LdSH(RC) Presence at 24th CISM Taekwondo Championship

By: Maj J. Kim

From 24 November-4 December 2018, The Canadian Armed Forces Taekwondo (TKD) Team deployed to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to attend the World Military TKD Championship that is organized annually by le Conseil International du Sport Militaire (CISM). CISM is the largest multinational sport organization, other than the International Olympic Committee, which was founded in 1948 at the end of WWII. Its motto, Friendship Through Sport, was created to encourage military forces to meet in sports arenas instead of battlefields and to rebuild relations after the destruction of the war. Today, CISM is comprised of 137 member countries.

The CAF TKD Team achieved great results in this week of competition. Its seven athletes achieved two gold medals and one bronze medal. Furthermore, the women’s team was awarded 3rd overall team for the tournament. The athletes, under the leadership of Grandmaster Young Choung, fought their way through difficult bouts against world-class fighters from 24 countries. AB Yvette Yong (HMCS York), currently ranked #1 in the world, and Pte Ashley Kraayeveld (25 Fd Amb), currently ranked #8 in the world, were the gold medalists; Cpl Jordan Stewart (33 Svc Bn) was the sole male medalist. Underpinning the CAF Team’s success were two Strathconas: BGen Derek Macaulay, Commander 5th Canadian Division and Patron of CAF TKD, and Maj John Kim, Training Division Commander at Canadian Forces Leadership and Recruit School and Deputy Director/Assistant Coach of CAF TKD.

The team’s next challenge will be to prepare for the 7th CISM Military World Games, which will take place in Wuhan, China in October 2019.

For more info on CISM: http://www.milsport.one/news/news-post/1218-december-2018/24th-wmc-taekwondo-rio-de-janeiro-bra-day-6