July 2025 Malaysia Korea Tour

---

This year, Grandmaster Joon No re-established Tiger Training under his direct coaching, and in July, took his Tiger Team to the 17th CK Classic International Open Taekwondo Championships in Selangor, Malaysia, then headed off to Korea for the 18th World Taekwondo Culture Expo in Muju, South Korea.  

The young team, aged 10-15 years, trained hard following GM No’s coaching to improve fitness and develop competition techniques and strategies. Our inexperienced but dedicated young Tigers had trained for only six months and were all novices at the beginning of their competition journey - however, their hard training was rewarded with a swag of medals, and they gained valuable international competition experience to take them further along their journey. Many matches were closely contested but Mikayla won 20-2, and Sienna won 22-2. It was also great fun watching Christopher and Kayden fighting it off in the finals and sharing a laugh at the end. All in all, Joon No’s Tigers were wonderful representatives of Australia and of Joon No’s Taekwondo. 

In both Malaysia and Korea, we had excellent accommodation and the team not only formed closer bonds with each other but also enjoyed meeting other contestants and exchanged souvenirs. Master No took his taekwondo family on excursions to eat street food and to the city of Jeonju to see the Jeonju Hanok Heritage Village and the wine cave where traditional Korean wines are made.

In Seoul, the team visited the Chang-gyeong Palace and the adjacent Chang-deok Palace which is a complex of 55 acres, and is famous for its vast and very beautiful Secret Gardens set behind the main palace buildings, incorporating many residences, each with its own lake and garden. It has an unrivalled serenity. Hopefully you can take a stroll there yourself one day. Meanwhile her are some photos. 

Taekwondowon is a wonderful venue nestled in the beautiful mountains of North Jeolla Province (Jeollabuk-do), now officially known as Jeonbuk State. The opening ceremony ran smoothly and included an amazing artistic performance by the Korean National Demonstration Team, which included a dramatic representation of Korea during the Japanese occupation, and a spectacular athletic breaking demonstration. 

In the short time the Tigers were in each country, they were able to enjoy modern fun experiences as well as excursions that introduced them to the local culture. Andrew Lee was a great manager and he went over and beyond the call of duty by stepping up to represent us in an arm-wrestling contest against experienced arm-wrestlers – where he did Australia proud by reaching the semi-finals.

A highly successful tour on all counts!