In 2009, the International Taekwon-Do Federation accepted the World Anti-Doping Code and newly enacted the ITF Anti-Doping Rules in accordance with the World Anti-Doping Code.

The Anti-Doping Rules were adopted and implemented in conformance with ITF's responsibilities under the World Anti-Doping Code, and it is with ITF's continuing efforts to eradicate doping in the ITF Taekwon-Do activities.

The Anti-Doping programs seek to preserve what is intrinsically valuable about sport.

This intrinsic value is often referred to as the "Spirit of Sport"; it is the essence of Olympism; it is how we play true. The spirit of sport is the celebration of the human spirit, body and mind

This spirit of sport is totally to comply with Taekwon-Do Tenets of ITF.

As the NGB for the ITF in Ireland the RITA is firmly determined to its commitment to clean sport with the core values of the Taekwon-Do by implementing the ITF’s anti-doping program. We ask that all our competitors (international and national) familiarise themselves with the anti-doping guidelines on the WADA website and take the time to look at the e-learning resources at https://adel.wada-ama.org as there will be random testing at the Irish Open. For more information contact the RITA Anti-doping Officer Master Stephen Doyle 

We would like to congratulate Grand Master Robert G Howard and Master Donal O'Doherty on their promotions by the ITF. GM Howard has followed his Father, RITA President Grand Master Robert J Howard, in achieving the highest rank in Taekwon-Do of 9th Degree Black Belt.

Master O'Doherty from Watergrasshill, Cork was promoted to 8th Degree Black Belt. Both work very hard for the association and their promotions are well deserved.

New Board Members for the RITA

Meet the new RITA Board of Directors. It is envisaged that all board members (Directors) will have a collective responsibility for all board decisions. However individual directors will take on the responsibility of championing a particular area or themes within the RITA and help the committees achieve their goals set in the associations strategy plan.

The Board of Directors are:
Grand Master Anthony Phelan (IX) Director of Finance
Grand Master Francis Barrett (IX) Director of Martial Art
Grand Master Robert Howard (IX) Chairperson
Master John Jacob (VIII) Director of Compliance
Master Stephen Doyle (VIII) Director of Communications
Mr Martin Mahoney (V) Director of Sport
Ms Kathleen Flanagan (III) Director of Growth & Development
Keith Murray - Company Secretary

New Board Members for the RITA

The RITA elected two new directors to its Board of Directors at its recent AGM. The association would like to welcome Mr Martin Mahoney and Ms Kathleen Flanagan on board, and we look forward to working with them both, as we move the association forward. We would like to thank Grandmaster Robert Howard, Master Mark O'Donnell and Master Valerie Keane for their years of service to the RITA as they step down from the board.
The Board of Directors are Grandmaster Anthony Phelan (IX), Grandmaster Francis Barrett (IX), Master Robert Howard (VIII), Master John Jacob (VIII), Master Stephen Doyle (VIII), Mr Martin Mahoney (V), and Ms Kathleen Flanagan (III).

Annual General Meeting

The RITA held its annual general meeting at the Lucan Spa Hotel on the 17th June 2023.
It was an important meeting as the association needed to vote to change its constitution to allow us to expand the membership and skill set of the Board of Directors. 
There was a lot of positive work presented by our strategic groups and it was great to see their plans starting to have an effect on the RITA. The reports also showed that the association's membership has bounced back to (and exceeded) its pre-Covid levels.

The RITA would like wish Ms Kathleen Flanagan 3rd Degree Black Belt a warm welcome to the Association!
Ms Flanagan is an experienced Instructor and Umpire with schools in Mallow and Aghabullogue in Cork. Both schools are inclusive and adapted to include all children including children with additional needs. Ms Flanagan is extremely qualified in children’s health and development as she is also the manager of a Preschool.
We are honoured to have such a quality Instructor to strengthen our Association especially in our 50th Anniversary year!

ITF 9th Degree GM Phelan, & GM Barrett examiners at the recent RITA National Black Belt grading in the Lucan Spa Hotel, Dublin, assisted by ITF 8th Degree Master O’Donnell senior Instructor to Galway School, Master Floyd Keane senior Instructor to Stillorgan & Blessington Schools, Master Valerie Keane senior Instructor to St Mark’s & Naas, alongside Black Belts from Tuam & St. Mark’s helping out at the grading. Finally all the students grading on the day.
Huge Congrats with a massive “THANKS” to all involved.

The 27th May marks a huge milestone in the history of the Republic of Ireland Taekwon-Do Association as we celebrate our 50th Anniversary. We hope that everyone can join us over the coming months at our events so we can celebrate the introduction of Taekwon-Do into Ireland by Grand Master Rhee Ki Ha and the founding of the RITA in 1972

Our sponsor Hanley Energy have a fantastic article on their website about their relationship with the RITA. You can read it on the link below.

https://www.hanleyenergy.com/rita-republic-of-ireland-taekwon-do-association-sponsorship/

Everyone in the RITA would like to wish the Irish Squad the best of luck at the EITF Taekwon-Do European Championships taking place in Porec, Croatia from 25th March to 2nd April. Competing for Ireland are Cillian Howard, Emily Harold, Finn Howard, Max Cleary, Corey O’Reilly and Dáire Howard with Master Robert Howard as National Coach. Master John Jacob, Master Floyd Keane and Mr Tim Collins were selected by the EITF to be Umpires at the competition.

We want to thank our sponsor Hanley Energy for their fantastic help.

Go n-éirí leat! 

The RITA’s junior black belt squad took another step forward in its continuous development by performing to its current level at the Slovenian Open. The small group of four junior black belts coached by Master Robert Howard (8th degree) travelled to the scenic town of Zrece in eastern Slovenia to compete against athletes from 12 countries, including; Czech Republic, Greece, Bulgaria, Croatia, and hosts Slovenia. The tournament is a recognised EITF A class event and it was a good test of the Irish squad to see where they currently stand against their European peers. The Irish competitors performed well and took home 2 gold, 1 silver and 4 bronze in both patterns and sparring. It was a time to meet old friends and make new ones and the Irish competitors would like to thank Master Emin Durakovic and the members of the Slovenian ITF for their warm hospitality. The squad are currently preparing for the 2020 European Championships in Prague, Czech Republic. The RITA would like to thank Hanley Energy for its continued support.

PHOTO: Back row L-R: Finn Howard, Carla Kelly, Adam Hu, Emmet O’Rourke

Front row: L-R: Master Emin Durokovic (ITF Slovenia), Master Robert Howard, Mr Stefan Cresnar (ITF Slovenia),

Team Ireland brought 11 competitors, 2 coaches and 2 international umpires to the European Taekwon-Do Championships in Rimini this month. The team which consisted of 8 juniors and 3 seniors were drawn from Taekwon-Do schools in Dublin, Tipperary and Galway. This was a relatively small squad compared to the European power houses of Russia (147 competitors), Ukraine (127) and Greece (125). However the team performed well and there was a clear improvement in Team Ireland’s standard. The incremental improvements were noticeable in both the patterns event and the sparring event.

Most of the team Ireland’s competitors got through at least one round in both patterns and sparring. The highlights were Mr Leon McSherry (Dublin) taking silver in the male 5th degree patterns event and Mr Alex Byrne (Dublin) winning a bronze in the junior male black belt  -69kg sparring event. These performances gave Ireland a final ranking 17th out of 30 countries.

The team bonded well together and supported each other every day and the support from the parents made the coaches jobs easier and everyone was assigned jobs and monitored the rings and the timetable over events. This allowed the coaches to concentrate on preparing the competitors for their next match.

The improvements in the sparring event was as a result of the coaches bringing in former European and World Champion, Mr Konstantin Yurikov from Russia, as a consultant to our sparring development programme.
The next immediate goal is to prepare the team for the World Championships in Bulgaria in August 2019. The next phase of the development over the next 12 months is to continue the  incremental improvement of the whole team and to target ‘A class’ tournaments to test the team’s improvements. The 2020 European Championships will be held in Prague, Czech Republic.

The coaches and team Ireland would like to thanks Hanley Energy for their support this year, without which this development and success would not be possible.

April 11th 2019 is the 64th anniversary day of the naming of “Taekwon-Do” by Gen. Choi Hong Hi.

Celebrating this day, we are all in missing for Gen. Choi Hong Hi, our father and teacher and our hearts are in a full determination to implement and complete his last words and remain loyal to his valuable legacy to the end.

On this meaningful day, there is a historical Joint Performance of ITF Taekwon-Do demonstration team and WT Taekwon-Do demonstration team in Lausanne, Switzerland in the invitation of IOC with a great interest and expectation from the Taekwon-Do brothers and sisters around the word.

Dear all Taekwon-Do Practitioners,

Let us take a big step with unanimous hearts to make Gen. Choi Hong Hi’s wishes come true.

Now the 21st ITF Taekwon-Do World Championships are near approaching to be held in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, between 24th-30th Aug. 2019.

Let’s demonstrate our unit and might to the world once again through this event.

On behalf of all TKD practitioners, ITF HQ would like to express sincere thanks to Mrs. Choi Chun Hi and her family members.

ITF HQ would like also to express a warm congratulation and gratitude to the ITF Pioneers and Grand Masters, who have made a great contribution to the ITF development.

LONG LIVE TAEKWON-DO AND ITF!

Congratulations to the Irish Team who came back from the EITF European Championships in Liverpool with 1 Silver and 4 Bronze medals! With over 800 competitors from 32 countries competiting it was a great achievment. The Team was made up of 12 Black Belts and 5 Red Belts accompnied by National Coach Master Doyle, Development Coaches Mr Fox and Mr Tobin plus Umpires Master Barrett, Master Howard, Master Jacob and Master Keane. For many it was their first experience of high class European competition and some had moved into new divisions so it was an excellent opportuntity to test their skills.

Our first medal came in the 5th Dan patterns division with Mr Leon McSherry from Grandmaster Hoowards Dojang getting into the final for the second year in a row. He beat competitors from Russia and Greenland to set up a great final against France. It was the final that everyone had hoped for as both had the best technique in the division with the Frenchman edging out Mr McSherry on the judges scorecards to take Gold.

Next came 3 Bronzes in quick succession with Abbie O'Neill, Trivo Tijanic and Andrew Loo all from Carrick-on-Suir picking up medals in their Sparring sections. The final medal came on the last day with Mr John Egan from Old Bawn winning Bronze in the veteran sparring division after wins over Spain and England he just lost out to Scotland in the Semi final.

There were some great perfomances with many making it to quarter finals and just missing out on medals. With a very young team the future looks bright! Well done to everyone on their hard work and dedication.

Left to right; Master Valerie Keane, Grandmaster Robert Howard, Hanley Energy Co-founder & Managing Director Dennis Nordon, Grandmaster Anthony Phelan, Master Francis Barrett.

The Republic of Ireland Taekwon-Do Association has partnered with global data center solution specialists and technology company Hanley Energy in a deal that will see the Irish owned company become main sponsors of the organisation with immediate effect.

The sponsorship deal was announced by the Masters Council at the 2016 National Taekwon-Do Open Championship which took place in Dublin recently.
 
Dennis Nordon, MD and co-founder of Hanley Energy said the company continues to recognise world-class potential and is delighted to be an advocate of the Republic of Ireland Taekwondo Association. 

Hanley Energy are very excited about forging strong links to a relatively young, evolving sport with exemplary ambition and a future that is, like ours, on an upward curve. Our aim with RITA will be to support at both an elite and grass-roots level, as the sport continues to grow across the country. We recognise a shared vision and ethos with RITA, we are delighted to be able to champion excellence and assist them in nurturing real international potential. We are looking forward to many exciting years ahead as sponsors.

Business and Taekwon-Do are akin in many ways, but the biggest similarity is the toll they can take on your mental resilience. If you want something sufficiently in both, you will have to work for it. Nothing is accomplished without sacrifice. Dedication, preparation and work ethic are all vital to progress.

In Hanley Energy, we try to embrace the discomforts, even when things seem impossible, learn from errors and we have built a strong team around us, where every member deserves credit for the business success. This ethos is closely reflected in two of Taekwon-Do’s core tenets, perseverance and indomitable spirit.

Grandmaster Anthony Phelan, Vice-President, Republic of Ireland Taekwondo Association, welcomed the partnership saying:

We are delighted to be able to announce Hanley Energy as the primary sponsor of the Republic of Ireland Taekwon-Do Association. We’ve had really positive initial meetings and I think it’s clear that we are very much on the same page. We’re looking forward to a strong and productive partnership.

Congratulations to Grandmaster Anthony Phelan on this promotion to 9th Degree. Grandmaster Phelan is Vice-President of the Republic of Ireland Taekwon-Do Association and is the second most senior Taekwon-Do practitioner in the Republic of Ireland.
GM Phelan travelled to DPR Korea for the 50th anniversary of the International Taekwon-Do Federation and was promoted by President of the ITF Prof Ri Yong Son and the ITF promotions committee. Also attending the celebrations from Ireland were Senior Grandmaster Howard, Master Valerie Keane and Mr Martin Roe.
GM Phelan is a student of FGM Rhee and has been instrumental in the development of Taekwon-Do in Ireland. He introduced the art he loves to Waterford and continues to teach Taekwon-Do in the Ballyfermot/Clondalkin area of Dublin. Over the years he has trained many students to black belt including Senior Master Francis Barrett and Senior Master Brendan O’Toole (INTA).

All the students of Taekwon-Do in Ireland send their best wishes to Grandmaster Phelan on his wonderful achievement.

The recent EITF European Championships, which were hosted in the Greek city of Thessaloniki from 11th to 18th April, were the largest ever with over 700 competitors from 31 Countries competing.  The RITA sent a Squad of 11 competitors accompanied by National Coach Master Stephen Doyle, Colour Belt Development Coach Ms Audrey Condon and Umpires Senior Master Robert Howard and Master Floyd Keane.
The squad consisted of 6 Black Belts and 5 Red Belts that competed in Adult, Junior and Child divisions. For most it was their first experience of a high level International event and it was great preparation for the 2017 Euros in Liverpool, which is what they are training for. The event was held in a 9,000 seat stadium and it was a big step up from what most were used to.
Day 1 of the competition was not until the Thursday so the Squad had two days to acclimatise and prepare after arriving late on the Monday night.  But once the competition began there was no rest for our coaches as we had competitors nearly in every ring at the same time. Luckily our more experienced senior competitors Mr Leon McSherry and Mr Martin Mahoney were there to help.
In the Pattern divisions the quality of the RITA training was evident with nearly all the squad winning at least one round. There was a great performance by Ms Caoimhe Keogh from Galway who after wins over Spain and Slovenia narrowly lost out 3-2 in the 2nd Dan Junior Female Patterns Semi-Final against Ukraine. Her Bronze medal was a great reward for her dedication to training, as she had to defer her Leaving Cert French Oral exam to compete.  Mr Leon McSherry finally achieved his lifelong ambition of getting to a European Patterns Final. He has lost out in the last three Europeans at the semi-final stage but this time he reached the Final of the 5th Dan Male Patterns where he faced Sweden. In a dominant display he won with a 5-0 victory to claim the coveted Gold Medal!
The level of competition was extremely high in the Sparring divisions with Russia and Ukraine dominating most sections. The Squads recent seminars with Mr Konstantin Yurikov paid off as none of them looked out of place in the ring against high level International opponents.  Alex Byrne picked up our third medal with a Bronze in the -50kg Male Child Sparring division.  After a comfortable win over Romania he faced a much taller Russian in the semi-final. The Russians reach proved too much for Alex over the two rounds. It was a great achievement in his first Europeans to win a Medal.
The Coaches would like to congratulate all the competitors for their dedication and hard work. They represented Ireland with pride and were a pleasure to coach. We hope that everyone uses the experience gained to take the next step in their International career.

Although we have just returned from the 2016 European Championships the preparations for 2017 are underway. We must build on our success and continue our training throughout the Summer. Those who competed are expected to attend the next Open Squad Training Session on Sunday 15th May in Tymon Bawn Community Centre, Tallaght, Dublin 24, so everyone can learn from their experiences. We are looking for competitors who are enthusiastic to learn and have the dedication to commit to high-level training so we can send an even bigger Squad to Liverpool 2017.

Videos from the Europeans can be found here

Photos are available on our Facebook page

So you've just passed your Black Belt exam and you're wondering what's next? Click here to see some suggestions on taking the next step in your Taekwon-Do journey.

Black Belt Dress Code 1st to 3rd Dan
Umpire Dress Code 1st to 3rd Dan

Training is open to all RITA adults. Everyone is invited to come along to try out for the National Squad and those who’ve never been before are encouraged to give it a go. We are also looking to find new talent with potential to represent Ireland at international competitions. So even if you want some extra practice, to improve fitness or just want to see what training is like you are more than welcome to attend.

21/22nd September Sparring Seminar Mr Konstantin Yurikov

29th September-National Black Belt Squad Training

12/13 October-International Instructors Course (IIC) -GM Barrett

19/20 October-Ms Linn Johansen Patterns seminar

9/10th November UK open (optional) 23rd November Irish Open

28/29/30 November Bulgarian Open

Head Coach
Grand Master Robert Howard

Senior Coach
Master Stephen Doyle

National Coach
Ms Audrey Condon
Mr Martin Mahoney

RITA Instructors and Students can now view the TKD Supplies stock online. Click here to see our latest prices and stock.

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