In a continued effort to promote the Korean martial arts taekwondo in Nigeria, Korean Cultural Centre in Nigeria (KCCN) has presented training equipment to clubs and institutions to support the development of sport at the grassroots in the country.
The Nigerian Army taekwondo association and Nigeria Police taekwondo association were among the groups that benefited from the donations, according to KCCN chief coach, Ogunmuyiwa Gbolahan.
The KCCN director, Mr Kim Changki, said the donation was made in collaboration with the Nigeria Taekwondo Federation (NTF) to enhance the development of taekwondo in Nigeria,
Changki said the centre has continued to support Nigeria’s taekwondo by also training coaches. “We want to promote Korean martial arts, taekwondo, in Nigeria and I hope Nigeria’s taekwondo will be developed through this training. Over the years we have trained about 5000 coaches and young athletes here in our center,” Changki said.
No fewer than 60 coaches were also trained on the latest techniques in taekwondo during a two-day seminar organised by the center in collaboration with NTF with standout coaches rewarded at the end of the programme.
The Chief Coach of KCCN, Ogunmuyiwa Gbolahan, said the participants were drawn from 25 institutions and clubs across the country.
Gbolahan said the two-day seminar is targeted at bringing instructors up to speed on the latest developments in taekwondo.
“KCCN/NTF coaching seminar is an annual event that aims at bringing everybody in Nigeria’s taekwondo community together. The primary aim is to foster unity and bring everybody on the same page regarding the best practices when it comes to taekwondo in the global sphere.
“Taekwondo is very dynamic because every year new things come and here at the KCCN, we are privilege to have some information that might not be common outside there, and that is why we organise seminar and championship every year so that coaches from target institutions and same time we throw it open to ensure that very important clubs and states are involves. Our attention is on grassroots taekwondo because we want to develop it at the community level.
“The KCCN has the tradition of developing grassroots taekwondo in the country. So, we have gone far and wide through the length and breadth of the country to develop the game in whatever capacity we can.
“The aim is to train the trainers so that when they return to their respective organisations, they will pass on the knowledge,” Gbolahan said.
