On Friday 9th December, the Gibraltar Taekwondo Association (GTA) held a Seminar at the Tercentenary Sports Hall. This was conducted by Master Neil Guest 7th Dan British Taekwondo Control Board (BTCB) General Secretary and Executive Member with the assistance of Masters Edward and Ernest Garcia 5th Dan.

The Seminar consisted in learning new Kyrogui (Sparring) techniques and was attended by over 50 GTA members.

At the Seminar, Master Ernest's daughter "Gaby" at only 2 and a half years old, followed the steps of The Garcia Family by participating at the event. There are already 6 Black Belts in the family and hopefully she will be following the trend in the very near future.

At the end of the Seminar, Master Neil Guest presented a Certificate and flag to the twin brothers, whereby Gibraltar Taekwondo is now registered as a Special Member of the Kukkiwon Membership System in South Korea.

On Saturday 10th December, during the morning, the Dan Grade (Black Belts) examinations were held. Master Neil Guest was very impressed with the high standards shown throughout the examinations. He commented that on every occassion he had been to Gibraltar for the Dan Grade examinations, these had always achieved a 100% Pass grades.

The examinations consisted of:

- Poomsae (Patterns)
- Kyrogui (Sparring)
- Self-Defence
- Breaking

The results were as follows:

Megan Ruiz promoted to 1st Poom (Junior Black Belt)
Alexandra Lara promoted to 1st Dan (Senior Black Belt)
Dana Garcia promoted to 2nd Dan
Leon Garcia promoted to 2nd Dan

In the afternoon, seven members of the GTA undertook a BTCB Instructor's course, which is recognised by UK Sport as the Governing Body for Taekwondo in the UK. All the instructors are vetted by the Criminal Records Bureau.

The course consisted of various elements such as health - risk safety, code of conduct, ethical standards, child protection policy and insurance synopsis.

The BTCB Instructors in Gibraltar are:

- Master Edward Garcia 5th Dan
- Master Ernest Garcia 5th Dan
- Miss Lorena Garcia 3rd Dan
- Mr Brandon Avellano 2nd Dan
- Miss Dana Garcia 2nd Dan
- Mr Leon Garcia 2nd Dan
- Miss Alexandra Lara 1st Dan

Masters Edward and Ernest Garcia are very pleased with the development of the Association in the past years, having 4 female Black Belts of which 3 are also Instructors. Black Belts have the privilege of competing in Sparring and Pattern competitions at World Class Championships.

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