sunday to visit the building bearing his name.
A crowd of about 200 was on hand to witness the fights and we understand that approximately 26 matches took place today, with some 50 or so "players" competing.
Isaac Mansour Morris Iemma Lui Cantali
Some results...
Isaac Mansour Def Samuel Cantali 7 - 4
Abraham Lekkas Def Karim Mansour 14 - 4
The competitors and their families had fun, and it was a nice touch to see all players getting a medal around their necks' just for competing.
The amenities were excellent and the staff very helpful.
Well done to everyone involved in making the event a success.
Websites
YMCA Morris Iemma Indoor Sports Centre
World Taekwondo Federation
Eva Rinaldi Photography Flickr
Eva Rinaldi Photography
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